10/1 Isaiah 43:1-3
But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba as a ransom for your freedom.
DIFFICULT
Our lives are difficult at best. We become desensitized to the spiritual world. We forget the lessons of our Biblical faith easily. Remember His promises. Remember that you belong to the Lord. Return to Him and He will comfort you. Our relationship with Him is where real freedom is found.
10/2 Isaiah 43:4-7
Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west and from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth. All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.”
PRICE
The price for spiritual freedom is a costly price. It has been prepaid for us by Jesus. We think we can do anything but we are weak and foolish. Only Jesus can pay the price that will give us life. Jesus is Lord.
10/3 Isaiah 43:8-11
Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. Gather the nations together! Which of their idols has ever foretold such things? Can any of them predict something even a single day in advance? Where are the witnesses of such predictions? Who can verify that they spoke the truth? “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the LORD. “And you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never has been and never will be. I am the LORD, and there is no other Savior.
CHOOSE
Choose the Lord. Choose Him as your Lord. He is the only God. He is the only one who is alive. He is the only one who can save you. Choose the Lord.
10/4 Isaiah 43:12-18
First I predicted your deliverance; I declared what I would do, and then I did it ? I saved you. No foreign god has ever done this before. You are witnesses that I am the only God,” says the LORD. “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse my actions.” The LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: “For your sakes I will send an invading army against Babylon. And the Babylonians will be forced to flee in those ships they are so proud of. I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. “But forget all that ? it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
SALVATION
There is salvation in Jesus and in no one else. He is Lord. He has paid the price for our redemption. Only Jesus can give us a relationship with the Father. Jesus is Lord and He gives us everything we need to lead a Godly life. When we walk with Jesus we are walking in the true path. He is the way.
10/5 Isaiah 43:19.
For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!
LIFE
Jesus is the water of life. In Him we find all the we need for a victorious Christian life. He is Lord and He is able to save us. We seek Him daily. We let Him have control of us. He will mold us and make us into what the Father intended us to be-like Jesus. Trust in the Lord and acknowledge Him in all your ways.
10/6 Isaiah 43:20-24
The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and ostriches, too, for giving them water in the wilderness. Yes, I will make springs in the desert, so that my chosen people can be refreshed. I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world. “But, my dear people, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me! You have not brought me lambs for burnt offerings. You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you with my requests for grain offerings and incense. You have not brought me fragrant incense or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults.
STAY
Stay with Jesus and focus on Him. Too many want to move on to the next thing-a miracle, a gift, another person. Do not move on-Stay with Jesus and He will stay with you. He is alive and able to give us new life. He will give us light for living. In Him we have access to the Father. Trust in the Lord Jesus.
10/7 Isaiah 43:25-28
“I yes, I alone am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case if you have one. From the very beginning, your ancestors sinned against me? All your leaders broke my laws. That is why I have disgraced your priests and assigned Israel a future of complete destruction and shame.
OBEDIENCE
The Lord expects us to obey Him. He loves people. With Him people are first. He never overlooks the person. Religion elevates tradition over people. Our leaders assume a position of authority that is reserved for the Lord and Him alone. He is interested that we love Him and love one another.
10/8 Psalm 66:1-2
Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is.
GLORIOUS
Glorious is our Lord. He made us in His image glory to His name. He cares about us and would that all of us might be saved. Praise the Lord for He is indeed glorious. He provides us with light for living and life eternal. Praise be the name of the Lord for He is a glorious and praiseworthy Lord.
10/9 Psalm 66:3.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.
AWESOME
God is awesome. He is beyond our ability to describe. He is greater than great, kinder than kind and bigger than big. We cannot see Him but we know Him in Jesus. He loves us more than we can imagine and is more involved in our personal daily life than we see. God is awesome. When I think of this and contemplate this it lifts my spirits to know that my God who is awesome cares for me. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. My God is awesome.
10/10 Psalm 66:4.
Everything on earth will worship you; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs.”
WHEN
One day everything will worship the Lord. On that day no one will have any doubt that there is a Lord overall. He is Lord and He is able to rule. His rule is not questionable but we can choose to reject Him. That choice of rejection will one day be finalized by our death or His return. It is unchangeable and final then. Think about your life and your choice. Choose the Lord. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin if you haven’t already and accept Him as Lord and Savior of your life.
10/11 Psalm 66:5-7
Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he does for his people! He made a dry path through the Red Sea, and his people went across on foot. Come, let us rejoice in who he is. For by his great power he rules forever. He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance.
MIRACLES
Are you able to remember the miracles the Lord has done in your life? Did you write them down, date them and now do you review them from time to time? This is important for us to recognize the Lord’s activity in our life. We don’t want to let the world rob us of the joy of His activity in our life. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. The Lord is for us and would that we lead an abundant life. Rejoice in His activity in your life.
10/12 Psalm 66:8.
Let the whole world bless our God and sing aloud his praises.
PRAISE
Praise for God is good and is something we can do anytime of the day or night. We can praise Him in good times and in bad times. We are aliens passing through the veil of tears and one day will stand before Him face to face. Praise God for life and His presence. Praise God for loving you. Praise Him for His forgiveness. Praise God for waking you up today. All praise, honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ for He is worthy of all of our praise.
10/13 Psalm 66:9.
Our lives are in his hands, and he keeps our feet from stumbling.
ACTIVE
The Lord is active in the life of each one of His children. Recognize it, remember it and recite it. There is power and confidence in being able to see His activity. Claim His promises and don’t back up. The Lord is for you.
10/14 Psalm 66:10-15
You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible. You captured us in your net and laid the burden of slavery on our backs. You sent troops to ride across our broken bodies. We went through fire and flood. But you brought us to a place of great abundance. Now I come to your Temple with burnt offerings to fulfill the vows I made to you, yes, the sacred vows you heard me make when I was in deep trouble. That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma. And I will sacrifice bulls and goats.
