Open the Bible UK Daily

Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4 Repentance begins with a sense of God’s mercy. The natural inclination of your sinful heart will always be to run and hide from God, but when you are persuaded of God’s mercy, you will gather the courage to repent. That’s why faith comes logically and psychologically before repentance. The two are born in the heart together, but repentance flows from faith-not the other way around. Faith tastes the mercy of God and that makes repentance possible. When you see that God is totally for you in Jesus Christ, then you will gather the courage to repent. The prodigal son was eating with the pigs. He was absolutely miserable. But then he came to his senses and remembered, “I have a father who will receive me.” That’s what gives a person courage to draw near. Maybe you have drifted far from God. But right now, God is speaking to you. He is drawing near, not to punish you, but to heal you. He has seen your ways but He wants to show you mercy. He comes to revive your heart. Bible scholar Alec Motyer writes, “Without repentance there is no entering into the comforts of salvation, and only God can sovereignly create the ability to repent… There is nothing in the whole of salvation that is not God’s sole, creative work, not even the words of sorrow by which the penitent comes home.” Ask God to restore and renew your faith in His mercy, so that you may have the courage to repent and return to Him.

“Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him.” Isaiah 57:17–18 How does God make a stubborn heart contrite? The stubborn heart is not changed by judgement; it is changed by mercy. Notice, God is provoked by “the iniquity of… unjust gain.” He is angry. He strikes in punishment. He hides His face. And what was the effect of all this? God’s people “went on backsliding.” God’s judgement makes the sinful heart harder. It makes the sinner hate God more. That’s why, at the end of the Bible when God’s judgements are poured out, you don’t find sinners in hell repenting, but continuing to resist God (see Rev. 6:15–16). Judgment cannot make a sinful heart contrite before God. The sinner would rather die than repent. So how does God change a stubborn heart? He says: “I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry… I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him” (Isa. 57:16, 18). It is as if God is saying, “I poured out my judgments on these people. But it made no difference. They did not turn to me. They just kept pursuing their same wilful ways. But I want to heal them. Therefore, I will stop punishing them, and I will show them mercy.” That is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. God’s law condemns, but His love redeems. When have someone’s judgmental words made your heart more resistant? When have someone’s merciful words changed your heart?

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.” Ezekiel 36:26–27 We need to pray for repentance. But you may be asking, “Isn’t repentance something God tells us to do?” In other words: Is repentance something God commands, or is it something He gives? Repentance is a command. God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). But repentance is also a gift. In Acts 11:18, we read that “to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” In 2 Timothy 2:25, Paul says that we must gently instruct those who oppose us in the hope that “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” God grants repentance, so you can ask God to give you a contrite heart. You can ask Him to change your heart. You can cry out to Him “Lord, restore repentance!” This is the promise of the gospel: God will give you a new heart (Ezek. 36:26–27). That’s why we can pray for God to restore repentance. In this prayer, you are asking God to change your stubborn heart. You are asking God, “Pour out your Spirit on me. Cause me to hate what You hate and love what you love. I can’t get there on my own.” Knowing that repentance is both a command and a gift from God, how might this change the way you pray?

You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Isaiah 57:10 Isaiah is describing the stubborn heart. If you are battling an addiction, or you love someone who is, you know exactly what Isaiah is talking about here. You know this is killing you, but you still do it. The sinner gets tired and wearied of his sin but he will not give it up. He finds strength and energy to repeat the same destructive behaviour again and again. Sin is a great mystery. It makes no sense. Why would you do again something that made you miserable the last time you did it? The stubborn heart is never contrite. The stubborn heart says, “I know this is killing me, but I am going to do it anyway.” Let’s not limit this to addictions: You can have a stubborn heart even when you are studying the Bible or you are at bible college. Jesus said to the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures… yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40). That’s a stubborn heart! The problem that alienates you from God is not on God’s side. The roadblock that stands in the way of God coming to us is the stubbornness of our own hearts. Is there a sin you are tired and weary of, but you won’t give it up? Will you ask God to soften your stubborn heart?

“Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.” Isaiah 57:17 The natural inclination of the human heart is not to come to God, but to hide from Him. That goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where you find God coming into the garden to enjoy fellowship with Eve and with Adam. And where are they? Hiding among the trees. Why? Because they are ashamed (Gen. 3:8). We like to think of ourselves as sincere seekers after God. But the truth is that by nature, we hide from God even when we pretend to be seeking Him. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom. 3:10–11). Some of us were brought up with teaching that focused on having a contrite heart. It sounded easy: If you want to draw near to God, all you have to do is have a contrite heart. You’ve got to be sorry, really sorry for your sins. You’ve got to hate your sins and love Jesus. The message sounded easy, but the reality was harder. You found that you loved yourself more than you loved God. Your love for sin was stronger than you thought. You found that even when you were sorry, you went back and did the same things again. You found that your own heart was more stubborn than you thought. Repentance is easy for those who haven’t tried it! Where have you seen signs that the inclination of your heart is to hide from God, even while pretending to seek Him?

“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15 Look at what God is saying and try to take it in: “I dwell… with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (57:15). God dwells with the person who is contrite. Contrite means “penitent,” humbled by our own sins and failures, seeking after God. God says, “When I see a person with a contrite spirit, I will choose him or her as my friend. I will stay with that person. I will live with that person. I make my home in that person’s life.” Now notice what God does when He comes to this person: “I dwell… to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” When God comes to the contrite, He revives the spirit. He breathes new life into the heart. Revival in the Bible isn’t a series of meetings with a travelling evangelist; it is God coming to a contrite heart. It is God’s life, God’s Spirit being poured into you, bringing you new life and peace and hope and joy. Do you feel your need for God to revive your heart and restore your soul?

“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.” Isaiah 57:15 In the year 722 BC, right in the middle of Isaiah’s ministry, the northern kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army. The people were deported, forcibly relocated to foreign lands, and they would never see Jerusalem again. Then 150 years later, something even worse happened. The Babylonian army marched against the southern kingdom and destroyed the Holy City. The ark of the covenant was lost and has never been found. Jerusalem lay in ruins for 70 years, with God’s people reduced to a small group of refugees living in Babylon. Try to put yourself in their shoes: You know God lives in heaven, but you can’t go to meet Him there. You know that God has promised to meet with His people in Jerusalem, but the city is destroyed; you can’t meet Him there. So what hope is there for finding God when his Holy City is destroyed, the temple is in ruins and the ark of the covenant is lost? Then you hear the words of the prophet Isaiah: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit’” (57:15). This is mind-blowing stuff for these deported people who are miles from Jerusalem and feeling far from God. And it is mind-blowing stuff for all of us who feel far from God today. Do you feel far from God today?

Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place…” Isaiah 57:15 God is present everywhere-but where can you find Him? One place is in heaven: God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place." If you could ascend to heaven, you would find God there. God’s people in Old Testament times knew another place where they could find God. When they came out of Egypt, He told them to build an ark—a rectangular box housed in a tent, where the high priest would offer sacrifices. God said, “There I will meet with you” (Ex. 25:22), and the cloud of God's glory filled the tent (40:34-35). When God’s people entered the promised land, God made it very clear that He would choose one place where He would meet with His people (Deut. 12:5–7). It was David who identified Jerusalem as the place God had spoken about. And when the temple was built in Jerusalem, the cloud of God's glory filled it (1 Kgs. 8:10-11). We don't meet with God at the place of our choosing, but at the place of His choosing. You may be feeling far from God and it may be that the reason you feel far from God is that you are far from God. In Isaiah 57, God is speaking to people who are far from Him (57:19), and He talks about removing “every obstruction” out of their way (57:14). God is clearing the roadblocks so that you can get to Him—or better, so that He can get to you. Is there something keeping you at a distance from God?

“Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live… Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:2–3, 7 The people who go out in joy and are led forth in peace (55:12) are those who develop the habit of hearing God’s Word and receiving it with faith and repentance. Isaiah has a wonderful promise from God about what His Word will do in your life: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth… so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (55:10-11). This is one reason why it is so important for you to be in a church where you hear the Word of God applied to your life every week. This is how God speaks into your life. Over time, His Word will accomplish His purpose in you. This is also why any ministry that wants to bear lasting fruit must have the Word of God at its centre. God accomplishes His purpose through His Word. You might accomplish your purpose without the Word, but you cannot accomplish His purpose without the Word. Listen to the Word of God and return to Him. This is a way of life, but it can begin for you today. Are you in the regular habit of listening to God’s Word? Are you listening to it diligently—with faith and repentance?

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price… Seek the LORD while he may be found.” Isaiah 55:1, 6 Seven hundred years after Isaiah, our Lord Jesus took up these words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). This is something for you to do. How can you cultivate your joy in Jesus? You come to Him. It begins with believing, but it does not end there. Because you believe, you come. Ask, seek, knock—and you will receive. First, ask God to give you new joy in His people. Ask Him to forgive you for moaning and complaining and fault finding with His people. Ask Him to forgive you for loving the politics of the church more than the people of the church. Ask Him to give you eyes to see His redeeming work in the lives of other people and to rejoice in this. Second, ask God to give you new joy in His love. This is how David prayed when he longed for God to restore his soul: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Ps. 51:12). Third, ask God to give you new joy in His city. Ask Him to help you to see beyond the disappointments of your life right now. Remember that while there is a future that you don’t know in your city, there is a future that you do know in God’s city. Ask the Lord to give you joy in His city, and you will find that your joy grows in your city. Will you ask the Lord for new joy in His people, in His love, and in His city today?

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” Isaiah 55:1 The ones who find joy in God are the people who have discovered a deep thirst in their own souls: “Come, everyone who thirsts” (55:1), and those who feel that they are bankrupt: “Come… he who has no money” (55:1). They realise they don’t have what it takes to get what they need. You can’t ask God to restore your soul until you know that your soul needs restoring. That’s why the barren woman, the deserted wife and the folks in the ruined city discover this joy. The woman with children, the happily married couple and the successful business person in the city often do not seek it. Their lives are so full that they never ask: What are children for? What is marriage for? What is the city for? Is there a higher purpose, a greater joy? The default mode of the human heart is to seek joy in children, in marriage and in money. The Bible has a name for this: it is called idolatry and idolatry always fails. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:3–4, 6). When you know your soul needs restoring, you will ask God to restore your soul. This is why sorrow is often the back door to joy. Have you discovered a deep thirst in your soul for greater joy in Christ?

"O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.” Isaiah 54:11–12 The ruined city is being rebuilt, not with brick and mortar, but with sapphires and precious stones. John takes up this theme of the city built with precious stones in Revelation 21—making it clear that Isaiah is talking about the New Jerusalem, the home of righteousness: “In righteousness you shall be established” (Isa. 54:14). Those who have endured such sorrow in Isaiah 54 find joy in God’s people, in God’s love and in God’s city. The fullness of this joy will be ours when Jesus Christ comes in power and glory. But in Christ, the beginning of this joy is yours already. You don’t have to be a barren woman or a deserted wife or live in a ruined city to experience this joy. Some single people have this joy and some single people do not. There are married people who have this joy and married people who don’t. There are businesspeople who have this joy and business people who don’t. Some poor people have this joy, while other poor people do not. Don’t wait for a disaster in your life to pursue this joy. Joy in Jesus Christ frees you to savour all other joys, and it strengthens you to face all other sorrows. What excuses have you been making for not having joy? Will you renew your pursuit of joy in Jesus Christ today?

“You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12 You might expect that the barren woman, the deserted wife and the people who live in the ruined city are the unhappiest people in the world. But Isaiah sees joy in these unlikely places. The barren woman is singing! The abandoned wife knows that she is loved. The ruined city is rebuilt, not with brick and mortar, but with rubies, sapphires, and precious stones. God says to these people: “You shall go out in joy” (55:12). But how can these people, who have known such great sorrow, ever find joy? The barren woman is singing because she is surrounded by a community of people who love her like their own mother, and she finds joy in them as if they were her own children: “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labour! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married” (54:1). The barren woman finds joy in God's people. The deserted wife, who has gone through such emotional trauma, has become confident. She has dignity, is not ashamed and knows that she is loved. God says to her, “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more” (54:4). How? “For your Maker is your husband” (54:5). This deserted woman finds joy in God's love. How have you found joy in God’s love or His people in your sorrow?

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord. Isaiah 54:10 Isaiah 54 paints three scenes of sorrow in verses 1, 6, and 11. The choice of these scenes is significant because our natural inclination is to seek happiness in three places: children, marriage and money. 1. The barren woman: “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud!” (Isa. 54:1). In the ancient world, the key to survival was to have children—lots of them. Sons and daughters worked your land and cared for you when you were old. Without them the barren woman faced loneliness and poverty. 2. The deserted wife: “A wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off” (54:6). Maybe you know what this is like. You married young. It seemed that things would work out well, but it wasn’t long before he lost interest in you. All your dreams of joy were shattered. You felt that your life was over. 3. The ruined city: "O afflicted [city], storm-tossed and not comforted” (54:11). What a picture this is for those who have lost their property or their possessions. One writer translates Isaiah’s words as “a tempest-driven city.” That’s the world in which many of us live. Maybe you are living under relentless pressures and they are draining your soul. Our pride, our joy, our happiness and our security get wrapped up in the children we raise, the person we marry, and the possessions we have. So, if your children go off the rails, or your marriage is on the rocks, or your career is in ruins, you feel that your life is a total loss. Which of these pictures do you most identify with today? Why?

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. Hebrews 12:2 The desire for joy is universal. One thing that unites us all is that we want to be happy. The famous mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal said, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both... [Happiness] is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” Our desire for joy is never more intense than when we experience sorrow. Some of us carry great burdens, absorb great pressures, endure great disappointments, experience great struggles and live with great sorrows. Over time, this fatigues the body and drains the soul, so when you experience sorrow you need to know this—God is for your joy. You may say, “If it is true that God is for my joy, then you’d better give me a good reason to believe it.” The cross is your reason to believe it. Jesus carried your sorrows for the joy set before Him and so that there would be a joy set before you. If you believe that the Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you, you know that God is totally for you; and if God is totally for you, it must follow that He is for your joy. In fact, God is more for your joy than you are. Do you think God wants you to be happy? Why or why not?

“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Genesis 45:4-5 If you look at the story of Joseph through the frame of unbelief, it is a catalogue of disasters: 1. He was born into a dysfunctional family, where his brothers beat him up and sold him into human trafficking. 2.His sexual integrity caused him to lose his job and spend years in prison, after his boss’s wife (who tried to seduce him) made false accusations against him. 3. He reached out to help a fellow prisoner, only to find that when the man was released, he forgot about Joseph and did nothing to help him. You read the story and think, this man will be totally messed up, bitter and dysfunctional. But when Joseph is finally reunited with his brothers, he says, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (50:20). That’s the transforming power of the gospel. One of the most amazing effects of the gospel is that your life story looks entirely different when you know that your life is in the Redeemer’s hands. It is the story of God’s love and kindness reaching into your pain and sorrow, your sin and rebellion and redeeming your life for His eternal glory and your eternal joy. Do you want to see revival in your life? Preach the gospel to yourself every day. Tell yourself who you are in Christ. Tell yourself what He has done for you. Nourish your soul on this truth. Bathe yourself in the healing stream of Christ’s love for you. Are you actively rejecting the unbelief that says God is absent and hostile and doesn’t care?

They still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” John 12:37-38 When a picture is put in a new frame, that same picture can look entirely different. Before it was placed in the new frame, you barely noticed it hanging on the wall, but now it draws your eye and becomes a very attractive feature. Many people view their lives in the old frame called unbelief. Unbelief is the default mode of the human heart. In this frame, your life looks like a series of events from which God is largely absent. Many Christians profess faith but live in unbelief. You feel that God watches passively from a distance and that He is either unable or unwilling to do anything about your illness, your family, your broken heart. If you look at your life in that frame, you will live in constant confusion, doubt and fear. Now suppose you were to believe Isaiah’s message—that is, you really believe this message of the gospel. Your life would be in a new frame called faith. Faith is the cross-centered conviction that God is always up to something good. You see suffering, pain and death. You hear evil, abuse and injustice. You feel loneliness, heartache and disappointment. But the Son of God loves you and gave Himself for you and that outweighs everything else. God stepped into this world of grief and sorrow so that you would not be abandoned in it or to it. The picture of your life would look very different in that frame. The same life always looks different when you know that life is in the Redeemer’s hands. How might you begin to reset your life in the frame of faith instead of unbelief?

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 42:5-6 The psalmist models for us what it looks like to address our own souls. Notice, he does not simply listen to his own feelings and thoughts, he speaks to himself. He asks himself questions, and he encourages himself with reasons to hope in God. Every day, you have to reset your soul to embrace, believe, live on and rejoice in all that Jesus Christ has done for you. Milton Vincent puts it this way: "Preach the gospel to yourself every day". Tell yourself who you are in Christ. Tell yourself what Christ has done for you on the cross. Tell yourself how He is with you now. Tell yourself what lies ahead of you. Make sure it is the gospel you are preaching to yourself, not the law! Some of us are in the habit of preaching the law to ourselves every day. That will drain the life out of your soul. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). Christians sometimes talk about spiritual disciplines— reading the Bible, praying, etc. But we should put this discipline at the top of the list: preach the gospel to yourself every day. The Christian life is a life of faith. Faith lays hold of all that Christ has accomplished on the cross, so nourishing this faith is priority number one for a healthy Christian life. Preach the gospel to yourself every day and your soul will be strengthened, lifted, restored and renewed. Are you daily laying hold of all that Christ accomplished on the cross?

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? Isaiah 53:1 Who believes the gospel message? That is Isaiah’s question: “Who has believed what he has heard from us?” He’s asking God’s people, those who are known by God’s name. Then he asks a second question: “To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Who gets it? Who gets the life- changing power of what God has done in Jesus Christ? You may say, “I do. We do. It’s in our statement of faith. We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.” Really? Would you say that you have lived this week in the conscious knowledge that the Son of God loves you and gave Himself for you? Knowing this subconsciously won’t change your life. Signing off on a statement of faith won’t restore your soul. In his short book, A Gospel Primer for Christians, Milton Vincent says that many Christians make the costly mistake of viewing the gospel as “something that has fully served out its purpose the moment they believed in Jesus for salvation.” Milton says: “The gospel is so foolish (according to my natural wisdom), so scandalous (according to my conscience), and so incredible (according to my timid heart), that it is a daily battle to believe the full scope of it as I should.” Ask yourself: Whatever I may say I believe, am I living—daily—out of a conscious knowledge of the love of Jesus for me?

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. Isaiah 53:11 You are an eternal being. And if you have faith in Jesus Christ, the suffering you know in this world is the only suffering you will ever know in your entire life. Think about your eternity. What part is 10, 20, or 30 years in the light of eternity? Isaiah is telling us that what Jesus did on the cross, He did freely and gladly; counting the joy of your redemption greater than the pain of His suffering. The risen Lord already knows that He will look out over a vast company of redeemed people that no one can number. He already knows all of us by name. Already He walks with us and rejoices over us, as He will for eternity. Already He sees us—forgiven for our sins, healed from our wounds, brought out of our sorrows and into His everlasting joy. Jesus counts His own joy in us greater than all the pain of His suffering. And He lives to bring us into that joy. This means you are more loved than you ever dared to dream. It’s almost frightening to think of being loved that much. This love—the love of the Saviour who offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, substituting Himself under the piercing, crushing, chastising and wounding that belonged to us on account of our sins, so that we might have peace and healing as we are redeemed from our suffering-this love, this sacrifice, this Jesus, is your salvation. Reflect on the anguish of Christ’s suffering and the weight of this eternal redemption He has paid out of His love for you.