The Oil of Joy for Mourning
The prophet Isaiah gave us a great insight into the message of God for His people and the purpose He has for our lives. (Isaiah 61:3) Jesus proclaimed this message along with Isaiah, as does every preacher who is faithful to share the Word of God. It is essential that we hear this and apply it to our lives.
God consoles those who mourn. There is a purpose for mourning. It brings us closer to God, as we depend on Him and cry out to Him in our pain. When we do just that, He gives us beauty for ashes, and He provides the oil of joy for mourning. In other words, He can bring something good out of a tragedy if we will trust Him, and He will comfort us with the healing oil of joy to guide us out of our mourning. Instead, we can have the garment of praise, which we exchange for the spirit of heaviness. God brings us through grief with His compassion and provisions.
All of this leads us to be called trees of righteousness. We are growing in the Lord through the trials and tragedies of life, so that we become mature Christians, who live righteously before our Lord. He saved us, and He planted us in Christ, so we could bear fruit for Him. That way, He gets the glory. Jesus made it clear that all true believers bear fruit for the Lord. John makes it plain that righteousness is a characteristic of all believers, because we belong to Christ, and we have been changed. Isaiah was proclaiming this truth in his time, and we need to share it and live it today.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 64-66.
God consoles those who mourn. There is a purpose for mourning. It brings us closer to God, as we depend on Him and cry out to Him in our pain. When we do just that, He gives us beauty for ashes, and He provides the oil of joy for mourning. In other words, He can bring something good out of a tragedy if we will trust Him, and He will comfort us with the healing oil of joy to guide us out of our mourning. Instead, we can have the garment of praise, which we exchange for the spirit of heaviness. God brings us through grief with His compassion and provisions.
All of this leads us to be called trees of righteousness. We are growing in the Lord through the trials and tragedies of life, so that we become mature Christians, who live righteously before our Lord. He saved us, and He planted us in Christ, so we could bear fruit for Him. That way, He gets the glory. Jesus made it clear that all true believers bear fruit for the Lord. John makes it plain that righteousness is a characteristic of all believers, because we belong to Christ, and we have been changed. Isaiah was proclaiming this truth in his time, and we need to share it and live it today.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 64-66.