"Comfort My People"

Really, God? That is what is on Your mind? That is how you want to encourage us this week? Speak tenderly to them. But, tell them what?

Isaiah 40:2 says this: "Tell her that her sad days are gone - and sins are pardoned." The passage goes on to say that the people of Jerusalem have been punished twice over for their sins."

You and I are not the people of Jerusalem. We have Christ - He paid the price for our sins once when He died on the cross. A full pardon has been given to us.

As I reflect on the passage - why are you trying so hard to get what you already have, namely forgiveness, His presence, His pleasure, etc.  It’s all paid for and done.  You have Him.

 Secondly, God is working in your life (mountains levelled, valleys raised up) to prepare the way for greater things he wants to bring you, but that doesn’t mean He has withdrawn Himself from you.  Quite the opposite, it’s a sign of His pleasure and delight in you.  You will see the glory of God in greater measure than you ever have, it will come to you.  Don’t fight His discipline in your life.

We are indeed works in progress with a Master Potter who is hard at work on each of us. He is carving and shaping us into something even more beautiful. He loves the work of His hands,though some of the work is painful, yet through it, His signiture becomes evident and that is His glory.

It is in the living with Jesus at our side "His glory is revealed and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken" Isaiah 40:5. 

It is on the stormy waters of this life we learn what His abiding presence is all about. You would think God was most present on the calm sunny days. However, He is even more so present on the stormy days we find ourselves so often. 

The One who loves us and knows how much we can take, never leaves us. He speaks tenderly to us, because He knows we are so easily frightened. He soothes us with words of deliverence, His forgiveness, and constant love. He brings His comofrt to you and to me today and every day.