To Encourage You

Isaiah 61:1-3  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;  he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit”

Are you sad about something today?  Are you mourning some loss?  Are things not going so well and it’s got you down, perhaps way down, even in despair?  If so, is there any remedy?  Is there hope for the hopeless, and joy for those in despair?  Is there anywhere to turn in such times?  What is one to do? 

To the glory of God, there is hope in such times, but it is only and always rooted in one place – the Word of God.  In the verses above, which Jesus quoted as He began His ministry in His hometown of Nazareth, He clearly said that His purpose in coming to this earth was “to bring good news to the poor.”  Although much of Jesus’ ministry was carried out among the very poor financially, His message here had a much wider application, i.e., to those who were poor spiritually.  His message was to those who mourned, to the poor in spirit, just as He said in His “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, and blessed are those who mourn.” And why are they blessed – only because of Him. 

If there was no Jesus, there would be no hope.  If He had never come to earth, suffered for us, died for us, and risen again, the believer would be, as Paul said, “of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).  But He did come, He did suffer, He did die, and He did rise again, and in these truths we have great hope – no matter what.  It is because of the truth of the miracle of the incarnation that we know His words are true.  We can trust what He has told us, no matter how things look. It is His Word that is the “good news to the poor” that is spoken about by Isaiah in the verses above.  There is always hope for the believer in God’s word.

God’s desire for us is expressed in such words as these: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).  Notice that the joy, peace, and hope that are spoken about here are provided “in believing” and that believing is in the Word of God.  As we fill our minds with His words, our minds become transformed, and our hearts become renewed (Romans 12:2), but only if we believe what He has said. 

So do you know what He has said?  Do you read His Word?  Do you believe it?  Are you meditating on it day and night?  That’s the central mark of the blessed person in Psalm 1.  Joy, hope, and peace, no matter what – these precious things are available to anyone – if we will only believe.