Blessings Out Of Brokenness Isaiah 61:1-3 Luke 4:16-21 Isaiah 40:28-31 Ezekiel 34:14-16 Isaiah 40:11 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 Psalms 147:3 Psalms 34:18 Psalms 145:18-19 Isaiah 50:7 Psalms 109:30-31 Romans 8:28-30 Psalms 16:8 09.10.18

BLESSINGS OUT OF BROKENNESS

BREAD

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)

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:16-21 (NIV)

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)

¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.  Ezekiel 34:14-16 (NIV)

¹¹ He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.   Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NIV)

³ He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. ¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.  Psalm 145:18-19 (NIV)

⁷ Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.  Isaiah 50:7 (NIV)

³⁰ With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. ³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.  Psalm 109:30-31 (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)  

⁸ I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8 (NIV)  

BUTTER

“God wants to bring blessings out of our brokenness. He is a loving provider whose power is limitless. People and things will fail us, but God’s security and strength abide forever. His compassion is inexhaustible. His peace is unexplainable.”   Michael Youssef

“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, You have brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see You in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Your glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Your stars shine; Let me find Your light in my darkness, Your life in my death, Your joy in my sorrow, Your grace in my sin,  Your riches in my poverty, Your glory in my valley.”   From:  The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

“Greatness is not made through one trial or one victory.  It is hammered out over and over on the anvil of daily demands.  Most often this work is done alone – in complete obscurity.  But God sees every word, every choice, and every action.  Devoted hearts are never wasted.  He frequently uses the obscure, the broken, or the outcast for some of His greatest work.”  Charles R. Swindoll 

“Never be afraid of being a broken thing… Unless a seed breaks, there is no life…It’s in the breaking, there is life.”   Ann Voskamp

“The Lord our God is One and in Him, all the fragments of life are woven into one piece. In Christ, we aren’t ever torn.  In Him, all brokenness is made whole, all moments are made holy, all pieces are made one.  There is profound rest in this.”   Ann Voskamp

“There is only one rescuer I know,” I told Sonia and the rest of the women, “with the power to free us from the darkest prison. That rescuer is the God I love, who loves us so much he left everything to come for us, to free us. He is the one who made us, each of us, for a unique purpose and a magnificent destiny. He makes right what the world makes wrong. His plans are for good, not for evil. His ways are straight and merciful. He came to give me a hope and a future — and to give you one too. His promises are true. His love is full of forgiveness and peace, joy and kindness, grace. He is the true rescuer. He saves us from any prison, whether physical or emotional or spiritual, the ones we’re forced into and the ones we fall into on our own. He chooses us. He can make all things new. He loves us without condition, unrelentingly, forever. He loves us broken, and he loves making us whole again. And he asks those of us who love him to love others the same way. To choose them. To be agents of his hope, his forgiveness, his grace. He asks us to join him in rescuing others.  “That’s why I’m here,” I said. “That’s why I’ve come……………“If what you are telling me is true,” she yelled, “if what you say about your God is true — then where were you? Where have you been? Why didn’t you come sooner?  Why didn’t you come sooner?  I would not offer excuses…”   From Undaunted by Christine Caine

“Encouragers have Christ-like sight and a Christ-like heart. They are not blind to the sins and weaknesses of fellow Christians, but they recognize that “love builds up. . . . Encouragers are often our great High Priest’s means of ministering his divine sympathy to our bruised and lacerated souls.”  Ian Hamilton

“I’ll take your broken heart and give you My warmed one; I’ll take your broken body and give you My fresh Spirit; I’ll take your burden-broken back and give you weightlessness.  Take Me?  Let Me be your enough?  Always now, no matter what – let Me be your enough.”   Ann Voskamp

“My season of weakness has taught me the joy of receiving, the strength of brokenness, and the importance of looking for God in each moment.”   Kara Tippetts

“Whole, unbruised, unbroken men are of little use to God.”   J. R. Miller

“In God's hands intended evil becomes eventual good.  Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph's heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. The torn robe became a royal one. The pit became a palace. The broken family grew old together. The very acts intended to destroy God's servant turned out to strengthen him.”   Max Lucado

“Down in the human heart, Crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, Wakened by kindness, Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.  Rescue the perishing, Duty demands it; Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide; Back to the narrow way, Patiently win them; Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died. Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.”  Fanny Crosby

“I don’t know about you, but if I’m picking what is good for my life, then it’s probably going to feel good, look good, taste good, smell good, and be visibly good to anyone who sees it.  But the truth is, even some of the things that have looked ‘bad’ from the outside have turned out to be good for me.  Because, while the currency of God’s goodness looks different from my own, it is infinitely more valuable.  Hard things make us dig deep within ourselves to find strength we didn’t know we had.  Loss teaches us to appreciate blessings that surround us.  And while I don’t want to minimize the depth of any pain and the years it can take to overcome the brokenness we experience in this life, there is good to be found, even in the hard and even through the bad.  As we embrace a curious faith, we exchange the currency of our control for the wealth of God’s possibility.”   Logan Wolfram    

“Light can only get into broken things.”   Ann Voskamp

“Seriously, who wants to be known as ‘Shallow Hal’?  Yet sadly, many who claim faith in Christ fall into the mile wide and an inch-deep category.  This is not of God’s choosing.  He desires for us to grow up in Christ – to be conformed to the image of his Son – and He often uses our tribulations to bring this about.  That is His chosen instrument.  Sometimes this is excruciatingly painful – more often than not.  Remember as well, in this fallen and broken world, pain comes to all.  There are no exceptions.  But as believers our pain has purpose.  Pain is also relative as you most likely know.  A coffee stain on a white skirt can be as devastating to some as a bad diagnosis – go figure…If tribulation, then, is inevitable should we not prayerfully seek the purpose for it and grow up, look up, or grow nearer, if you will, in Christ?  As believers, we are never more like our Savior as when we walk the path of suffering and sacrifice.  And whether we are discerners of this or not the more like Christ we are the more satisfied we will be.  Remember, too, God’s grace is always sufficient to meet every need.  Every. Need.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• ·         As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, we are not to fear the testing of our faith because we know God always has our best interest at heart in all His actions.  He is creating us into the image of His Son.
• ·         Our brokenness allows His light to shine through all the cracks.
• ·         The Lord is close to the brokenhearted- saving those crushed in spirit.