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DAY 196 or July 15. Jesus came for Jew and Gentile.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 2. The people walking in darkness

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have seen a great light, on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse. At the same time as the Assyrian hordes are

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threatening to totally wipe away God's people as they sweep in from the north, Isaiah talks

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about a people who were walking in darkness seeing a great light. Of course his listeners

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would always have assumed God was coming to save his backsliding people, the Jews. But

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Isaiah is talking about those unclean people who the Jews often referred to as dogs. He

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meant the Gentiles of Galilee. By the time Jesus came and lived in Galilee it was relatively

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secular and cut off from Judah by a nation of mixed race people called the Samaritans.

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Gentile Romans, who were the occupying force, dominated the whole land. All the good religious

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Jews lived further south in Judah and worshipped in the temple there.

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And now today's action step. Long before Saul of Tarsus saw the light on the road to

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Damascus Isaiah had prophesied that many people, including Gentiles, would see the light because

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Messiah would come and bathe the whole world in his glorious light. I love watching some

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of the medical dramas on TV, but always ask my wife to make sure I never go into any of

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those hospitals because no one ever gets out alive. When they need to see better in the

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operating theatre they always ask for more light, but sometimes this simply confirms

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that the case is hopeless and the patient will die. However, when God's light shines

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into our lives it is not to condemn us but to reveal all that needs to be cleansed and

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renewed with the Holy Spirit's help. Don't ever be afraid to open yourself up to God's

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brilliant light because that's the first step to being made whole. His light never

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uncovers a hopeless case, it often recovers and heals a case that previously had no hope.