Isaiah 35:1-4

Isaiah 35:1-4 Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.       The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers       and singing and joy!    The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,       as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.    There the Lord will display his glory,       the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,       and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts,       "Be strong, and do not fear,    for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.       He is coming to save you." NLT

God, What precious hope You gave to Your captive people when they were wandering in the dead, dry desert of despair! Help was on the way! Suffering and sorrow would be swallowed up by a Savior! Joy was coming, and all of heaven and nature would sing! Blessed be the name of the Lord! 700 long years later, Jesus Christ, their Blessed Hope, was born to lead the world out of the wasteland and into the prosperity of Your everlasting presence. And, that Hope is alive for us today! Blessed assurance!   You're well aware of the barren wasteland we're living in. The global physical, mental and spiritual anguish of Your people is mind boggling to us, but it isn't to You. Many of the problems we face don't have a good prognosis. Indeed, the world is in an uproar and people are fainting from terror, apprehensive of what is coming, as You shake us with the power of heaven!   Feeble and fainthearted, we can be encouraged! Jesus Christ, Your own dear Son, that precious babe born 2000 years ago, who suffered, died, arose, and ascended into heaven is coming back, and possibly quite soon, in glory and splendor to finish the great work He began long ago. The wilderness and wastelands are eagerly awaiting His arrival! The badlands will burst into blossom and become a colorful choir of crocuses! Even the hills and the mountains will declare His majesty!    This is the reason we rejoice! Our strength will be renewed when Christ comes to rule the world in truth and grace! Joy to the world! The Savior reigns!    Show me a hopeless believer who is paralyzed with problems or frozen in fear. I will pick them up, and remind them of the wonders of Your love and Your never ending grace that was, and is, and is to come because of Jesus our Savior! Amen.

What this world needs is a Savior who will rescue and restore it! That Hope came with the birth of Christ, and is alive today for those who believe. And, Hope is coming when Christ returns! If you have Hope, you are blessed beyond belief! Give someone the Hope you have this holiday season. Life is hard, and people need Hope! Joy to the World Words: Isaac Watts, 1719 Music: Lowell Mason, 1848   Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.