The book of Isaiah is full of references to the praises of God.  I cannot help but give another day in honor of our great God; this time I would like us to focus on the phrase there is no other God like our God.  Today I would like to quote several passages of Isaiah that I have read for the past couple of weeks.  Please read the surrounding text to get the full effect.

Isaiah 43:10 says, "'You are My witnessess,' delcares the LORD, 'and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He, before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me." (NASB)

Isaiah 44:6 says, "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer; the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me." (NASB)

Isaiah 44:8 says, "Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?  And you are My witnesses.  Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock?  I know of none." (NASB)

Isaiah 45:5, 6 says, "I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.  I will gird you, though you have not know Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me.  I am the LORD, and there is no other," (NASB)

Isaiah 45:14b says, "Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No Other God." (NASB)

Isaiah 45:18 says, "For thus says the LORD, who created the heaves (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), 'I am the LORD, and there is none else." (NASB)

Isaiah 45:21 says, "Declare and set forth your case; indeed, let them consult together.  Who has announced this from of old?  Who has long since declared it?  Is it not I, the LORD?  And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me." (NASB)

Isaiah 45:22 says,"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." (NASB)

Rejoice in the greatness of our God, let these passages soak in you heart and mind.  Praise God for all that He is for He alone is God!

THERE IS NO OTHER GOD; THERE IS NO ONE LIKE HIM!

Galatians 1:22-24 says, "I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.'  And they were glorifying God because of me." (NASB)

I wanted to take a break in my blogs from Isaiah and do a little in my NT study in Galatians.  I love this passage because it demonstrates the wonderful mercy and power of God in a sinner's life.  I have first quoted this passage in the New American Standard Bible and it is pretty clear, but I love how the English Standard Version puts the last sentence of the passage.  It says, "And they glorified God because of me."  It is not much different then the NASB but I think it puts the emphasis of the sentence in a better limelight.  The emphasis is that they glorified God.

In this case, we find that the Judean churches of Christ glorified God because of the testimony and life of Paul.  We see the wonderful transformation of Paul in this passage; he starts as the persecutor of the faith and then he ends up preaching and proclaiming Christ.  The very faith he was trying to destroy.  The churches glorified God because of the wonders He was doing through Paul; it was because of the life he was living now.

May we have the same said about us; that our lives were the reason that people glorified God.  Let us be His servants and proclaim His truth so that He may get the glory.  So, that when people see us they see the beauty of Christ and worship Him, glorify Him and not us.  Are we living in such a way that when people see us they see God?  When people look at our service for Christ, do they worship and are they in awe of who He is?

LIVE LIFE SO THAT OTHERS MAY GLORIFY GOD FOR THE WONDERS THAT HE HAS DONE THROUGH YOU!

Isaiah 44:21-23 says, "Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you,  you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.  I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist.  Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.  Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it!  Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; for the LORD has redeemed Jacob and in Israel He shows forth His glory." (NASB)

This passage is very powerful to me; maybe I should stop saying this because all Scripture is powerful.  It is inspired of God; so therefore it is powerful.  But, I see forgiveness and love oozing out of this passage.  God wants His wayward children to come home; to return to their Redeemer.  This passage is definitely talking about Israel and this should be our primary focus.  Israel is the people that God wants to return to Him; to come home to where they belong.  Secondarily, I think this is saying to us Gentiles to come home to your gracious and loving God.  If you feel that you have gone down too far on the road of sin and it's too late to turn back, please know that it is never true no matter how many times you have sinned.  God will always be there to forgive you and welcome you back to close communion with Him.  This is what He wants and truly this is what we want.  We see and imagine that our temporary pleasures are what we truly want but this is our own imagination.  We tend to treat our temporary pleasures as something more desirable than God Himself but this too is our imagination; it seeems like we treat these things as idols.  We should all know that idols are like blocks of wood; so it is futile to think that our pleasures are god when they really are blocks of wood.  Our relationship with God is what is truly important; we should long to have the deep, personal relationship with Him.  When we are wayward, may we always return to Him because He is the one who has purchased us and wiped our sins clean like a heavy mist.  Israel, Come Home to Your God and Your Messiah; Gentiles, Come Home to Your God and Your Savior!  Rejoice in God your Redeemer!

