Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
*********************************************
Every time I read that verse I think.".rreally.. Jesus...really..us,.. you have called us to do this???
What a challenging, frustrating, uncomfortable, yet joyous, task this has been. AS you read before our Christmas this year was, um, lets just say unexpected. As i sit back and think about all that has happen from the time we have lived on westcott up till now, I really am thankful for the many ways that the LORD has revealed himself to us. The girl that almost died on my bathroom floor is now living with us. She is predicted to stay for the next 6weeks, but we think that she will be gone for by the end of next week. Its been very interesting..she loves her cell phone and a computer..as well as the boyfriend who helped her get into this mess. What a mess it is, I cant even begin to tell you what all has went down in our home over the past week. The LORD is definitely teaching me some things. We have served, we have loved, we have prayed, we have fasted, we have prayed and prayed some more. This young girl is so lost, she is so lost Jesus. I watch her lay on our sofa with cell phone as she is just texting away and I cant help but to think about how I am so much like her.. Her I am ignoring, blind to the feast the LORD has before me, he invites me every day to come and dine and eat with him, to be full off of the goodness that he gives every morning..what do I do?? I CHOOSE to eat other slop, picking through the trash that lay before me not wanting to look up and eat at the banquet feast....
When I bring myself back to reality I am in tears because, I have hope and power through the Holy Spirit to not eat through that trash again tomorrow..but this young girl...she has none..back to the trash she goes..searching for significance, searching for peace, trying to understand why she is going through all this pain in her life ( she literally is asking those questions) but Satan as well as her own selfish desires to sin has blinded her to the truth...
Only hope we have is CHRIST...we need Christ to remove the scales from her eyes, my husband was saying the other night " you would think a close encounter with death would wake her up....but it hasn't" that made me so sad for her....she has complained, and had a bad attitude...
My prayer is that the LORD would do just as the verse above said..that he would give beauty for ashes in this situation, that the mourning we have over her sin would turn into gladness because of the new life she will have in Christ..that this enemy of the LORD would be known as a oak of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Please continue to pray
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
*********************************************
Every time I read that verse I think.".rreally.. Jesus...really..us,.. you have called us to do this???
What a challenging, frustrating, uncomfortable, yet joyous, task this has been. AS you read before our Christmas this year was, um, lets just say unexpected. As i sit back and think about all that has happen from the time we have lived on westcott up till now, I really am thankful for the many ways that the LORD has revealed himself to us. The girl that almost died on my bathroom floor is now living with us. She is predicted to stay for the next 6weeks, but we think that she will be gone for by the end of next week. Its been very interesting..she loves her cell phone and a computer..as well as the boyfriend who helped her get into this mess. What a mess it is, I cant even begin to tell you what all has went down in our home over the past week. The LORD is definitely teaching me some things. We have served, we have loved, we have prayed, we have fasted, we have prayed and prayed some more. This young girl is so lost, she is so lost Jesus. I watch her lay on our sofa with cell phone as she is just texting away and I cant help but to think about how I am so much like her.. Her I am ignoring, blind to the feast the LORD has before me, he invites me every day to come and dine and eat with him, to be full off of the goodness that he gives every morning..what do I do?? I CHOOSE to eat other slop, picking through the trash that lay before me not wanting to look up and eat at the banquet feast....
When I bring myself back to reality I am in tears because, I have hope and power through the Holy Spirit to not eat through that trash again tomorrow..but this young girl...she has none..back to the trash she goes..searching for significance, searching for peace, trying to understand why she is going through all this pain in her life ( she literally is asking those questions) but Satan as well as her own selfish desires to sin has blinded her to the truth...
Only hope we have is CHRIST...we need Christ to remove the scales from her eyes, my husband was saying the other night " you would think a close encounter with death would wake her up....but it hasn't" that made me so sad for her....she has complained, and had a bad attitude...
My prayer is that the LORD would do just as the verse above said..that he would give beauty for ashes in this situation, that the mourning we have over her sin would turn into gladness because of the new life she will have in Christ..that this enemy of the LORD would be known as a oak of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Please continue to pray