For weeks, Handel’s Messiah has burst into my thoughts, throughout the day! I’ve had the joy of singing, playing, and conducting it multiple times…any music studied carefully for performance is part of our very being!
But this year, it’s way bigger than the music.
It’s God’s comforting soul care as I suffer.
Perhaps it’s because our Lord has deeply focused me on the gospel’s good news, His glorious love story for those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Maybe it’s because Messiah winsomely invites all of us to remember who Jesus is and why we celebrate His first coming!
For Jesus Christ IS Lord, “Kyrios,” eternally supreme in all authority, infinitely sovereign, owner, master…and He willingly came as a human baby to save sinners like me and you, in His own suffering (1 Jn. 4:2; 2 Jn. 7).
Wow.
Into our suffering, may this month’s Scriptures and words of Messiah be His comfort to you, too, precisely because…
we belong to Jesus, the Lord of lords!
God’s comfort within the wilderness of wandering
Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned!
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Is. 40:1-3; Mt. 3:3; Lk. 3:4; Jn. 1:23).
God’s comfort within the desert of our continually thirsty need for Jesus
As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)…
He is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness
that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts 10:36, 42b-43 ESV)!
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! (Is. 40:3; Mt. 3:3; Lk. 3:4; Jn. 1:23)
God’s comfort within the humbling valleys of suffering, helping us to please our Lord Jesus, the Suffering Servant
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low (Is. 40:4; Lk. 3:5)
[The Lord Jesus Christ] made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:7-8 ESV).
God’s direction and beautiful hope for the future, always ours within today’s rough places
Therefore…
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11 ESV)…
the crooked straight and the rough places plain! (Is. 40:4; Lk. 3:5)
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you WILL receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ (Col. 3:23-24 ESV, emphasis added).
This is my comfort in affliction,
that your promise
gives me life (Ps. 119:50 ESV)!
God’s promises will all come true when Jesus comes again! What a comfort!
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains (Jas. 5:7 CSB).
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it! (Is. 40:5; Lk. 3:6)
Singing Christmas music to my glorious Lord, as I suffer
Yes, I’ve made a weekly playlist gift to sing Christmas music to our glorious Lord! I’m praying He will comfort our hearts as we suffer, helped by these gospel-focused Christmas songs, by singing who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. Such a loving gift of solid hope in the wilderness, desert, and valley.
If this would bless you, you can sign up here and it will come to your email from a sister in Christ who’s also suffering:
If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for a suffering friend, consider the books below, for they are my gift to each of us. Click links for more information about each.
Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering
Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering
Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character in Our Suffering
If you’re suffering from chronic illness and pain, this prayer and podcast is for times when symptoms flare, needing music as therapy along with Scripture.
Finally, if you’d like to hear my voice and see my face, encouraging you from afar, here is our YouTube channel!
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