Messiah

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me To bring good news to the humble and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted, To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives And freedom to prisoners, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance and retribution of our God, To comfort all who mourn, To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following: To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning], The oil of joy instead of mourning, The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God], The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cxAv4xFIDRg&feature=share

This song has been on my mind the past two days. “Jesus, thank you.your blood has washed away my sin. The Father’s wrath completely satisfied. Once your enemy, now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. Jesus, thank you.’

In Luke 4:16-22, Jesus proclaims the above verses in Isaiah. I skipped the repetition of the verses above. Take a look.

“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, (here’s the verses from Isaiah) Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.” And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭17‬, ‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭AMP‬‬

I have been pondering a message I read on Facebook last night. Over and over. the statement was brutal, in my opinion. ‘When you are spiritually healthy, you’re almost always mentally healthy.” Dale Partridge

Gosh, that is chains to me.

Why? His mercy and kindness Know No End. He came to bring good news. He came to heal the broken-hearted. He came to bring liberty, freedom. To comfort. To provide.

Friends, when we look at the above statement from Mr. Partridge, I don’t see any of what Jesus has come to do. There is depression. There is sadness. The difference is Jesus comes to us. Sits with us. Stays with us.

There isn’t a pointing finger saying you should be. The difference is Jesus saves. In suffering, whether mental or physical, Jesus doesn’t come and say, save thyself. He comes and holds. He provides.

This message is dangerous to those struggling with suffering. It says, if you do this and this, then…perfection. I say no. I say, the beauty of the old rugged cross is that it was old and rugged. It was a cross that breaks through the darkness. It was a struggle. It was a fight. And so many days, struggling and fighting through the day is where I am.

Not chains.

Jesus sat down after reading from Isaiah 61. He sat down, meaning, it is done. It is accomplished.

Do I find hope in the word of God? Yes. Do I know that I am secure in his goodness? Oh, man, it is a daily struggle. Daily. I leave my time in the word in the morning and find all sorts of things to worry about. Fear. Anxiety. Depression. BUT, the Spirit reminds me. Is in the process of rebuilding me. Restoring me. Renewing me.

As you know, I don’t normally call out a quote. I point you to Hebrews 11. Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

We don’t look at ourselves as finished work, but as a work in progress. Each day, looking towards the hope of Christ. this is not fake. This is not, hey, I’m in pain. BUT I’M FINE. No. if the writer of Hebrews had all she wanted, then we wouldn’t be talking about faith in such terms. Faith is grabbing hold of the bloodied hand of Christ and knowing He knows.

I understand more about Christ from my time being in the word. Being taught well. Don’t let others distract you with half-truths and outright gaslighting.

Broken hallelujah, friends.