Listen to Isaiah 61:1-3. "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is onme, because the LORD has anointed me... to bestow on them acrown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead ofmourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit ofdespair."
In Luke 4:21 after Jesus quoted Isaiah 61, he said, "Today thisscripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Be blessed with the holy exchange of Jesus.Jesus offers you an exchange of his life for yours, his sinlessness for your sin, his life for your death, his power for your weakness, his freedom for your bondage, his comfort for your grief, his beauty for your ashes, his gladness for your mourning, and his praise for your despair. He said that it is fulfilled today in him, and your life is hidden in him (Col 3:3). Be blessed to receive the connection he gives you with your Father's tender heart, and exchange his peace for your clamor, chaos, and confusion. Receive from him his comfort, love and joy, just because you are his. He offers you his vision and his hope in exchange for your disappointment, because he sees so much more than you do.
God crowns you with glory and honor, instead of heaviness and hopelessness. Jesus gives you a new dawn in his rising glory.Be blessed as a powerful growing testimony of his presence, freedom, and grace. Be blessed as you are enlarged in all ofwho Jesus is in you and what he does for you.
Listen to the Word of God for you in Isaiah 43:4. "Since you areprecious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I willgive men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for yourlife." You are honored and loved by God. The smile of his eyes validates you. That's your unshakable identity and legitimacy.Two Hebrew words in this verse have the idea of weight. You are a "heavyweight" in God's eyes. You are precious, and Jesus is the weight of glory in you. Be blessed as you are centered in the honor of your own significance and worth to him,as he does awesome things in you.
Because of this, God promises in Isaiah 43:4 that that he will give people in exchange for your life. You are laying down your life to live Jesus in front of some people. You are being a testimony of Jesus to them, ministering Jesus to them, representing Jesus to them. As you do that, God will exchange everything he has allowed in your life, every trial and hurt you have endured, every victory you have won ... he will exchange all that for healing and freedom in the lives of others. He will reproduce your victories in others. Be blessed as his restoration comes full circle, as you pass on what you have received. He who promised is faithful, and he will do it.
Be blessed in the name of your Faithful God (Heb 10:23).
