Psalm 8:1
Thursdays sometimes challenge my routine. I must rise early for an out-of-town commitment, about 35 minutes north. It’s especially tough if I have a follow-up appointment, as was the case today. And most especially if that appointment goes extraordinarily long, as it did today. (No complaints, the meeting was Providential.) This does not happen often, but when it does, although I go into my prayer closet and make my formal presentations before the LORD, I sometimes don’t get into the green pastures until later. In this case, much later.
Usually, I would go to the place where I had read the night before, as I did today. However, nothing in Psalm 8 triggered the connection I sought. I asked my soul, Where shall I read, and Isaiah 61 came to mind. I thought, hmmm, okay, let’s go check out Isaiah 61. My eye caught verse 3a, “To appoint unto them that mourn,” and I immediately recognized the passage. I turned back a page to verse 1, and the Mind of the Spirit made the connection sought by the spirit of my mind in verses 1-3:
Isaiah 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
This passage provided text for the first recorded message Jesus preached after He was baptized (Luke 4:14-22).
Along the still waters, I reflected! Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days and nights, being tempted of the devil (Luke 4:1-2). Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Holy Ghost, teaching in their synagogues, and “being glorified of all” (Luke 4:14-15). However, whatever messages He preached are not recorded. This one is! His first recorded message was a declaration that He fulfilled Isaiah 61, that He was the one upon Whom the Spirit of the Lord GOD rested, and that this anointing was to “preach good tidings unto the meek” (Isaiah 61:1). The word gospel means good news, and when John sent for confirmation that Jesus was the One, the Christ, He sent back this word: “and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5).
In the valley, the Spirit impressed upon my heart the truth that the same Spirit that anointed Jesus is not only “upon us” (Acts 1:5-8), but also dwells “in” us (Romans 8:9-11).
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:10 ¶ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
I knelt here, in the shadow of His cross, and presented this “dead” body to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), acknowledging it is His Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). He looked at it and said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). So I confessed my failure to “deny myself” before I presented the body and corrected the error. He received the offering and bade me to His table.
At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy appeared, standing on either side of my chair. I looked deeply into the eyes-as-a-flame-of-fire awaiting the signal; they brightened; He arose; I rose, and we walked into the harvest, goodness and mercy following.
Selah!
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap.
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