A Message from Isaiah

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5 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.

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40.1-11. Click title for online exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ahh, Peaceful Fruit

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,
so that you may
not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not
yet resisted to
the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the
exhortation that
addresses you as children
'My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
or lose heart when you are punished by him;
for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
and chastises every child whom he accepts.'
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as
children; for what child
is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that
discipline in which
all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.
Moreover, we had
human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be
even more
willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they
disciplined us for a short
time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in
order that we may
share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than
pleasant at the
time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those
who have been
trained by it.

A Song of the Lamb

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
whose judgements are true and just.

Praise our God, all you his servants,
all who fear him, both small and great.

The Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns:
let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.

The marriage of the Lamb has come
and his bride has made herself ready.

Blessed are those who are invited
to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

To the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour and glory and might,
for ever and ever. Amen.

(from Revelation 19)