"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointedme to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me tobind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedomfor the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaimthe year of the LORD's favorand the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~fromISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog
APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it
On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on7/19/17as I'm still learning.
"...But He was hurt because of us; He suffered so. Our wrong doing wounded and crushed Him. He endured the breaking that made us whole. The injuries He suffered became our healing. (The Voice)
Time of Grace's devotional for today with this verse is
"...The prophet Isaiah, seven centuries before Christ, was allowed to look into the future to see the strange way in which salvation for the human race would be won. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). There is no longer any condemnation or punishment for those who believe in Christ. His precious body was pierced by dreadful nails; His precious wounds bring you healing."
ISAIAH 53 Today's portion of Isaiah 53 is verse 3 [image credit: FaithLife] The Message puts it this way:
"... He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at Him and people turned away. We looked down on Him, thought He was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains He carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought He brought it on Himself, that God was punishing Him for His own failures. But it was our sins that did that to Him, that ripped and tore and crushed Him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through His bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,on Him, on Him. (MSG)
Time of Grace's devotional for today with this verse is
"... King Jesus was given a crown to wear as well, but there was no velvet, platinum, or jewels. The “obeisance” he received from the Roman soldiers was mockery and jest. The “scepter” he was given was a reed, and his “crown” was a strip of thorns twisted into a circlet. As a gesture of total contempt, they beat it into his dear head, intensifying the humiliation and agony. The idea that he claimed to be the King of the Jews brought only resentment--they wanted no further claims on their accountability. Isaiah had said it would be like this: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3). It is the paradox of the gospel that Jesus’ path to glory lay through humiliation, that his path to delight lay through pain, that his path to victory lay through suffering, and that the way in which he could crush Satan involved letting himself be crushed first. It is the paradox of the gospel that it is through the wounds of Christ that you and I are healed."
As I take a Walk On Weds.and Worship On Weds., with this song, my thoughts reflect on another "garden" - the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46) at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (an olive grove) being "In the Garden" ...
can you picture this?
... yet this crown that is placed on Our Lord Jesus Christ on Holy Friday at His Crucifixion, is not a crown at all, however, the day is coming when we will see Him, seated on His Throne, in His Crown as He rightly deserves with all of our praise, honor, homage, gratitude and glory ... once again, "I can only imagine"
"...The same crown of righteousness will be given to all believers who love the appearing of Christ Jesus."~Larry M. Jaynes
I can hardly believe this -
yet still I wait for this glorious day!
BELIEVING
in our
RISEN LORD
",,,And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known. ..."