OUR LORD WHO SHOWCASES US TO THE WORLD

In Roman times, when an emperor defeated a foreign territory, he would return with His army to Rome leading a contingent of captives from that conquered territory parading them through the city to display to the whole world his prowess at expanding the boundaries of his empire.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 14 - 16, a striking image is painted of the Lord Jesus heading up a triumphal procession through the whole world where we, who are His, are displayed as captives of Him who conquered sin and death.

We who believe in Christ, are emblems of the exaltation of the Lord whose sacrifice of His own  life for us,  conquered our hearts and thus our testimonies, presented to the world,  convey the perfect qualities of Him who saved us. The passage goes like this;

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

We who have trusted in God and are surrendered to Him, are showcased to the ones being saved and to the perishing in Jesus' triumphal procession.

The story of Jesus' friend Lazarus being raised from the dead ( found in John Chapter 11 ) is a metaphor for this dichotomy between the responses of those being saved and those who are perishing.

While Lazarus was dead in the sealed grave, he was the aroma of death unto those who were denizens of the grave but when Jesus called Lazarus forth, the stone was rolled away and Lazarus was presented to the world alive. 

He no longer carried  the aroma of death but the aroma of life that brought honour unto God and belief in Jesus among the living who were witnesses.

Bless the Lord who displays us who believe as an aroma of life to those who are being saved.

Amen.

OUR LORD PROPHECIES HIS MISSION TO REDEEM US

Isaiah 50 verses 1 - 5  records a monologue delivered by the eternal Son of God, Jesus.

In this chapter, Jesus summarizes His mission to the earth.

He first says that He did not reject us but rather that our own sin drove us away from God.

To then redeem us who were separated from Him by sin, the Lord orchestrates His arrival at the temple but there was no one to meet him and none to answer when He called. He asks why we did  not look to Him to save us. Jesus asks if we did not believe that He had the capacity to do so.

He informs us that by a mere word, He could dry up the sea and parch a river. He tells us that it was He who cloaked the heavens in darkness. The passage reads this way;

This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?

Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.

When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer?

Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?

By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering.”

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.

Here, the Son of God says that on His mission to save us, He will arrive with a well-instructed tongue that speaks words that uplift the weary.

He says His Father in heaven will awaken Him every morning and awaken His ears to listen to instruction.

 He tells us that He is obedient to His Father and does not turn away from His directives even when the cost of obedience to His Father is the loss of His own life.

When our wonderful Lord Jesus was with us on earth, He demonstrated His comforting words that give solace even to this day and demonstrated His power by healing people and quieting storms. He also demonstrated His obedience to God His Father by heeding His instructions right up to His death on the cross for us all.

Bless our Lord Jesus who prophecied His mission in this chapter of Isaiah  and then fulfilled it.

Amen.

OUR LORD IN THE HANDS OF SINNERS

After Jesus had been arrested, He was put through trials in front of the  leaders of Israel and the Roman Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Trying to appease the crowds who were calling for Jesus' death, Pilate ordered that He be flogged.

 Then, a crown of thorns was put on His head and He was draped in a royal robe so as to unrelentingly mock Him. They also struck Him on the face.The passage in John 19 verse 3 - 4 goes like this;

They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 

This grisly scene revealed a hateful, unseeing  attitude that was the exact opposite of a simple childlike faith. 

Faith in Jesus is understood to be accepting Jesus on the merits of hearing the good news of His provision for our salvation and feeling the truth of His words resonating in our hearts and thus believing in Him without even having seen Him. 

However, the text here  illutrates an attitude that was the exact opposite of faith. 

After Jesus had been subjected to harsh mistreatment, Pilate finalized the representation of Jesus with the declaration that he could find no basis on which to charge him.

So even though they saw Jesus in real life, hailed Him as king, and even placed a crown and a royal robe on Him and heard Him being publically declared to be without fault, the minds of men could not believe in the One who was sent to save all mankind.

Let us earnestly believe in our Lord who endured humiliation and brutalization at the hands of men who mocked him for being who He really was;

The King of Israel and Saviour of the world.

Amen.

 OUR LORD IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

John chapter 3 verse 16 is one of the most famous scriptures in the world because it summarizes in a single phrase what Jesus' mission on earth was and His motivation was and what the ultimate goal was.

The scripture today is verse 19 declares the verdict on the what the world's response was to Jesus. The passage goes like this:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

When Jesus came into the world, He should have been received with joy and celebration because He was the long awaited Messiah who had been promised by the ancient prophets.

Instead, Jesus faced attempts to kill him from the time He was a child in Bethlehen when King Herod tried to murder Him  until He was finally arrested and crucified outside Jerusalem.

The Lord Jesus was the light of the world but because the hearts of men were evil and loved darkness, they responded  to Jesus' outreach of light with rejection and chose to call for His death.

What was not known to anyone was that the death  Jesus was going to suffer was the antidote to the evil that was in men's hearts and by the death on one sinless man, light could enter the world and whosoever believed would have everlasting life.

Let us bless the Lord who suffered rejection by mankind and yet still died for us and made a path of salvation for us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO HUMBLY SERVES OTHERS AND TEACHES US THE SAME

In John chapter 9, on the night before Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus and His disciples were in an upper room where they had just completed the last supper.

At this point, God the Father had placed everything in heaven and on earth under Jesus' power. Jesus, now at His strongest, having power over all of creation, undertook the washing of His disciples' feet.

The passage reads this way;

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. 

Jesus, in this meticulously staged object lesson, was demonstrating that His kingdom was one of humble service toward other people. 

At first, Simon Peter, understandably, did not want His Lord to wash his feet but Jesus insisted  by saying that evading this foot washing ceremony as a lesson in humility would disqualify Peter from sharing in Jesus' mission.

Peter, realizing his mistake, then asks the Lord to not only wash His feet but his hands and his head as well.

Peter now understood that participating in the foot washing ceremony to learn the importance of humility was a qualifier to be part of Jesus' mission so he enthusiatically asked for additional washing so that he could be even more integrated with Jesus' purpose.

This little window into Peter's personality gives us a view of his whole-hearted approach and his willingness to go all in to get the best and most of God.

Jesus assured Peter that the foot washing was enough but we can see how Jesus appreciated Peter's attitude and told him that he was already clean enough to have what God had for him. 

Let us bless our Lord who teaches us to be humble and shows us that participating in the lessons that the Lord teaches us, qualifies us to be part of the Lord's purpose for us.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO SHAKES MOUNTAINS.

In the book of Nahum chapter 1 verse 5, an image is painted of the God of creation approaching the earth in wrath and with vengeance.

In the white-hot plasma of the Lord's anger, Nahum describes the earth's response as follows;

The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away.

The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.

In the presence of the Lord, indignant at the unrighteousness found on the earth, mountains and hills shudder and get so heated that they melt. A global tremor causes the whole world to jitter in its orbit and every person is shaken.

This fearsome vision of how unchallengable the Lord is reminds us of our own frailty and helplessness before Him.

By His lovingkindness, He has provided redemption through the death and ressurection of His Son Jesus Christ who was the sacrifice given to save us from our sins if we humble ourselves and turn to Him for salvation.

Let us bless the name of Him who is unimaginably mighty and yet made Himself a sacrifice for us sinners who were otherwise lost forever.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO CONTENDS FOR US

Completing our study of chapter 49 of Isaiah, we now  look at verses 22 - 26. 

Here, the Lord describes the absolute victory that He obtains for those who hoped in Him. 

The Lord emphasizes how His people will by no means be taken from Him and that he will make His people to be the head and not the tail. The passage reads as follows;

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I will beckon to the nations, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips.

Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. 

They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives be rescued from the fierce?

But this is what the Lord says: “Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce;  I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;  they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

The Lord will deal with the oppressors of His people in such a way that the whole world will know that the Lord is our mighty redeemer.

Let us bless the Lord whose victory is sure.

Amen.

OUR LORD: PLEASE RECEIVE A PRAYER FOR CANADA

Almighty God, thank you for this wide and beautiful land that we live in. We are so richly blessed to have had the opportunity and freedom to live by our own lights and to chart the paths of our own lives;  to set our hands to toil to support and protect our families by our own means.

Lord, we know you see what peril encroaches as an iron claw of power grapples to gain the whole world in its grasp. 

A web of deception and entrapment has been cast over us all to snuff out the flame of  freedom that you gave us as our birth right.

Lord, the bastions of liberty on this planet are down to a few thin lines speckled in red and white along our border highways. 

We humbly ask you to make your great power known at this hour and bolster these last stands of protest with courage and resolve.

Give us wisdom and strength O God, to stand against tyranny  so that our brave country would  remain just and free forever.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO RESTORES HIS PEOPLE

Continuing with the Feb 10th 2022 study on Isaiah 49, let's look at verses 13 to 21 which speak of a poignant moment where Zion, the church, the bride of Christ, converses with the Lord and tells Him that He has forgotten and forsaken her as she lies in ruin and desolation.

 But the Lord responds to her by comforting her and assuring her that he will never leave her nor forsake her and that what she thought was lost, he preserved for her so that her house needed to be enlarged to accommodate all the children who returned to her. The passage reads this way;

Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you.

As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

“Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing,

‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’

Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up?

I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’”

The bride is astonished. She thought she had been abandoned but the whole time she believed she was finished, those who came from her were being raised quietly from afar and to her surprise, her enemies were pushed away and her children brought back and she is at a loss as to where they came from.

This moment of revelation to the bride mirrors the moment of revelation to the Lord Jesus in this chapter when He says "I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength on nothing at all".

Bless the Lord who restores what seemed lost.

Amen.

OUR LORD ASCENDS TO BE KING OF KINGS

Proceeding from the January 31st 2022 study of Isaiah 49 verses 1 - 6, we continue with Isaiah 49 verses 7 - 12.

Jesus the Lord had just revealed that God the Father had announced to Him that His sacrifice on the cross was for more than the house of Israel but for the whole world of gentiles from every tribe and tongue and race.

The conversation between God the Father and the Son of God continues. God the Father said to God the Son that kings and princes will honor Him and genuflect before Him.  The passage reads like this;

This is what the Lord says—the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers:

“Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.

They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.

He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. See, they will come from afar—some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan.”

The favor of the Father is  given to the Son of God as summarized in this part of the text where Jesus is made a covenant for the people and is commissioned  to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to release the captives  and free those in darkness and shepherd the flock. In fact, shepherding the flock, is the portfolio given to Jesus that is detailed in Psalm 23 that begins this way, "The Lord is my Shepherd". 

God the Father then assigns Himself the task of setting all the conditions required to bring all the citizens of the kingdom of God from every point on earth into the fold of God's family.

Bless the Great God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who has brought salvation to all men.

Amen.

OUR LORD'S POWER OVERIDES THE STRENGTH OF THE MIGHTY

Isaiah chapter 24 verses 3 - 4 says this:

The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken this word. 

The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 

This worrisome passage speaks about a massive destructive event that will occur on earth that will cause a wipeout on a planetary scale.

This collapse of the earthly order will bring the whole globe to devastating ruin and social and economic orders will wither as the effects of the  catastrophe begins to tear apart the ability of the  world systems to sustain our lives.

The elite people of the earth will fade away as the system they crafted and tried to bring into position in order to control all people, is destroyed by the calamity that befalls the earth.

Everything that can be  shaken will be shaken and the haughty and self-assured will be brought low.

The Lord is mighty to save so call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. 

