OUR DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries
JANUARY 10, 2023
READ: Isaiah 43 (Focus vs. 1–7)
MEMORY VERSE
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 43:1
BACKGROUND
As part of a sermon illustration, I walked toward the beautiful painting an artist had been creating on the platform and made a dark streak across the middle of it. The congregation gasped in horror. The artist simply stood by and watched as I defaced what she’d created.
Then, selecting a new brush, she lovingly transformed the ruined painting into an exquisite work of art.
Her restorative work reminds me of the work God can perform in our lives when we’ve made a mess of them.
The prophet Isaiah rebuked the people of Israel for their spiritual blindness and deafness (Isaiah 42:18–19), but then he proclaimed the hope of God’s deliverance and redemption: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you” (43:1).
He can do the same for us. Even after we’ve sinned, if we confess our sins and turn to God, He forgives and restores us (vv. 5–7; see 1 John 1:9). We can’t bring beauty out of the mess, but Jesus can.
The good news of the gospel is that He has redeemed us by His blood. The book of Revelation assures us that in the end, Christ will dry our tears, redeem our past, and make all things new (Revelation 21:4–5).
We have a limited vision of our story. But God who knows us “by name” (Isaiah 43:1) will make our lives more beautiful than we could ever imagine. If you’ve been redeemed by faith in Jesus, your story, like the painting, has a glorious ending.
By: Glenn Packiam
INSIGHT
Isaiah 43 is a great promise of God’s rescue and redemption of Israel, but it must be seen in the context of what precedes it. Notice Isaiah 42:25: “So [God] poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.” Though God had disciplined His people for their spiritual waywardness, His promised rescue is a reminder of His surpassing love for them—even though they’d turned from Him.
Like Hosea with Gomer (Hosea 3:1) or the father with the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), our heavenly Father longs for us to return to Him and be restored to right standing with Him.
By: Bill Crowder
APPLICATION
How have you messed up? What has God provided for your restoration and redemption?
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
“Redemption is a magnificent thing – the life of God in the soul of man” Leonard Ravenhill. God sent Jesus to redeem us from sin and death. He paid our debt to death and exchanged His life for us.” Pastor Jack Wellman
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (From Post)
“We can’t bring beauty out of…mess, but Jesus can.”
PRAYER
“Dear Jesus, thank You for never giving up on me. I surrender to You and ask that You please redeem what I’ve ruined.”
TODAY’s HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“I’M REDEEMED”
I’m redeemed, I’m redeemed,
From the darkness of the night,
That so thickly enveloped my soul;
In my heart there have gleamed
Rays of wonderful light,
Where the waves of Thy glory do roll.
I’m redeemed, praise the Lord!
I’m redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
I am saved from all sin,
And I’m walking in the light,
I’m redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
I’m redeemed by Thy blood,
From the power of the grave,
And the vict’ry I have over death;
Oh, that wonderful flood!
Oh, I felt its pow’r to save,
When I plunged in its fathomless depth!
I’m redeemed, praise the Lord!…
I’m redeemed from all sin
And I’m walking in the light,
And Thy Spirit illumines my way;
I’ve no fear now within
“For the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flieth by day.”
I’m redeemed, praise the Lord!…
The redeemed, they shall walk
In the pathway of the just,
Which shines brighter and brighter each day;
They shall sing and shall talk
With the bright, angelic host,
Where all sorrow and sighs flee away.
I’m redeemed, praise the Lord!
I’m redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
I am saved from all sin,
And I’m walking in the light,
I’m redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE DAILY IN 2023
MATTHEW 25-27
MATTHEW 8