"The Lord comforts Zion; He comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like a garden of the Lord;

joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. . .

They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I, I am He who comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of man who dies?

 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand. . .

 Put on your strength, O Zion. . . shake yourself from the dust and arise. . . loose the bonds from your neck. . .

Purify yourselves. . . for the Lord will go before you.

Return to the Lord."  Isaiah 51-52

~

Some mornings when I read, just certain parts stand out to me. It's not like the whole part isn't great, but then there are just verses that seem to be screaming at me. Not screaming I guess, but more like piercing my heart more than the rest.

God comforts.

Don't fear man - what they think, what they do, or say.

He has covered us. He is loving. First and always, God is a loving God.

Take action.

He is my strength. Go to Him, find my all, my strength there. Drink of His well and none other.

Shake myself from the dust and get up. Put things behind me - in the past where they belong, not the present. Set my focus, my gaze, on Him.

Be free! Be free from the fear of man. Be free to view my circumstances from His point of view. Live for His approval alone.

Purify ~ heart is the issue here. Check motives. Be willing to be washed. Pour out my heart before Him and let Him cleanse.

For the Lord is with me.

He is WITH ME. always.

I am not alone, I am not left to pull this day off in my own strength.

There is no need for sorrow or sighing.

I can obtain joy and gladness from the One ~ who alone satisfies.

A. Ann