ESOCS Devotional 19 January 2022
TEXT: ISAIAH 46:1-13
MEMORY VERSE:
“To whom will ye liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” Isaiah 46:5 KJV
“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:21- 22).
Idolatry is associated with demons. God hates and strongly challenges any comparison between Himself and idols. Idolatry was what brought Israel down, and thus the Spirit seeks to explain how foolish Israel and the nations were by trusting in the idol gods they made with their hands. Idol gods are dead. They are only the imagination of those who have given up a knowledge of the true God of heaven. When men forsake the word of God, they will create a god after their own image, which god will behave according to their desires. This happened in Israel and it happens among all men throughout the centuries. Simply because one claims to believe in God does not mean that he believes n the God who is identified in the Bible. One can understand the true God of heaven only by His revelation (e.g. through the Bible). God has been pushed aside by some who trust in their own strength, or who believe they are self-sufficient.
There is no equal to the Lord! There is only one image of God that is favoured by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). He wants us to be in the image of Christ! Actually, the entire mission of the Holy Spirit is to conform us to that Image.
Let it ever be known that if it’s not Christ, it is an idol, and as such, it “cannot answer, not save out of trouble”; “Remember, and keep remembering this fact, and show yourselves men against idolatry.” In other words, “quit acting like a beast, which can neither consider nor understand, and act like the “man” that God made you” (Isaiah 46:8 the Expositor’s study Bible- ESB). The ‘ESB’ also makes it clear that “stubbornness” is an intractable spirit that refuses to believe God’s word, and it’s equated with iniquity and idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).
Our God is Omnipotent and there is no comparison with any other.
- Do you place anything before God in order of importance or ranking? It is wrong.
- Pray for God’s grace to place Him first in all situations
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: Amos 1:1-5; Luke 7:1-10; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
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ESOCS Devotional 19 January 2022
