Today’s Reading: Isaiah 24: 1-23, 25:1-9, 26:1-21, 27:1, 32:1-8, 35:1-10

Isaiah tells of last days – this a topic not many of us think on too often. Our lives seem to fill with all the immediate details that clamor for our attention. But as I read the passage it reminded me I need to take time to take stock of where I am:

1. Do I attribute all that I have achieved in life to what God has done or my own accomplishments?
   “all that we have accomplished you have done for us”
2. What am I investing my life in and to who’s benefit?
   “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts”
3. Life will always present us with challenges and trials but because of who God is we can always find peace despite our circumstances.
   “you will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you”

The end of times is often seen as a time of doom and dreadful punishment. But as I read I was reminded it is also a time of GREAT HOPE! Not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who God is and what He promises to do.

1. We have hope of seeing our loved ones that have crossed over before us:
   “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.”
2. It is a time where God comes to set everything to right again.
   “Be strong , do not fear, your God will come , he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you”
3. In that day, we will clearly see that the only way to stand before a just and righteous God, is by what He has done for us!
   “But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return”