Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

John 13:1b-5
Having loved His Own who were in the world,
He now showed them the full extent of His love.
(Not only through His actions that follow,
but through His very death on the cross,
Jesus reveals the full extent of His love,
which was to lay His life down for us whom He loves.)
The evening meal was being served . . . .
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power,
and that He had come from God and was returning to God,
(Jesus was fully aware of Who He was and from where He had come.
As the Second Person of the Triune Godhead, God Incarnate,
God With Us, the Word of God,
He knew His rightful place was at the right Hand of the Father
in the very throne room of God Almighty Himself.)
so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing,
and wrapped a towel around His waist.
(Even though He was the Darling of Heaven,
even though Jesus carried with Him
the full resources and accolades of His Father,
this little conjunction "so" conveys Jesus' true servant's heart.
Unlike most of us who, had we carried such accolades,
perhaps with a heavy sigh of resignation and a hint of frustration,
would have used the word "but".
However, precisely because He knew Who He was and from where He had come,
Jesus acted in love to those who had been arguing who was greatest among them.
Not “but,” instead, SO He got up.
Most of us would think if Jesus knew He was sent from His Father God
and if He knew He was returning to His Father God
and if He knew that all power was given to Him,
here was still yet one more time Jesus would still need to relent
to demonstrate His love yet again to these unseeing men.
And especially, knowing all that, we would think
He would choose to be served Himself
before His great sacrificial death lying just ahead of Him.
Instead, He did just the opposite.
Despite Who He was and what He knew
about His Father and about Himself and about His imminent suffering,
for those very reasons, precisely because of Who He was,
He chose to stoop to serve.
We can't even comprehend such humility, such love!)
After that, He poured water into a basin
and began to wash His disciples’ feet,
drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
(Taking the garb and position of not just a servant, but of a lowly slave
whose job it was to wash the dust from the guests’ feet,
Jesus puts aside His position as God, as Messiah, as Lord and King,
and takes on the form of the lowest of servants,
ministering to the needs of His beloved friends.
Through His every action, He portrays a picture
of His great love and deep desire to woo us to His salvation,
yet another powerful picture of His laying down His life for us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Luke 22:14-26
When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table.
(The hour having come on the evening known as Maundy Thursday,
a Latin word referring to the Lord's last commands,
knowing that the time had come for Him to be betrayed and crucified,
Jesus is sharing the Last Supper, the Passover, with His disciples.)
And He said to them,
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
(Jesus' deep longing, His highest desire, even His intense yearning,
was to share this Last Supper with His friends.
He knew what lay ahead, but He was eager to share
this time of fellowship and teaching with the disciples,
and He was eager to become the Passover Lamb
of which this Feast of Unleavened Bread spoke.
Foreshadowing the Wedding Supper of the Lamb,
He is the Bridegroom eager for His Bride
who will only be available to Him after His work on earth is complete.
Until that time, though, He still eagerly desires
to share Himself with us today.)
For I tell you, I will not eat it again
until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
(At which time, He as the Bridegroom will celebrate
the heavenly Wedding Supper of the Lamb with us, His Bride, His Church.)
After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said,
“Take this and divide it among you.
For I tell you I will not drink again
from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.
(After Jesus commands us to love each other,
His second "Maundy" command is for us
to take Communion in remembrance of Him
as He reveals to us here the astounding truth that God Himself chose
to shed His Own blood and break His Own body on our behalf.
This Last Supper is the fulfillment
of all that the Feast of Passover had represented.
As the Israelites were directed to eat of the Passover lamb,
we now understand that His broken Body and shed Blood
are the reason that God's judgment passes over us.)
But the hand of him who is going to betray Me is with Mine on the table.
The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed.
But woe to that man who betrays Him!”
They began to question among themselves
which of them it might be who would do this.
A dispute also arose among them as to which of them
was considered to be greatest.
Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them;
and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.
But you are not to be like that.
Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,
and the one who rules like the one who serves."
(How often we totally miss Jesus' real message right before us
because we are focused on our own narrow and foolish desires of title and standing,
when Jesus tells us the greatest among us are those who serve.
Only as we are in right relationship with Jesus
will we be in right relationship with others,
and that means, according to Jesus' example,
that we put others and others' interests before our own,
serving others in love and humility.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

