Friday, March 19, 2010

Released and Restored

Key verse: “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after” (Jeremiah 30:17).

It was Robert Anthony who once said: ‘Hope is the expectation that something outside of ourselves, something or someone external, is going to come to our rescue and we will live happily ever after’.

The nation of Israel had passed through incurable grief owing to their frequent departure from the will and ways of the Lord. Yet, though the captives suffered justly, and could not help themselves, the Lord, from this passage, intended to appear for them as their deliverer and to punish their oppressors who had placed them in perpetual bondage and oppression.

As the afflictions and distresses of the Jewish nation are expressed by sickness, wounds, and bruises; so their prosperity, both spiritual and temporal, is signified by sound health. To complete their freedom, the coming Messiah would bring comfort, resettlement in their estate, with their city rebuilt, their offspring increased and religious worship and praise re-established.

Christ, through His authoritative pleadings at the throne remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion over principalities and powers and absolute majesty in heaven, he employs for the benefit of those who trust in Him. His high estate is as much at our service as was his condition of abasement. He is the very present Help at the hour of need; only He can deliver from death and the power of the grave.

Like the backslidden and captive Israel in our passage, we need the Savior today, We need someone who can be our deliverer. Someone to save us from captivity to sin and Satan, and manifest the power of the Almighty in our lives and our world. You must turn to Jesus today.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Look up for your help! Not down.

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