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Hear the devotional here: https://anchor.fm/eradio-valverde/episodes/The-True-Servant-of-the-Lord-e1t2ekl
View the devotional: https://www.tiktok.com/@eradiovalverde/video/7184666761973812523?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 5 This is what God the LORD says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” (Isaiah 42:1-9 NIV)
As a district superintendent I had the pleasure, and challenge, of presenting servants of the Lord to their new congregations. I truly believed it was God leading the bishop and my fellow superintendents and me, in making the best decision as to which pastor would go to an open church. It was a process rooted in prayer ande trust in God. We as the Cabinet tried to best match the church's needs and wants with a servant whom we believed would best serve God in that setting. We even sometimes got it right! Most churches requested a pastor of about 35.4 years of age, with 2.3 children, a piano-playing, choir-directing, Sunday school teaching, covered dish coordinating wife. My question eventually was to ask those asking churches, how many of those type of pastors they had sent to seminary, and, sadly, the answer was usually none. I understood their concerns and worries, and prayed the "match made in Heaven" would work out.
Today's passage is about THE servant of God, sent by God, to perform the task of bringing people back to God. This passage outlines what God shared with the prophet Isaiah many years before about the One, whom God wpuld fill with the Holy Spirit, Who would bring justice to the nations, and Who would do God's plan in God's way. God's dream was that this Messiah would call all people back to the covenant. The Messiah would be one to do what the Old Testament prophets had been prophesying since those days of opening the eyes of the blind, to free those held captrive from their prisons, and those in darkness would be released from that darkness into the light of the Lord. The glory is about God and no one else; the old things were now being made, as would other new things that God would call into existence.
How does that description fit in your, or your church's expectation of God's servants with whom you are co-laboring? Remember it is your pastor's job to guide you to join him or her into the world of bring the people back to God. It is all about having, as The Book of Discipline says, to provide the arena where life transformations can take place. The Baptists would have said, "Where folks can get saved!" It can become easy for a church and a pastor to lose sight of that and focus on other pressing matters, but they should not lose sight of that to which they were called; to proclaim the love and grace of the Lord and to enter into a relationship with God. We used to say the church worries about M&M's, money and members; which are important matters, but winning souls for God is the key event the Church on which it should focus. We are about a new thing that not everyone may understand nor accept; but onward and upward we march to do the will of He who sent us. May the improvements that we may set for ourselves at the start of the New Year include at the very top, the need to know Jesus more than ever before, and to trust and love Him like no other.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, may we truly be all about working with You and those Whom You send to make this world a better place, beginning in our hearts; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blesed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Let the world know about Jesus!
Receive my blessings of peace and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
