COMFORTING
COMFORT
BREAD
1 Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that
her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she
has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins. 3 A
voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a
highway for our God. 4 Every
valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground
shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind
together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord
has spoken.” Isaiah 40:1-5 (NIV)
17 “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty
to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he
will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah
3:17 (NIV)
49 Remember
your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. 50 My comfort in my suffering is
this: Your promise preserves my life. 51 The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not
turn from your law. 52 I
remember your ancient laws, O Lord,
and I find comfort in them. Psalms
119:49-52 (NIV)
76 May
your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Psalms 119:76 (NIV)
1 The
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on
me, because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners, 2 to
proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who
grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil
of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort
those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our
lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NIV)
12 “I,
even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons
of men, who are but grass, 13 that you forget the Lord
your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.” Isaiah 51:12-13 (NIV)
BUTTER
“In religion, as in war and everything
else comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for
truth, you may find comfort in the end: If you look for comfort you will not
get either comfort or truth. - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin
with and, in the end despair.” CS
Lewis
“Though
assaults be many, and my enemies mighty, if God strengthen me, I have enough to
comfort me; for the greater my enemy, the more glorious my victory; and the
more glorious my victory, the more triumphant my glory.” K.H. Von Bogatzky
“Ecstasy and
delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification.
We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who
goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find
himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as
he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves
fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for
satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones… The believer is in spiritual
danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the
love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When
Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent
search of other lovers… By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of
a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5)… because the Lord has made
himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to
seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful
partakers of it.” John
Flavel (1630-1691)
“In Christ the
heart of the Father is revealed, and higher comfort there cannot be than to
rest in the Father’s heart.” Andrew Murray
“A fixed, constant attention
to the promises, and a firm belief in them, would prevent solicitude and
anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and
composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the
several troubles of life….Christians deprive themselves of their most solid
comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there
are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” Samuel
Clarke
“The Gospel is the
only solution to find approval, comfort, and security. Jesus, as our Prophet,
has given us the only approval we need. We are completely accepted by the
Father through the satisfactory work of Jesus. He has declared us forgiven and
accepted as sons and daughters. As our
Priest, He provides us with the true comfort our hearts and lives need. When we
are hurting from our own sin or from sins committed against us by others, we
can go to our Priest Jesus and find renewal and care. As our King, He has
purchased our complete security and freedom, both here and into eternity. There
is no one else, no other hero to our story than King Jesus”. Tom
Wood
“Life holds for all of us, from time to time, desolate places. All that
was ordinary and secure and familiar and dependable
seems a thousand miles away. Here we are in this strange wilderness- out of
work, ill, robbed of something or someone, banished from a privilege that once
was ours, no longer needed, confused, forsaken. It is a place of dryness,
loneliness, isolation, helplessness, fear. We feel as though we are walking
where no human being was ever meant to walk, a place of dragons. Don't despair. Even though you find no
signs, be sure that thousands have traversed this terrain. When you reach the
far side you will meet them. But there is something that is far more comforting
than that. You are not alone now. Always beside you is
Another whose voice you may not hear, whose arm you may not feel, whose
footprint you may not see. Nevertheless His Word is utterly to be trusted: ‘I
cared for you in the wilderness’ (Hosea 13:5).” Elisabeth
Elliot
HEART
SAVOR
- · God is the God of all comfort Who comforts me in all my troubles. I am not to stop the flow of His comfort but continue on to comfort others with the same comfort I have received.
- · God takes great delight in His children – comforting them and even rejoicing over them with singing.
- · In desolate times look up and lean in to His promises – comfort flows.
