I Am The Only One Who Can Save You

Family of Jacob, the Lord created you. People of Israel, he formed you. He says, "Do not be afraid. I will set you free. I will send for you by name. You belong to me.

You will pass through deep waters. But I will be with you. You will pass through the rivers. But their waters will not sweep over you. You will walk through fire. But you will not be burned. The flames will not harm you.

I am the Lord your God. I am the Holy One of Israel. I am the one who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free. I will give up Cush and Seba for you.

You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you. So I will trade other people for you. I will give up other nations to save your lives.

Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bring your people back from the east. I will gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, 'Let them go!' And I will say to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from far away. Bring my daughters from the farthest places on earth.

Bring back everyone who belongs to me. I created them to bring glory to me. I formed them and made them."

Lead my people into court. They have eyes but can't see. Bring those who have ears but can't hear.

All of the nations are gathering together. All of them are coming. Which one of their gods said ahead of time that the people of Israel would return? Which of them told us anything at all about the past? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right. Then others will hear them. And they will say, "What they said is true."

"People of Israel, you are my witnesses," announces the Lord. "I have chosen you to be my servants. I wanted you to know me and believe in me. I wanted you to understand that I am the one and only God. Before me, there was no other god at all. And there will not be any god after me. I am the one and only Lord. I am the only one who can save you.

I have made known what would happen. I told you about it. And I saved you. I did it. It was not some other god you worship. You are my witnesses that I am God," announces the Lord.

"And that is not all! I have always been God, and I always will be. No one can save people from my powerful hand. When I do something, who can undo it?"

Isaiah 43:1-13

We all pass through deep waters, sometime in our lives.

Think about the stormy times in your life when it seemed things were outside your control. Remember that when you passed into the deep waters your Redeemer was there to comfort you. Remember that you were sheltered against the rising tide.

Are you in the middle of one of those valley experiences? Trust God to bring you through to the other side. You will then be a shining testimony of His keeping power.

A tunnel of testing can produce a shining testimony.

Our Daily Bread – February 17, 2010