Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 29:17-24.

“17 Is it not yet just a little while
Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;
21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;
23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 “Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize will accept instruction.”  Isaiah 29:17-24.

————————–

Thus, there is hope!

Wait for the LORD!

“20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.”  Psalm 33:20-22.

“The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”  Psalm 147:11.

“And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:9.

“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him;  But the righteous will live by his faith.”  Habakkuk 2:4.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;  as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16-17.

“36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

37 For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”  Hebrews 10:36-39.

“7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.”  Micah 7:7-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 29:1-16.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+29&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“Woe, O Ariel (Jerusalem), Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 I will camp against you encircling you,
And I will set siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.

..

13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”  Isaiah 29:1-3 and 13-16.

———————–

Other doctrine resists and rebels against God’s sovereignty.
 
We see it again in today’s Scripture.

“You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”  Verse 16.

And, we see it also elsewhere in Scripture.

“2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”  Psalm 2:2-3.

“9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”  Isaiah 45:9-10.

“You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?  For who resists His will?”  On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?  The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”  Romans 9:19-21.

But, God does not loosen His grip;  God laughs and scoffs at them and then will terrify them in His fury.

“4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”  Psalm 2:4-6.

But, for Reformed Doctrine which joyfully embraces God’s sovereignty and seeks out God’s will, wisdom, and works:
 
“11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:

“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
12 “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands
And I ordained all their host.
13 “I have aroused him in righteousness
And I will make all his ways smooth;
He will build My city and will let My exiles go free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.”  Isaiah 45:11-13.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:23-29.

“23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?                                                                                                                                                                 Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cummin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.”  Isaiah 28:23-29.

————————–

There is a difficult part of this Scripture to understand, and there is an easy part of this Scripture to understand.  But it is all wonderful and great.

“This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.”  Verse 29.

And, there is hope that the LORD will help us understand.

“For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”  Verse 26.

The difficult part of this Scripture is the farmer analogies such as the following verse on which we will meditate.

“Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.”  Verse 28.

As we meditate on this difficult part to understand, we check out the definition of “thresh”.

“Thresh” is defined by The Free Dictionary as “To beat the stems and husks of (grain or cereal plants) with a machine or flail to separate the grains or seeds from the straw.”  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/thresh

And, we consider the context of this Scripture.  What is one of the themes of the Book of Isaiah?

God punished the nation of Israel using nations like Assyria and Babylon as His tools.  But, God did not totally destroy Israel.  God saved a remnant.

“For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return;  A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”  Isaiah 10:22.

Putting these meditations together, God threshed Israel.  But, God did not thresh Israel forever so as to totally destroy all of Israel.  God threshed Israel just long enough to separate that part of Israel which would be destroyed (the straw) from that remnant of Israel that would be saved (the grain).

The easy part of this Scripture is the general statement that God instructs and teaches His people.

“For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”  Verse 26.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”  Psalm 32:8.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:14-22.

“14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”  Isaiah 28:14-22.

————————-

There scoffers, and there are deceivers.  But, their will is bound, and their work is destroyed by the Almighty Sovereign LORD Who does His extraordinary work.

“21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”  Verses 21 and 22.

“16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.” Verses 16 and 17.

Other doctrine falsely and futilely focuses on man, man’s alleged free-will, and man’s works.

But, Reformed Doctrine summarizes Scripture and teaches about God, God’s will, and God’s work.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 28:1-13.

“Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent;
As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley,
Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which one sees,
And as soon as it is in his hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while having visions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.

9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?

10 “For He says,
‘Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”  Isaiah 28:1-13.

——————————–

Other doctrine treasures man.  It focuses on man, man’s alleged free-will, and man’s works.  It staggers and stumbles and is snared.

But, Reformed Doctrine treasures the LORD of hosts.  It focuses on God, God’s will, and God’s works.  It is saved.

“In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;”  Verse 5.

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2.

“I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  Psalm 52:9.

“And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 27.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+27&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“² In that day,
“A vineyard of wine, sing of it!
³ “I, the Lord, am its keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
⁴ “I have no wrath.
Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
⁵ “Or let him rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
⁶ In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.”  Isaiah 27:2-6.

