Thursday Devotion, December 17

Thursday Devotion, December 17
Isaiah 8:11-22
11 The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,
12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. 13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. 14 He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. 15 Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”
16 Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him. 18 I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.
19 Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? 20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21 They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22 and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
Quick Notes
Okay, this is going to seem a bit obvious, but it is truly surprising how overlooked it is. Most of us do not seek God for guidance and when we do we only accept the guidance that confirms how we want to deal with an issue. We say we want advice or help, but we only want the advice or help that matches what we think the answer should be. Instead of accepting that 2+2=4, we look for "help" that agrees with our answer being 3.
Quick Questions
Do we worship ourselves where God changes to be a worthy God or do we worship God and we change to be worthy to Him?
Quick Prayer
Lord, sometimes to follow you well, I have to change more than I am comfortable with. Give me the strength to follow your ways even when I feel a great cost. Amen.