Topic: Perspectives from Above
Key Verse: I will not yield my glory to another. – Isaiah 48:11
Today’s Scripture
Isaiah 48:5–11,17(NIV)
Bible in a Year: Ezra 1–2, John 19:23–42
Insight
Isaiah, prophet to the people of Judah from 740–685 bc, warned that God would discipline them for their idolatrous unfaithfulness. He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple and their seventy-year exile in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6–7; also Jeremiah 25:11) some 100 years before it happened. Isaiah also prophesied that God would bring His people back, restore them, and bless them. In Isaiah 48, Isaiah emphasized that whatever God purposed, He would bring to pass (vv. 3–6). This promise of return and restoration was not because they were deserving, but “for [his] own name’s sake” (vv. 8–9). God’s intention was to refine them, not to destroy them completely. And as the covenant-keeping God, He wouldn’t renege on His promise of restoration and thus defame His reputation (vv. 9–11).
Our Daily Bread Devotional 11th June 2020 Message
When Peter Welch was a young boy in the 1970s, using a metal detector was only a hobby. But since 1990, he’s been leading people from around the world on metal-detecting excursions. They’ve made thousands of discoveries—swords, ancient jewelry, coins. Using “Google Earth,” a computer program based on satellite imagery, they look for patterns in the landscape on farmland in the United Kingdom. It shows them where roads, buildings, and other structures may have been centuries ago. Peter says, “To have a perspective from above opens a whole new world.”
God’s people in Isaiah’s day needed “a perspective from above.” They prided themselves on being His people yet were disobedient and refused to give up their idols. God had another perspective. Despite their rebellion, He would rescue them from captivity to Babylon. Why? “For my own sake, . . . I will not yield my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). God’s perspective from above is that life is for His glory and purpose—not ours. Our attention is to be given to Him and His plans and to pointing others to praise Him too.
Having God’s glory as our own life’s perspective opens a whole new world. Only He knows what we will discover about Him and what He has for us. God will teach us what is good for us and lead us along the paths we should follow (v. 17).
Reflect & Pray
What can you praise God for today? How might you go about having God increase in your life and you decrease?
God, I want my life to be about You and not myself. Teach me and change me.
To learn about obtaining a biblical worldview, visit bit.ly/2lBDstL.
Anne Cetas became a follower of Jesus in her late teens. She was given a copy of Our Daily Bread by a friend to help her read the Bible consistently and also studied the Discovery Series topical booklets. Several years later, she joined the editorial staff of Our Daily Bread as a proofreader. Anne began writing for the devotional booklet in 2004 and is senior content editor of the publication. Anne and her husband, Carl, enjoy walking and bicycling together, and serving in the nursery and refugee ministries at their church.
