Open the Bible UK Daily

Colin Smith
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3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

  1. 19h ago

    Life After a Crisis

    I walk slowly all my years.Isaiah 38:15God healed Hezekiah and added 15 years to his life. Now here’s the question: What use did he make of those 15 years? Hezekiah was quite clear on what he would do: “I walk slowly [humbly] all my years” (38:15). “Lord, if you give me another 15 years I will walk before you in humility.” What would that look like? A humble person seeks to glorify God “The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day” (38:19). “Lord, no one in the pit of destruction praises you. But You have promised me life, and I believe your promise. So I praise you today, and I will live in gratitude every day you give me.” A humble person seeks the good of others “The father makes known to the children your faithfulness” (38:19). Hezekiah was not yet a father, but he believed that God would be faithful to His promise. He makes this commitment: “I will make sure my family knows that You are God and that Your faithfulness endures to all generations.” Notice that this circle of praise keeps expanding. It starts with one man praising God. Then his family joins him. Then the entire community is drawn in. “The LORD will save me, and we will play my music… all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD” (38:20). This is a marvellous commitment: “Lord, if you answer my prayer, here’s what I will do: I will walk humbly, I will glorify you, I will seek the good of others.” That’s what he said. But what he did was very different! If you have been facing a crisis, what will you do with your life when you get it back?

  2. 1d ago

    One More Assurance in Times of Crisis

    In love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.Isaiah 38:17When you face an unexpected crisis and your faith is tested, you can say, “I am loved” and “I am saved.” Here is the third thing you can say: I am forgiven“You have cast all my sins behind your back” (38:17). Here’s what God has done in love so that you would be saved from the pit. Godly people know that their sins are many. The closer your walk with the Lord, the greater your awareness of your own sins. The question that will determine your eternal future is not whether your sins are few or many, but whether they are before God’s face or behind His back. Think about the word cast here. “You have cast all my sins behind your back.” In Christ, God removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). He flings them out of sight, behind His back. Matthew Henry says, “When we cast our sins behind our back, God sets them before His face. But when we set them before our face in true repentance, God casts them behind His back.” When God casts your sins behind His back, you can cast them behind your back as well. Life is much less certain than we like to think. We make our elaborate plans, and an unexpected crisis throws everything up in the air. How marvellous it is to know that on the darkest day, you can say with confidence, “I’m forgiven! I’m saved! Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” With such a saviour, you can face any crisis. Would you say you are more likely to cast your sins behind your back or to set them before God in true repentance?

  3. 2d ago

    Assurance of Faith in Times of Crisis

    In love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.Isaiah 38:17When you face an unexpected crisis and your faith is tested, there are three things you can always say for sure. Here are the first two: I am loved“In love you have delivered my life” (38:17). Literally, “You loved me out of the pit.” Nothing is surer in life than the love of God for you. He has proved that forever by giving His only Son for you. On your darkest day, you can say with confidence, “The Son of God… loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). There was no obligation on the Son of God to leave heaven and go to the cross. He chose to lay down His life. And He did it in love, for you. Nothing in life, death, or eternity will ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38-39). I am saved“You have delivered my life from the pit of destruction” (Isa. 38:17). There’s more here than Hezekiah recovering from sickness. This is a destruction, a tearing apart, that never ends (2 Thes. 1:9). Hezekiah is a godly king, and the worst thing he can imagine is to live and die in his sins, and then to find himself in the pit of destruction forever. He says, “Thank God, He has saved me from that!” Jesus Christ came to save you from the pit of destruction—from the hell to which our sins would rightly consign us. At the lowest point of your life, you can say to God, “In love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction” (38:17). Spend a few minutes thanking God that you are loved and you are saved.

  4. 3d ago

    Faith Prays for What God Has Promised

    Oh restore me to health and make me live!Isaiah 38:16Hezekiah responds to the promise of verse 5 with the prayer of verse 16. God said, “I will add fifteen years to your life” (38:5). Hezekiah prays, “Oh restore me to health and make me live!” (38:16). Faith prays for what God has promised. “Lord, do what you have said! Heal me! Give me those 15 years!” My pastor, Derek Prime, would often say, “Pray with an open Bible.” When you see what God has promised in His Word, the right response is to pray that you will know what He has promised in your own experience. So, you read in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” What do you do next? Do you say, “Oh that’s nice: God gives strength,” and then carry on? No! You pray that what God has promised will be yours. Lord, I need the strength that only you can give. Give this strength to me today. Or you read in 1 Peter 1:8, about how people who love and believe in Christ rejoice with an inexpressible joy. Do you say, “Isn’t it nice that some Christians have more joy than they can put into words”? No! You say, “If this is possible for them, then it is possible for me.” Lord, increase my joy. Then you will look at why they had such joy, and you see it is because they have a risen Saviour, a living hope, and a glorious inheritance (1:3-4). So, you ask God to increase your joy in these things. Faith turns God’s promises into prayers. So, pray with an open Bible. What would keep you from praying God’s promises more?

