Christ Church Daily Devotion Jan 8 2024

In today's Daily Devotion, we read from Isaiah chapter 40. God tells the prophet to comfort the people of Jerusalem, assuring them that their suffering will end and their sins will be forgiven. Although they will be taken into captivity, God already has plans to restore them. This message of hope also applies to us when we go through difficult times. God is with us in the storm and will help us move forward once it passes. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for January 8th, 2024. Today we will be reading from Isaiah chapter 40, verse 1 through 5. Comfort. Comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling, in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain, and the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Even as Isaiah prophesied that Judah and the southern kingdom would be taken and exiled to Babylon, God gives him a word of hope for the people. God tells him to speak tenderly to Jerusalem. The people would indeed be taken into captivity and they would suffer. The people had sinned and turned away from God. They would not be prepared for the consequences of their actions. But after they had suffered through the huge storm in their lives, God already had plans to restore them. I am reminded of times when I goofed up and my parents punished me. After the punishment was over, I expected to be shunned by them and to be made to feel badly for a long time. However, they often surprised me by acting as if nothing had happened and went right on loving me as if I had done nothing wrong. God is reassuring the people that God will love them and restore them when the exile is finished. In fact, his language promises such hope for the future that John the Baptist picked up on some of the verses in today's passage when he announced the imminent coming of the Messiah. Today's personal worship option. Are you going through a storm of any kind in your life right now? It is easy to think that God is distant and that the storm is more than you can handle. God is with you in the storm and will be there to help you pick up the pieces and move on with your life when the storm passes.