 |
|
 |
St. Paul School of Leadership & Discipleship Lesson 213 - GOD HAS NO COMPETITION (God's Plan and Promises for You from the Book of Isaiah)
"That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:6 Idolatry reigned supreme! Men worshipped sticks and stones and dead mens' bones. Each people group had its own set of gods that it followed - not knowing that holding the strings of all the puppet gods was the master puppeteer - Satan himself. Then God - the one true and living God - spoke to Israel at Sinai. They would have no other gods and they would witness to all nations that only the Creator - Jehovah Himself - was to be feared and revered! The fullness of this truth was revealed in the Messiah who came in the flesh as the Way, the Truth and the Life. And the Great Commission was not a soft suggestion but a solemn command: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Today's world is like yesterday's - corrupt and filled with the chorus of "Every person to his/her own god, own choice, own life-style." That's why we who know the Lord will not be popular and must be prepared to suffer when we declare: "There is only one God, one Savior and one way. The answer is not in Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or any other man or supposed deity. Thus saith the Lord!" That's what the awesome God of heaven is declaring in today's verse. He uses the word "none" twice to seal our attention. From east to west - that's our planet - "there is none beside me." We are to tremble when we hear Him say, 'I am the Lord, and there is none else." And we are to take that message to every nation on earth. Unless that is our passion, our belief-system is only another "religion" called "Christianity" but empty of God's presence and power! My prayer: "Open my eyes to the lostness of humanity without Christ the Messiah. Give me a vision, oh my Lord, to want to see all nations reached." "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
Related Articles · More Articles Jesus said many would come in His name and deceive the hearts of the simple, sinful and proud. Eastern mysticism and meditation is a big thing in the gullible West. And one day a “world leader” will appear on the scene with the persuasion of a god and the heart of a devil. Jesus warns His children to know the Scriptures, live in obedience to the Father’s will, and stay alert to the signs of the times. They laugh no more. Now God’s description of how He will destroy the old earth and create a
new one makes perfect sense. The splitting of the atom turned many skeptics into believers.
After all, look what man himself is capable of doing with the atom and hydrogen bombs. Now
the fear is that nuclear weapons are being placed in the hands of madmen who wish to annihilate
their enemies. God has blessed man with incredible genius. We stand in awe as we watch men and women in a room full of computers and high-tech instruments guiding and landing spacecraft on distant planets. At that moment, we appear invincible. But then a mammoth tornado comes—or a terrifying hurricane—or rains that flood whole regions and never listen to our shouts to “Stop!”—or the shake that removes from under our feet any confidence or pride we carry, and leaves us numb with hardly enough breath to even utter the paralyzing word “EARTHQUAKE!”. And man is helpless in the face of it all! |
