Comfort

So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I, I am he who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human being who fades like grass? You have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor? The oppressed shall speedily be released; they shall not die and go down to the Pit, nor shall they lack bread. For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name. I have put my words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, “You are my people.” (Isaiah 51:11-16, NRSV)

Sorrow and sighing will flee!

God will be with His people and will comfort them and give them Joy!

The oppressed will be released and God will comfort His people. He will hide us in the shadow of His hand and protect us.

The creator of all the world has said that He will comfort those who love Him. It is a promise.

So this season as we wait for Him, let us not lose sight of the promise of comfort and joy that will meet us soon and very soon!

Joy

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (Acts 16:25-34, NRSV)

When you think of joy what do you think of?

I have to admit the first thing that comes to mind is happy. If I am filled with joy I am happy…

Well here Paul and Silas are in prison, praying and singing. They are so filled with the joy of the Lord that they can not help but sing and pray to God even from prison!

Have you ever experienced this joy? That even in the darkest moment, you feel the presence of God that you can sing and pray and praise Him!

That is what the jailer had when he discovered that the prisoners were still there. Such joy that he would not die. The darkness all around him had vanished.

That is how we can live everyday! Filled with the joy of the Lord! Singing and praying to Him always giving Him praise!

Pain

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. (John 16:19-24, NRSV)

This is a great passage, because it reminds me of a story I heard one day on the radio. The DJs were asking people about pain and how they dealt with it, and they got on the topic of kidney stones and child-birth. And a woman called in and said that the pain of kidney stones to her was worse than child-birth, because at the end of child-birth and all the extreme labor, she got to hold her child. There was a reward!

The kidney stone just passed and the memory of the pain was all that was left. Now one could possibly hold the kidney stone, but it is not the same as the child.

And that is the promise here. That the joy we will experience will be such greater than the pain we have now that it will not matter.

So endure the pain, knowing the joy will far out weigh what you are facing now!

Light vs Darkness

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21, NRSV)

The thing I love about light is, even the smallest amount will disperse the darkness.

It is said that the human eye can see a flame from a candle from 300 yards away. I heard this, have not researched it, but think about that. If that is true, the smallest amount of light will dispel the darkness.

And I know that to be true with Jesus.

He dispels my darkness and makes it so the evil can have nothing to do with me. He enters my life and shows all the things that can keep me from Him. I can try to hide, but His loving presence illumines the dark and brings to light all I have done and everything is exposed.

That can cause fear. Fear of the others around us discovering our skeletons, but Jesus loves you skeletons and all. And if you let Him, He will illumine your world, so the skeletons dissipate.

Light

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. (John 9:1-7, NRSV)

I love reading the Bible. Because passages I think I know, when I take the time to reread them, hit me in a totally new way. This just shows me that the Bible is living and allows me to see the world through God’s eyes.

Here I read, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus told the disciples as long as I am in the world…

Well we know that Jesus died, and He descended to the dead, and then He rose again, and ascended. So is Jesus still in the world?

Is the light still in the world?

I hope you are saying Yes, because that is the correct answer!

Jesus is still in the world. Beyond the promises He made to always be with us, so wherever we are, He is.

We can see in these verses His light living on. He made a man who was blind from birth able to see, and showed the disciples that sin does not cause abnormalities. We are made they way we are so God’s glory may be shown through all of us.

So go and shine, and let the world see the light of Jesus!