Isaiah 61 (HCSB)
Messiah’s Jubilee
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify Him.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
6 But you will be called the Lord’s priests; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their riches.
7 Because your shame was double, and they cried out, “Disgrace is their portion,” therefore, they will possess double in their land, and eternal joy will be theirs.
8 For I Yahweh love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their posterity among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
10 I greatly rejoice in the Lord, I exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 1): For pretty much my entire faith walk with Jesus, I have been horrible at preaching Your good news to others. Please help me to become comfortable enough in my faith journey as well as confident enough in my Spiritual wisdom and knowledge to be able to discern when You want me to speak out Your glory to others, Father. Help me to put aside the lack of confidence and trust, so that I may speak of Your blessings as often as You would have me to do so. Please forgive me for not being a good messenger of Your word up to this point, Father. I pray that You will give me the confidence and strength to be a better messenger moving forward in this faith journey.
PROMISE (verses 8-9): The promise You make here is for Your believers and followers. You tell us that You have made an everlasting covenant with Your people; that Your people will be recognizable as they have been blessed by You. Help me to live in and remember this promise always, Father, so that I do not stray from the everlasting covenant You have promised us as I have so often in the past. Thank You for always staying faithful even when I have not, Father.
ATTITUDE (verse 10): Help me to change my selfish and closed off attitude, Father. I far too often keep things internalized and at the same time do not give You praise in all things. Help me to have a default attitude of rejoicing and praising in You, Father, through all things. Help me to wear the garments of salvation and robe of righteousness always throughout this faith walk with You, Jesus. Help me to align my attitudes with You and not of this world nor my flesh.
COMMAND (verses 1-3): Although not an obvious command from You, Father, I do feel as if You are telling this to me as a command. In these verses, You tell us how Jesus is a bringer of good news to the poor, a healer of the brokenhearted, proclaimer of freedom to prisoners, and comforter to those who mourn. I truly feel that this is Your command to us. In John 13:34, Jesus told us to love one another just as He loved us. The best way to show others we truly love them is through action and You give us so many things we can take action on in our lives to show others love. Please help me to follow these commands, Father, so that I may be a messenger of Your good news, a helper to the brokenhearted, a proclaimer of the freedom You bring, and a messenger of the comfort You provide to those who mourn. Help me to live these commands out far more than I have been, Father, so I may glorify You and Your kingdom in all that I do.
EXAMPLE (verses 1-3, 8, 10-11): You give us so many examples to live by in this Scripture, Father. I outlined some of them in the Command section of my journaling from verses 1-3. In addition to those, You also tell us that You love justice and hate robbery and injustice. You tell us to live in a way that we always greatly rejoice in You and exult in You, Father. You tell us to wear our garments of salvation and our robe of righteousness always. You tell us that You will cause righteousness and praise to “spring up before all nations.” Use me as a vessel for these, Father, so that I may help expand and glorify Your kingdom through all that I do. I am not perfect, but through You and with You by my side, all things are made perfect for Your will. Help me to realize this so that I may praise, celebrate, and proclaim Your awesomeness in all of my life, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You so much for Your good word and counsel, Father. Help me to be more comfortable and a better follower at relaying that good word and counsel to others, Father. Help me to be more open about my faith so that I may glorify You on a daily basis by revealing to others the great things You have shown me in my life. Thank You for giving me a capable voice through my writing, Father, even though I often struggle with my verbal words. If this is the way You want me to show Your amazingness to others, then I thank You for giving me a way with technology to be able to share my writings with others, Father, so that it may glorify You. Help me glorify You more and more through my journals, Father, so that Your kingdom may be expanded and all glory and praise directed to You!
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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