Bless the Lord's holy name.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE GLORY WILL FILL THE WHOLE EARTH

Isaiah 40 verse 5 declares this;

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

This scene is mirrored in Habakkuk 2 verse 14.

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

These two scriptures allude to a sudden and global revelation  of the glory of the LORD and the whole earth will be confronted with reality of the presence and holiness of God. 

From creation, there has never been a day like it when the glory of the Almighty God filled the whole planet like the oceans covers the earth.

Bless the name of our awesome God.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE ANGER CANNOT BE CHALLENGED

 “God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab. - Job 9 verse 13.

Rahab, in this context, is being taken to mean a great sea monster and so the text's meaning is that in  the face of the Lord's anger, even those who are accustomed to being near fearsome entities, cower in fear.

The Lord our God is just and righteous and when injustice and evil dominate a land, the Lord rises in wrath and who can withstand Him?

When fraud, deception and lawlessness are exercised wantonly in a nation, the Lord brings indictments and who can answer Him?

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. 

Bless the Lord who defends those who are His and secures His inheritance among the nations.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO COUNTERS DARKNESS

Isaiah 13 verse 19 speaks of the outpost of the  kingdom of darkness on earth called Babylon and declares that it will be overthrown by the Lord God.

Babylon, in the spirit, is a civilization of darkness that rules mankind in cruelty, abject subjugation and enslavement.

A Babylonian subject finds that absolute obedience to the ruler of Babylon is demanded or else destruction is assured. 

A Babylonian civilization violently erases the destinies of men and bends them to pursuits of vanity and nihilism. The passage in Isaiah goes like this:

Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Babylon, that ruins the lives of humans and sinks them into despair by its false promises that it can never fulfill, will be brought to an end and  a civilization of our Lord Jesus of peace, honor and righteousness will flourish.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO INCREASES OUR JOY

Our day of rejoicing has come. The day of the Lord's help is here.

Isaiah chapter 9 verse 3 - 4 succinctly describes the scene of the Lord's victory and people pour out of their houses rejoicing at the victory of our God who delivered them from their oppressor.

You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

Recent days have taught us the Lord is mighty and worth to be praised for He hears our cry for help and contends for those who humble themselves and pray.

Bless the Lord and honour Him whose kingdom is founded on Righteousness and Justice.

Amen.

OUR LORD IS GENEROUS TO US AND WANTS US TO BE GENEROUS TO OTHERS 

Regarding the provision God supplies for those who serve Him, 1 Corinthians verse 7 - 9 says this:

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 

Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

The Word of God tells us to serve the Lord and to put the  Kingdom of God before all things and He will supply all our needs as we follow Him.

Mathew 6 verse 31 - 33 says this to those who serve Him;

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

The scriptures also teach that the Lord  loves a cheerful giver and the Lord will recompense those who freely give.

As it is written in 2 Corinthians verse 7 - 9 ;

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

Bless our Lord who generously gives to us and teaches us to be generous.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO IS UNSEARCHABLE BY MANKIND BUT WHO GAVE US  A MEDIATOR

In the biblical story of Job, our protagonist had had his life destroyed where  he lost his children, his belongings, his businesses and his health in rapid sucesession.

Job, bewildered and heartbroken, tried to wrestle with the things he believed about God and how they corresponded with what had happened to him. 

His friends tried to help him come to terms with his circumstances but he couldn't help but feel that there was an imbalance of justice that was weighted against him and his monologue in the book of Job chapter 9 captured his enduring awe of God while at the same time showed him grappling  to understand why the Lord would allow the calamities that befell him.

Following is Job chapter 9 from the NIV.

Then Job replied:

“Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed? He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,  the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. 

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet. “How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy. Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason. He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.

If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him?

Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty. “Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.

When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?

“My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy. They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.

If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,’

I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent. Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?

Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with cleansing powder, you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.

“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.

