“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Isaiah 61:1 NIV
A speaker once asked an audience, “What if your life – exactly as it is today – is God’s perfect environment for shaping you into the person He wants you to be?” This is certainly not the philosophy of our world, and it is certainly not a conclusion many of us would want to accept. Most of us would like to swap lives with someone else, and maybe then, this would be an accurate statement. Yet, this truth is taught throughout biblical salvation history. God’s perfect plan for shaping us is realized when we place God in control of our lives. Placing God in control of our lives goes beyond rearranging the stuff in our lives. It has to do with allowing God to determine our priorities. God’s priority is to restore His original purpose to our lives. The context of this verse is that Israel was broken-hearted, enslaved and grieving over the consequences of her sins. Israel was suffering because of God’s judgment and discipline. In His mercy He sent Isaiah on a mission of mercy with a message of good news to restore them to His purposes for their lives. Isaiah reveals the very heart of the message of God for every generation. He reveals the message of God as good news to the poor and downtrodden, to the broken-hearted and mournful. It is a message of freedom to those imprisoned by these difficulties. He reveals God’s desire to turn lives on the ash heaps of ruin and personal failure into lives filled with beauty. He wants to replace the mourning with laughter. He wants to turn cries of despair into songs of praise. He wants to display His splendour in our lives.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord Jesus, turn our cries of despair into praise.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for replacing our mourning with laughter, for turning our cries of despair into songs of praise, and for displaying Your splendour in our lives. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
Mark 12:28-34
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