Matthew 20: 26-28. In Matthew 20:26-28, Jesus says these

Today has

1 Peter 2:11-12. Peter writes for us in 1 Peter 2:11-12: Beloved,

This may seem an odd text to choose as we celebrate

Psalm 119:145-147. In Psalm 119: 145-147 the Psalmist writes: With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!

    I will keep your statutes.

146 I call to you; save me,

    that I may observe your testimonies.

147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;

    I hope in your words.

The Psalmist cries out to God for salvation. He is cries out with his whole heart. His plea is to be saved by God so that He can serve God. His plea for salvation is not one out of self-concern or self-preservation. Rather, his desire is to be saved so that He might observe the Lord’s testimonies. He rises early in the morning to cry for the Lord’s help because he finds his hope in the words that the Lord has spoken to him. Do you find hope in the Word’s of God. Do you demonstrate that by keeping His statues? So often we want to be saved simply because we are afraid of what might happen otherwise. We must look to the Lord for salvation, but we must desire to be saved to magnify His great name! 

Nahum 1:2-3. The Lord gave His Word to Nahum and he wrote:  The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;

    the Lord is avenging and wrathful;

the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries

    and keeps wrath for his enemies.

3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

    and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

    and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

We are confronted with the nonstop injustice in the world. We witness the horrors of terrorism, famine, and abject poverty. These things rightly cause us anger, but we are often at odds as to what to do. Everything within us tells us to seek vengeance for wrong doing. However, we are reminded that vengeance is not ours. The Lord will take vengeance and pour out His wrath. He will set all things right in the end. He is great in power and slow to anger. He will, however, not let the guilty go unpunished. We are to show the love of Christ in the midst of turmoil. We are to love our neighbor. We do not seek vengeance; we leave that to the Lord. 

1 Peter 1:3. Peter writes for us in 1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As we begin a new week, we can easily become stuck in the routine of life. This passage is a great call to renewal each day and each week. Peter begins his letter with great cheer because the Lord has done something amazing for us! He has shown us great mercy, called us to Himself, and given us life. He has accomplished all of this, what Peter calls a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has raised His Son from the dead and we are the beneficiaries. When your day or week feels uneventful or unexciting, do not fail to see that each day, for the Christian, is one of joy and intrigue. The Lord has caused you to be born again. There is nothing uneventful about that! 

Isaiah 19: 19-20. Isaiah 19:19-20 states that “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.”

In this passage the Lord points to a day when the people of Egypt will follow Him and He will be there God. What an amazing thought. The people who had once held the people of God captivate as slaves, will turn from their ways and follow the Lord. This is a great testimony to the power of our God. He is able to change the heart of His enemies to the point where they worship Him. We find hope in  this message about the power of Christ. He is still changing the hearts of people who were once His enemy. He has changed ours and He will continue to changes those who are far from Him. 

Isaiah 65:17. In Isaiah 65:17, the Lord says, For behold, I create new heavens

    and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

    or come into mind.

The Lord promises that He will make all things new. What joy it is to hear these words in the midst of the suffering and sorrow we see in the world around us. There is coming a time when He will remove the former things of the earth that are terrible and displeasing to Him and He will make all things new. The final verse of this chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us that the wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion will eat straw like the ox and the dust shall be the serpent’s foot.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all of the Lord’s holy mountain. A time of peace is coming for those who are found in Christ. When you experience sorrow, look ahead to the soon coming promise of the peace of Christ.