Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17


SAFE IN HIS ARMS

READ:
ISAIAH 66:13
________________________________________________________________________________________
As a mother
comforts her child,
so will I comfort
you.
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I sat next to my daughter's bed in a recovery room after she had undergone surgery. When her eyes fluttered open, she realized she was uncomfortable and started to cry. I tried to reassure her by stroking her arm, but she only became more upset. With help from a nurse, I moved her from the bed and onto my lap. I brushed tears from her cheeks and reminded her that she would eventually feel better.

Through Isaiah, God told the Israelites, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you" (ISA 66:13). God promised to give His children peace and to carry them the way a mother totes a child around on her side. This tender message was for the people who had a reverence for God__those who "tremble at his word" (.5).

God's ability and desire to comfort His people appears again in Paul's letter to the Corinthian believers. Paul said the Lord is the one "who comforts us in all our troubles" (2 COR. 13:-4).

One day all suffering will end. Our tears will dry up permanently, and we will be safe in God's arms forever (REV. 21:4). Until then, we can depend on god's love to support us when we suffer. ____Jennifer Benson Shuldt

**Dear God, help me to remember that nothing can separate me
from Your love. Please assure me of Your care through the power
of the Holy spirit.
____________________________________________________________________________________
God comforts His people.

************************************Today's Bible Reading __ Isaiah 66:5-13****************************
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word:
"Your own people who hate you, and exclude you because
of my name, have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we
may see your joy!' Yet they will be put to shame. 6 Hear
that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is
the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the
pains come upon her, she delivers a son. 8 Who has ever heard
of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? can a
country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a
moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth
to her children. 9 do I bring to the moment of birth and not
give delivery?" says the LORD. "Do I close up the womb when
I bring to delivery?" says your God. 10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem
and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with
her, all you who mourn over her. 11 For you will nurse and be
satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and
delight in her overflowing abundance."

12 For this is what the LORD says:

"I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of
nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried
on her arm and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts
her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted
over Jerusalem."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Having warned of exile in Babylon (ISA. 39:6-7),
Isaiah now comforts the Israelites with the promise that God
will bring them back to Judea and bless them (CHS. 40-66). This
restoration is so certain and swift that it is likened to a woman
giving birth to a child before she even experiences labor pains
(39:7-8). What God promises, He fulfills (v.9). God will love His
people like a mother loves her child (v.13). ___Sim Kay Tee