Travel in Glory

[Isa. 40:1] Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Comfort - yes, comfort My people! Isaiah knew what it was to warn and instruct G-d's people; but G-d also wanted His people to receive His comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 speaks of our L-rd as the G-d of all comfort; G-d wants His messengers to speak comfort to His people!
In any group waiting to hear G-d's word, there is any number of hidden hurting hearts. It is important for those hurting hearts to hear a word of comfort from G-d's messenger. As one preacher put it, "Preach to broken hearts and you will never lack an audience.”
G-d's comfort is not a hollow, positive-thinking, "There's-a-silver-lining-behind-every-cloud" kind of message. G-d always gives His people reasons for comfort.
The comfort comes with tender words, spoken to the heart. Speak comfort is literally, "'speak to the heart', like a young man wooing his girl (Genesis 34:3)." How G-d's messengers today must speak to the heart!
Pray that Jerusalem’s warfare is ended!
It is in this same sense that G-d speaks to us and tells us we can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). The battle still looms, but as far as it concerns the believer in Y’Shua the Messiah, her warfare is ended, because You are of G-d, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
That Jerusalem’s iniquity is pardoned: At the moment Isaiah spoke this, Jerusalem was well aware of her sin - Isaiah had made them aware of it! Yet, the prophet speaks of a day when comfort can be offered because her iniquity is pardoned. This is real comfort; to be recognized as a sinner - as one having iniquity - yet knowing just as much that our iniquity is pardoned. The same principle applies to the believer under the New Covenant; our iniquity is pardoned because our sin has been paid for!
This was reason for comfort.
Does it seem unfair that G-d would have a double payment for sin? "Double means 'to fold over, fold in half' (Exodus 26:9) . . . When something is folded over, each half corresponds exactly with the other half, and this would yield the thought of exact correspondence between sin and payment." A payment has been made, and it was exactly the payment that was needed.
Our iniquity is never pardoned because G-d has simply decided to "let us off the hook." That would make G-d and unrighteous, wicked judge, something He could never be. But under the New Covenant, it is not we who have received from G-d's hand double for all our sins; it is our sin-bearing Savior Y’Shua HaMashiach, who received the cup of wrath from the G-d’s hand double for all our sins.
Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the L-rd shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
Prepare the way of the L-rd: The idea is that the L-rd is coming to His people as a triumphant King, who has the road prepared before Him so He can travel in glory and ease. Every obstacle in the way must be removed: every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
The idea of preparing the way of the L-rd is a word picture, because the real preparation must take place in our hearts. Building a road is very much like the preparation G-d must do in our hearts. They are both expensive, they both must deal with many different problems and environments, and they both take an expert engineer.
His glory is revealed to the prepared hearts and it is revealed without regard to nationality; all flesh shall see it together. This glory of G-d is not revealed only to Jerusalem or Judah, but to every prepared heart. The certainty of this word is assured, because the mouth of G-d has spoken.
We often fail to appreciate how important the preparing work of the L-rd is. Any great work of G-d begins with great preparation.
Are you preparing the atmosphere around you to be able to travel in glory?
If He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world – His glory should be shinning out of you! If it is not one needs to stop and examine what road needed to be repaired.
Don’t be ‘flexible’ with His Word, for one day you will be held accountable for every action, deed and word you have done. Traveling in His glory keeps the flesh under and your thoughts ‘heaven bound’ as you give out comfort and support to His people.