Gregg DeMey 0:07
Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, December 11, and this is Gregg DeMay. We're walking through the Bible, reading today from Isaiah 55, verses 12 and 13, where God says:
Gregg DeMey 0:21
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the Juniper, and instead of briars, the myrtle will grow and this will be for the Lord's renown for an everlasting sign that will endure forever."
Gregg DeMey 0:48
What a great passage. When God comes near, the whole world bursts out in praise and joyful song - hills, mountains and trees. When God's presence and power arrive, all heaven and earth break loose. I have very fond musical memories of singing these very words to a Hebrew folk melody at the close of worship services at the church I grew up in. When we got to, "the trees will clap their hands," the whole congregation would clap their hands. This time of year, I can't help but to notice the connection between Isaiah 55 and 'Joy To The World.' We don't always sing verse three of Joy To The World, but the words go like this: No more, let sin nor sorrow grow. Nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found." Indeed, Isaiah says that instead of thorns, green and fruitful things will grow. Wherever Jesus is born and shows up, things grow and turn fruitful and beautiful.
Gregg DeMey 2:18
Let's pray. Lord Jesus, won't you be born in us anew, so that our lives, families and our church might be full of signs of life that come from you. Pull out the thorns and nurture the green and growing and beautiful things, amen.
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