Category: Verse for the day

“With divine recompense He comes to save you.” –Isaiah 35:4 Often I hear people express their impression that when God comes into their life, He will come with payback; they expect that He will come to repay each person according to their sins and failings with punishment and judgment. Similarly, St. John the Baptizer expected God to come as One mighty in judgment (Mt 3:10-11). Today’s Scripture readings, and in fact the entire Gospel, proclaim a different message: God will come with mercy, kindness, and even vindication (see e.g. Ti 3:4ff). John the Baptizer expected a Messiah who would execute...

“Elijah is indeed coming, and he will restore everything.” –Matthew 17:11 Jesus said that Elijah would restore everything. What a statement! Everything? How could someone restore everything? Jesus said that the restoration of everything was begun by St. John the Baptizer (Mt 17:13), who came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Lk 1:17; cf Mt 11:13-14). The Power for this universal restoration is the Holy Spirit. Consequently, John was “filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb” (Lk 1:15). John began the restoration of everything by turning “the hearts of fathers to their children” (Lk 1:17). This universal...

“If you would hearken to My commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea.” –Isaiah 48:18 Christmas, like life, is a matter of obedience. If we obey the Lord’s commands, we will become prosperous, vindicated, blessed, and assured this Christmas (Is 48:18-19). However, we are often like rebellious, disobedient children who want to give orders rather than take them (Mt 11:16-17). We must repent of this self-willed, disobedient attitude or we will deprive ourselves of Christmas and even of Christ. At the first Christmas, the Lord gave His commands to Mary...

“To whom can you liken Me as an equal? says the Holy One.” –Isaiah 40:25 No one equals God in anything. Consider God’s strength; He is unequaled in strength. Almighty God is so strong that He made and sustains the billions and billions of stars which span light-years in space (Is 40:26). Almighty God is willing to share His unlimited strength with us. “He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound” (Is 40:29). When God strengthens old or weak people, they can outrun, outwork, and outlast young folks. Those who let God renew their strength...

“Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God.” –Isaiah 40:1 The Lord commanded His heavenly court to give comfort to His people on earth. This “comfort” does not mean feeling good and indulging in “creature comforts,” but being freed from slavery to a pleasure-seeking lifestyle (see Is 40:2). God’s comfort is not an exterior gratification of the senses but an interior freedom from sin and guilt (Is 40:2). An angel obeyed God’s command to comfort His people by crying out: “Earthquake!” (That is probably what is meant by the reference to filling in the valleys and laying low the...