If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

As Job nears despair, he asks the eternal question; "If only there were someone who could mediate between God and I. If only I could get an advocate to stand before God to speak for me."

In this chapter, Job prophesied the place of a mediator who thousands of years later, Paul the apostle described in 1 Timothy 2 verse 5.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

Thank you Lord Jesus for being our advocate before the Father.

Amen

OUR LORD BRINGS HIS ENEMIES TO SHAME

Isaiah 47 verses 3 - 4 speaks of a method that the Lord our God uses to discredit those who threaten His people. The passage goes like this:

“Your nakedness will be uncovered, Your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”

Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.

The Lord uncovers what is hidden in the camp of His enemies so that everything that was done in secret, is now exposed  and they are subjected to shame. 

As well, any mystery or subterfuge that the enemy uses to infiltrate God's people is revealed. Any subtle deceptions that the enemies of God's people use to demoralize and misguide, them are laid bare.

With the enemies cloaking devices removed, their plots and schemes are visible for all to see and are rendered worthless. As the scripture says,

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1 verse 5

Bless the Lord our God who brings light from which darkness must flee.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY

What perplexed the people of the time of Jesus about Him was that He would speak like He attributed the power of God to himself.  In doing so, the religious authorities quickly pointed out that He was blaspheming against God.

The sad irony was that these religious authorities should have been the ones to discern  that Jesus was the long-awaited Messaiah but instead, they were so misguided that they accused Jesus of blasphemy whenever He signalled that He was indeed the Messaiah.

Even if the religious authorities were suspicious of Him, they should have taken into account the attesting miracles that followed Jesus wherever He went. 

A few sholars, like Nichodemus, famously came to meet Jesus one night because He and His secretive enclave of thinkers had correctly reasoned that the kinds of miracles that Jesus was performing warranted an interview to get His thoughts on religious matters.

Even though Jesus expressly demonstrated the power of God whenever He took on the authority that only God would have ( like forgive sin ), most of the religious authorities of the day were willing to overlook the good works Jesus did in order to accuse Him. This story in Mathew 9 verse 3 - 8  illustrates this dynamic at work.

Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 

Then the man got up and went home.

Jesus showed the teachers of the law several supernatural things at that event.

He demonstrated that He could read their minds. He demonstrated that He could heal paralysis and He demonstrated that He could indeed forgive sins because His power to heal the paralytic called on the power of God  and if He could call on the power of God to heal, He could call on the authority of God to forgive sin. 

Forgiving sin is not a visible process and whether a person's sins were truly torgiven or not was up for speculation. However, healing a paralytic would require the paralytic to visibly stand and walk and so if Jesus could heal visibly, it could be reasonably inferred that he could  indeed forgive sins because it is easier to do.

The Lord was doing the things that He, as the Messiah, had the authority to do but instead of seeing Him as the Messiah, they saw Him as a blasphemer and this grievance they had against Jesus was one of the main reasons they agitated to get Jesus crucified which turned out to be the basis of our salvation.

Let us bless our Lord for our salvation for which He suffered so greatly to gain for us.

 Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE SALVATION REACHED US IN THE DISTANT ISLANDS AND NATIONS

One of the most incredible conversations in existence is recorded in Isaiah 49 verse 1 - 6.

The two conversants are God the Father and Jesus, the Son of God. This poignant exchange takes place after the death of Jesus and before Jesus is coroneted as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The conversation is narrated to the writer of the passage (Isaiah) by Jesus himself and it reads like this;

Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was born the Lord called me        from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

In this part of the text, the Lord Jesus addresses the distant islands of the gentiles and He explains that He was commissioned by God the Father before He was in His mother's womb. 

Jesus was given the anointing and authority of speech. He was like a polished arrow hidden in a quiver.

No one knew who He was as He moved incognito through eternity in heaven and then was secretly deployed into history on earth where He lived as a man struggling to build His ministry among mankind. 

