“In quietness and trust is your strength.”  (Isaiah 30:15)

My Advent devotional reading has been in Isaiah.  I chose it because there are at least three well-known passages (7:14; 9:2-7; 11:1-3) that are quoted in the New Testament as being fulfilled in Jesus. 

In previous readings through Isaiah, it has always seemed like the first part (chs. 1-39) was harder to get through, while the latter half was full of comfort and promise.  But I’m finding so many wonderful nuggets of truth as I read.  Here are just a few for your blessing and encouragement –

·         1:18 “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.  ‘Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’”

·         5:18-19 “Woe…to those who say, ‘Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it.’”

·         6:8 “Here am I, send me.”

·         12:2  “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The LORD , the LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

·         25:1, “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”

·         26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

·         29:16, “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He did not make me’?  Can the pot say of the potter, ‘He knows nothing’?

·         30:15, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

·         30:21, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

·         33:8, “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”