MGD: Do Not Despair - 1

Shalom, wonderful family, and welcome to today's morning glory devotion.

We are happy to be presenting to you a script

written by our brother, Deacon Joshua Amavialor, from the Harvest

Chapel International, Denyame Kumasi. Let us kindly share a word

of prayer. Father, We thank you for your goodness and

kindness towards us this day. Lord, we pray and commit

our time in your word into your hands. Please build

over us, refresh us, and empower us. Cause your light

to shine on our hearts through your word and transform

us in Jesus' name. Amen. Let us kindly take a

confession today from Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. Joshua chapter

Joshua 1:8 Joshua 1:8

1 verse 8. This book of the law shall not

depart out of my mouth, but I shall meditate in

it day and night, that I may observe to do

according to all that is written in it. For then

I will make my way prosperous, and then I will

have good success. Amen. The title of today's devotion is,

Do Not Despair. Do Not Despair. And this is the

first part of a two-part series written by our brother,

Deacon Joshua Amavialo. Our scripture reading is taken from Isaiah

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

chapter 61, the verse 1 to 3. Isaiah 61, the

verse 1 to 3. I will be reading from the

New Living Translation. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is

upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring

good news to the poor. He has sent me to

comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be

released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me

to tell those who mourn that the time of the

Lord's favor has come, and with it the day of

God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel,

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a

joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that

the Lord has planted for his own glory. The Lord

add his blessing to the reading and hearing of this word.

Thanks be to God. Amen. Do not despair. Part 1. Beloved,

despair comes at the tail end of hope when all

is lost and there does not seem to be a

way forward. There are many things that can lead us

to despair, including failure, loss, misfortune, loneliness, guilt, shame, betrayal,

abject lack, and social pressure. Without an anchor for our

souls beyond ourselves, each and every one of us can

become an easy prey for despair. Sometime in August this year,

news came out about a professor at Cambridge University in

the UK who resigned and was found dead a few

days later. suspected of having committed suicide as a result

of accusations of plagiarism in his PhD thesis from a

while ago. According to reports, he found the public scrutiny,

the harsh accusations, and the constant disparaging public remarks overwhelming.

And for days before his death, he could not even

bring himself to leave his house. This was a man who,

just a few years prior to that, upon his appointment

as a professor at Cambridge, gained academic and social acclaim

as the youngest ever black professor at one of the

oldest and most respected institutions of learning in the world.

But despair led this man to the conclusion that his

only option for escape and relief was death. Though they

may not have made the news in the same manner

in which the professor's death did, according to the World

Health Organization statistics, despair led 1,999 other individuals from across

various parts of the world to the same conclusion on

that day, suicide or death. Beloved, it takes a certain

weight of despair to make one decide to bring their

life to an abrupt end. Despair comes with an illusion

of finality that makes death look like the only viable

option or answer to one's circumstances. The truth and the

good news, however, is that there is an answer to despair,

and that answer is Jesus Christ. In our scripture reading today,

The prophet Isaiah prophesies about a man who, among other things,

has the power and the ability to take away despair

and replace it with praise. In Luke chapter 4, our

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Lord Jesus clearly identifies himself as that man. Reading Luke

Luke 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, the verse 17 to 21, it says, The

scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Jesus. He

unrolled the scroll and found that place where this was written.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he

has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be

set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor

has come. He rolled up the scroll, handed it back

to the attendants, and sat down. All eyes in the

synagogue looked at him intensely. Then he began to speak

to them. The scripture you have just heard has been

fulfilled this very day. Amen. Beloved, what are you going

through that is making the voice of despair louder and

louder to you every passing day? What experiences and circumstances

have held your thoughts captive, giving you no room to

see the glorious possibilities that God has made available to you?

Have you unintentionally given room to despair, to color the

lens of your perspective of life and reshape it into

an unbearable state of being that must readily and abruptly

be escaped from, rather than an opportunity and vehicle for

eternal gain and reward Beloved, there is good news for

you today, and that good news is the person of

Jesus Christ. When you feel poor and lonely, when you

feel like you have been held captive with no escape,

when you have lost your vision and lost sight of

your hopes and ambitions, when you feel oppressed and bound

in the midst of sorrow and mourning, before despair wins

you over to its deception, come to Jesus Christ. Please

come to the one who is able to give you

a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead

of mourning, and a festive praise instead of despair. Come

to Jesus. Amen. Let us kindly take our memory verse

for today. Our memory verse shall be taken from Isaiah

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

chapter 61 the verse 3. Isaiah 61 the verse 3.

I will be reading from the New Living Translation. To

all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown

of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will

be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for

His own glory. To all who mourn in Israel, He

will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous

blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In

their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the

Lord has planted for His own glory. Amen. Let us

kindly share a word of prayer. Father, we thank you

for your word that has come to us today. We

thank you for your faithfulness and kindness towards us. We

thank you for the eternal hope we have in you.

Please help us remember you and come to you even

when despair comes knocking and screaming at us. No matter

how desperate and hopeless our situation may be, help us

to hold on to the hope we have in you

until you show yourself strong on our behalf. We thank

you that you have heard and answered us. In Jesus'

name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Beloved, please come to Jesus.

Thank you for listening and staying tuned to our morning

glory devotion. Keep your dials right here on Radio HCI

today for more spirit-filled content. Until we come your way

again tomorrow at the same time, do stay blessed. Shalom.

Thank you.