John 13:34
(The Thursday before Easter, referred to as Maundy Thursday,
is so called because Maundy is Latin for the word command.)
A new command I give you:
(It is Thursday evening, the night of the Passover supper,
and Jesus is spending His last night with His disciples,
men He has lived with, taught, and nurtured for over three years.
He is sharing the Passover meal with His friends,
a feast to remind Israel of God's deliverance
from the final Egyptian plague
when the death angel passed through Egypt
taking the life of the firstborn of each household
that did not have the blood of a slain lamb over the doorpost.
In this poignant setting of Passover remembrance and celebration,
the reminder of God's deliverance of His people from slavery,
Jesus, Who is about to set God's people free
from another kind of slavery,
is saying His last words to His friends
because He knows what lies ahead that night,
that the coming suffering and sacrifice of Friday
and Saturday's darkness and separation from His Father
will come before the dawn of Sunday.
Jesus gives us important (Maundy) commands,
one of which is to remember Him through the bread and wine
representing His soon-to-be-broken body
and His soon-to-be-shed blood,
which will result in our forgiveness and salvation and redemption
from the bondage of the slavery of sin.)
Love one another.
(Here is His command to us.
Jesus in His powerful and sacrificial love for us is thinking of us,
commanding us, pleading with us, to love each other
because He knows we need each other and each other's love.)
As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
(He even says how we are to love each other—
as He has loved us! How does He love us?
He gave up His life for us, dying so that we might live;
He loves us at the expense of His own needs;
He loves us when we are full of sin;
He loves us even though we didn’t love Him;
He loves us when we violate His trust;
He loves us when we forsake and ignore and deny Him;
He loves us when we wrong Him;
He loves us when we fail Him;
He loves us when we ask Him for forgiveness.
Given this kind of love from Jesus today,
how can we ever doubt or ignore such love for us?
How can we ignore His command to love one another?
Even though Christ knew what His love for us would cost Him,
He loved us so much that He laid down His life for us!
Lord, help us to remember You and Your sacrifice for us!
Lord, help us to receive Your love and to love You!
Lord, help us to love others as You love us!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

John 17:6-12a (from the Amplified and NIV translations)
(After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
clearly indicating to those who had discernment that
He was presenting Himself as the Messiah
and before He was arrested later by the religious rulers,
knowing these hours were the last he would spend with his disciples,
John records an extensive, astounding prayer that Jesus Himself prayed.)
I have manifested Your name—I have revealed Your very Self, Your real Self—
to those whom You gave Me out of the world.
They were Yours; You gave them to Me
and they have obeyed and kept Your Word.
(Jesus' work was to reveal the Father to those He met.
Our job is the same, to allow people to see Jesus in us
through our words and actions and attitudes.
The Lord has given us divine appointments
to reach out to people He has put in our lives.
To whom do we need to reveal the love of God today?)
Now at last they know and understand that all You have given Me
belongs to You—is really and truly Yours.
For I gave them the Words You gave Me and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that I came from You,
and they believed that You sent Me.
(In the same way Jesus relied on God’s strength and truth,
we also stand on the truths of God’s Word,
believing Him, believing He is Who He says He is
and making people know with certainty that we show forth Jesus.)
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world,
but for those You have given me, for they are Yours.
(What an awesome thought, that Christ Himself prays for us!)
All I have is Yours, and all You have is mine.
(Who and what we are belongs to God our Father.
All the blessings in our lives come directly from His Hand.
Even the trials in our lives are allowed by our loving and tender Father
as He grows and matures us.)
And glory has come to Me through them.
I will remain in the world no longer,
but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your Name,
the Name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.
While I was with them, I protected them
and kept them safe by that Name You gave Me.
(Jesus knew He was about to die an excruciating death,
but even in this time of preparation for that suffering,
His thoughts were focused on His friends, His followers, on you and me!
He still provides protection and provision for us
and still focuses His thoughts on us today!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

