Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 (NRSV)
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord
has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to
bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion -- to give them a
garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of
praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up
the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of
many generations.
For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and
wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will
make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and
their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people
whom the Lord has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall
exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he
has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to
spring up before all the nations.
I woke up this morning at 4:30 am and immediately God said "You need to open your Bible right now and read". Not in a voice, but more in a knowing. I don't know how to explain it. So I read Psalm 91 over and over and then 92. And then I checked my e-mail for my "daily devotional" i get from Goshen college and this was the scripture of the day. It was such an encouragement because as of late, specifically yesterday I've been struggling with "Why am I here?" "Is 2 years here even effective at all"? But I KNOW I am called here. And this is why!!! Praise God. THE LORD GOD WILL CAUSE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PRAISE TO SPRING UP BEFORE ALL THE NATIONS! Which is the same verse Melanie pointed me to yesterday, which is confirmation of God's plan for Ohrid and for all nations!! My sister also reminded me to prayer walk more and just pray more! If anything happens here it will be THE PLANTING OF THE LORD. Not of my great words or good deeds or even because of my love for the people. If any place has been devastated on the inside and outside, it's Ohrid. Even in the architecture, so much renovation needs to be done. This is a reminder to me of the people. They need restoration from the "devastation of many generations". Praise God for a fresh word. And for sleepless nights!
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2 comments:
Good word, my dear!
Hey Karen. We have been keeping up with you guys through your posts. I wanted to tell you that I made one of those Macedonian Potato Salads like the one that we ate on our home visit (you know the thing that Misty though was a cake with frosting but was really potato's covered with mayo). We did a small Macedonian meal when we presented our trip to our home church. We had that, shoska salad, and meat&cheese. They like the food (of course I did us Duke's mayo - ask Mandy if you don't know what Duke's is). We are continuing to pray for all of you. May you have a Merry Christmas!! You can e-mail me and Misty at bwilliams01@ctc.net
PS: We will not be coming back to Ohrid in May. The reason is that Misty will be 7 months pregnant by that time!
Bradley Williams
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