New Things...

SCRIPTURE

LENT--DAY 35

Monday in Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-9 (NRSV)

The servant brings forth justice

Here is my servant,
whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.


DEVOTION

We have now entered into the final days of Lent and into the week we call HOLY.

Today we listen as Isaiah declares that God's servant will bring forth God's justice!

This side of the cross, we recognize these verses as prophesy concerning the god-man Jesus. I love the verse which says, "He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth..."

Praise the Lord!

When I think of all that Jesus had to endure to establish justice in the Earth, my soul almost faints within me. When I think of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish that Jesus endured in order to "open blinded eyes and release prisoners sitting in darkness," I am so grateful for God's steadfast and determined love toward us!

As we make pilgrimage with Jesus this week, let us remember these words from our God, "former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them."

Thank God for the blessed assurance that new and greater things are coming! As we walk with Jesus into Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, beholding his battered, bruised, and bleeding body up on the cross, we must not lose heart...

Stay with Jesus. Abide with him...Easter is just around the corner.


Let us pray:

Holy One, thank you that you are the Lord my God and your glory belongs to no other! I praise and worship you today. I adore and magnify you--just because of who you are! Thank you that you open blinded eyes and set prisoners free! Please help me to be spiritually awakened this week, that I might truly see you high and lifted up, exalted amongst the peoples! I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.



INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaL