Skip to main content

Lent Day 30


Scripture Reading

Isaiah 9:6-7


Isaiah is one of my favorite prophets. His life and ministry have always been sources of encouragement for me. The first part of chapter 9 foretells the birth of a child who will bring change to Israel and the world. We could spend a day talking about each of the four names of Jesus mentioned in verse 6 but we don't have the time. Wonderful Counselor, Jesus is our counselor through all the things that we go through. When we have a really bad day at school or a fight with our parents or brother or sister he is there. When we have a really great day, Jesus is still with us. He longs for us to share our thoughts with him when things are going great in our lives and when things are not so great. Jesus is the mighty God. We can never over-emphasize the divine nature of Jesus, He is God the Son. He is strong and mighty and able to do anything if he wants to. He is also the Everlasting Father. Jesus wasn't alive for just 33 years, he was the beginning of all creation. The Prince of Peace is another name of Jesus. This means that he will one day bring ultimate peace to the world he created. Part of this means that as believers we can experience the peace of God in the midst of difficult circumstances like failing a test, losing a loved one, or feeling rejected by friends. 


These two verses give us hope in the person of Jesus. We, like Isaiah's audience, can anticipate the ultimate ruler of God over all the earth. This began when Jesus suffered and died for the sin of the world, but it will be fully realized when Christ comes back to establish the new heaven and the new earth to reign forever. 


Prayer: Father, thank you for sending the Prince of Peace into a world of turmoil for my sake. I ask that you would help me to be an instrument of your peace so that others might see the difference that you have made in my life. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lent Day 45 Good Friday

Scripture Reading John 19:23-30 Imagine that you were there. You are one of Christ's followers and you are there at the foot of the cross. Can you hear the crying, the moans of Christ's pain? Can you see him as he gasps for air and struggles to speak? Do you see his mother weeping and the crowds around her cheering his death? The stench of hatred and death are around you and the one that you love and believe to be the Messiah is hanging on a cross before you? Now...someone tells you that this is "good." It seems unreal that anything good could come from what is around you. You want to believe, but how can it be good?  The Christian life at times is hard for us to understand. Throughout scripture we are told things that on the surface do not make sense. If we give up our lives, we gain life. The poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of God. The meek will inherit the earth.  And the death of Christ is good. On that Friday, it must have been unimaginably difficult to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lent Day 31

Scripture Reading Matthew 2:1-6, Micah 5:2 The prophet Micah prophesied the coming of the Messiah, from Bethlehem out of the land of Judah, seven centuries prior to Jesus' birth. Again scripture is fulfilled and Jesus' Davidic background is brought to our attention. The Jews, although blind to the servant king that the Messiah would be, were very well versed with the prophet Micah's words which said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem from the lineage of David. King Herod, appointed by the Roman government to rule Judea, Galilee, and other territories, was distraught over this question the magi from the east asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?" To the reigning king, this must have been quite alarming. He asked the chief priests and teachers of the law what they knew about this king. The fulfillment of Micah's words shook Herod. He was a man known for his ruthlessness and vengeance. It is known that he murdered his wife, sons, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lent Day 27

Scripture Reading Acts 2:29-36 Peter's sermon at Pentecost ties together so many important aspects of the Jewish tradition and the connection that it has with our faith as Christians. Peter's sermon was addressed primarily to other Jews (Acts 2:14). Peter's own faith was as a Jew who came to believe that a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth was the promised Messiah, who would reign forever on David's throne. Peter was pleading with his fellow Jews to open their eyes to the reality of their Messiah who had recently been crucified and resurrected from the dead.  Peter turns his sermon's focus to the greatest leader and hero of Israel, David. The shepherd boy, turned king was remembered as Israel's greatest leader and a spiritual giant for his radical obedience to God. Peter knew that to gain his audience's attention he had to focus on the greatest figure in their history.  Peter points out that David himself realized that the promise of a descendant to reign on hi...
Post a Comment
Read more