14 day plan

God's Big Story

Day 1 of 14

CSB

Isaiah 46:9-10

9Remember what happened long ago,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and no one is like me.

10I declare the end from the beginning,

and from long ago what is not yet done,

saying: my plan will take place,

and I will do all my will.

Reflections: The importance of story

Sometimes people talk as if stories are just for children, mere made-up tales to entertain or amuse. But stories are so much more than that.  We all live our lives in terms of stories. We tell our own stories to one another, formed and shaped by things like where we have come from, who we are connected to, what we value, and what we are hoping for. We also live out of larger worldview stories or meta-narratives, that explain how we think the world works and its purposes and meaning, and which also shape how we live in response.  The Bible is God’s meta-narrative, his story of creation, promise, redemption, and restoration. We are invited to make sense of our own lives and the world in which we live through this framework. It is an ancient story, and a big story. It doesn’t start with us but with God’s purposes for all of creation. But it is a story that invites our participation and response.

Questions:  What is your sense of the overall narrative the Bible tells? How does this shape your life?

Prayers: Almighty God, thank you that you make yourself and your purposes known to us, inviting us into the grand story you are outworking through all creation. Help me to see how my own life story is shaped by this much bigger story and how you are calling me to respond.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

Days

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Isaiah 46:1-13

There Is No One Like God

1Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.

Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle.

The images you carry are loaded,

as a burden for the weary animal.

2The gods cower; they crouch together;

they are not able to rescue the burden,

but they themselves go into captivity.

3“Listen to me, house of Jacob,

all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been sustained from the womb,

carried along since birth.

4I will be the same until your old age,

and I will bear you up when you turn gray.

I have made you, and I will carry you;

I will bear and rescue you.

5“To whom will you compare me or make me equal?

Who will you measure me with,

so that we should be like each other?

6Those who pour out their bags of gold

and weigh out silver on scales —

they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.

Then they kneel and bow down to it.

7They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;

they set it in its place, and there it stands;

it does not budge from its place.

They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;

it saves no one from his trouble.

8“Remember this and be brave;

take it to heart, you transgressors!

9Remember what happened long ago,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and no one is like me.

10I declare the end from the beginning,

and from long ago what is not yet done,

saying: my plan will take place,

and I will do all my will.

11I call a bird of prey from the east,

a man for my purpose from a far country.

Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.

I have planned it; I will also do it.

12Listen to me, you hardhearted,

far removed from justice:

13I am bringing my justice near;

it is not far away,

and my salvation will not delay.

I will put salvation in Zion,

my splendor in Israel.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers