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Daily Reading: December 19th

#DailyDevotion Jesus will give you what you want. What you deserve or grace and mercy.

December 19th

Read Is 40:1–17

Isa 40:1-10 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (2) Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. (3) A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (4) Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. (5) And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (6) A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. (7) The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. (8) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (9) Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” (10) Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

O what great mercy, grace and peace the Lord our God wants to bestow on us and does. Even here in Isaiah where His holy people have rejected Him and went after other gods, what words does the Lord our God speak to them and to us? “Comfort, comfort my people,… Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” What the Lord wants to do is comfort, speak tenderly, pardon them and us, end our warfare with sin and death and give us double the good rather than punish us for our sins.

What great precision the author’s of the gospels, inspired by the Holy Spirit place this as fulfillment in the mouth of the Baptist for in his preach he points us to Jesus and says, “Behold your God!” Yes, this prophecy is partially fulfilled in Christ’s life and fully to be fulfilled when he returns. The Word of the Lord stands forever because Jesus is the Word of the Lord and the Word of the Lord is the Lord. He is the eternal One, born in the flesh, crucified on the cross, buried in the tomb, raised from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven, ruling heaven and earth as he awaits his return.

And when our Lord Jesus Christ returns, his recompense is with him. Mercy, grace, peace, love, forgiveness, immorality are his rewards for those who trusted in the message, yes even in his name for salvation. As much as we deserve double the punishment for our sins he gives us double the pleasure and double the fun, so great is his mercy is towards those who fear, love and trust in him.

But to those who reject him, who reject his gifts, his love, his mercy, his kindness, his forgiveness, who only want what they deserve, he most certainly will give them what they deserve. Without prejudice, in pure justice and equity, what they want and deserve shall be given to them.

Lord Jesus Christ, when you return, do not give us what we deserve but reward us according to your mercy, grace, kindness, and love demands. Amen.

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Rev. Guillaume J. S. Williams, Sr.

The Reverend Guillaume Williams is the Pastor of Hope Lutheran Chapel of Osage Beach, Missouri. His pastoral ministry with Hope began in 2005 where he preaches the Christ crucified.

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