Some passages of Scripture are just like that… It really doesn’t matter what version of the Bible you read – Isaiah 35 is a wonderful description (a promise, if you please) of a wonderful future day for Gods people! I’ve chosen to post the New Living Translation (but any version would be uplifting, encouraging and comforting)! Read it, reflect on it, relish its words, respond to its message today! I did – today – in my time of “coffee with the Lord!”
“Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days! The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses! Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees! Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you!’
“And when He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland. The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.
“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts. There will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it! Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return! They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy! Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness!” (Isaiah 35 – the New Living Translation)
Oh, Praise the Lord! What a wonderful future day awaits the people of God!
Here’s a wonderful checklist to achieve maximum impact and influence as a Christ-follower in your neighborhood and within your culture… (Apostle Paul originally wrote it to believers in Rome, a pagan city fixated with “power politics” and “image consciousness” – but believe me, it’s good stuff for Christians who desire to influence their culture positively for Christ!)
This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” my thoughts drifted to the plight of many of God’s people in the world today! Some experiencing trials of all kinds, difficulties, pressure, persecution, even poverty and pain – people of faith, good people, righteous people. The writer of Hebrews described them this way. “Some were tortured…Some were jeered at, their backs were cut open with whips, Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All of these earned a good reputation for their faith!” (Hebrews 11:35-39 NLT)
