In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
--Isaiah 6:1
I’d like for you to think with me a moment about the glorious position of our holy God.
In today’s verse, Isaiah describes his vision of God when he saw the Lord sitting on the throne of the universe.
Now, Isaiah and the rest of the Israelites were deeply troubled because their earthly king, King Uzziah, was dead. They were grieved…and they were concerned about the future. Yet when Isaiah entered into the presence of the Lord, he realized that there was a greater One than any earthly king sitting upon the throne of the universe. His name is holy God, the Lord of Hosts!
Like the Israelites, it’s easy to worry about the future…and wonder what’s gone wrong and what will happen next in our world.
But as believers in the Lord Jesus, we don’t have to wonder! We don’t have to wring our hands worrying, because we know that our God is sitting on the throne of the universe. Remember that there is no panic in heaven…only plans. God never walks up and down the streets of heaven wringing His hands wondering about what He’s going to do next.
So no matter what’s going on in your world today…no matter how out-of-control things may seem…remember that God is still on His throne!
Today, it’s my prayer that you will get your mind off the earthly and temporary and fix your eye of faith on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is gloriously reigning and ruling upon the throne of this universe!
There is no panic in heaven…only plans.
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
Luke 18:10–12
The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were experts in two things. They were diligent in following the traditions and customs and rules that they had added to the Word of God, especially in public. (Following the things the Bible actually said was somewhat optional.) And they were diligent in judging and condemning all those who did not measure up to their regulations. The irony is that though they had memorized the first five books of the Bible and at least outwardly tried to present themselves as complying with all that God had commanded, they completely missed the point. The root of their problem, as we so often find in our day, was in their pride. They were relying on their own efforts and righteousness to gain acceptance from God without realizing how far short of His perfection they fell.
When Paul wrote to the church at Rome, he described his anguish over the refusal of his Jewish brothers and sisters toward Christ. This especially grieved Paul since he himself had once been a Pharisee, persecuting the church and thinking he was pleasing God by doing so. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3).
The desire to make ourselves righteous is not new—it goes back to Cain bringing an offering of what he produced rather than an animal sacrifice. Without question the primary reason this approach is so appealing is that it feeds our pride to think that we can gain standing with God on our own.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Since our righteousness will never be good enough, we must rest in His righteousness and abandon our pride.
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