PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11 Hope

Time to reflect: This passage needs to be read as it was intended by Isaiah – words of hope for the people of Israel in exile. What would these words have meant to a suffering Israel in exile? But these words also indicate something about the nature of God. Therefore they did not only apply to that one people at that one time. They are words of hope for all oppressed and discouraged people. They proclaim a God that could/would come personally, as Jesus, to give this comfort to all of us in person.

Moving through the day: Meditate on what Isaiah's original message means today and to your life. Then meditate on how Jesus proclaims this message in his person, life and nature.

Scripture:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
       because the LORD has anointed me
       to preach good news to the poor.
       He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
       to proclaim freedom for the captives
       and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
       and the day of vengeance of our God,
       to comfort all who mourn,

  and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
       to bestow on them a crown of beauty
       instead of ashes,
       the oil of gladness
       instead of mourning,
       and a garment of praise
       instead of a spirit of despair.
       They will be called oaks of righteousness,
       a planting of the LORD
       for the display of his splendor.

  They will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and restore the places long devastated;
       they will renew the ruined cities
       that have been devastated for generations.

"For I, the LORD, love justice;
       I hate robbery and iniquity.
       In my faithfulness I will reward them
       and make an everlasting covenant with them.

 Their descendants will be known among the nations
       and their offspring among the peoples.
       All who see them will acknowledge
       that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

  I delight greatly in the LORD;
       my soul rejoices in my God.
       For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
       and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
       as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
       and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

  For as the soil makes the sprout come up
       and a garden causes seeds to grow,
       so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
       spring up before all nations.