He then faced His agonizing death on a cross where all the people he had called to join Him in building His Kingdom had fled leaving him alone with only his mother and  a few dear friends to watch Him die.

It is referencing this seeming failure that Jesus said to His Father,  “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all."

Isn't it astounding to know that Jesus, upon His resurrection, did not know what His  Father had  actually made out of the sacrifice of His life?

Jesus told His Father that He would accept whatever recompense was due to Him for His travails on earth among men.

The next verse captures Jesus reeling in surprise and astonishment at His Father's reply. Whereas He had been sent to bring back the House of Jacob and in the end, only managed to gather a  few who believed in Him, Jesus emphasizes  that  His Father Himself said what was to follow. Here, Jesus is speaking of His Father;

And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—he says:

Then the bombshell is dropped;

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

The manifold refulgent wisdom of God the Father is unwrapped and Jesus is shown the scope of the mission to which He was assigned. 

It was more than the 3 or 4 people who were with Him at the cross as He died; More than the scattered few who had followed Him during His earthly ministry;  Much more than the house of Israel to whom He had been sent but the prize that Jesus had gained was the whole world of people from every tribe and tongue and race  in every corner of the earth. 

Jesus had been prepared to die for a handful of people who believed in Him ( Jesus said in John 15 verse 13 " Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.) but the Father made His sacrifice count for the teeming billions of people who continue to trust in His name and many more added every day. 

The absolute perfection of the sacrifice that our eternal Lord and God died to make, was more than sufficient to save the house of Israel and also to save all of us gentiles.

Let us  give thanks to our awesome God for his global reach that He obtained for us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO ADOPTS US INTO HIS FAMILY

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

The salvation that our Lord gives us, through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, is received by faith and having trusted the Lord, we become children of God and with that, the privileges of being part of the family of the most High God are ours.

In joining the household of God, Phillipians 4 verse 4 - 9 prescribes a way of optimizing our experience in the family into which we have been adopted;

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 

The Apostle Paul, referring to the Phillipians as brothers and sisters, affirms that we are all members of the same family. In this family,  we can rejoice always and we can be free of anxiety and we can live before God with thanksgiving and the transcendent peace which guards our hearts.

In cultivating the tranquility of God, we  can think on things which are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Praise our Lord and God who adopts us into such a wonderful family of peace. 

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO WATCHES OVER US

The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.

The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

This astonishing passage out of Psalm 121 verse 5 - 8, gives us a picture of the Lord's committed watch over those who look to Him for help. He guards us continually and eternally. 

Our every motion is before Him and at every turn, the Lord protects us and keeps us. 

Whereas we humans sometimes ask Cain's famous question, "Am I my brother's keeper", the Lord our God instead, wholeheartedly gives Himself to the protection and guardianship over those to turn to Him for help.

Psalm 32 verse 8 says this;

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

Part of the Lord's care us is that He teaches us and guides us in the path we should follow and because His eye watches over us, His knowledge of us is exhaustive and His counsel for us is precisely tailored to each of us.

Bless our Lord who watches over us.

Amen.

Refetence reource: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/

OUR LORD WHO RESISTS THE PROUD

The fourth verse of the  book of Obadiah says this;

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.

This declaration by the Lord  is directed at Satan when he deigned to ascend  to the heights of heaven to take administrative and political control over creation. 

Even though Satan, from his lofty perch, thought He was beyond reach, the Lord God Almighty did in fact reach him and cast him down in an event that Jesus Himself witnessed and described this way in Luke 10 verse 19;

And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

In the same way, any men who become haughty enough to see themselves as having the power of judgement over all of humanity seeing them as poor and therefore beneath them, should know that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” as it says in James chapter 4 verse 6.

Any man, arising in fraternity with the kingdom of darkness and claiming for himself authority over the earth that he did not create and that he does not sustain, the Lord shall oppose him and he shall be cast down for  Jeremiah 50 verse 31 says; “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one, Declares the Lord God of hosts, “For your day has come, The time when I will punish you.

