MGD: Do Not Despair - 2

Shalom, wonderful family, and we welcome you to today's morning

glory devotion. We are excited to be bringing to you

another episode written by our brother, Deacon Joshua Amavialo from

the Harvest Chapel International, Diname Kumase. Let us kindly share

a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you

for your goodness and kindness towards us today. We pray

that our time spent here will be led by you.

Please brood over us, refresh us and empower us. Cause

your light to shine in our hearts and transform our lives.

In Jesus' name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Let us

kindly take our confession for today from Joshua chapter 1

Joshua 1:8

verse 8. Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. This book of

Joshua 1:8

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 theme

for today's devotion is Do Not Despair. Do Not Despair.

And it is the second and final part of a

two-part series written by our brother D. King Joshua Amavialo.

In our previous discourse, we looked at some of the

things that cause us to despair and saw that the

finality that despair presents to us It's an illusion that

we must not fall prey to. We learn that Christ

has the answer to despair, and he is able to

replace despair with festive praise. Today, we want to look

at one other thing that offers immense strength to the

workings of despair, fear, and how to deal with it.

Our scripture reading shall be taken from Isaiah 61, verse 1-3.

Isaiah 61:1–3

Isaiah 61, verse 1-3. And I will be reading from

Isaiah 61:1–3

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 blessings to the reading and hearing of this word.

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

as we saw in our previous discourse, despair comes to

us via various routes. but the end point he desires

to lead us to is invariably the same. We also

learned that without an anchor for our souls beyond ourselves,

each and every one of us can be an easy

prey for despair. We mentioned that despair comes at the

tail end of hope when all is lost and there

does not seem to be a way forward. But one

thing that often pushes despair along and really drives home

the final nail into the coffin that despair presents is fear.

The fear that things will not get better. The fear

that the current circumstances may not change. The fear that

something even worse may happen to us after this already

unbearable situation. The fear that no one cares about. or

understands what we are experiencing. This and many other little

and big fears drive and feed despair until it matures

and overwhelms us. But beloved, there is an answer to

fear also, and that answer is faith. Prophet Isaiah says

in Isaiah chapter 53, the verse 1 to 6, Who

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

has believed our message? To whom has faith? The Lord

revealed his powerful arm. My servant grew up in the

Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, like a root

in a dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic

about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He

was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with

deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked

the other way, He was despised and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our

sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his struggles

were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins.

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was

whipped so we could be healed. Amen. Beloved, are you

in despair because of rejection? Or because you are despised?

Is it because of sorrow or grief? Is it because

of a weakness that has brought shame? Or is it

because of the weight of sin? Beloved, our Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ, though He had no sin in Him,

went through all those things ahead of us in order

to come alongside when we go through them. He paid

the ultimate price so that we would not have to

pay it ourselves. He carried the weight of the hurts

and pains and sorrows and despairs that come to us.

so that we would not find ourselves alone or be

deceived into believing we are all alone and without hope

or without help when we go through difficult times and seasons.

Just in case we may have forgotten about him and

the price he has paid for us, he reminds us

by saying this in Matthew 11 28-30, Come to me,

all of you who are weary, and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.

Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle

at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden

I give you is light. Amen. So beloved, like Prophet

Isaiah mentions in the opening verse of Isaiah 53, The

key question is, have you believed and what have you believed?

Our faith in God and the testimony of his word,

our knowledge of and faith in the finished work of Christ,

and our faith in the immeasurable power and the sovereignty

of God. This is the antidote to the fear that

feeds despair. And this is the answer that leads us

out of the hold of despair. So beloved, today, as

you prepare yourself to face the challenges of this life,

ask yourself, have I really believed and what have I believed?

And may your answer be one that brings comfort and

hope and assurance of the reality and presence of the

greatest barking and partner in the universe, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let us kindly take our memory verse for today Our

memory verse is taken from Isaiah 53, the verse 1.

Isaiah 53, the verse 1. I will be reading from

the New Living Translation. Who has believed our message? To

whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? Who has

believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his

powerful arm? Amen. Let us share a word of prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word that

has come to us today. We thank you for your

faithfulness and kindness towards us, the finished work of Christ.

and the price you have paid for us. Help us

to grow in our knowledge of you and our faith

in you, that we may always be ready with an

answer no matter what life throws at us. Finish us.

with the confidence of the reality that you are always

with us, even to the end of the age. Thank

you that you have heard and answered us, in Jesus'

mighty name. Amen. Beloved, it is our prayer that our

answer to all of life's challenges will be Jesus Christ

and all that we have come to believe in him. Amen. Amen.

Thank you for listening and staying tuned to Radio HCI today.

We hope to come your way once again tomorrow with

another episode of our Morning Glory devotion. Until then, stay blessed. Shalom.