CONTROL
The Lord is in control. He will never leave you. Do not fear when troubles come. Every thought that the Lord has towards you is a thought for good.
10/15 Psalm 66:16.
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.
RESPECT
The Lord is good. He is long suffering. He forgives our sin. He comforts us in time of trouble. He is real. He is involved in our daily life. He has done great things for us. Think for a moment of all that the Lord has done for you.
10/16 Psalm 66:17
For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke.
PRAISE
We sometimes forget the importance of praise. The Lord is worthy of all praise, honor and glory. His presence is often strongly sensed when we are praising Him. Its not that He needs us to praise Him, rather it is we need to praise Him so that our attitude for listening is in the proper position. Our pride and stiff neck is such an obstacle to fellowship with the Lord. Praise Him with your heart and soul and listen as you praise. The Lord will be there.
10/17 Psalm 66:18
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened.
CLEANSING
Confession is required for us to hear the Lord. It must be from you heart and you must follow through with a change in your life-confession is agreeing with God and changing your direction. A clean heart oh Lord create in me.
10/18 Psalm 66:19
But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer.
THANK YOU
Rejoice and be grateful when the Lord listens to you. Thank Him profusely for His attention and most of all for letting you know His action. The Lord is good and He hears our prayers and when we know it, it is time for rejoicing. His presence lifts me up. His attention is overwhelming. Thank you Lord for loving me.
10/19 Psalm 66:20
Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.
PRAISE
We have so many things for which we can be thankful. Praise the Lord for waking us up today. Praise Him for the complexity and magnificence of the human body. Praise Him for life itself and the way He has blessed us with salvation. Praise the Lord for His watchcare and His activity in our lives. Praise the Lord with every breath you have. Praise the Lord.
10/20 Ephesians 2:1-2
Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
GUILTY
We are all guilty. We are each guilty. Corporately and individually we have sinned and come under condemnation. We have nothing we can offer to Him that could induce Him to forgive us. All around us is the spirit of evil and separation. We are dead in our trespasses and sin and wobbling our own way. We weren’t looking for God we just wanted our own way. But that was then and this is now, now we are saved by His wonderful grace. Praise the Lord.
10/21 Ephesians 2:3-5
All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)
SALVATION
What a gift. What a savior. He loved us while we were still dead in our sin and still He died for us. What a savior. What a privilege. What a great blessing we have in Jesus. Thank the Lord, praise Him for the wonderful gift of salvation in Jesus our Lord.
10/22 Ephesians 2:6-7
For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.
GRATITUDE
Father we are so blessed to know you. How can we thank you for the wonderful gift of salvation. I know, we can love and cherish you. We can praise you. We can obey you. Obedience is a worthy gift we can give to the Lord everyday.
10/23 Ephesians 2:8-9
God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
FREE
Jesus came looking for you and me. We were going our own way, dead in our trespasses and sin and Jesus came looking for us. He offered us family membership: forgiveness and life as a free gift. Thank you Lord that you opened our eyes. We are so grateful to receive this glorious gift of salvation.
10/24 Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
LIFE
Our life is important. We are valuable and each one of us has a unique plan that the Lord is working out in our daily life. What joy we can find by obeying His plan. We simply ask Him where He wants us and what He wants us to do and He will tell us. He will tell us in a way we can understand. In my own life I have wasted so many hours running after activities that I didn’t ask about. Like many others my initial reaction is to go and get directions later. How joyous for us when we stop and ask Him for direction and then go. Our lives count when we follow Jesus.
10/25 Ephesians 2:11-12
Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called “the uncircumcised ones” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God’s people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
DARKNESS
Life with Jesus is real darkness. How sad the world is. How overrun with evil and mistreatment. People are dying and going to hell every second of every day. They need Jesus. Pray that the Lord will use you to tell His story.
10/26 Ephesians 2:13-14
But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us.
NEAR
We are near the Lord. We are near because He brought us near. We are all near. Each one of us is beloved of God and special to Him. Our value and worth is so much more than we will ever know. But we can learn most about value in the way we treat others. To make someone feel important and love multiplies our sense of importance and worth. Be a friend and you will have a friend. Give value and worth to others and you will be valuable.
10/27 Ephesians 2:15
By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups.
ONE
We are one in Christ. Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight. Jesus loves us. He loves you. We are one in Christ.
10/28 Ephesians 2:16
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
GIFT
The Father’s gift was life. In Christ we have real life, life right now and life forever. His life is in us. When we accept the gift of life in Christ it gives us the right to have access to the Father. Jesus paid the price for our sin and is the One who provides forgiveness and cleansing for us moment by moment. Real life is precious. We have joy and peace. Our joy equips us to face the day no matter what. Our peace is a declaration by God that we are no longer at war with Him and are now members of His family.
10/29 Ephesians 2:17-18
He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
ONE
We are one in Christ. We belong to Him and He belongs to us. The ground at the foot of the Cross is level. We all have the same access to life, Jesus. Jesus is Lord and our elder brother. In Christ we become more than conquerors and are equipped to live an abundant life.
10/30 Ephesians 2:19
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
MEMBERSHIP
People love to have membership in clubs, the military, a country and many other organizations. We are members of a family, a race and so on. When we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sin and accept the free gift of life we automatically have membership in the family of God. In this world that may not appear to be important. In truth its importance is significant because it gives us access to all of the promises of God. We belong to Him and He has made us a part of His family. Praise the Lord for He is worthy of all of our praise.
10/31 Ephesians 2:20-22
We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
BELIEVER
A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has many benefits. We have membership in the family of God and we become a member of His church here in this world. Christ lives in us. He is part of us. He is Lord and gives us everything we need for real life.
