THE LORD IS CLOSE TO THE NEEDY

Reading: Isaiah 61:1-3

Recently, during our sermon series, “THANKfull,” Pastor Jeff used Psalm 107 as the text for “A Thankful Life is a Resilient Life.” I began smiling as I listened to the familiar verses, thinking, “Hey, this is ‘my’ psalm!” It has been “mine” since June 8, 1983, when I made my first of many margin notations throughout the years. I was curious to see how Pastor Jeff was going to use these verses to show resiliency. He did it brilliantly by highlighting 4 areas of difficulty and the final outcomes of each:

• ·         Lost travelers – finally reach their destination
• ·         Prisoners – set free at last
• ·         Sick people – healed from near death
• ·         Helpless/overwhelmed – rescued in nick of time

We see that in each of these problems, people were able to bounce back because they chose to be thankful (see vs 8, 15, 21, 31). But I wondered how they were able to get to this point of thanks, what led them to being resilient. I noticed that after every description, there was a recurring refrain that happened after each group was “at their wits end (vs 27).”  “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distresses (see vs 6, 13, 19, 28).”

I realized when reading today’s verses in Isaiah 61, there is a similar structure and theme, only it is more from God’s perspective rather than ours as needy people. That is, He speaks first from what He does for people in their need:

• ·         He brings good news to the afflicted
• ·         He binds up the broken-hearted
• ·         He proclaims liberty to captives
• ·         He gives freedom to prisoners
• ·         He provides comfort to all who mourn

Then, centuries later, Jesus applied these verses to himself when he was speaking in the temple (see Luke 4:16-20), especially verse 1, which says that Christ was anointed by the Lord God and given His Holy Spirit to be and do all these things! Hallelujah – What a Savior! He sticks close to us to give us all we need to navigate through life. So no matter how we are down and out (afflicted, broken-hearted, etc), Jesus is there to bring exactly what we need to stand tall.

In verse 3, we are called “Oaks of Righteousness” by God, standing tall, as “a planting of the Lord – that He may be glorified!”

Lord, I am so thankful that you are always by my side, rescuing me from myself and anything that comes my way. Help me grow into the name you have given me, “Oak of Righteousness” that I may reflect your glory more each day. Amen.

Prisoners who minister

“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’

“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved – you and your household. ‘” Acts 16:25-30

When it comes to prison ministry, we generally think of believers on the outside going in to tend to the spiritual well-being of men and women behind bars. This happens ... a lot. We’d be amazed at all of people – both clergy and laity – who minister to those confined in our country’s jails and prisons. On one scale or another, whether as a group or single visitor, it’s a daily thing.

Yet while these servants bring Jesus to those behind bars, they also find him already there ... living, serving and thriving in and through the incarcerated. And it’s amazing, the things that inside and outside servants see and the experiences they share!  I personally have seen and heard ...

... prisoners receive true forgiveness from God and from themselves ...
... inmates forgive those who have hurt them, be it from childhood or later in life ...
... rival gang members reconcile and embrace in forgiveness ...
... there emerge true friendships in which inside/outside status is virtually forgotten ...
... commitment to mutual prayer support, with faithful follow-up at the next visit ...
... prisoners pray for their victims ...
... inmates’ families come to Christ through the living witness of their jailed loved ones ...
... renewed believers say “now I understand what they mean by, ‘free on the inside’” ...
... a new believer say “for the first time in 20 years, I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw” ...
... the timid grow in the Spirit, emerging in spiritual strength and power, love and humility ...

This is not new. Ask the jailer who held Paul and Silas under lock and key. He will tell you Jesus was there with them that night. For though the prison doors flew opened and its chains came loose, the prisoners he held captive chose not to leave. When the jailer found himself face-to-face with those whose judgment he enforced, it was their mercy he received, in return. Moreover, he who oversaw the sentenced now sentenced himself to death, only to be spared by the punished. And when the jailer implored of Paul and Silas the way to salvation from his own condemnation, they pointed him to freedom in Jesus, the Christ.

At the end of this age, Jesus will say, “... I was in prison and you came to visit me.” We will ask, “When?” and he will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

And I think we’ll find that “the least of these brothers” will have ministered to their outside visitors every bit as much as they have received from them. For wherever there is a believer, we will find Jesus on the inside.

(To see the full text of today’s devotional reading, Acts 16:25-34, click here.)