Though innocent, He endured it all to do His Father’s will, standing in an impossibly large gap, taking on the debts of our blackest sins with His own death, a death on a cross, and reconciled us to God.
That joy set before Him was you and me.
Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our
faith; who for the joy
that was set before Him
endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and is set down
at the right hand
of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
The God of Israel had just rescued His people from their mighty enemies through a parted sea on dry ground. Dry ground. They didn’t have to wade through a little bit of water or even slog through mud. God provided a red carpet toward the Promised Land.
Days later, they camped near some springs of water and seventy palm trees. (Countless studies could be done on the significance of the number 70 in God’s Word.)
Not too long after, God ordained certain holy days to be celebrated every year, one of them being the Festival, or Feast of Tabernacles. During the seven days this feast was observed, the Israelites were to live in tents, or tabernacles, made from the leaves of various trees, including palm trees, as a celebration and remembrance of the Lord’s deliverance and provision in the desert.
Because this joyful holiday had been celebrated generation after generation, palm leaves became a symbol of victory, triumph, and faithfulness.
So when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey just before Passover, the crowds who had gathered there, recognizing Jesus as their savior (although their idea of what He was there to do would be vastly different), it was only right that they cut down palm branches to welcome Him.
“On the next day, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, a great crowd who had come to the Feast took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And they cried,
‘Hosanna (oh save)!
Blessed is the King of Israel
who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
John 12:12-13
He did indeed come to save us, but in an even much greater way than they thought. He didn’t come to only save us from a cruel and unjust government, but to save us from ourselves, from our own sins that would have brought a certain death to our souls in this life and an eternal one in the next.
The next time the apostle John would give us a look at the significance of palm leaves would be as he was given a glimpse into heaven.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
‘Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.’
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
‘Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!’”
Revelation 7:9-12
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Our dear, precious Heavenly Father, we praise your holy name, the name above all other names. We are overwhelmed at your goodness and provision. Thank you for seeing us and our needs long before we have them and for providing in ways we could never think or imagine.
We praise you and thank you for the move of your Holy Spirit on various groups around the world. May salvation, repentance, and the joy of your Spirit continue to spread as far and wide as your will determines, and may no one stop it.
Where space or facilities or food, whatever is needed, may you please provide.
May revival come to all our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit.
We pray, too, for those impacted by the many disasters around the world. May you comfort the grieving, may you provide whatever is needed, and may you give strength and courage to the workers. Above all, LORD, we pray for the drawing of your Holy Spirit for salvation.
There is no one like you, LORD, and we praise you and thank you for all you are and all you do. May our hearts be ready to honor and glorify you with our lives at all times in all circumstances.
We echo the words of our brother Paul:
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
We pray it all in the mighty name of Jesus, amen!
I pray you carry the joy of the Lord with you throughout the week. As you abide in Him, may His Spirit fill you and rest on you to give wisdom, direction, and produce in you every fruit He provides. May His love lead you in all you do and say.
In Him,
Dorci
After a week in the hospital and another at an inpatient rehab facility, I was dealing pretty well with all the affects of having had a stroke, especially considering the hospital had over-medicated me, causing my blood pressure to drop too much too fast, which then caused that damaged area in the left side of my brain to grow larger and my weakness to worsen.
I’d seen countless doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists… So many professionals. And they were good, well, most of them. They helped get me, literally, back on my feet.
Through it all I’d had not only His peace that passed all understanding, but His joy, and I knew that was the Lord answering all the prayers from so many precious brothers and sisters in Christ. I can never thank them enough.
I could see the Lord’s hand in so many ways. From my sister, who alerted me that she thought I was having a stroke when that was the furthest thought from my mind, to the hospital where I was told I had a rare room with a view of trees and the sounds of birds singing.
And then at the rehab I was given another room that was apparently so much bigger and nicer than all the others that almost every employee who came in was amazed by it, one even asking who I knew in order to get such a room. I’ll tell ya Who!
And later the Lord would show me even the over-medication was allowed by Him. That if I’d gone home when I was originally supposed to, my blood pressure would have come down even more, making the stroke and its affects that much worse.
Then a couple of days before I was scheduled to be discharged, the OT overseeing my case came to my room to give me her evaluation and what I could expect in the future.
I still could not move my foot or toes at all, not even a little bit, thanks to that over-medication I mentioned. She told me there’s always hope, but she didn’t think I’d be able to move my foot again.
Stroke in the left side of the brain means right-sided weakness. My right foot. My driving foot. And for the first time in a little over two weeks, I became distraught, depressed, hopeless.
The following morning I clashed with the doctor over medication, and that was it. I broke.
I lay there alone, sobbing.
A woman from housekeeping came in to clean the room, and I tried to pull myself together as she mopped the floor.
Very kindly she asked why I was there. I told her I’d had a stroke. Her eyes got wide as she said she’d never seen someone so young (ha!) who’d had a stroke, that she thought I’d had some kind of surgery.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t completely hide the fact that I’d been crying, and that I was still near tears.
And then the Lord began to speak through her the words I needed to hear.
“God is with you! He is right here with you, and He’s going to be with you!”
My spirit engaged once again and the tears flowed down my face. My head bowed and nodded in agreement as she continued.
“Sometimes the Lord allows things to happen in order to show His power through us!”
Right then and there, in that room, I had church. The Lord had brought my own preacher, clad in the power of the armor of God who wielded the sword of the Spirit like a warrior and chased away that stinking rotten enemy.
From the depths of my heart I agreed.
When she left I was no longer distraught or hopeless, but filled with the joy of the Lord once again.
With all those professionals I’d seen, it was Libby, a woman from housekeeping, but more so a woman filled with the Holy Spirit, who became my champion and the one who’d lifted my spirit, who’d raised my countenance, who’d helped me back to my feet.
“So whether you eat or drink
or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
We need to let go of the thinking that we have to be or do something the world calls “important” in order to be used by God.
The Lord used fishermen, shepherds, children, a cupbearer. In the world they were overlooked, but in the eyes of God they were deeply loved and chosen to do His will.
I will never forget Libby or what she did for me that day. She brought her love for the Lord to work with her, and though she had no idea what my feelings about God were, she didn’t hesitate to speak His name, to remind me of the truth, giving Him glory and bringing me back to life.
I went home two days later, and two days after that my toes began to move. Soon after, my foot. I’m still working on strengthening the muscles, and still waiting for the day when I can drive again, but God’s brought me this far and I know He’ll take me as far as He wants me to go.
With Him, nothing is impossible.
For His glory,
Darkness filled the earth. It had been 400 years since God had spoken, the last time through the prophet Malachi.
“‘Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,’
Says the Lord of hosts.”
Malachi 3:1
Generations had come and gone since then and the silence persisted; the darkness remained. People came and went, having no idea when, or perhaps even if, God would speak again.
Then one night, as some lonely shepherds in a field kept watch over their sheep, the light of the glory of God pierced the darkness. An angel stood before them with this announcement:
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11
And before they could catch their breath, a host of angels appeared before them, too, praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:14
God had broken the silence. His Word, the Messenger of the covenant (spoken of in Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26-27) was born among them, and with Him an everlasting hope.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
God’s love shone into the world that unsuspecting night. He’d come! The long-awaited Savior, born as a humble babe in a manger, sent that all who believed in Him would be born anew, filling each heart with a never-ending peace and joy, and the promised light of His presence shining in and through us, forever piercing the darkness.