Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: Psalm 146:5-10

During this third week of our Advent devotions, we are focused on recognising the presence and work of Jesus in our world. Jesus has come to us and is at work among us, but if we do not recognise Him, we cannot work with Him to bring about His Kingdom.

In yesterday’s reading, when Jesus answered John the Baptist’s doubt-filled question, He described His ministry in these terms:

⁵ … ‘the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.‘

A number of prophetic Scriptures had pointed towards the ministry of the Messiah being typified by precisely these sorts of signs. Wonderfully, Psalm 146:5-10, shows us that when Jesus was ministering in these ways, He was not only revealing His identity as the Messiah, He was also expressing His divinity!

Psalm 146 explains that the LORD, God Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth upholds the cause of the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, watches over the foreigner, and sustains the fatherless and the widow. So, when Jesus was doing these very things, He was simply expressing His divinity. No wonder He pointed them out to John as signs of His identity as the King of God’s Kingdom, the Christ.

If we want to see Jesus among us today more clearly, we may walk among and minister in His Name to the most vulnerable, needy and powerless members of society. We will almost surely find Him there. And if those words describe your own current experience, please understand that Jesus is with you in all His power and love to minister to you and to bring you through it!

Lord Jesus, help me to seek You and find You, when I seek for You with all my heart. And help me to seek You in the right places. Amen.