Bring Good News

December 23                                                                                             

Scripture Reading
Read Isaiah 61:1-4 and reflect on the passage.

What joyful work is ours in living out this text as followers of Jesus! Luke 4 records Jesus preaching on this text. Afterward, His hearers wanted to kill Him. Hmm, how ready are we to jump into fulfillment of Isaiah 61 with Jesus? Yet Jesus calls us to join Him in works God has prepared for us to do. We get to announce good news, mend broken hearts and open prison doors! This great Good News we preach first to our own souls. Whatever mental distress, whatever physical ailment, whatever relational tension enslaves us, God’s own Spirit comes upon us to blast the darkness and knead into us His oil of gladness. We are meant to so live through our daily sorrows that we are ready when the game-changing resurrection power of our crucified Lord breaks in.

The mourners trade in their heavy hearts and funeral attire. The captives lose their chains. The poor replace their rags with finery. We all, by God’s kindness, find ourselves as grand as oak trees in full leaf. All this is ours because a little Lamb in Bethlehem grew to be our mighty Savior.

Questions

What prison holds you captive today?  How might the Lord proclaim His favor to you and set you free?

Who are the poor, the brokenhearted or the captives in your circle of influence?  How might you bring them good news this week?

Prayer

Lord, we are acorns planted in darkness and manure but You are making us “oaks of righteousness.”  We give You glory for this Good News.

Pam Mann