Let us thank the Lord for His great salvation from the proud who, at the behest of the kingdom of darkness, try to rise above us to oppress us.

Amen.

Reference resource: bible.knowing-jesus.com/

OUR LORD WHO DISSOLVES EVIL PLANS

Isaiah 19 verse 3 says this;

The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

Following on from yesterday's reading in the same chapter, we see here that the effect of God's intervention against Egypt's plans to oppress God's people is that the Egyptians lose heart. They become completely discouraged as their plots and schemes dissolve to nothing. 

In a desperate attempt to reverse their collapsing fortunes, they consult with mediums and spiritist to get guidance on how to overpower the opposition that is undermining them.

The attempt to gain spiritual leverage, however, has the opposite effect. 

As the next verse Isaiah 19 verse 4 says;

I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

Rather than gain leverage in the spiritual realm, the Egyptians were consigned to a fierce oppressor who cruelly ruled over them because the Egyptian rulers had foolishly made a faustian bargain.

Let us thank our Lord for His intervention in the spiritual realm to save us from oppression and let us be cautioned to never consult with voices that speak from the kingdom of darkness lest we invite a strong man into our midst from whom escape is difficult.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO DISCOMBOBULATES HIS FOES

Continuing from yesterday's reading, let's look at Isaiah  19 verse 14. Verse 13 and verse 15 are read for context.

The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm branch or reed.

The Egyptians, as they seek to establish their power to oppress God's people, are afflicted by the Lord with a spirit of dizziness or disorientation. 

The Lord pours disequilibrium on the leaders and the counsel of the regime causing the whole nation of Egypt to stagger and lurch from one irrational position to the other completely unable to take any concrete actions.

The confusion causes the state of Egypt to act like a drunkard, reeling and slipping around in his vomit. 

This is an unseemly image for sure but it clearly illustrates the effect that God's countermeasure has against the aggressive and oppressive regime of Egypt. 

The Egyptians hautily claim for themselves authorities they are not allotted and the Lord resists them by removing their capacity to reason intelligently and they collapse into the quagmire of their own making.

Let us humbly thank the Lord for his mercy on us and His intervention to deliver us from those who would oppress us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO CONFOUNDS THE WISE

Isaiah 19 verse 12 - 14 says this about the oppressive powers of Egypt when they sought to crush the Lord's people;

Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.

The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

Those who were charged with planning the actions of Egypt's oppressive regime lost their ability to reason. They became foolish and delusional. The bad decisions and advise they offered to the leaders of the regime led them hopelessly astray.

In defense of His people, the Lord will confound those who attempt to harm His inheritance.

Bless the Lord our God who intervenes to save His people.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO RESTORES OUR SOULS

One of the most famous passages from the bible is found in Psalm 23.  The New King James rendition is the most familiar and the first three verses go like this;

1- The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3- He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

When we accept the Lord as our shepherd, we are brought into His fold and our focus is on the things of His Kingdom and by His grace, He undertakes to take care of all that we have need of.

He makes us lie down in green pastures which means that He gives us rest and because we are surrounded by provisions, we are assured of his care for us and thus we are not worried or anxious about anything.

He leads us beside still waters which means that Jesus provides water to refresh us that we would no longer thirst. The still waters also symbolize that He stills the turbulence in our hearts so that our souls can be still and quiet before Him. In this hushed condition, we can hear His still small voice as He comforts us and guides us. The still waters are also reflecting pools where we are  invited to truly see ourselves the way He sees us and understand the purpose for which we were made.

While we are in this repose, Jesus restores our souls from the injuries, traumas, pollutants, toxins and evils deeds we encounter  that  bring structural damage to the spaces of our souls. 

The delicate work of the reconstruction of the ruined portions of our souls  involves a complex mix of revivication, stitching, rescusitation  and inner healing  to return our souls to their original design specifications.