John 17:1-5 (from the Amplified translations)
(After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
clearly indicating to those who had discernment that
He was presenting Himself as the Messiah
and before He was arrested later by the religious rulers,
knowing these hours were the last He would spend with His disciples,
John records an extensive, astounding prayer that Jesus Himself prayed.)
Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour is come.
(Jesus knew what lay before Him, that He was about to be arrested
to fulfill the sacrificial suffering and death that lay before Him.)
Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son,
so that Your Son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You.
(Even though Jesus is the Son of God, He prayed for strength.
He prayed that His motives and purposes would honor His Father.
May our prayer today be that we glorify and honor the Lord.)
Just as You have granted Him power and authority
over all flesh, all human kind,
(Jesus was always mindful that His “place,” His “standing,”
His purpose, came from His Father.
Rather than seeking glory for Himself,
He remained deferential to His Father God.
Everything we have, everything we are comes from Father God,
and He has granted us power and authority that comes directly from His Hand.)
now glorify Him, so that He may give eternal life
to all whom You have given Him.
(Jesus knew that God’s purposes in glorifying His Son
would yield the great and priceless gift of life to us
and willingly laid down His life for that purpose.)
And this is eternal life: it means to know to perceive, recognize,
become acquainted with and understand You, the only true and real God,
and likewise to know Him, Jesus as the Christ,
the Anointed One, the Messiah, Whom You have sent.
(This rich and abundant life that Jesus extends to us
through His death and resurrection is ours this very day, today.
No matter what we are experiencing,
no matter what problems and challenges lie before us,
we have been given life in Christ, a relationship that powerfully and eternally
connects and binds us to our Creator and Father God.
The Lord gives us the great and priceless gift of relationship,
of becoming acquainted with God Himself
and helps us to begin to comprehend and understand
the incomprehensible and glorious and mighty God and Lord of our lives.)
I have glorified You down here on the earth
by completing the work that You gave Me to do.
(Even as Jesus Himself was given a mission by God to fulfill,
the Lord has purposes that He has designed for each of us to accomplish.
When we do the work of God to which He directs us,
we bring glory and honor to Him.)
And now, Father, glorify Me along with Yourself
and restore Me to such majesty and honor in Your presence
as I had with You before the world existed.
(Just as Jesus asks God to help Him fulfill the purpose for which He came to earth,
praying that He will be strengthened by God to accomplish His mission,
knowing that when He has finished His work,
He will be enfolded into the very Presence of His Father once again,
when we carry out the Lord’s purposes in our lives,
He embraces us by pouring out His Glory and Presence over our lives.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Luke 19:29-44
As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives,
He sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
(Forever nameless, these two people were invited
to share in the mission of the Lord.
Today, the Lord may be sending us
on a seemingly inconsequential mission,
where, on the surface, we see little merit or deep meaning,
but one which adds significantly to fulfilling His purposes
and the significance of His mighty plans.)
“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it,
you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.
Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you,
‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as He had told them.
As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them,
“Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
(The animal's owner freely gave what the Lord asked of him without question,
without begrudging hesitation or bartering.
The Lord is asking us today to give to Him what He needs from us.
He invites us to give to Him what He asks of us from what we have.)
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
(In Jesus' triumphant ride into Jerusalem, rather than pomp and grandeur,
rather than arrogance and dominance,
He reveals His humility, meekness, and gentleness.)
As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives,
the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
(When Jesus comes on the scene, His very presence
compels us to worship and praise Him.
When He appears, we, along with all creation,
can do nothing less than to acknowledge Him as Lord.)
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
(May our voices join the chorus of these early disciples
to ring out the praise and honor and reverence that belongs to Jesus today!)
As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said,
“If you, even you, had only known on this day
what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
(Though she was the very center of religious practice,
Jerusalem had stubbornly and arrogantly refused to acknowledge her Savior.
How often we, too, are foolishly blind
to the presence of Jesus in our lives and among us,
rejecting the very Personhood of God, of His message of hope and forgiveness.
How blind we are to the One Who gives us His peace
and Who reconciles us to God.)
The days will come upon you when your enemies
will build an embankment against you
and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.
They will not leave one stone on another,
because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
(Only a few years later, Christ's literal fulfillment of this prophecy
occurred through the Roman's total destruction of Jerusalem.
Today, when we fail to open our hearts and minds to the Lord's presence,
we also open ourselves to inevitable and drastic results.
When we close our hearts and minds to Him, we invite destruction.
May we seek Him and ask Him today to help us recognize Him
in all the places in our lives where He shows Himself every day!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Mark 11:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage
and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
(Bethphage was the place just outside Jerusalem
where the leaders of the Sanhedrin made
some of their specific legal judgments for the nation.
When Jesus sent His disciples to get His royal transport
from this town whose name means the House of Unripe Figs
and later cursed the fig tree near the town,
He was, in effect, saying to the nation's leaders
that their efforts had not brought forth the fruit they were supposed to,
that their season was over, and that His authority now overruled theirs.
Just as we see that our own efforts have not brought forth
the fruit we were supposed to produce,
as He approaches us today, He is telling us
that our season of ineffectiveness is over
and that His authority rules over us.
Today, in the same way that Jesus approaches His destiny in Jerusalem,
so today He is bringing us into our destiny with Him.)
Jesus sent two of His disciples, saying to them,
(He calls us out and sends us to walk out the purposes He has planned
for the part we are to play to fulfill His mission in our lives.)
“Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it,
you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.
Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say,
‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
(Showing their complete obedience, the disciples follow His directions
without regard for all the possible consequences of their actions,
but trusting in His directive.
Many of us would have resisted such compliance
with all of kinds of justifications,
of worries of what others might think,
of the possible trouble we might be opening ourselves to,
of having other and more important things to do,
of doing something so seemingly insignificant,
of the appearance of taking something that didn't belong to us.
Today may we walk out His instructions to us
with the same kind of faith and trust these disciples show in their obedience.)
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.
As they untied it, some people standing there asked,
“What are you doing, untying that colt?”
They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
(As the Lord shows us the way to proceed,
we can trust that His Word is complete and true
and that the end result will be exactly as He has foretold and promised us.)
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, He sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road,
while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
(In excitement and joy, the people showed Jesus
the kind of respect accorded to a victorious King.
May we be willing to shed our outer facades and lay them down at His feet
as a tangible sign of reverence and obedience.
May we be willing to cut down the palm branches
of our successes and accomplishments
and spread them out before Him as a sign of our submission to Him.)
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
(Our prayer today is the same as the Israelites' cry 2,000 years ago,
praise and adoration to Him Who comes in the Name of the Lord,
Whose coming Kingdom fulfills the ancient promises of God,
and a plea for the Lord to save us from the bondage in which we live.)
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts.
(Even as King Jesus Himself went straight to the place of worship,
may we also follow Jesus and enter into the place
where the presence of the Lord resides,
allowing Him to guide us into the temple courts of our lives
to praise and worship Him today.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

John 12:12-15
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival
(A crowd had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover,
one of the Israelites' required visits to the Temple each year,
an appointed time the Lord had designed each year as a dress rehearsal
for when Christ would eventually be revealed to them as their Passover Lamb.)
heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.
(Even as Christ makes His way to Jerusalem, the center of worship in Israel,
we come to Him as the center of worship for us.)
They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting,
(When a victorious leader came into town from battle,
or to honor a king when he entered his kingdom,
the common practice was for the celebrating citizens
to spread palm branches before their conquering hero.)
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
(Through the word "Hosanna" the people are shouting their adoration,
as well as a plea for their king to save them now.
Here the people are acting out the fulfillment
of an earlier messianic prophecy from Zechariah 9:9a telling the people,
^9aRejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
The people saw Jesus as their King and rejoiced in His entry into Jerusalem.
The ancient prophecy continues in Zechariah 9:9b-12:
^9blowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
This was the prophecy that the people mistakenly thought
was being fulfilled before their eyes,
that Jesus was their earthly, political King to free them from Roman rule,
but that part of the prophecy remains yet to be fulfilled in Jesus' Second Coming.
¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of My covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
This is the part of the prophecy that in reality was being fulfilled in their presence.
Jesus had come to fulfill the covenant of love God had made with His people,
that He would deliver them from the pit of sin and restore them to hope.
Since covenants were made with shed blood,
this prophecy also foreshadows Christ's Own blood sacrifice.)
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
(In this passage from his Gospel,
John the Apostle sees the Zechariah message fulfilled.
Here is the picture of King Jesus coming to us today, humble and lowly.
He comes to us, not on a war horse, wielding a sword, but on a young, untried colt.
Though we, too, often naïve and untested, carry Jesus
in among the people where He guides us,
He also tenderly and gently enters our lives today,
and, as we welcome Him, He truly becomes the King
Who sets us free from the pit of our sin and guilt
and Who restores us and reclaims us, giving us hope and mercy!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:9
"Their stronghold will fall because of terror;
at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,”
(The Lord declares He Himself will come against
the enemy and his stronghold,
in this case, the Assyrian army who had attacked Israel,
and will so completely destroy them
that all the enemy soldiers will flee in retreat and panic.
This Word of the Lord is a powerful reminder for us today
that no matter what force is attacking us,
the Lord's complete victory in our lives
decimates the enemy of our soul.)
declares the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion,
Whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
(He has declared the destruction of our enemy.
and He will accomplish what He says.
The Lord's fire burning on the altar in Jerusalem
was an ever-present reminder to the Jews
that their God was alive and active, ever present to protect them,
and that His Word is true.
The unceasing fire at the Temple altar was a visual assurance
that the Lord did not leave His people or forsake them,
that He was present in their midst.
Just as surely today, the Lord is in the very midst of our lives,
the furnace of His judgment destroys the enemy,
and the fire of His love burns away the power of the enemy's attacks.)

