August 25-29
[M] Isaiah 23-25; 1 Corinthians 3
[T] Isa 26-29; Psalm 65; 1 Cor 4
[W] Isa 30-32; 1 Cor 5
[T] Isa 33-35; 1 Cor 6
[F] 2 Chr 28; 2 Kings 17; Ps 66; 1 Cor 7
Dwell Plan Day 171-175 | CSB | Digital PDF | Printable PDF
Notes from Jon & Chris
Monday
Isaiah 23:8–9 | This text reminds us that God is a God of justice, bringing down the pride and power of nations that exalt themselves. Surrounded by a world that often looks like Babylon, marked by greed, corruption, and arrogance, we can take heart that God will not let evil reign forever. The judgment Isaiah foretold is a preview of the greater judgment still to come, when Christ will return to set all things right. This is why Christians are a people of hope: not because the world is safe or just, but because we know the day is coming when sin and evil will be dealt with, and God will make all things new.
Isaiah 24-25 | These two chapters are extreme. We see the judgment of God on the whole earth. The vision is ultimate and devastating, as if the curse has finally won. It’s apocalyptic in a Michael Bay sort of way, painting the terrible extent of God’s judgments on the earth. But, as the prophets do again and again, the very next chapter has descriptions of blessedness and God’s glory that are transcendent. These two realities live comfortably in the mind and imagination of the prophet, and should in our minds as well. The gospel speaks to these two realities. God’s judgments are actually far worse than we think they are; His holiness demands it and the suffering is cataclysmic. But His mercies are even more astounding, anticipating a paradise greater than our imaginations can conceive. This is the Old Testament gospel as much as the New.
1 Corinthians 3 | In this chapter, Paul confronts a problem that feels just as urgent today as it did in Corinth: people were rallying around human leaders rather than Christ. Some said, “I follow Paul,” others, “I follow Apollos,” as though salvation or maturity came through personalities instead of the Savior. This impulse runs deep in the human heart: we long for visible heroes, voices to admire, and figures to lift up. But the danger is that our admiration too easily slips into worship, and the glory that belongs to Christ alone is shared with mere servants.
Christian celebrity culture magnifies this problem. We place authors, preachers, and leaders on pedestals, and in doing so, we often insulate them from accountability and inflate their egos. The results are disastrous: scandals that wound the church, disillusionment that weakens believers, and distraction from the gospel itself. When our faith leans too heavily on personalities, it cannot stand firm when those personalities falter. God never designed leaders to be saviors; they are fellow workers in His field, pointing us to Jesus.
The gospel calls us back to a better focus. Paul reminds us that no one can lay a foundation other than Christ, and all our labor must be built upon him. Pastors and leaders have a place, but only as servants who plant and water—the growth belongs to God. When we treasure Christ above all, we are freed from the empty cycle of idolizing and then being let down by people. The true beauty of the church is not in celebrity, but in a crucified and risen Savior who alone deserves our worship.
Tuesday
Isaiah 26:19 | Don’t let anyone tell you that the Old Testament doesn’t teach resurrection or heaven. That is simply false. These chapters describe the destruction of death in different ways, and here it’s even more mysterious, where we become a kind of “resurrection dew” in God’s power! This is the morning dew that Mary first saw on the third day after the crucifixion. The hopes of God’s love and power are total reversal of death and judgment. They always have been. Praise Him.
Isaiah 27:1 | This text gives us a vivid picture of God slaying Leviathan, the great serpent, a symbol of his final victory over all forces of chaos and evil. This verse is a key to unlocking Revelation 20, where John describes the defeat of Satan, the ancient serpent. Isaiah was already pointing us forward to that promised day when God will crush the enemy of His people once and for all. The cross and resurrection of Christ were the decisive blow, and Revelation shows us the final fulfillment still to come. Evil will not get the last word; God’s triumph in Christ will.
Wednesday
Isaiah 30:1 | James warns us about making our own plans and not considering God’s. This is the perennial problem of God’s people. We have His words and His truth, but we make up our own minds about what is wise. The problems and rebellion of God’s people have not changed much since Isaiah’s or James’s day. The edge of the prophet’s warning still is just as sharp as it was thousands of years ago. We can apply it to our experience when it comes to practical wisdom, or the insights of AI, or certainties of scientific knowledge. They are all forms of the “Egypt” of our day, another version of the best of the wisdom and achievements of humanity. They are as seductive today as they were in ages past.
