Daily Devotional For Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Good morning and good day Southside! Our daily devotional reading for today comes from Isaiah 8:12-13:
“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. (13) Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear.” (NLT).
The context of these verses is the Lord has finally had it with Israel, their rebellion and idolatry. God has raised up the Assyrian Army to come and destroy Syria and Israel. Though God warned Israel through His prophets, Israel stubbornly refused to heed God’s warning. The destruction will be horrible. God was using Isaiah to tell the people that when this happened, not to resort to being paranoia, but to see God’s hand in this.
This is hard for us to do because it requires us putting out trust in God as well as the means by which His will and in this case punishment come. How do you trust hostile powers and your enemy, even if this is by the hand of God? A lot of people today, even “Christian” people no longer fear discipline from the Lord. Many preachers will use the fear of discipline from the Lord as a means to guilt their congregations into obedience. But obedience is more of the heart, than the actions. We can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. And we can do all the wrong things for the right reasons.
Many Christians are not afraid of sinning; they are afraid of hell and burning. We are creatures of habit and often we get conflicted between competing choices of good and evil. True faith is not thinking I have to choose. True faith is I have already chosen to honor Christ with my life because we are no longer conflicted between divided loyalties. So Israel in this passage decided to join forces with Syria to fight against Assyria. Like us when we do this, it will do them no good. They get no additional protection or benefit from it other than their own self-delusion.
The main question this context of this text asks is this: “If I put my trust in God, even with the means of His discipline, will He still save me, rescue me and redeem me?” Judah’s king, King Ahaz, felt the answer was “NO.” So, he attempts to plot and plan his own means of salvation from the Assyrians rather than trusting the Lord. What these idolatrous kings of Israel and Judah will see happen in the future, is God’s grace will come to God’s people.
The truth is we all are more like King Ahaz, we do not trust the Lord all that much. We rarely live committed to Him because we do not fear Him. We make God one of us and thus we have no respect, obedience, honor and gratitude towards Him. We see God as a means to an end – and that end is our desires, our will and our wants. The people in Isaiah’s day were no different. You would think after reading Scripture we would learn, but we don’t.
Reflection Assignment: Where in your life are you willing to trust God completely? Where in your life, like King Ahaz, are you using manipulation to get what you want rather than just trusting God? When in your life did God discipline you and do you trust Him for it? Why or why not? What is the next step you should take in trust with the Lord?
Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, trust is hard for me but what is even harder is going life alone without You. Help me to depend on You, not in myself or in others, no matter what. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly