Image from bible.com
Hear the devotional right here! Click: https://bit.ly/2PG2ebm
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:6-9 NRSV)
Happy Wednesday, ConCafe Family! We pray this Wednesday bring you, Dear one, great opportunities of service and love that brings blessings and joy to God's family! Let us pray today for those struggling to understand forgiveness; how it works, and should work with us. If you need assistance, please call your pastor or a trusted friend; or even call me if you wish.
"I just lost it!" exclaimed a friend and former member of one of my old churches. He was talking about the news that church received about a tragic death of a precious college student. "I at the funeral, I knew that I had to be strong so that my little sister wouldn't lose it; and I was strong, but she still cried a lot." Death brings tears to those who love and who will dearly miss the departed. It is a hard part of the grieving process, but a necessary one; take that from one who grew up with an outrageous adage, "Los hombres no lloran," meaning "men do not cry." I don't know who made that up or encouraged that, but growing up I saw my father cry and other men from my family cry, so I knew that saying may have served its purpose in another era, but today, crying is good, and necessary. Yet, crying sometimes makes some people uncomfortable, and may even frighten others; a mother or father cannot bear to hear their children cry. The emotional ones, like yours truly, tend to tear up and even cry alongside others. So, to hear the ancient prophet speaks the words from today's passage, we can both identify and understand more the death of Jesus on a cross, for the eternal good He was doing in dying for us. The coming feast and celebration, besides having the finest food and drink one could imagine, will have a celebration of the eternal removal that which has burdened humanity since Day one. "He will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken." The wait is over; God has brought us eternal salvation, and the charge now is for us to "be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
As I was studying for this devotional, I remembered a particular baby shampoo that had made the claim their shampoo no longer caused tears. Some quick research showed that Johnson & Johnson since the mid-1950's made a shampoo with the claim, "No More Tears." And later campaigns had people squirting this shampoo into each other's eyes only to discover that while there may not have been tears, the pain on the eyes made it difficult to see. Some claimed that the English language had struck again; the word tear did not mean the drops from the eyes caused by crying, but referred to the tear that can come to the hair by a harsh shampoo; so did "No More Tears" mean no more breaks in the hair because of this shampoo? The company stood by their claim of no more tears as in crying because their product was meant to protect babies who until they reach a certain age cannot blink, and so their product protected those precious eyes. The day is coming, thanks to God's action in Jesus to die for us all and to pay for our price caused by our sinfulness, that the day will arrive when there will be no more death, and as a result no more tears.
Whatever may be causing your tears during these days, dear friend, those days are limited. They have been defeated by Jesus, and on that day when we gather at the Feast, part of what we celebrate will be the final defeat of death and crying. They will be replaced by joy and gladness.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, hasten the day of that Day, when we will experience the final removal of death and mourning; bless those who weep now, Father, for unexpected deaths that have come, and for those who know that the life of loved ones is limited because of sickness and disease. To them bring peace and comfort, and the assurance of joy from having served You and knowing that in You we will be blessed. We pray with faith in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Seek to bring a smile to those in pain today; ask the Lord and He will guide you to them.
Receive my blessings of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
