Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,“Your God reigns!”
Jesus is the truth of the Good News of the love of God for His creation. We have the privilege to spread this Gospel of peace to the world…that the world through Him can be saved. Jesus came with shouts of peace to the people of earth. Where the love of God resides there is peace…it is the grace and mercy of God manifested in Jesus. Without showing God’s love in our words and actions we are just making noise. Carla
Romans 10:14-15
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” NKJV
This series of questions suggests that Israel had opportunity to hear the gospel message, yet rejected it (Romans 10:16).
Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7 to emphasize the importance of spreading the gospel. This verse is just prior to the Servant Songs of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 that find their fulfillment in Jesus, which Paul alludes to throughout this letter. Faithlife Study Bible
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, the Divine Saviour, who had not heard of him? Matthew Henry Commentary
Titus 1:3
but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;
Acts 8:31
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Ephesians 4:21
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
In many Muslim cultures, when you want to ask them how they’re doing, you ask: in Arabic, ‘Kayf haal-ik’? or, in Persian, ‘Haal-e shomaa chetoreh’? How is your haal? What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, we are asking, “How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?”
When I ask, “How are you?” that is really what I want to know. I am not asking how many items are on your to-do list, nor asking how many items are in your inbox. I want to know how your heart is doing, at this very moment.
So. Tell me. Tell me your heart is joyous or aching. Tell me your heart is sad or grateful, torn or hopeful. Tell me your heart craves human touch.
“Being in touch with the heart tells us the quality of our existence, tells us how we recognize the truth,” Russ Hudson writes. “The heart also is the place where we know who we really are.”
People have told me that pain will be my teacher. They just didn't tell me what I would learn. I can tell you this: with pain (or uncertainty or way-laid plans or fractures of the heart it is too easy to focus only on the fixing. Or the correct path. And in my urgency for resolve I can miss the spirit of life.
Those places where connections create sanctuary and connection and replenishment and healing and renewal. Sabbath Moments
In Jesus' day, religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, also secluded themselves from those who were sick or whom they labeled as sinners. Jesus, however, sat right down among the sick and the sinful, inviting them to receive His healing and teaching and to have a relationship with Him.
Specifically, Jesus "was eating with sinners and tax collectors" in Mark 2:16, and Jewish tax collectors were considered the worst of sinners and traitors in Israel because they collaborated with Rome, often stealing money from their own people. Yet Jesus chose Levi in his tax booth and said, "Follow me" (Mark 2:14).
When Levi threw a large banquet afterward and invited his friends, the religious leaders questioned Jesus' dining with them. Jesus replied, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). The truth is everyone is "sick" with sin ... so everyone needs Jesus' salvation. And He offers it generously! But the leaders thought their moral performance proved their spiritual wellness.
For example, God's law required fasting once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-30; Leviticus 23:27), but the Pharisees tried to add to God's laws and commandments and fasted twice a week. When they asked Jesus why His disciples did not fast, Jesus replied, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?" (Mark 2:19). By shifting the conversation to marriage, Jesus showed that holiness is not about adding rules but about abiding in relationship with God. Friend, the old system of ritual regulations and the Pharisees' endless list of imposed traditions is over. Jesus fulfills God's law, brings the fullness of grace, and invites us all to respond with joy. First5
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