Isaiah 30:7, 31:1–9 | God rebukes his people for running to Egypt for protection from Assyria instead of trusting in Him. To Israel, Egypt seemed strong, secure, and reliable, but God calls them “Rahab who sits still,” a nation that cannot save. The tragedy is that His people had the living God on their side, yet their eyes were fixed on human power. Isn’t this the same pattern we repeat today? We place our confidence in money, careers, politics, relationships, or our own cleverness—idols that cannot deliver when the day of trouble comes.
The gospel shows us a better way. At the cross, Jesus accomplished what no earthly power could ever achieve: rescue from sin, Satan, and death itself. If God has defeated our greatest enemies through Christ, how can we not trust Him with the “lesser Assyrias” that loom in our lives? He invites us to leave behind our false saviors and rest in His strength. True freedom and peace come not from Egypt’s chariots or our modern idols, but from the Lord who reigns and who has already secured our salvation in Jesus.
Isaiah 30:18 | In case you need a tattoo idea.
1 Corinthians 5:9–10 | In this passage, Paul makes a surprising clarification: he never meant for Christians to avoid contact with unbelievers who sin, because that would mean leaving the world altogether. Instead, his concern is with unrepentant sin inside the church. Yet so often we flip his teaching—we become obsessed with condemning the sins of the culture while turning a blind eye to pride, greed, gossip, or immorality in our own congregations.
Paul’s point is clear: the church is called to holiness, not hypocrisy. Our first priority is to address sin in our own household of faith, because God’s name and reputation are tied to the purity of His people. The world doesn’t stumble because unbelievers act like unbelievers; it stumbles when believers act no differently. To follow Paul’s script is to live with humble integrity, showing that God’s grace truly transforms.
1 Corinthians 5:12 | When we read a verse like this, it’s hard to believe that so many Christians are regarded as judgmental by the world. Somehow we dropped the ball on the gospel with this one. Perhaps some folks feel guilty around Christians because of their lifestyle. That definitely happens. People are disturbed when you don’t join them in their wickedness or dissolution. They feel judged by their own conscience in that instance.
But that isn’t what this is talking about. This is about passing moral judgments on the people of this world for the things that they do, evaluating them according to God’s standards. We can’t do that. It isn’t our job. Instead, we tend to tolerate disobedience in other Christians out of fear. We get it all reversed. We’re supposed to hold other Christians accountable, but instead we condemn unbelievers.
Thursday
Isaiah 33:6 | The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure. | What an awesome idea. In a world that treasures money, power, fame, and comfort, God calls His people to a different kind of wealth. Our true treasure is not stored in vaults or displayed on pedestals, it is found in knowing and revering the Lord. To fear Him is to value His presence above everything else, to see His glory as more precious than gold.
This is what will make the new heavens and the new earth so glorious. Yes, we will enjoy resurrection bodies, harmony with creation, and a world without conflict—but these are not the greatest gifts. The deepest joy of eternity will be the presence of God Himself. Zion’s treasure is not the side benefits of salvation, but the Lord who saves, rules, and dwells with His people forever.
Isaiah 34-35 | Again we see the cycle of God’s judgments from chapters 24 and 25. Here the judgment is on the whole earth followed by God’s Holy Highway in Isaiah 35:8! This is the meta story, the bigger picture of all of history that the Bible is telling and inviting us into. But the promise is greater than the judgments; even a fool can’t get lost in this new world of grace that God is ushering in.
Isaiah 35 | This text paints a vision of restoration: deserts blooming, the weak strengthened, the lame leaping, and the mute singing. When Jesus began His ministry, He pointed to these very signs as proof of who He was (Matt. 11:5). His miracles showed that Isaiah’s promise was breaking in through Him.
Yet those moments were only foretastes. What began in Christ’s first coming will be completed at His return, when sorrow and sighing flee forever. Until then, we walk by faith on the highway of holiness, strengthened by His grace, awaiting the joy of the new creation.
1 Corinthians 6:19 | This temple language is used here as a moral guide. If we regard our bodies as a dwelling place for God now, then our commitment to what we do with our bodies becomes a question of stewardship. Your body is God’s home, so there is a moral implication in everything you do with it. This can get a little heavy handed at times. Folks will scold you about your diet, or how much you exercise, or whether you’re taking the right supplements. That is a good inference from this teaching, but it isn’t what this text is primarily about. The Scripture has in mind a certain holiness when it comes to our sexuality here, a holiness which is directly affected by sexual sin. That is the direct teaching about our bodies being a temple. Sexuality has a particular holiness when it comes to our bodies and our spirit, a holiness we offend in our bodies in a unique way through sexual sin. We might be misusing our temple by smoking (that’s the most common application of this text), but that’s not what this passage is teaching. This is teaching us about the deep spiritual compromise that is happening in our casual attitudes and actions about sexual sin in particular. We are not just animals, evolutionary cocktails of desires and appetites that get out of control. No, we are also spiritual beings, and a part of that spiritual expression and existence is also gendered and sexually understood. This is a radically different view of our humanity and personhood than our modern world holds.