 

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:8
“Assyria will fall by no human sword;
a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.
(During Hezekiah's reign, the Assyrian King Sennacherib,
leading a seemingly indomitable force, held Israel captive.
The Lord has just told the Israelites that they must stop
their unholy worship of the idols they have adopted
and that, when they do forsake those idols and return to Him,
He will defeat the Assyrian army.
As a metaphor for the evil forces
that control and hold us in bondage today,
Assyria is no less a destructive and powerful force in our lives.
The Assyria in our lives today is whatever holds us captive,
whatever grips us with fear, whatever keeps us from forgiving,
whatever we fret about and worry over,
whatever we depend on that is not of the Lord.
And just as surely as in Isaiah's time,
the Lord reminds us today
that He Himself will defeat this enemy of ours.)

They will flee before the sword
and their young men will be put to forced labor."
(As impossible as it may sound,
this vast army will be so decimated and its conquest so complete
that its soldiers will fall back in total retreat and taken captive.
The Lord is telling us today that He will decimate
whatever seemingly mighty army opposes us,
whatever turns us away from trusting in the Lord.
As we look to Him and to His power and to His purposes,
what appears to be an unconquerable Assyrian force in our lives
is completely defeated under the Lord's command.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:7
For in that day every one of you will reject
the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.
(The Lord is telling the Israelites that once they return to Him
from their sin and disobedience and repent
and remember their Almighty God and King,
they will see how sinful they have been
as they worshipped at the altars of silver and gold idols.
Our idol worship today is often just as pronounced as that of the ancients.
The only difference is that our idols
are not necessarily fashioned from silver and gold,
even though we do worship what silver and gold can obtain for us:
such things as material gain and the affluence
of houses, cars, finery, and life style.
Other idols we worship, though, are less apparent,
and are not associated with concrete things at all,
but with such intangible forces
as worry, fear, anger, self-will, control, and lack of forgiveness.
However, in that day when we, too, return to the Lord,
once we look to Him, once our vision is clear,
then we see how foolish and inadequate, how fleeting,
how powerless and weak all those things are.
Their only strength is derived from the attention we give them,
as we nurture them and allow their deceitful tentacles
to weave their lies into the very fiber of our being.
His victory over such woefully destructive idols comes to us today
as we return to Him and walk in His light, in His power,
and as we intentionally refute those ideas and attitudes
that are contrary to the truths of God's covenant with us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:6
Return, you Israelites, to the One
you have so greatly revolted against.
(When we look at the lives we lead,
the details of our day, the ways we spend our time,
the activities and people we focus on,
and then hold that up beside the Lord's great love for us,
we can see how far we are from following after Him.
The Lord pleads with us to return to Him,
to turn away from our own willful agenda and to turn to Him.
Even when we have forsaken Him
and have broken our commitment to Him,
even when we have failed, even when we have yielded to sin,
the Lord calls us to return to Him.
Through His loving entreaty,
He is asking us today to return to Him
and to embrace Him and His purposes for us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:5
Like birds hovering overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
(Birds fly in swiftly from above like a missile
to protect and defend their nest.
This God Who hovers over us is above us
and over all that comes against us to steal us from His hand.
Even as a bird fiercely darts in to protect its own,
so the Lord shields and protects us today.
Even as the Lord shields His Jerusalem,
so the LORD Almighty will shield "put your own name here.")
He will shield it and deliver it,
(He not only defends Jerusalem,
but He will also deliver and rescue it.
Our deliverance and rescue are secure today in His hands.)
He will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.
(Just as the death angel passed over the Israelites
when the Lord brought judgment
on the rebellious and oppressive Egyptians,
protecting those He called His own,
so today His judgment passes over us
who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Because we belong to the Lord,
He rescues us from the places in our lives
where we have been held captive
and where the enemy has gained a foothold in our lives
and stolen territory that belongs to the Lord.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:4
This is what the Lord says to me:
“As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor—
(When the lion has successfully slain a lamb,
he will stand in defiant protection of his spoils
and ward off any other marauders or any people
who might try to frighten him away to steal away his catch.
Resolute and determined and fiercely protective,
the lion stands completely aloof to any attempts
of the many shepherds nearby to scare him away
with their shouts and noise and greater numbers.)
so the Lord Almighty will come down
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights."
(The Lord is even more protective of His people, of you and me,
and stands unyielding and indomitable over us
to defend us from any encroaching attempts
to steal us away from His care.
We belong to Him because He has captured us
with the power of His love.
What a picture of the Lord's fierce defense and protection of His people.
Today, the Lord has descended to the Mount Zion of our lives
and to the lambs He has secured.
He stands over us to protect His own,
and He thwarts any intruders,
whether they are people or lures of the world,