————————–

We sing for joy that the LORD is the keeper of the vineyard and takes such good care of it.  We sing for joy at the fruitfulness of God’s vineyard.

“In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.”  Verse 6.

“And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”  Isaiah 58:11.

“¹² The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  Psalm 92:12-15.

“² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:2-3.

“⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:7-8.

“⁸ But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
⁹ I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  Psalm 52:8-9.

“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”  Matthew 7:17-18.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control;  against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 26:11-21.

“11 O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.
12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
14 The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They could only whisper a prayer,
Your chastening was upon them.
17 As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
Thus were we before You, O Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.
21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.”  Isaiah 26:11-21.

——————

Other doctrine teaches that God loves everybody and that Christ died for everybody.

But, we see from today’s Scripture the sharp contrast in how God deals with His enemies and how He deals with His people.

“…  Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.”  Verse 11.

But, for His people:

“Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.”  Verse 12.

For His enemies:

“…  Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.”  Verse 14.

“For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.”  Verse 21.

But, for His people:

“Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.”  Verse 20.

Other doctrine and the world teach that everyone is equal and treated alike by God, but don’t believe it!

Reformed Doctrine teaches the sharp contrast between how God deals with the elect (His people, the righteous) and how He deals with the non-elect (His enemies, the wicked). 

“You are my hiding place;  You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.  Selah.”  Psalm 32:7.

“5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.”  Psalm 91:5-11.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;  you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  1 Peter 2:9-10.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 26:1-10.

“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful.
3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
4 “Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
5 “For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6 “The foot will trample it,
The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

7 The way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
8 Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited for You eagerly;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.
9 At night my soul longs for You,
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For when the earth experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.”  Isaiah 26:1-10.

——————-

“Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.”  Verse 4.

Those who trust in themselves have reason to worry.

“Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.”  Verse 10.

But, those who trust in the LORD, even though they may experience trials and tribulations, will be kept in perfect peace by the LORD and learn righteousness.

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.”  Verse 3.

“At night my soul longs for You,
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For when the earth experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”  Verse 9.

“For what does the Scripture say?  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Romans 4:3.

“… For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.”  Verse 4.

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.”  Isaiah 54:10.

“Then you will say on that day,
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;
For although You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away,
And You comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”
3 Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
5 Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”  Isaiah chapter 12.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 25.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+25&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have made a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4 For You have been a defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5 Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.

6 The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:1-9.

————————-

Other doctrine waits for what it will contribute to its own salvation.

But, consistent with verse 9, Reformed Doctrine waits for the LORD that He might save them.

Other doctrine teaches that God loves everybody and Christ died for everybody and the only distinction between the saved and the unsaved is that the saved contributed their own works or at least their own alleged free-will choice of Christ to save themselves.

Other doctrine boasts in themselves for what they contributed to save themselves.

But, Reformed Doctrine waits for the LORD to do everything necessary for salvation from the beginning to the end:   from the beginning of “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” to the end of “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

Reformed Doctrine boasts only in the LORD.  As stated below in verse 9, it is “His salvation”.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:30-31.

“And it will be said in that day,

Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Verse 9.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 24.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+24&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word.  4 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.  5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.  6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty.  Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

…

“17 Terror and pit and snare
Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit,
And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.
19 The earth is broken asunder,
The earth is split through,
The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard
And it totters like a shack,
For its transgression is heavy upon it,
And it will fall, never to rise again.
21 So it will happen in that day,
That the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on earth.
22 They will be gathered together
Like prisoners in the dungeon,
And will be confined in prison;
And after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.”  Isaiah 24:3-6 and 17-23.

————————-

“9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”  Isaiah 13:9-11.

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.”  Psalm 97:1-5.

Reformed Doctrine sees the theme of Scripture that the LORD reigns.  Reformed Doctrine embraces and joyfully proclaims the sovereignty of God over all people and all things.

Other doctrine resists and rebels and clings to its imagined and desired free-will.  But, God laughs at them and does not loosen His tight grip. 

“2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”  Psalm 2:2-12.