Heavenly Father I praise You for Your word being true and how You interact with us in multiple ways. I praise You for giving each of us different gifts and talents. I praise You for the way You made us dependent on You and each other so that we do not get too puffed up in who we are.
Holy Spirit as I started my devotions this morning, I realized that the prophesies You have given and how some have already been fulfilled, and the hope for the ones yet to come. Isaiah, which this scroll was found intact, shows that Isaiah prophesied way before Christ lived on this earth. You spoke to him and said, “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in the darkness from the prison house.” “I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” [Isaiah 42:6-7; 49:6] And Peter told us, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them. [2 Peter 1:19-21] John confirmed when he wrote in Revelations 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” So we can base our salvation on Christ and be ready for eternity when we are called to it.
Therefore, let me not sleep as others do. But let me be alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But let me, who is of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed me to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for me, so that whether I am awake or asleep, I will live together with Him. So, I will comfort myself, and edify my brothers and sisters. I will acknowledge those who labor around me, and/or are appointed over me in the Lord, and instruct me. I will esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among the members of the body of Christ. I have been exhorted, to warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, and be patient toward everyone. I will not render evil for evil to anyone. But always seek to do good to others. I will rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning me. I will not quench the Spirit. Nor will I despise prophecies. I will examine all things. Firmly hold onto what is good. Abstain from all appearances of evil. May the very God of peace sanctify me completely. And I pray to God that my whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For I know that faithful is He who calls me, for He also will do it. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 5:6-24