To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
—Isaiah 61:3 NLT
There is a lot in this world that brings mourning: death, illness, pain, loss, loneliness. The list is endless, and it can be overwhelming during this season. Only Jesus breaks the bondage. Only His Grace, which looks beyond our sin and brokenness and says, “I love you,” brings healing.
Jesus replaces the burned-out ashes of life with the beauty of His righteousness. He replaces grief with joy and despair with praise. He is the answer to that endless list. He has planted His finished work of Grace in each believer so he can stand strong as an oak for His glory.
Is this your experience? Joy despite the world’s pain? Peace, no matter your circumstances? Forgiveness no matter your hurt? Jesus has planted Himself in you, but has the incorruptible seed He planted taken root and grown? Have you received His understanding instead of yours? Until you have grown, your roots will give you little strength. They will fail to anchor you. Joy will be elusive. Fear and anger will be your responses to sudden problems and people who challenge your circumstantial peace. If you don’t allow the love of Jesus to make a difference in your life—if you don’t let the Holy Spirit bring an understanding of the new life you have received, the things on this list will rule your life instead of His peace.
Jesus read these words of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, revealing Himself as the One of whom Isaiah spoke. They rejected Him, and He did little healing there because they did not believe Him (Luke 4:16-30, Mark 4:5). The Holy Spirit speaks the truth of who Jesus is in our lives. Do we believe Him, or do we reject Him with our unbelief? Jesus says that all things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23). We limit Jesus’ healing when we don’t believe what we have received.
You are healed when you believe it in your heart—not when you see or feel your healing (Mark 11:24). It may only take a moment for what you believe to become your reality, but it can also take a very long time. When the seed of God’s truth has found fertile soil in your heart and is protected from the lies of the enemy and cares that overwhelm you, you will see the visible evidence of its truth. The Word produces its truth in you. You have a new list of joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), just waiting to be exercised by faith.
If your heart is hardened by unbelief, the Holy Spirit is just waiting to awaken your heart to Jesus’ sanctifying healing of spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Jesus’ healing is not broken and fragmented. He heals the whole man. By His stripes, you were healed 2000 years ago (1 Peter 2:24). He completed a finished work. We partake in His finished work of healing when we believe it.
Is your heart hardened to God’s peace and joy? If you are still dealing with fear, loss, illness, and all these destructions, Jesus came to heal you from them (Psalms 107:20). Only the Grace of Jesus awakens a hardened heart. But you must plant His Word in your heart and protect it from lies of the enemy and emotional upheaval. You must allow His new life of righteousness, planted in you, to become your reality.
Believe who Jesus says He is. Don't reject Him because His truth isn’t seen, felt, or experienced. Jesus cursed the fig tree, and its roots died immediately. But its death was not visible to the disciples until later (Mark 11:20-22). When you believe His Word in your heart, Jesus speaks life and healing to you, even though the visible evidence may not be experienced until much later.
Are you tired of being tired? Exchange your old list for His new life.
You shall be strong, secure, and unshakeable. You shall walk in healing, not bitterness, hurt, and pain. You shall rejoice in the God of your salvation. No weapon of unbelief that comes against you shall prosper. You shall speak death to every weapon that comes against the truth of the new life Jesus has given you. This is your heritage in Jesus, and your righteousness is from Him (Isaiah 54:17). You shall be a great oak bringing forth His glory in due season.
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Thank you, Jesus, for loving me all the way to the Cross! Praise you for healing me! I praise you for your Word planted and spoken in my heart! Your Word does not return to you void or unused. I will plant it in my heart, protect it, and it shall bring forth its truth, a ripe harvest for your glory. I shall harvest that which you promise. I will fight the good fight of faith and take your truth as my own. It shall become who I am. I shall see and experience your Word alive and living in me. Thank you for holding nothing back. Thank you for loving me completely and without reservation. Jesus, you are the joy of my salvation!
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