Jesus is a sign of contradiction

"and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted; (and you yourself a sword will pierce)* so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”  (Luke 2: 34 - 35)

Simeon foretells that Jesus would be a sign of contradiction.  Why should I be a people pleaser?  Most Holy Spirit, I surrender my heart, mind, will, body, time, talent, treasure, weakness to you.  Lead me, guide me and transform me into the image of Jesus.  Thank you, O Lord.

Do not throw away your confidence

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.
You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised." (Hebrews 10: 35 - 36)

Lord, thank you for the gift of faith.  Thank you for the trust in your mercy.  How blessed I am that in the present crisis, I have not allowed fears, worries and doubts to eat away my confidence.  I do appreciate the peace that I feel.

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  (James 1: 2 - 4)

While I am not yet in the place to consider any trial a thing of joy, I thank God that for the first time, I am coping well with fears, worries and doubts.   I am trusting in the Lord and He is blessing me with peace.

He who made the promise is trustworthy

"Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy."

Lord, you give us the consolation of the truth through the scriptures.  Thank you for those whom you have enlightened to unpack these precious promises for us.  I found two commentaries on the above scripture by John Gills and Matthew Henry that bring me much joy and consolation.

"For he [is] faithful that promised;
that is God; and it is true of Father, Son, and Spirit; but God the Father may be more especially designed: he is a promising God, and is known to be so by his people; he is eminently and emphatically the Promiser; and all other promisers, and the promises made by them, signify little; but the promises of God are exceeding great and precious, very ancient, free, and unconditional, irrevocable and immutable, and are admirably suited to the cases of his people, and will be fulfilled everyone of them: they include in them things temporal, spiritual, and eternal; things temporal, as that his people shall not want, that their afflictions shall work for good, and that he will support them under all their troubles; things spiritual, as that he will be their God, which takes in his everlasting love to them, and his gracious presence with them, and his protection of them; and that all grace shall be wrought in them, and every blessing of grace bestowed on them: and things eternal; as everlasting glory and happiness; the promise of eternal life was in God's heart, made in the covenant, and put into Christ's hands before the world began, and is declared in the Gospel: now God is faithful to all his promises, nor can he fail, or deceive; he is all wise and foreknowing of everything that comes to pass; he never changes his mind, nor forgets his word; and he is able to perform, and is the God of truth, and cannot lie; nor has he ever failed in anyone of his promises, nor will he suffer his faithfulness to fail; and this is a strong argument to hold fast a profession of faith."  (John Gills Exposition)

"The apostle exhorts believers to hold fast the profession of their faith, v. 23. Here observe, (1.) The duty itself—to hold fast the profession of our faith, to embrace all the truths and ways of the gospel, to get fast hold of them, and to keep that hold against all temptation and opposition. Our spiritual enemies will do what they can to wrest our faith, and hope, and holiness, and comfort, out of our hands, but we must hold fast our religion as our best treasure. (2.) The manner in which we must do this—without wavering, without doubting, without disputing, without dallying with temptation to apostasy. Having once settled these great things between God and our souls, we must be stedfast and immovable. Those who begin to waver in matters of Christian faith and practice are in danger of falling away. (3.) The motive or reason enforcing this duty: He is faithful that hath promised. God has made great and precious promises to believers, and he is a faithful God, true to his word; there is no falseness nor fickleness with him, and there should be none with us. His faithfulness should excite and encourage us to be faithful, and we must depend more upon his promises to us than upon our promises to him, and we must plead with him the promise of grace sufficient."  (Matthew Henry Commentary)

Producing a hundredfold yield

"And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”  (Mark 4: 8)

Lord, I desire to yield a hundredfold harvest for you.

"I have chosen you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last." (John 15: 16, 19)
"I will bear a witness to you in the world, O Lord.  I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers."  (Psalm 17: 50; 21:23)

Prosper the work of my hands, Lord.  Oh, prosper the work of my hands.

It is good to wait for the Lord

"Surely, I wait for the LORD;
who bends down to me and hears my cry."  (Psalm 40:2)

Wait for the Lord (Psalm 27: 14; 37:34)
Wait patiently for him (Psalm 37: 7)
I wait for you (Psalm 25: 21)
For you I wait all day (Psalm 25: 5);
I wait for the Lord more than a watchman wait for the morning (Psalm 130: 5-6);
I wait for God my savior (Micah 7:7)
I wait patiently for the Lord (Psalm 40: 1)
I wait in silence for God (Psalm 62: 1, 5)
We wait for you (Isaiah 26: 8, 33: 2)
Those who wait for the Lord renew their strength (Isaiah 40: 31)
Those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land (Psalm 37: 9)
Blessed are those who wait for him (Isaiah 30: 18)
May those who wait for you not be ashamed through me (Psalm 69:6)
This is our God for whom we have waited (Isaiah 25:9)
The Lord is good to those who wait for him (Lamentation 3: 25)
Be like men waiting for their Master (Luke 12: 36)
Saul was told to wait 7 days for Samuel (1 Samuel 10: 8; 13:8)
David will wait until word came (2 Samuel 15; 28)
(Roget’s Thesaurus of the Bible)

The Gospel reveals our identity and true destiny

"but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1: 10)

In the Incarnation, the Son of God became a human being and lived among us. In His life, passion and death, He revealed our identity and true destiny.  His resurrection from the dead is a confirmation that we too shall rise from the dead.  All these facts and mysteries were revealed in the Gospel.  Thank you Jesus for the Good News!

I chose and appointed you to bear fruit that will remain

"It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."  (John 15: 16)

The choice, the call and the anointing.  The Enterprise is a Journey of Faith.  The destination is to attain the purpose:  "to bear fruit that will remain."
The journey is convoluted but thank God it is on course.  What I see in the mirror may not be pretty but I am still the "Imago Dei."  The Journey may be long but my shoes are not worn out.  There is food and water and shelter for the Journey.

Although I am blindfolded in this Journey, all that is required of me is to place my right hand on the right shoulder of Jesus and continue as He leads me.  I walk by faith and not by sight.