Day 31 - 40 Days of JOY

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of JOY
Day  31 | OVERWHELMED WITH JOY
OVERWHELMED WITH JOY
 
Isaiah 61:10
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.”  (NLT)

The prophet Isaiah is painting a picture here of the man or woman who is in the LORD through accepting the gift of salvation that the LORD God offers!  Perhaps he had the same thing in mind as Paul did in Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”
 
The granting of salvation and righteousness to God’s people is represented by the picture of God clothing them. And how well clothed WE are in Christ!  We are wearing the clothing of salvation and are draped with the ROBE of righteousness!  In the old days, one might say we were “dressed to the 9s”.
 
Can you remember your wedding (or perhaps one you attended)?  How were you dressed? Now, I know weddings have gotten more informal… yet, most of the time the bride is knockout gorgeous and the groom, resplendent!
 
Those are the images that come to mind here – and in other places in Scripture – when talking about we who are born-again followers of Jesus.
 
Picture yourself dressed like that.  Why?  Because YOU are a “child of the King.”  How would you, a prince or princess, look? Rag-tag and frumpy?  Or amazing and top-shelf?

When we come to Christ and make Him our LORD and Savior, we are transformed.  You may not look different in the mirror, but from God’s viewpoint, you ARE.
Thus, Isaiah could honestly write, “I am overwhelmed with JOY in the LORD my God!”

Prayer:  Thank You LORD, for what you’ve done in my life.  Please help me to SEE myself as one of your children, every moment of every day.  And help me to live up to that status.  Amen.