I want to echo forever, on my blogs, that God's grace is so precious; so valuable.  We need to be mindful of the beauty of God's grace.  Today, I want to remind us all that it is the greatest gift that is ever given.  Jonathan Edwards has a paragraph in one of his sermons that perfectly reminds us.  Here's the paragraph:

"They will chiefly praise God for those fruits of His mercy, because these are the greatest fruits of it that ever have been, far greater than the glorifying of saints.  The saints in heaven will praise God for bestowing glory upon them.  But the actual bestowment of glory upon them, after it has been purchased by the blood of Christ, is in no measure so great a thing as the purchasing of it by His blood.  For Christ, the eternal Son of God, to become man, and to lay down His life, was a far greater thing than the glorifying of all the saints that ever have been, or ever will be glorified, from the beginning of the world to the end of it.  The giving Christ to die, comprehends all other mercies.  For all other mercies are through this.  The giving of Christ is a greater thing than the giving of all things else for the sake of Christ.  This evidently appears from, from Rom. 8:32, 'He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely given us all things?'  So that the work of redemption is that for which the saints in heaven do chiefly praise God.  But this work has been wrought here, among us in this world.  'TheWord was made flesh, and dwelt among us.'  The incarnation of Christ was a thing that was brought to pass in this world, and the sufferings and death of Christ were also accomplished here on earth.  Shall heaven be filled with praises for what was done on earth, and shall there be no praises on earth where it was done?" (Jonathan Edwards, Praise, One of the Chief Employments of Heaven, p. 119)

This quote is very powerful because it reminds us all to worship God here on earth for all that has been done here on earth; the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ to name a few.  Make this truth humble you and exalt the great and marvelous God we serve.  God Bless!

I know I have discussed this over and over in my blogs, but I think it is really important.  Please read some of my previous blogs on the greatness of our God (Blog titled: Our Great God).  I just feel that this passage should be added because it is so powerful; it makes me humble and makes God beautiful and majestic.

Isaiah 44:6-8 says, "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.  Who is like Me?  Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation.  And let him declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place.  Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?  And you are My witnesses.  Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock?  I know of none.'" (NASB)

God is so amazing; He has done so much and is so much that it doesn't take much for me to be in awe of Him.  I want to echo the question that He asks in this passage.  Is there any God besides Him?  Is there any God that can do what He has done?  Is there any other Rock, where we can depend upon Him for everything?  I want to shout, THERE IS NO OTHER GOD LIKE OUR GOD OR OTHER ROCK LIKE OUR ROCK!!!!!!  We serve an awesome God; He is the first and the last which means He knew the end from the beginning.  This also means that He is eternal; He is here forever and He is never going to change in His character.  Praise Him!  Praise Him!  Trust in Him; He will never let you down.  He may not give you all that you want but He knows what is best for you because He loves each one of us very much.  GLORIFY HIM WITH YOUR WORDS, ACTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND WITH YOUR LIFE!

Isaiah 43:22-28 says, "Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; but you have become weary of Me, O Israel.  You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.  I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with incense.  You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; rather you have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities.  I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; state your cause, that you may be proved right.  Your first forefather sinned, and your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.  So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary, and I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement." (NASB)

This passage is very similar to the first chapter of Isaiah (to read my thoughts on that chapter, see my previous article; What does God Want?)  We must understand first that this passage was referring to the Jews and how they were bringing empty sacrifices.  They were burdening and wearying God with their empty rituals and empty religiosity.  The Jews were outwardly following God; but, their heart was far from Him.  They did not really mean all that they said or had done for God.  God had His "fill" of their empty religiosity; the passage says that the fat of their sacrifice does not satisfy Him.

The same is true for us as believers in Jesus Christ; He is not satisfied with our religiosity.  God does not want our empty sacrifices; He does not want gifts that our hearts are not in it.  If we are living for God with no passion and no heart, then we are living worthless lives and God is not pleased with that life.  Let us strive to worship Him in spirit and in truth; this means with everything that we are.  Let us not even try to worship Him if we are doing with no passion; if it is just an outward show.  God doesn't want empty sacrifices because they don't give Him what He rightfully deserves; it's like serving steak on a garbage can lid, not very appealing.  God deserves all of our lives; He deserves lives lived for His glory and honor.  He wants the fat of our sacrifices to fill Him; to bring Him praise.

STOP WITH THE RELIGIOSITY AND LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY FOR GOD!

Isaiah 43:18-21 says, "Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?  I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.  The beasts of the field will glorify Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.  The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise." (NASB)

In this passage, it is God talking about future things.  Some of what He is talking about will happen during the Millenium Kingdom; like waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  To have a river in the deserts a person would need an awful lot of rain to gather a mass of water in a river-like form.  So, therefore this passage is talking about who is in charge of the events mentioned.  God is in charge of these events and in every event in this world.  As long it is not in contradition to His character, He is directly in charge of the events.  God is in control and Man is not, otherwise the opposite of the passage would be true; that Man would be receiving glory and praise.  But, let me make it very clear.  Man never has, never had, and never will deserve any praise or glory.  It is all of God; God receives and deserves all the glory and praise the wild beasts, jackals, ostriches, and especially man.  Man is the key one to give praise and glory to God because we have received the most from the hand of God.

