He does it ALL

Tonight as I thought of how You might speak to me, I came up with a small concern regarding guidance and thought You might say something about that. However, You have more important things to tell me.

The devotional reading begins with a verse that speaks of a place in the ancient Middle-East. Edom represents a God-hating world, but this verse declares Your power in dealing with that place. 

Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, He who is splendid in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” (Isaiah 63:1)

Even those who hate You have no power against You. You are far too strong for even the strongest animosity. However, this verse speaks of that power in positive terms. There is so much to consider in that phrase about You being “mighty to save.”

Yet You gave me much more in the words that accompany this verse. You use them to touch my heart about things far more important than my smaller concern. From them, I offer this to back to You.

Oh loving Father, I praise You that “mighty to save” speaks of Your entire salvation, from the first desire You put into my heart to that complete perfection when I step into glory. Such mercy and such amazing grace, but also such amazing power.

While You are mighty to save all those who repent, You are able also to make any sinner repent. You will take to heaven those who believe, yet You are also mighty to give unbelievers new hearts and to work faith in them. You can make the person who hates holiness love it. You can constrain those who despise Your name until they bend their knees before You. Such is Your power to save souls.

Yet salvation goes beyond forgiveness, repentance, and new life. You also work after sinners repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ. My life has become a series of miracles wrought by Your mighty hand. You fill me with zeal. You keep me set apart for You even after You set me apart and made me holy.

I’m so grateful that You preserve me, that salvation is from now to forever. Your might is not about making me a believer and then leaving me to fend for myself. As Paul wrote, “He who began a good work in (me) will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

I know these things, yet there is greater encouragement from You in these words about You being mighty to save. This saving power also applies to the loved ones on my prayer list who do not yet believe in You. These words tell me that I’m not to give up interceding for them. Your strength is sufficient for me, but also sufficient for them. Salvation is Your work and You are mighty in that work. I am powerless to tame sinners, but You are all-powerful. The best evidence lies in the reality that You saved me. Instead of anxious fretting or trying to do it myself, I can grab hold of Your mighty arm and rely on You to put forth Your strength on their behalf.

How wonderful that I do not know You as a God who is mighty to destroy, but as the One who is mighty to save!