LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Do you know what post-celebration depression is? Have you ever experienced it? I watched many people go through it years ago after the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl. A week after the victory the heaviness of life returned to their hearts. No matter how great their moment of celebration, it was only temporary, and did nothing – absolutely nothing – to satisfy the longing of our hearts for meaning and purpose. How sad it is for those who put their hope in man and man’s accomplishments.

But there is a victory coming someday that will satisfy every longing of our human hearts. For many of us that victory is already being experienced in our spirit. Others will discover the truth soon, maybe even today. Greg Jennings of the Green Bay Packers testified to it after the big game, when in the midst of the awe of the victory, he looked up and around at all that was happening and declared in front of a worldwide audience, “Glory to God.” As great as that moment was after such a thrilling victory, it was not to be compared with the awe we have for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Look up and around, for the day of the Lord is coming with greater majesty and splendor than any football game could produce. Jesus is coming, and when He does, He will fill the world with the spectacle of His presence. The blessings of His victory will satisfy us for all eternity. There will be eternal celebration, with no post-celebration return to the realities of earthly life.

In our study of Isaiah, in chapter 33, here’s what the Lord says the world will be like after His return. This is what we truly long for with all our hearts:

• Peace and Permanence – verse 20 – “a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.”
• Powerful leadership –verse 21 – “There the LORD will be our Mighty One.”     
• Protection –verse 21 – “It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.” Broad rivers refers to the borders of the land being uncrossable by any enemy.
• Justice and Righteousness –verse 22 – “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.”
• Complete trust in God alone – verse 23 – “Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread.”     
• Plenty of provisions for every person’s needs – verse 23 – “Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.”
• Perfect health and well-being – verse 24 – “No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;     
• The forgiveness of all sin – verse 24 – “and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.”

Go ahead – celebrate the little victories in life. But don’t let them become more important than the victory that is to come when Jesus returns – a victory you can celebrate every day of your life and one that is eternally more significant.

Pastor John