Trust in God, for He has the best in mind for you.  He has the master plan for your life; it is just your choice whether you rebel and choose your own way.  When you choose your own way, you are choosing the worse way.  When you choose God's way, you are choosing the best way.  He sees everything; the end from the beginning.  Give praise and glory to God with your life; do all you can to proclaim, to those who don't know God, the wonders and power of Almighty God.  We need to make Him known to all people that we meet and interact with.

TRUST IN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD!  GIVE GLORY AND PRAISE TO THE ONLY ONE WHO DESERVES IT!

Isaiah 43:1-7 says, "But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.  Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.  Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back '  Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made." (NASB)

This passage is first and foremost talking about the Jews; they were and still are the children of God they are God's chosen people.  Even though they continually reject Him as their Savior and LORD; they are still the apple of His eye.  I want to make it perfectly clear that the words in this passage is for Israel primarily and for the saints secondarily.  I say this because we are the wild olive branch grafted into the tree; Israel is the natural olive branch that has been cut off temporarily from the tree.  Israel will be restored to her rightful place but we must recognize right now the grace of God in showing His favor to us.  We are now, as Gentiles, considered to be His people because those who call upon the name of Jesus are the one's He has called out among the lost and helpless.  WE ARE THE CALLED OUT ONES!

So, what is so important or great about being the called out ones?  I want to list the reasons from this very passage I have quoted because it is very picturesque of His mercy and grace.  The first is that we are the LORD's, we are the Almighty God's possession and we are fully secure.  We are redeemed from the helplessnes of the pit and set upon the rock of Jesus.  The second is that we are kept from destruction during the storms of life; no matter how hectic or hard the storms of life are we are never destroyed.  We are being preserved for a better life to come; we are being refined as silver.  The third reason is we are precious, honored, and loved by God.  To God, there is nothing more valuable to Him on this earth than His Called Out Ones.  He would give anything on this earth including people to bring us to Himself.  The fourth reason is that we are called His sons and daughters; we are created for His glory and we are the apple of His eye.

I know that this is a lot to swallow at one time.  Please read this passage very carefully and see the benefits of His love and grace.  I want everyone reading this passage and this blog to be amazed at the wonders of God; the wonders that He has chosen us, the heathen ones, to be the apple of His eye and to be His Called Out Ones.  Live life with this prespective and troubles will be more trivial than what we realize.  The storms of life are only for bringing us closer to Him; to value our relationship with the Almighty God more highly.  Rejoice and live in the favor of God because His favor is always upon you.

Isaiah 42:18-21 says, "Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!  Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?  Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD?  He sees many things but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.  The LORD was pleased, for His righteousness' sake, to magnify His law and make it glorious." (ESV)

Today, I wanted to quote from the English Standard Version because I thought it was more clear to what I want to talk about then the New American Standard Version.  Notice that this is talking about the Lord's servant as blind and deaf; that he does not observe or listen to things that he has seen or heard.  I think this reference to His servant is in reference to us as well because we are considered His servants when we exchanged our slavery to sin for slavery in Christ; which is far more beautiful than anything in this life.  I think this passage is a wake up call for us to listen and observe the things that God is telling us in His magnificient and glorious law, or the word.  I want to drive home that we must open our eyes and ears to the things that God has for us; the blessings that God has waiting for us but we don't receive them because we are blind or deaf to them.

OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS TO THE WONDERS THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU IN THIS LIFE!

OBEY HIS WORD!

Today, I want to quote something from John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life that tells of our role in life after salvation.  What are we supposed to do?  Why are we left here on earth instead of being transported straight to heaven after salvation?  John Piper says what our purpose is perfectly.  He says, "to live and speak in such a way that the worth of "Christ crucified" is seen and savored by more and more people."

This is our purpose; we are to lift high the value of what Christ did for us on the cross.  We need to tell people how important it is for our lives and for their lives.  Without it is hopeless; let us strive to tell at least one person this week about the wonderful grace of Jesus.  May the lost recognize and savor the beauty of the cross.  Let us be salt and light in this world; let us be different so that they may know what it is to means to be salt and light.  Let us show them what it is to live life to the full in the way that God intended it.

LIFT HIGH CHRIST CRUCIFIED SO THAT PEOPLE MAY SEE AND SAVOR IT FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS!