Daily Devotional For Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Good morning Southside. Can you believe we are on the last day of June already? Time is flying. Our daily devotional for today is from Isaiah 14:1-2:
“But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as His special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel. (2 ) The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the LORD’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies” (NLT).
Now some have taken this passage and say it refers to 1947 when Israel became a nation again after WWII. This is highly unlikely because the context of this passage is how God used Babylon to destroy Judah. Some scholars think prophecies of 1947 can be found in Amos 9:14-1, Ezekiel 36:24 and in Ezekiel 37:1-14.. Nebuchadnezzar on 3 campaigns, 606 BC, 598 BC and 586 BC sifted Judah like wheat. He totally destroyed Solmon’s Temple and the wall around Jerusalem. He carried thousands to live as exiles and die in Babylon. There was nothing left. Jerusalem looked like Hiroshima when we dropped the first atomic bomb on it. This exile would last for 70 years.
The nature of this prophecy is in reference to when Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC under Cyrus the Great. In 537 BC, he allowed Jews to return how to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem under Nehemiah and for the Old Testament Law to be taught by Ezra. He even funded this work project. You have to remember that 70 years have gone by and several generations have died. Those returning have no emotional connection to Judah and Jerusalem. This will be an issue Nehemiah and Ezra will have to confront in motivating the people to rebuild the wall and finishing the wall.
This is the problem of our own country today. Those younger than baby boomers have no appreciation for the Greatest Generation who saved the world from Nazi Germany and communism. They have been spoiled with everything by their parents, technology, science, medicine and a global culture. And as a result, they see big corporations and capitalism as the problems.
If we would just take all the wealth from the rich and equally distribute it around the world, we would eliminate so many problems through socialism and communism. History has shown that the only ones who benefit from socialism and communism are those at the top of those tiers (ex. Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Xi, Castro). The leaders who start it, secure their place of power, wealth, and control. To those who oppose, their fate is not so good: impoverishment, imprisonment and even death for those who oppose them.
Joseph Stalin killed between 6-9 million to ensure his reign of terror. Lenin killed between 3.7-10 million. It is estimated that Mao killed between 40-80 million. I wouldn’t call this a utopia.That’s socialism and communism for you at its best, folks. That is what I fear in America with socialism becoming popular among the young. Our country is blindly electing socialists into political positions of power as we sit back and watch democracy die.
Such people have deceived themselves into thinking we can have some kind of utopia or heaven on earth now with socialism or communism. That is sadly unrealistic because of sin. There will always be people, politicians, celebrities, governments, sects, groups, leaders and militaries that want their way enforced on others regardless of the cost. Until the sin problem is rectified, then all of us will be facing threats from all sides. And this is not the only threat. We have spiritual threats from the devil and his demons (Eph. 6:10-18).
Reflection Assignment: In what areas of your life has sin captured you? Be honest with yourself and with God. God wants to free you from it. The question is: do you want to be finally free from it? This may mean you have to sever relationships that are influencing you in these sins. Are you willing to do that? It may mean you need an accountability partner. Are you willing to get one? How far are you willing to go to be free and protected?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 10:13, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please help me to see Your escapes from sin so that I do not sin against you and lead others to sin. Help me to depend on others as a means to have a united front to keep myself holy, godly and righteous. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!-- Pastor Kelly