Tag: Isaiah 40

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Day 16 Come Jesus Come

krisshetter 
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”  Hebrews 10:36-37
Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40: 30-31

I wonder how many times the apostles and the other disciples just fell to their knees in desperation and cried out for Jesus to return?  I can only imagine over the last 2,000 years there’s been hundreds and hundreds of the faithful that have done the same.  

It’s a sad truth that modern Christians come from a long line of faithful martyrs who were put to death by rulers afraid of losing power.  Men who have felt threatened by people who proclaim, “I am Christian.”  

In the United States, we have enjoyed a long run of a majority Christian society.  Never facing the intense persecution so many who founded the country faced  As we watch our societies across the world transform into a minority who would state in front of a mob, “I am Christian,” we too may be tempted to cry out for Jesus to come.

There’s so much in this song, “Come Jesus Come” that I love.  The truth of the world when Jesus does return – no more war, no more pain — is something I too long for.  On the other hand, my eldest daughter is yet to be saved.  All my Christian friends have at least one child of whom their prayers for salvation are constant.  I want one more day to pray that the Lord shake the scales from their eyes.

It’s a conundrum which Paul faced in his letters to the Philippians.  He longed to see the face of Jesus yet he also knew he was commissioned to bring as many to Christ as possible while still breathing.  

It’s a romantic thought to want Jesus to come today when we are facing terrible trials – sickness, death, financial loss, feelings of abandonment, being a victim of a crime.  We want Him to come and provide the salve that erases it all.  Until then, however, we are encouraged to persevere.  To grow in faith through our adversity.  To be an example to our unsaved loved ones who need to see the light of Jesus on our faces.  

Deep down we long for Him, to take us home or to come and make this place home.  Until then, we live in the hope of the glory to come.

Click here to listen to today’s song: Come Jesus Come

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Glory Revealed

krisshetter 
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5

You may have seen the widely distributed story and corresponding photos of the family who, after placing their Christmas tree inside their home, found an owl living in it. Four days after it had been decorated beautifully, admired, sat around, and I’m sure photographed. Four days. While the owl wasn’t some large barn owl, it wasn’t a tiny baby either. It appears to be about 6″ tall.  Let’s be clear about this too — the tree wasn’t decorated by children in some slipshod way. Someone draped and swirled gorgeous red, gold and white checkered ribbon. Lights were strung throughout, placed deep inside the branches. And no one saw the owl.

I was thinking about that story when I heard a podcast about the announcing of Jesus’ birth by angels to the shepherds. How His glory was revealed to the lowest on the economic totem pole, not to the religious elite. And once again I was struck with how God flips our view of “the way things should be” upside down. 

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13

While we are told at various points in Holy Scripture that God sees all, sees and knows every single hair on our heads. However, there are those among us who are destined to never see or understand the glory of God. We are told in Mark 6 that after teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth many were astonished to hear such wisdom. Instead of wanting more, however, they “took offense” and shunned Him. The result was that Jesus did not use His might and power there. They had closed off their hearts and minds to Him. They missed out on his glory.

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Matthew 13:11-13

You know how that owl was finally seen? A neighbor was bending over to plug in some sort of device and saw the tree from a different angle. As believers, we should have that same perspective change so we can see and know the secrets of the Kingdom. Like that owl revealed in the tree we can see the glory and the light of the Lord shining in hidden places and in places that seem so obvious to us. Once seen, it can never be unseen.

When God reveals His glory to us, once we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we are able to see two worlds. The world of the flesh and the world of promised His Kingdom. We see the joy and the hope while the world may just see bitterness and despair. The world so often looks down and inward. We turn our eyes outward and upward taking in the view of God’s people in need and ask how we can serve them. We see the glory of God revealed at work throughout our day — if you aren’t, just ask the Holy Spirit to help clear your eyes.

Friends, the King of Kings doesn’t just knock on the door of palaces and mansion. He knocks on our doors. At our apartment, our tiny home, our tent, our bedroom door. We need only to open the door, unlike the people in Nazareth, and welcome Him in (Rev 3:20) and His glory will be revealed. 

All honor and praise to the God who loves the lowly and reveals the secrets of the Kingdom to all believers in His Holy Word. Amen