Good News!

Daily Reading: Luke 4

Scripture Focus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4.18-19)

Devotional Thought: We had been praying for a little pre-born named Levi who had some skeletal concerns. I received an email: "It's a miracle! Levi is OK!" Pastor Amber was so excited to share the good news! Her excitement was obvious even through cyberspace.

Don't you love to share good news? Jesus did. When he began his ministry, he was so excited that he exclaimed in the synagogue: "God has anointed me to proclaim good news!" What was that good news?

• The poor are not forgotten. There is a whole class of people who live below our level of vision. As we drive to work and play, oblivious of their plight, they struggle every day. But God has not forgotten them. And he sends them help through his people.

• The prisoners are no longer bound. I've worked with many, many people who are struggling to get out of the legal system. I marvel that anybody could ever successfully navigate all the twists and turns that are required to be finished with the courts and the charges. Jesus sets us free and we are to help others find their way to freedom.

• The blind can see. Do not despair over the darkness that covers the eyes of those you love. The light shines in the darkness!

• The oppressed are set free. God is for the downcast! Jesus came to the ones that nobody else cared about.

• It is the year of Jubilee. It is a time to forgive debts. God is in the new-start business.

We have good news! We are part of the solution that Jesus brings. Let us faithfully do our part to proclaim "the year of the Lord's favor."

Prayer: Father, as I think about the good news, I am overwhelmed that it reached me! Help me, like Jesus, to proclaim good news to the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed, and the downhearted. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 1 Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD, 2 who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God! 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. 5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. 7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Psalms 135:1-7)