Our Lord Jesus, the good shepherd, patiently and kindly mends our souls when we learn to trust him and commit ourselves to Him.

With restored souls, Jesus is better able to lead us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake so we should look for every opportunity to quieten ourselves before Him so he can make us lie down in green pastures and lead us besides still waters where he can do the work of restoring our souls.

As Psalm 103 verse 1 says, Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name.

Amen.

OUR LORD BY WHOM ALL THINGS WERE MADE

Refering to Jesus as the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God, John 1 verse 3 also says this about Jesus:

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

This exceptional assertion is one of the most profound in a book of profound assertions.

Jesus, who walked the dusty roads of Nazareth and who had brothers and sisters among  us, is the one by whom all things that are made were made.

Yes...that Jesus, the man who, at the graveside of His friend, openly wept in our midst and who chatted cheerfully with the Syro-phoenician woman about whether the scope of His mission included her or not and who diverted His  team of diciples across a stormy lake  to find and bring deliverance to a demonized castaway who ran naked among graves stones cutting his own  arms with rocks and who was offered all the kingdoms of the world for the easy price of bowing down to Satan but instead chose to gain  all the kingdoms of the world by paying for them with His own shed blood and agonized death by a brutal crucifixion and who faced judgement in hell where a single flaw in Him would have doomed Him forever but who, in His immaculately clean conscience, knew that Satan had nothing on Him and when the glory commensurate with his righteousness broke forth in brilliant light,  the powers of darkness were made a public spectacle from which they never recovered  and who rose again from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God the Father where He was crowned the King of the creation that was made by Him and through Him and for Him.

Who is this King of Glory?  Psalm 24 verse 10 gives the answer;

Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO EXTENDS TIME FOR MERCY 

In Genesis chapter 5 verse 25 - 27, an account of the longest living man named Methuselah is given. The passage goes like this;

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

Methuselah lived until he was 969 years old then died in the year that Noah's flood began.

It is said that by the interpretation of the name Methuselah (which could be read to mean " His death shall send"), the life span of Methuselah was what was holding back Noah's flood waiting for people to repent and seek refuge in the ark.

When Methuselah's life was stretched to the extreme limit, he died and the deluge of judgement began.

To read the text this way points to a tendency of God to wait out the clock for the longest possible time even to the point of deferring Methuselah's death till he was  969 years old so that people would have the greatest possible time to repent.

In our present time, spiritual turbulence can be sensed and as it says in Isaiah 13 verse 4 - 5 ;

Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together!

The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war. They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the Lord and the weapons of his wrath— to destroy the whole country.

Here, like the era of the flood, we are under warning that the whole country will be destroyed by the wrath of God. This is a time when people are being called to repent and seek refuge in the Lord through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The clock is running but what metric is holding back the judgement? 

Is it the lifespan of a man? Is it the number of people accumulating into a particular dispensation category like in Roman's 11 verse 25 - 26 that says;

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery,brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.

Pray to our Lord for mercy and call upon His name to save us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO CONFOUNDS OUR ENEMIES

Isaiah 19 verse 11 to 14 says this.

The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?

Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.

The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm branch or reed.

Egypt is a type of  regime of oppression that controls its people by coercion and fear. Such a regime enslaves its people using economic strangulation and intimidation until the people are subjugated.

When the regime of Egypt threatens the inheritance of God, the Lord undertakes to save His people and one of the ways that He defends against Egypt is to confound them and render them unable to make intelligent decisions.

The princes and decision-makers charged with pushing forward the agenda of the Egyptian regime are made dizzy by the Lord and they stagger  in one place, unable to work their way out of their previous mistakes which worsens their plight with each step they take.

Ultimately, their schemes are shipwrecked. They are unable to move forward and the whole agenda of oppression is driven back and destroyed.

God's people are set free and can pursue the destinies the Lord has set for them.

Amen.