Tag: wait
Jesus, Our Good Shepherd
Scripture reading for October2: Isaiah 40:10-11 “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for him; behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah 40:29-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
John 10:14-15 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Isaiah calls us to ‘behold’ the coming of the everlasting God. God has a reward with Him for the righteous and recompense for the rebellious. As a Shepherd, He will come as God’s ‘Arm’ caring for His flock with compassion. He will be gentle and tender to the young and helpless. He will carry them in His arms renewing their strength.
Isaiah used some questions for God’s weary people to get them to look and listen instead of fainting. He asked if they had heard of God coming and known of God’s plan to send His Messiah? The Creator of the ends of the earth was the Everlasting God Who was sending His Son as the Good Shepherd. He would through His miracles, open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears and restore mobility and strength to the lame and weary. He never tired or grew weary. If God’s people would wait on Him, they would renew their strength and mount up with wings like eagles! He would enable them to run with new strength and joy as sheep with a Good Shepherd!
Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your right Arm, Jesus Christ, as our Good Shepherd. Thank you for opening my blind eyes and unstopping my ears. I leap and shout for joy! I trust You to carry me when I can’t move on my own. Amen!
Obeying our King!
Scripture reading for April 14th: Judges 17-18, Psalm 21, Acts 1
Key Scriptures: Acts 1:4-8 “And while staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, “you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus was always teaching His disciples, preparing them to take over the vision He had given them from the Father to reach the whole world through preaching and making disciples. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared a final time to instruct them to wait for the Promise of the Father–the Blessed Holy Spirit. They were looking for the full restoration of the kingdom but Jesus told them that was not their concern. They would need the power given by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Faith Confession and prayer: My King, fill me afresh with the Holy Spirit today! I know You will come again, but I want to be about Your vision of reaching my Jerusalem and even the ends of the earth.
Judges 17:10 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Psalm 21:13 “Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength! We will sing and praise Your power.”
Waiting for the Son!
Scripture reading for September 12th: 1st Thessalonians 1, Psalm 33, Proverbs 29
Key Scriptures: 1st Thessalonians 1:8-10 “For not only has the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and in Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
When someone is truly saved and has believed God’s Word, they most often become vocal about sharing their faith. They tell others what has happened to them and share the Word of God with lost friends and acquaintances. The Thessalonians had turned from serving dead idols to now accepting adoption by the God who is alive and true. They knew the wrath that would have been theirs under the darkness of idolatry and excitedly waited for the return of Jesus Christ and eternal life.
Faith Confession: I tell the good news of Jesus Christ to those God places in my path. Jesus saved me from idolatry to sin and self and gave me a vision of His coming again with full salvation for all who believe in Him.
Psalm 33:18-20 “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord, He is our help and our shield.”