WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER 2, 2022
TEXT:
Isaiah 40:1-17
1.
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
2.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her days are gone and her sins are
pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”
3.
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the
wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our
God!
4.
Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
5.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it
together. The Lord has spoken!”
6.
A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are
like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.
7.
The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so
it is with people.
8.
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our stands forever.”
9.
O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountains tops! Shout it louder,
O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “your God is
coming!”
10.
Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
11.
He will feed his flock likes shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with
their young.
12.
Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with
his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a
scale?
13.
Who is capable to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him
advice or teach him?
14.
Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what
is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?
15.
No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are
nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it
were a grain of sand.
16.
All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
17.
The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for
less than nothing- mere emptiness and froth.
(New
Living Translation Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
BE COMFORTED!
Being a Christian in
today’s world is not easy. In today’s text, God speaks about the restoration He
will bring to his people (Israel) in exile. God had used King Cyrus in 539BC to
deliver Israel from the Babylonians according to His timing.
As God’s children, we
need to be comforted (vs. 1-2). Just like a child who is crying only needs the
parents to say “sorry” or “stop crying,” Israel in her adversity received
comfort from God through Prophet Isaiah. This shows that when one is in
adversity, God can bring comforting words which may come from the knowledge of
God, His word, His presence and His people.
We need to know that
God is ready to remove obstacles from our way for our comfort (cf. vs. 3-5) and
for His glory to be revealed (cf. Matthew 3:3). God went further to remind His
people that because man is mortal and frail, not constant and unreliable, He is
eternal, unfailing and constant (vs. 6-8) and can bring lasting peace, comfort
and solution to our problems.
Faith is needed here
and should not be spoken or applied in fear (cf. vs. 9-17).
QUESTION:
Are you in adversity as a Christian and depending on people or human efforts to
bring you out?
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to have faith in You even in adversity because it is only in You
that there is comfort and my problems can be solved, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Remain
Blessed
No comments:
Post a Comment