I Am Your Redeemer

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People


Isaiah 44:21-26 (The Message)
 ^21-22"Remember these things, O Jacob.
   Take it seriously, Israel, that you're my servant.
I made you, shaped you: You're my servant.
   O Israel, I'll never forget you.
I've wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings.
   There's nothing left of your sins.
Come back to me, come back.
   I've redeemed you."
 ²³High heavens, sing!
   God has done it.
Deep earth, shout!
   And you mountains, sing!
   A forest choir of oaks and pines and cedars!
God has redeemed Jacob.
   God's glory is on display in Israel.
 ²⁴God, your Redeemer,
   who shaped your life in your mother's womb, says:
"I am God. I made all that is.
   With no help from you I spread out the skies
   and laid out the earth."
 ^25-28He makes the magicians look ridiculous
   and turns fortunetellers into jokes.
He makes the experts look trivial
   and their latest knowledge look silly.
But he backs the word of his servant
   and confirms the counsel of his messengers.
He says to Jerusalem, "Be inhabited,"
   and to the cities of Judah, "Be rebuilt,"
   and to the ruins, "I raise you up."
He says to Ocean, "Dry up.
   I'm drying up your rivers."
He says to Cyrus, "My shepherd—
   everything I want, you'll do it."
He says to Jerusalem, "Be built,"
   and to the Temple, "Be established."

For Reflection
How did God move in your life? In times of difficulty, how did you get the courage to get on with life?  God tells the Jews in the face of catastrophe, to inhabit, rebuild, become established.

Pray
to be freed from memories that trip you up.  Pray for the hope that drives you toward your future.  Pray that you recognize your role in the body of Christ.

Assured of the Future

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People


Isaiah 44:6-8 (The Message)
 ^6-8God, King of Israel,
   your Redeemer, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says:
"I'm first, I'm last, and everything in between.
   I'm the only God there is.
Who compares with me?
   Speak up. See if you measure up.
From the beginning, who else has always announced what's coming?
   So what is coming next? Anybody want to venture a try?
Don't be afraid, and don't worry:
   Haven't I always kept you informed, told you what was going on?
You're my eyewitnesses:
   Have you ever come across a God, a real God, other than me?
   There's no Rock like me that I know of."

For Reflection
What does it take to believe the good news of God's redemption?  I mean truly believe, strong enough to act on it.  How does your belief affect what you do?

Pray
Pray for the confidence to act on your belief in redemption. Pray that your trust in God displaces all fear.

Redeemed to Be Heirs

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People


Galatians 4:1-7 (The Message)
 ^1-3Let me show you the implications of this. As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave. Though legally he owns the entire inheritance, he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation. That is the way it is with us: When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our own lives.  ^4-7But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

For Reflection
What does it mean to come of age?  Do you  remember your sixteenth birthday?  Do you remember the anticipation of the freedom it represented? And yet you were not entirely freed to do as you pleased.  Aha, but at eighteen...  The privilege of emancipation came at age twenty one.  Between sixteen and twenty one, you began to realize that freedom came with strings.  You both enjoyed and suffered the consequences of your decisions.  Without a safety net, life is scary.  One may think he leaves the household of God, but God never abandons him.

Pray
for those who think they have to face life's challenges alone.  Pray that they will accept the invitation to turn towards God's comforting arms.  Pray that they will experience the peace only God can provide.

Know that I Am with You

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People

Genesis 28:10-17 (The Message)

^10-12 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
 ^13-15 Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."
 ^16-17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "God is in this place—truly. And I didn't even know it!" He was terrified. He whispered in awe, "Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of Heaven."

For Reflection
In his dream, Jacob saw the hard wired connection between God and mankind.  At that point Jacob realized that the earth upon which he walked was holy ground and no matter where he went he was in God's house and under His protection. How does one act in the house of God? If we are in the household of God, each of us has a purpose to fulfill. What is your task?

Pray
to listen closely for the task for which God has prepared you.  Pray for the courage to follow God's direction.

My Redeemer Lives

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People


Job 19:23-27 (The Message)
 ^23-27 "If only my words were written in a book—
   better yet, chiseled in stone!
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
   and eventually he'll take his stand on earth.
And I'll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
   see God myself, with my very own eyes.
   Oh, how I long for that day!

For Reflection
I want you to think about time. For us there is only a chronology, a time to be born, a time to live, and a time to die.  However, for God time is defined by the word "is,"  past, but not just past; future, but not just future. God's sense of time is reflected in his own description of Himself, "I am."
It is a little like  knowing the Christ event.  Jesus exists before His birth, during His presence on earth and exists after His death.
As we move now through Christ;s birth to His resurrection, we see dimly as God sees -- not only a chronology, one moment at a time but also, we, through memory, see the whole Christ event time. In a single instant we know what was, is and will be.  We get a glimpse, as Job wished, of a vision of God.  What is salvation if it is not restoration to the arms of  the omnipotent  "I am?"

Pray
Neal before our timeless God.  Give thanks for His invitation to redemption. Pray that you grasp the restoring power of God and fulfill its promise.  Pray that you take back your life and stand with God giving your life as Christ did to what with God you shall become.

I Will Be with You

Merry Christmas

The Lord is with You

Assuring Hope
Comfort for Gods People

Matthew 1:18-25 (The Message)

The Birth of Jesus

 ^18-19The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.  ^20-23While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

   Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
   They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
 ^24-25Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

For Reflection
Remember the story.  Remember Joseph's's obedience.  Remember Mary's ordeal.  Remember those who came to witness the birth of a King.  Remember the stable. Remember the birth of freedom, truth, and salvation.  Never forget.

Pray
and sing songs of joy.  Offer prayers of thanksgiving.  Rejoice in the Lord, all ways.