  5. 4d ago

    Faith Is Strengthened by the Word of God

    O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live!Isaiah 38:16It’s hard to be sure of the precise order of events in Hezekiah’s life, but here’s the most likely reconstruction: Hezekiah became sick to the point of death (38:1)Despite being a godly man, he struggled with bitterness (38:15)Isaiah said, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover” (38:1)The king turned his face to the wall. He prayed, and he wept bitterly (38:2-3)When Isaiah left, the Lord told him to go back (38:5)Isaiah spoke the Word of God: “I have heard your prayer… I will add fifteen years to your life” (38:5)Hezekiah prayed with new faith and confidence: “Oh restore me to health and make me live!” (38:16) Notice the pattern: God speaks in verse 5. Hezekiah prays in verse 16. The King says, “He has spoken to me” (38:15), saying, “I will add fifteen years to your life” (38:5). So Hezekiah prays, “Oh restore me to health and make me live” (38:16). Hezekiah had been struggling with great bitterness. How did he overcome it? When a crisis comes and you discover that your faith was not as strong as you thought, what will help you? The answer is that faith is strengthened by the Word of God. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4). Reflect on a time when God used a particular verse or passage to strengthen your faith.

  6. 5d ago

    How God Can Use a Test of Faith for Our Good

    It was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction.Isaiah 38:17Notice what Hezekiah says here: “It was for my welfare that I had great bitterness.” How could God use this man’s bitterness for his good? The answer is in verse 15: “I walk slowly all my years.” “Walk slowly” means “walk humbly.” Hezekiah is saying, “I used to think that my faith was strong, but when crisis came, I didn’t do so well. There was bitterness in my soul. But God used this for my welfare. I’m done with priding myself on the strength of faith. From now on I will walk humbly.” Pride lurks in all of our hearts, and spiritual pride is its worst form. God may use a crisis to humble you by showing you that your faith is not as strong as you think. This is what happened to Peter. He told Jesus, “I will lay down my life for you” (Jn. 13:37). Peter thought his faith was strong, but when a servant girl asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, his faith was not as strong as he thought. God used this to humble Peter so that he would become the gentle pastor who could write, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Pet. 5:6). An unexpected crisis will test your faith. And God can use this to make you more like Jesus. Let the crisis show you how much you need Jesus, and then thank God that you are not saved by the strength of your faith but by the strength of your Saviour. When has God used a test of faith to humble you and show you the strength of your Saviour?

  7. 6d ago

    An Unexpected Crisis Will Test Your Faith

    What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.Isaiah 38:15When you go through an unexpected crisis, your faith will be tested. Hezekiah is writing after he recovered from his illness (38:9). Looking back, he is full of thanksgiving: “He has spoken to me, and he himself has done it” (38:15). The words God spoke are recorded in verse 5: “Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.” And God did what He said. God brought him back from the point of death (38:1). When he recovered, Hezekiah rejoiced in answered prayer. But during the crisis, it was a different story. Hezekiah tells us honestly, “I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul” (38:15). When this godly king suffered, he struggled with bitterness. “Lord, I have given myself to the pursuit of a godly life. I have served you, and now You allow me to be afflicted with a deadly illness. God, that’s not fair!” He doesn’t say, “When trouble came, I just turned to the Lord and trusted Him.” He says, “I struggled with bitterness. Why me, Lord?” A battle raged within him. He trusted God, but in the crisis, trusting wasn’t so easy. Perhaps when your faith was tested, you wish you had done better. It might help you to know that it was the same for the most godly king in the Old Testament. Hezekiah had to confess that when he suffered, his faith was not as strong as he thought. That is the confession of a godly king. His faith was tested, and when you face an unexpected crisis, your faith will be tested too. Think about a crisis you have experienced. What is one way your response was similar to Hezekiah’s? What is one way it was different?

  8. Jul 19

    Let Your Anguish Lead You to Jesus—Part 2

    I am sure that neither death nor life… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 8:38All Christians will experience anguish. But when you experience anguish, what are you to do? Here are two situations that can lead you to Jesus: 1. When you fear being cut off, let your anguish lead you to JesusJesus knows what it is to be cut off. Isaiah says, “He was cut off out of the land of the living” (Isa. 53:8). Our Lord died at age 33. He could say with Hezekiah, “In the middle of my days, I must depart” (38:10). But death could not keep hold of Jesus. And for those who trust in Him, death will be a translation into a new life that will be better by far. Nothing in life or death will ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38-39). When you fear being cut off, let your anguish lead you to Jesus. 2. When you fear that God may be against you, let your anguish lead you to JesusTo fear that God may be against us is the worst anguish of all. What chance would we have? If you are resisting Christ, think about what you are doing. You resisting God? You cannot possibly win! When Jesus died for us, He was “cut off” from the Father’s love. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mat. 27:46). He was forsaken so that you would be welcomed. He was condemned so that you could be forgiven. He was cast out so that you would be brought in. If you fear that God may be against you, let your anguish lead you to Jesus. Do you fear being cut off? Do you fear that God may be against you? Let your anguish lead you to Jesus.

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About

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

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  • Creator
    Colin Smith
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Colin Smith
  • Show Website
    Open the Bible UK Daily

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