Friday
2 Chronicles 28:2–4 | This is one of the most heartbreaking passages in Scripture (See also 2 Kings 17:17 about the northern kingdom of Israel). Look at how far the chosen people have wandered away from the heart of the Father: Ahaz, king of Judah, not only turned away from the Lord but led the people into the darkest practices of the surrounding nations. The horror of child sacrifice shows just how far the human heart can wander when it abandons the living God. Sin never stays small—it grows, corrupts, and deforms until what once seemed unthinkable becomes normal. This is the tragic depth to which Judah had sunk.
These verses also prepare us to understand the severity of the exile. When God sent His people into Babylon, it was not an overreaction or some random act of wrath—it was His holy response to unimaginable evil. A God of love cannot simply tolerate the slaughter of children or the worship of false gods that destroy people’s souls. Exile was God’s judgment against sin, and a sobering reminder that He will not allow wickedness to go unchecked forever. He is both patient and just, but His justice will come.
And yet even here we are pointed forward to Christ. The Son of God came into a world steeped in darkness, not to condemn, but to save. Where Ahaz sacrificed his children to false gods, the true King offered Himself for His people. At the cross, God’s justice against sin was satisfied, and His mercy overflowed to all who trust in Christ. These verses remind us of the seriousness of sin, but also of the wonder of the gospel—that Jesus took on Himself the judgment we deserved, so that we might receive life.
1 Corinthians 7:4 | A whole lot of problems in marriage can be settled by obedience to this one principle: your body belongs to the other person, not to you. Think of the implications for sexual intimacy. Too often we fall into the mistakes of the world, using marriage and sexuality as ways to please ourselves. But it was never supposed to be about ourselves. The pleasure and experience and body of the other person is your responsibility. We are to be “generous lovers” as the world puts it, when it comes to seeking the pleasure of others. But this principle keeps giving back to us. Good stewardship of your own body is something you owe your spouse. Your body simply doesn’t belong to you. What about single folks? This principle just gets kicked upstairs. Your body belongs to God. It never belonged to you to begin with! We aren’t trying to navigate our selfish needs in ways that somehow get us and others satisfied to the maximum amount. That’s pragmatism. No, we’re supposed to be surrendered to one another, so that the other’s needs and desires are more important than our own. This is the foundation of the Christian ethic: true selflessness in seeking out the best for the other person. In marriage, this takes a beautiful shape by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, full of possibility.
1 Corinthians 7:10–11 | Paul gives clear teaching on marriage, urging husbands and wives not to separate. But later in the chapter, Paul also speaks of the gift of singleness, holding it up as a calling that is just as honorable as marriage. This is where the American evangelical church often struggles. We have elevated marriage so highly—sometimes idolizing it—that those who are single are left feeling incomplete or second-class. Yet Paul’s teaching shows us that our worth is never found in a spouse, but in Christ alone.
Tim Keller in The Meaning of Marriage reminds us that marriage is not ultimate—it is a signpost. It points to the greater reality of Christ’s love for the church. But if marriage is a signpost, then singleness is also a powerful sign. Singleness uniquely demonstrates that Jesus is enough, that ultimate fulfillment is not found in romance or family life but in belonging to Him. The single Christian, Keller notes, is a living testimony that the new creation is already breaking in—that in eternity, we will not marry or be given in marriage, because we will have God Himself.
When the church treats marriage as the only path to maturity or blessing, we distort the gospel. Marriage is a gift, yes, but it is temporary and earthly. Singleness, too, is a gift, sometimes a painful one, but one that bears witness to eternal realities in a way marriage cannot. Both marriage and singleness are meant to glorify God, and both need the community of the church to flourish. We are called to honor and support one another, not rank one calling above the other.
In Christ, the single person is not “waiting for life to begin”—they already possess the deepest love, the truest intimacy, and the most lasting covenant. And in Christ, the married person is reminded that their marriage is not about self-fulfillment, but about pointing to something greater. The gospel frees us from worshiping marriage or dismissing singleness. Instead, it calls us to treasure Christ as our life, our joy, and our fulfillment. Whether single or married, our hope is the same: the Bridegroom who will never leave us.