Hope

 The beginning of chapter 66 (that you read yesterday) was a stunning warning. Here at the end of the chapter, Isaiah gives a beautiful word of hope. While human effort is untrustworthy (66:1-6), God’s faithfulness is reliable. And the end of the chapter reveals an even more surprising secret – God’s faithfulness isn’t just for Israel, but for anyone who will turn to Him in faith!

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 Click here to access the reading from Isaiah 66:13-22

 
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REFLECTION

Hope

By Jeff Morlock

God isn’t fooled by appearances. Some in Judah who publicly offered sacrifices to Yahweh also participated in pagan rituals and blatantly sinful behavior on the side. God promised punishment for these hypocrites and consolation for his faithful. But his judgment had taken a toll on the nation, and those who had kept the faith were weary.

Do you know what it’s like to be bone-tired? Depression, anxiety, marital or family strife, financial instability, ill health, and more can make us feel so mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted that we can’t imagine feeling truly alive again. The Israelites knew this bone-tiredness after suffering through the exile, being cut off from their land and their God. Then, when some were allowed to return in anticipation of the great blessings Yahweh had promised, they found only further hardship, famine, political in-fighting, and economic oppression.

But tucked within this drama of God’s righteous anger and Israel’s eventual vindication is the promise of v. 13, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Biblically, we know God as Father. But the comfort he offers is like that of a mother. When our daughters were little, my kisses never seemed to cure “owies” like their mother’s did, probably because moms have a special way of knowing exactly what kind of comfort is needed and just how to offer it for maximum impact. Even now when my adult children want fun, frivolity, or food, they call me. But when they want comfort, only Mom will do. Perhaps this is what Isaiah means. The labor pains of Zion’s deliverance and rebirth are unavoidable, yet the God who births her is there to comfort and console all along the way. Those who embrace this promise (and its Giver) will receive the hope Isaiah describes. God is making all things new. New heavens. New earth. New community. New you!

What sin do you need to confess today? What is getting in the way of your relationship with God and new life in Christ? What distraction is making you so weary that you have lost sight of his loving care and the hope to which he has called you? Spend some time silently in God’s presence, asking the Lord to forgive and soothe and renew you.

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your love that comes to us as both judgment and hope, for Jesus who fulfills both, and for the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, through whom we experience the care that Isaiah describes. Amen.

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER - FRIDAY

FAITH - Pray for faith instead of fear, that many would come to faith in Jesus and that we would all trust God more deeply during this time.

A New Way to Live

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:1-17)

Sometimes, after having been sick with the flu or perhaps down with a chronic pain, we wake one morning and find that we feel so much better. Our stomach isn't doing flip-flops or that painful ankle seems to be functioning perfect once again. We feel new and fresh. It always feels great to feel good once again. Can you relate? Have you ever experienced this renewed feeling?

There is a similar feeling, only even more powerful, when we accept Christ into our lives. There is an Easter morning feel to things. There is a joy, a new outlook on life. There is freedom and clarity and a sense of "I'm not alone." And all this is true. Recognizing Jesus is our Savior awakens a new life, a guilt free way to live. Do you know this feeling?

Easter morning is the start of something new. Perhaps for some it was a reminder of our forgiven state, of how much we are loved. For others, new to the faith, it may be one of many 'firsts' we experience. A fresh new life is there for the taking. Because He Lives, we can claim our place at His side in eternity. Because He Lives, we do too.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The Past is Dead Because He Died

Holy Week Meditation on Wednesday

Death to Life                                                  Luke 24:1-12

Grave yards are places we bury the past. We bury a lot more than bodies these days. We bury bad memories. We cover over hurt feelings, fears, anger, disappointments and shame. We bury them and roll a stone in front of the tomb hoping not to see them or hear from them again. Jesus wants to roll away the stone.

Some of us are alive physically, but we are dead emotionally. We look for life and the living among the dead. Old memories, past hurts and fears. We have pushed down so much that we don’t even know everything that is in there. We want to bury all the secrets of our life and forget they exist.

Jesus wants to give us new life. He wants to heal us and raise us. He wants to empty the tomb so there is nothing to hide, nothing to dread, and nothing to fear. He wants to release the death within us and breathe new life into us.

We cannot change the past but, in His strength, we can face it, so that He can release and cleanse us from it. It is the only way we can be truly free, and alive. The decision before us is whether to stay in our self-made tomb or rise with Christ to New Life.

Joe Valentino

Picture This

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!   (James 1:21-24 MSG)

Don't you just love the phrasing here? The word-pictures are stunning to my mind's eye. I can imagine coming to recognize a life lived less than desirably and then coming to grips with it. The action of scooping up the spoiled virtue and cancerous evil and dumping it into the garbage can. 

Lastly, slapping your hands together as though wiping them clean of the past mistakes, turning abruptly and walking in the opposite direction. Once the new life is begun and the fresh start is before you, things are different...eventually. We all must learn how to live out this new life.
This is where other Christians come into the picture. They can build relationships with us, mentor us and teach us how to live a life as Jesus would have us live. We learn how to love and care for each other. We practice real listening - to our mentors and then to each other as we share life.

And we do all this face-to-face. Not on social media, not in an impersonal text or email, but within touching distance. That is the only way to touch each other's lives. It is the one true way to cultivate real empathy.

I close today with verse 25 of The Message version of this text is completed by these vivid words: But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

James 1:21-25

Sunday

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:10-11)

A Christian has the luxury of viewing death in a different light than someone who does not believe. Because of our faith, we know that physical death is actually a rebirth into a new life. I am not diminishing the grief which accompanies the death of someone we love, but the fact is that this death is the beginning of something great - not the end.

My husband and I spoke of this often during his brief illness. While every day wasn't filled with happiness and smiles, when it came right down to it, we knew we would be together again one day and that day would not have any of the pain or hurtful memories we shared now. While this may sound trite, it did give us hope and a vision of a better day.

"By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also." (1 Corinthians 6:14)

We may view death as the ultimate brokenness, but it is the first step into a new life with Jesus. Do we need any more reason to share the Gospel with others than this?


Romans 8:1-11

Sin has lost its Hold

We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did. (Romans 6:9-10 MSG)

If these words mean we never have to fear death, why do we still hyperventilate when given that terminal diagnosis? Why do we fight right up until our last breath, to survive for one more day? I think it is human nature to choose life over death. 

Life is portrayed in another context in these two verses. We no longer need fear physical death, but secondly, our daily living is sweeter. When I walk in the light, behave as Jesus did, life offers new hope, new joy, not to mention a clear conscience.

Life in that season before Jesus, prior to inviting Him into our hearts, was dark and pointless? I remember when I first began to change. My feelings or emotions were new every day. I was learning how to live a life worthy of imitation, but often would slip into old behaviors.  Recognizing this, I wanted to get that peace back. I wanted to return to yesterday; the moment right before I relapsed, and take it all back.

Before long I was able to get through one day, and then two, without reverting. I discovered it was more comfortable leaning on Jesus and asking for forgiveness as soon as I realized I was practicing old ways. Jesus changed the way I look at eternity, but also how I live out today.

Romans 6:1-14

It is Time to Sing

Not sure if anyone noticed, but last Monday I got ahead of myself and posted on Luke 1:5-17 which was meant for today.  Because of that I never got a chance to write on Psalm 95, so I am going to do that today.

Psalm 95:1 (NASB)  "O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation."

I love to read from Psalms and study the words and then try to express how a particular Psalm is speaking to my heart that day. Often I will begin with my journal, reading through the words for the Psalm and as soon as a line or a word jumps from the page, I write that down and expound on it. I know that the Word of God is living and active. (Hebrews 4:12) I experience it daily.  Do you?

This week we are writing about Advent, the time when we prepare for the Birth of Christ.  The words from verse 6 help me to prepare for this holy time. "Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." (Psalm 95:6 NASB)  Doesn't this line invoke a vision of the manger, the Holy Scene we see all around during this season of waiting and watching?

This week, as we begin to hear Christmas songs on the radio and in church, let's think of the words and embrace the meaning of Christmas like never before. Consider how this season is time to remember Christ's mission was to save us, to redeem us and give us New Life.  Now that is something to sing about!

Psalm 95

1Corinthians 15:12, 16-28, 51-58 New Life

Sometimes the words in the bible are so deep and confusing I find myself re-reading again and again so I can get it through my thick skull. It often doesn’t work, but then if I read on, I find clarity. That’s kind of what happened today, as I read our passage in 1 Corinthians. I got it, then I didn’t, then I did again for a while, but then I didn’t. Whew! Please read it in its entirety below and see if the same thing happens to you.

Though as human beings we do not have the ability to grasp the "realm of the unknown where Jesus is," here is my attempt:
As Christ followers, we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, to save us from the sin we all incurred due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. (Eve wasn’t mentioned, but she was surely in on it.) This sin means death, unless we overcome and walk away from the things of this world toward the truth of God’s word. We must stand firm, and give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. The end will come and in Christ we will be made alive. We will be changed. There will be no real death, but instead new life. Labor for the Lord is never in vain.

Though I fully understand there is more substance and meaning weaved within the letters and words upon the pages of this tremendous book, we all still come to it from our own place. What other wisdom, direction, or peace do you find within these passages? Seek and you will find.

Read the texts for today here.

Walk in the Light - 1 John 2:1-14

"I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining." (1 John 2:7-8)

A few months ago I brought my rings in to a jeweler to have them repaired.  These were my wedding rings, so I had been wearing them daily for over 40 years.  When I picked them up I was astounded at their appearance.  I always loved them and thought they look good, but the rings I placed on my finger that day were dazzling. 

The jeweler had cleaned and polished them, removing the dingy, scratched surface to reveal shining golden bands that glistened in the sunlight. I can easily parallel this with how I feel now that the brilliant light of Jesus has invaded my life.  There was so much dirt and debris cluttering my life that it was difficult to see past the darkness.  Once Jesus became a focus for me, my surroundings became brighter, my outlook took on a new glow; and I no longer stumbled around in the dark.

Just as buffing my rings gave them new life, polishing my relationship with Jesus has given me new life and walking in step with Jesus keeps me out of darkness.     

Read the 1 John 2:1-14 text for today here.

As I read our scripture passage today something jumped off the page at me. The end of verse five says, “God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning.”

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are expecting their first child. It is such an exciting time for them as they anticipate the blessing God is giving them. Their little baby is going to have a fresh beginning on life.

One thing Tom and Heather will learn, if they don’t already know, is how when babies start their new life they are totally dependent on us. I was shocked as my little one grew, that I had to teach him everything. For some reason I thought Evan would know how to eat when he was old enough.

If you think about it the only things a newborn can do on its own is cry, sleep, and go to the bathroom. Everything else needs a mother and father's hand.

When God saved us through the sacrifice of His Son, we got a fresh beginning, and with that new start we need to remember that we can’t do everything this new life offers on our own.

Just like a new born child needs his loving parent to teach him how to survive in this crazy world. We need to allow our heavenly father, through the Holy Spirit, to guide us.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway Titus 3:1-11