Messages of hope.

I've been drawn into Isaiah the last few days, quite a different place to Paul's letters where I've spent much of my bible reading time of late.

But words like this can't let me go:

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners"

"to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour"

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God."

All from Isaiah 61.

And...

"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out." - Isaiah 42:3

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." - Isaiah 64:8

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy." - Isaiah 35:1

"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow." - Isaiah 35:5-7

As I read, the promises for a good future in Christ just keep coming, messages of hope overflow.

Where do you find messages of hope? What verses do you hold to?

Will you stand on these ones with me today? Stand on God's promises for your future?