To start off, Isaiah 40 through the end of Isaiah has become one of my all time favorite sections of the Bible, and, so, if you haven’t gone through it, I beg you to do so.
Here, I narrowed down to one chapter: Isaiah 61.
JESUS CAME TO bring good news, bind broken-hearted, proclaim liberty, free the bound, proclaim the Lord’s favor, comfort those who mourn, give a beautiful headdress in contrast to what seems to be our ashes, and give gladness instead of mourning…
This is prophecy.
SO we may be righteous and He may be glorified.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
The significance of the fact the Spirit of the Lord is upon me is unfathomable. GOD. Picture that: God, God’s Spirit.
The only reason He is upon you and I is because the Lord has anointed us. HE has anointed (consecrated, blessed, ordained) me; He has anointed you.
We did nothing to deserve it. It’s all Him. Nevertheless, the Spirit is upon us.
And it is His spirit; we become like Him.
In that alone, my friends, your life has evident significant meaning. The Lord, GOD, chose to put Himself IN and UPON YOU. That speaks volumes about Him and His love, but it also speaks volumes about how He sees us. We are that important and cherished and valued to Him and by Him.
This gives me GREAT responsibility. It’s an honor, it’s a responsibility, and, here, our purpose is found.
We ought to be, with this Spirit,
bringing good news
binding the broken-hearted
proclaiming liberty
freeing the bound
proclaiming the Lord’s favor
comforting those who mourn
Helping people trade in beautiful headdresses (beauty) for ashes for ourselves and others and gladness into mourning.
Jesus wants this for humanity
This Spirit is in us for us and for others.
And why are we called to do all of these things? Why did God fill us with Himself? So that others may become righteous and He may be glorified. He gives us everything we need, He calls us to help others.
He cares about our state of being, our righteousness. In all of this (giving us His LITERAL Spirit and helping us fulfill our calling), An end goal of His is our well-being, the well being of others, and His glory.
Because and only because His spirit is upon me, I can make a difference for Him. He can use me to call others to righteousness through Him; He can use me to promote Him, to bring Him glory.
That is our purpose. That is my purpose. That is your purpose. That is why the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He is upon me, and I must take full advantage of that and responsibility in that.
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses” Acts 1:8