11/23/11 isaiah 35:3-6- The Messiah Brings Healing in His Wings

³ Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; ⁴ say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” ⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  (Isaiah 35:3-6)

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:35-36)

(Jesus Healing the Blind Man- Carl Bloch)

Thoughts: God is the Great Physician.  He is the One who made us- every molecule and atom of us.  He knows us by name and knows what is going on before the MRI or CAT Scan or biopsy is taken. God does not just care about our souls and our minds.  He also cares about our bodies.  Jesus showed that clearly when He came.  The Messiah brings spiritual and physical relief.  This is a sign of God’s love and compassion breaking upon our hurt and problems.  He heals people because He is compassionate for them.  In turn, we are called to do all we can to help people who are in need.  We are his hands and feet now. 

Prayer: Give me compassion, Lord, for those who are sick around me.  Give me a heart like yours that cared for those who were hurting whether they were clean, dirty, multiple or single problems.  Let me be patiently kind and compassionate toward them. 

2/19/10- Isaiah 35:1-4; "Hope in a Hopeless Land"

2/19- Isaiah 35:1-4

(desert blossoming in Israel)

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."

Thoughts: The idea of the desert blooming here is the idea of the barren bearing fruit, the sick getting well, and the hopeless finding hope. This happens when God comes to us- we begin to blossom like a desert that is irrigated. Yesterday, a very visible form of the hopelessness of our age occurred.  A software engineer in Autin Texas burned his house, and flew his plane into a building that quaretered the local IRS office. He was complaining about the IRS taking "his pound of flesh", yet he had a house, and he had a plane.  Millions in Haiti have no house and no food, much less an airplane or house.  Yet this man had given up hope.  Maybe he was about to lose his airplane and house.  Maybe he was frustrated at his taxes.  He had given up hope, and saw violence as his only alternative.  A biology teacher did not get tenure and in a rampage she shoots three other biology professors.  We have high worldly expectations.  In a recession economic environment such expectations are more likely to be crushed than fulfilled.  Each day, each breath is a gift from God.  We came into this world naked, and we will go out of it naked.  We should not be overly enthralled with human power, money, or things- or when they are taken away by sickness, health, a bad economy, or limits of one kind or another- then we are left meaningless and hopeless.  We should hope beyond this world- in the eternal God.  God can turn our desert into a garden.  It takes faith to believe that.  We need that kind of faith and hope today. 

Prayer: Help me to be strong, O Lord, and to wait on your coming.