that would seek to snatch His people out of His Hand.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
(Seeing the Israelites' story on the pages of God's Word,
we shake our heads in disbelief
that they would seek help from Egypt,
the very place where they had been slaves and held in bondage.
Yet, as absurd as it sounds,
that is exactly the place they sought help against their new attackers.
Perhaps even more incredible, we, also, often still today
return to the places that have held us captive,
to the places where we are in bondage, to seek help.
Even though, in the eyes of the world,
the chariots and horsemen of Egypt might look like a powerful force,
their strength is embedded in their history of oppression and slavery.
When we seek solace and help from such a place,
we open ourselves again to greater bondage,
and it doesn't turn out well. It can't.) 
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.
(As we repeatedly and foolishly seek
protection and provision from worldly sources,
we seek bigger houses and cars, we seek titles and corner offices,
we seek relationships and personal networks,
we seek revenge against those who have wronged us,
we seek legal and illegal medicines—
instead of seeking Almighty God Who is our help in trouble.
We seek encouragement, solace, protection, significance, and payback
from our own and the world's resources instead of seeking God.
In this passage, the Holy One of Israel means God strives,
a powerful reminder to us today
that the Lord God strives for us and works on our behalf.
He is the One in Whom we live and move and have our being,
our Source and Provider for everything we need
so that we don't need to foolishly trust
in the horses and chariots that the world offers.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 30:32
Every stroke the Lord lays on them with His punishing club
(When the Assyrians came against Israel,
the Lord rescued Israel with the club of His righteousness and judgment.
The Lord fights our battles today
with the fierceness of His love and the might of His strength.
He still comes against the Assyrians in our lives,
and He strikes them with His strong right arm of justice.)
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
(We rejoice each time we see the Lord triumph over the enemy.
It is the Lord Who wages this battle, not us.
While He wages war against our enemies,
we rejoice in Him and in His victory.
Our job is to focus on Him,
to "wait" on Him in the fullest sense of the word,
to experience Him through His Word and prayer and worship,
actively pressing into Him in praise and devotion.)
as He fights them in battle with the blows of His arm.
(Whether it takes one or twenty blows to defeat all that comes against us,
the Lord is our Protector and Warrior and He is the Victor.
The battle belongs to the Lord.
He never fails and is never defeated.
Because we belong to Him, He protects His own!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 30:30-31
The Lord will cause people to hear His majestic voice
(The Lord reminds us that it isn't up to us to figure Him out,
it isn't up to us to perform well enough to gain His favor,
it isn't up to us to make sure we pursue Him enough to hear Him.
Rather, He Himself will cause us to hear Him.
He will cause the majesty of His glorious voice to be heard.
We will not mistake Him. He will make sure of that.
He has even promised that He will be easy to find.)
and will make them see His arm coming down
(He also assures us that He will open our eyes to see His work,
to see the arm of His judgment descend
on those who choose to turn away from Him,
on those who do evil and persecute His beloved.
He will strike them with the sword of His judgment.
Our defense is sure and our hope secure in our Mighty Protector.)
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
(When the Lord executes judgment against sin and evil,
He gives no quarter.
His righteousness demands His righteous anger to rage against the evil.
The fire of His wrath and judgment leaves no doubt
that He overcomes and destroys those who are against Him.
They reap the furious storm of His wrath.)
The Voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
with His rod He will strike them down.
(The mere Voice of the Lord defeats the powerful Assyrians
who were oppressing Israel.
His thunderous Voice, bursting forth
with the force of a cloudburst of hail brings them to utter defeat!
For us today, the Lord is reminding us
that the situations coming at us
with the strength and force of the Assyrians of old
are nothing in comparison to God's Voice of Sovereignty in our lives.
Whatever Assyrian is in your life today oppressing you,
whether the Assyrian of fear or guilt or financial lack or rejection,
the Lord God Almighty is speaking into your life today
to defeat and shatter that thing that comes against you.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ’s love,

Blessings,

Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

  

Isaiah 30:29

And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes

go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

(When the Lord reveals Himself as Deliverer

to set us free from the forces aligned against us,

we will be as joyful as if we were celebrating

the Feast of Passover along with Israel,

commemorating being set free from the harsh bondage of slavery,

when the Lord passed over the Israelites during the night of judgment.

Our deliverance begins in the nighttime of oppression and wounding,

in the moment we look to the Lord and call on Him,

to Him Who passes over us to save us from His judgment of sin,

of our rebellion, of our self-will, of our disobedience,

and ends by our going up to the mountain of the Lord in song and dance,

a place of absolute victory and freedom,

in a joyful celebration of praise to the Mighty One of Israel. 

Today, this Mighty Lord, this Mighty Rock of "put your own name here"

is present with you, immovable, fixed, unbending, and enduring,

the One in Whom we rejoice and to Whom we give praise and honor

because of His great love and faithfulness!)

 

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

 

In Christ’s love,

 

Blessings,

 

Sally

513 254 3874