Monday, June 18, 2018

Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 June 18

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:1-10).

Today’s Morsel:  Out of all the books in the Bible, none seem to reveal the Deity of Jesus Christ like the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle John.  These two seem to always be on the same page with the revelation of truth.  I like how Isaiah unfolds Jesus through his metaphoric language.  Time and time again he inserts the beauty of holiness in his writing.  Notice the first two verses of this chapter.  “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.”   The word rendered ‘solitary place’ denotes properly a dry place, a place without springs and streams of water; and as such places produce no greenery or vegetation, and nothing to sustain life, the word comes to mean a desert.  But then he inserts the cure for such a place when he says that it shall blossom as a rose, and they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.  He’s saying it’s dry and barren now, but when the Messiah comes, it will be fruitful and flowing with abundance.  Maybe you feel like you are in a solitary or desert place.  The psalmist said, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early” (Psalms 46:4-5).  Maybe you are feeling barren right now.  Hold on, keep praising and worshipping Him, and the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and your blessings and abundance will flow again, and you shall blossom.  Jesus is never a dry and barren land, He is a stream in the desert.  

Sing:  Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.  They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.  Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

Thought For Today: “You be the rose in the desert” (Parker).

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