The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

My Name is Isaiah

There are two types of people in the world: those in denial and those living in the truth. Denial is the failure to recognize our predicament. The universal need for recovery goes back to Genesis 3 and humankind’s fall into sin. If God isn’t in control of our life, the unavoidable truth is that our life is out of control. Denial, then, is more than a warped view of oneself; it’s a distorted view of God. Seeing God clearly will wipe away our illusions of self-sufficiency. That was Isaiah’s experience on the occasion of his calling and commission. . . .

The voices of the angels shook the temple and filled it with smoke (see v. 4). Both the smoke and Isaiah’s terror (see v. 5) recall the horror of the Israelites when they experienced a close encounter with God at the foot of Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:18–19; 20:18–19). Terror overcame Isaiah because the infinite holiness of God made his own inherent sinfulness painfully evident. Isaiah, seeing God clearly, couldn’t help but confront the glaring contrast of his own sinfulness and that of his people.

The prophet responded as we all must respond if we’re to experience recovery. He confessed, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah expected the inevitability of death because “my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). God had much earlier informed his servant Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). But Isaiah didn’t die. Instead, cleansing touched God’s chosen prophet at the very source of his shame and guilt. One of the seraphs touched his “unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5) with a burning coal from the altar (see v. 6). Fire in the Scriptures represents God’s judgment and the refining process that burns away what doesn’t belong in our life, leaving us purified and ready to enter God’s presence (see 1 Corinthians 3:12–15). God didn’t change the rule for Isaiah but provided forgiveness: “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7).

God wants to touch and heal us at the point of our own deepest guilt and shame. To experience the healing he wants us to enjoy, it’s essential that we openly examine and confess our faults—something we can accomplish by taking a personal moral inventory (Principle Four/Step Four). And God wants to take away our fear through our faith in his forgiveness. His cleansing touch may well be the greatest source of joy we’ll experience in our recovery.

Taken from NIV Celebrate Recovery Bible