today's meditation (Is.55) Seeking What We Need

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 55:1-13) 

1   “You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
     And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
     Come, buy wine and milk 
     Without money and without cost.
2   Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
     And your wages for what does not satisfy?
     Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
     And delight yourself in abundance.
3   Incline your ear and come to Me.
     Listen, that you may live;
     And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
     According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
4   Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
     A leader and commander for the peoples.
5   Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,
     And a nation which does not know you will run to you,
     Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
     For He has glorified you.”

6   Seek the Lord while He may be found;
     Call upon Him while He is near.
7   Let the wicked abandon his way,
     And the unrighteous person his thoughts;
     And let him return to the Lord,
     And He will have compassion on him,
     And to our God,
     For He will abundantly pardon.
8   “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
     Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9   “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
     So are My ways higher than your ways 
     And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
     And do not return there without watering the earth 
     And making it produce and sprout,
     And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
     It will not return to Me empty,
     Without accomplishing what I desire,
     And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
12 For you will go out with joy 
     And be led in peace;
     The mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
     And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper will come up,
     And instead of the stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
     And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
     An everlasting sign which will not be eliminated.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

How do we think ourselves so clever?  Why would we ever think we know better than the Lord?  It would be because we usually love ourselves more than anything, and we are only thinking of ourselves.  Yet the Lord created us with a purpose to have a personal relationship with Him, because He loves us... MORE than we could ever love ourselves!  And He knows us better than we know ourselves.

It really comes down to seeking out what we NEED and not what we WANT or THINK we need.  And what we need is way beyond anything we could ever do for ourselves.  It is something only God can do and provide for us.  It is when we see that our way is nothing compared to God's way, and we choose to do things His way, that we will be fulfilled and flourish in His strength and guidance!

today's meditation (Is.54) Making Choices

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 54:1-17) 

1   “Shout for joy, infertile one, you who have not given birth to any child;
     Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor;
     For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous 
     Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2   “Enlarge the place of your tent;
     Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;
     Lengthen your ropes 
     And strengthen your pegs.
3   For you will spread out to the right and to the left.
     And your descendants will possess nations 
     And will resettle the desolate cities.

4   “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
     And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
     But you will forget the shame of your youth,
     And no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5   For your husband is your Maker,
     Whose name is the Lord of armies;
     And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
     Who is called the God of all the earth.
6   For the Lord has called you,
     Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
     Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
     Says your God.
7   “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
     But with great compassion I will gather you.
8   In an outburst of anger 
     I hid My face from you for a moment,
     But with everlasting favor I will have compassion on you,”
     Says the Lord your Redeemer.

9   “For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
     When I swore that the waters of Noah
     Would not flood the earth again;
     So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you 
     Nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
     But My favor will not be removed from you,
     Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”
     Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

11 “Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
     Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
     And I will lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
     And your gates of crystal,
     And your entire wall of precious stones.
13 All your sons will be taught by the Lord;
     And the well-being of your sons will be great.
14 In righteousness you will be established;
     You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
     And from terror, for it will not come near you.
15 If anyone fiercely attacks you, it will not be from Me.
     Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
16 Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals 
     And produces a weapon for its work;
     And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.
17 No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
     And you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment.
     This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
     And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Israel was called by the Lord to be the missionaries to the nations, but they rebelled and turned away from God.  In this chapter we see that there is hope.  God has not forgotten them.  During the Tribulation, Israel will see the signs of Jesus' second coming and realize that He was and is their Messiah, and as a nation, they will believe.  Ridding the earth of evil, Jesus will set up the Millennial kingdom, taking Israel with Him, as well as all those who become believers during the Tribulation.

With the nation of Israel, God will not forget the covenants made with them.  Individually - once anyone becomes a child of God - our salvation and eternal life is secure because of God's grace!  But let us not take that for granted.  God still hates sin!  And He will discipline those He loves, because He wants a better life for us;  so He will allow us to experience consequences to our actions while we are still here on earth.

As far as where a person goes after we pass away, we must remember that God is just.  He gives everyone a fair opportunity to turn to Him.  For anyone who refuses His salvation and forgiveness of sins, they will be judged for the sins they have committed and will be sent to a place of darkness, completely void of God and His goodness.  For those who have received His salvation and forgiveness of sins, once in heaven, we will be judged and rewarded for the good deeds done with right motives.

Our choice reflects our desire - to do things on your own without God, or to want God in our lives for all eternity. 

today's meditation (Is.53) Turning Shame to Joy

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 53:1-12) 

1   Who has believed our report?
     And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2   For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
     And like a root out of dry ground;
     He has no stately form or majesty 
     That we would look at Him,
     Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.
3   He was despised and abandoned by men,
     A man of great pain and familiar with sickness;
     And like one from whom people hide their faces,
     He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.

4   However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,
     And our pains that He carried;
     Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
     Struck down by God, and humiliated.
5   But He was pierced for our offenses,
     He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
     The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
     And by His wounds we are healed.
6   All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
     Each of us has turned to his own way;
     But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all 
     To fall on Him.

7   He was oppressed and afflicted,
     Yet He did not open His mouth;
     Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
     And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
     So He did not open His mouth.
8   By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
     And as for His generation, who considered 
     That He was cut off from the land of the living 
     For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
9   And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
     Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
     Because He had done no violence,
     Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the Lord desired 
     To crush Him, causing Him grief;
     If He renders Himself as a guilt offering,
     He will see His offspring,
     He will prolong His days,
     And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
     He will see it and be satisfied;
     By His knowledge the Righteous One,
     My Servant, will justify the many,
     For He will bear their wrongdoings.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
     And He will divide the plunder with the strong,
     Because He poured out His life unto death,
     And was counted with wrongdoers;
     Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
     And interceded for the wrongdoers.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

It is as if we ourselves drove the nails into Jesus.  We are all born guilty of sin.  And in our sinful thinking, it is easy to assume that whenever someone else suffers, they deserve it somehow and they should be ashamed!  Although this is not always the case.  But regarding the suffering and death of Jesus, He was purely innocent, having never sinned.  Being the Son of God, He is part of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus was and is the spotless Lamb of God.  Willingly going to the cross, His sacrifice was and is a once-for all payment- to cover all sin (past, present and future).  He took OUR punishment and gave His life for OUR sins;  therefore WE should be ashamed!  He did this so that we could go to Him for healing and reconciliation.  This should cause people to humbly see their need for salvation.  This should cause people to want to repent of their sins and accept the free gift of salvation and forgiveness.

In Jesus' salvation, healing and reconciliation, our guilt, shame and anguish will turn to thankfulness, peace and joy!

today's meditation (Is.52) Sharing the Good News

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 52:1-15) 

1   Awake, awake,
     Clothe yourself in your strength, Zion;
     Clothe yourself with your beautiful garments,
     Jerusalem, the holy city;
     For the uncircumcised and the unclean 
     Will no longer come into you.
2   Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
     Captive Jerusalem;
     Release yourself from the chains around your neck,
     Captive daughter of Zion.

3 For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” 4 For this is what the Lord God says: “My people went down to Egypt first to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without reason. 5 And now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually reviled all day long. 6 Therefore, My people shall know My name; therefore on that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

7   How delightful on the mountains 
     Are the feet of one who brings good news,
     Who announces peace 
     And brings good news of happiness,
     Who announces salvation,
     And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8   Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices,
     They shout joyfully together;
     For they will see with their own eyes 
     When the Lord restores Zion.
9   Be cheerful, shout joyfully together,
     You ruins of Jerusalem;
     For the Lord has comforted His people,
     He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy arm 
     In the sight of all the nations,
     So that all the ends of the earth may see 
     The salvation of our God.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
     Do not touch what is unclean;
     Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
     You who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 But you will not go out in a hurry,
     Nor will you go as fugitives;
     For the Lord will go before you,
     And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

13 Behold, My Servant will prosper,
     He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were appalled at you, My people,
     So His appearance was marred beyond that of a man,
     And His form beyond the sons of mankind.
15 So He will sprinkle many nations,
     Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
     For what they had not been told, they will see,
     And what they had not heard, they will understand.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Shake ourselves from the dust of sin.  Release ourselves from the chains around our neck and rise up.  This can only be done through the salvation found in Jesus.  Each of us has a decision to make, and for each of us, it is our personal choice.  

While slavery to sin requires and brings about eternal death which costs each person their own life, Jesus died in our place to pay the cost for all so that He could offer eternal life as a free gift to everyone.  When we choose salvation in the Lord, He circumcises our hearts by removing our sin, purifying us and redeeming us.  

In Christ, we are set free from the slavery of sin!  And then His desire is to guide and protect us.  This alone should cause us to rejoice and want to share the good news!

today's meditation (Is.51) Choosing Our Path

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 51:1-23) 

1   “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
     Who seek the Lord:
     Look to the rock from which you were cut,
     And to the quarry from which you were dug.
2   Look to Abraham your father
     And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
     When he was only one I called him,
     Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3   Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
     He will comfort all her ruins.
     And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
     And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
     Joy and gladness will be found in her,
     Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

4   “Pay attention to Me, My people,
     And listen to Me, My nation;
     For a law will go out from Me,
     And I will bring My justice as a light of the peoples.
5   My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
     And My arms will judge the peoples;
     The coastlands will wait for Me,
     And they will wait expectantly for My arm.
6   Raise your eyes to the sky,
     Then look to the earth beneath;
     For the sky will vanish like smoke,
     And the earth will wear out like a garment 
     And its inhabitants will die in the same way.
     But My salvation will be forever,
     And My righteousness will not fail.
7   Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
     A people in whose heart is My Law;
     Do not fear the taunting of people,
     Nor be terrified of their abuses.
8   For the moth will eat them like a garment;
     Yes, the moth will eat them like wool.
     But My righteousness will be forever,
     And My salvation to all generations.”

9   Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
     Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
     Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
     Who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
     The waters of the great deep;
     Who made the depths of the sea a pathway 
     For the redeemed to cross over?
11 And the redeemed of the Lord will return 
     And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
     And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
     They will obtain gladness and joy,
     And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 “I, I Myself, am He who comforts you.
     Who are you that you are afraid of mortal man,
     And of a son of man who is made like grass,
13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
     Who stretched out the heavens 
     And laid the foundations of the earth,
     That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
     As he makes ready to destroy?
     And where is the rage of the oppressor?

14 The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. 15 For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). 16 And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

17 Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!
     You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
     The chalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.
18 There is no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,
     Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.
19 These two things have happened to you;
     Who will mourn for you?
     The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
     How shall I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted,
     They lie helpless at the head of every street,
     Like an antelope in a net,
     Full of the wrath of the Lord,
     The rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore, listen to this, you afflicted,
     Who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 This is what your Lord, the Lord, your God 
     Who contends for His people says:
     “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering,
     The chalice of My anger;
     You will never drink it again.
23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
     Who have said to you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
     You have also made your back like the ground,
     And like the street for those who walk over it.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

It is very simple.  God's salvation lasts forever.  If we want to have eternal life, we need the Lord's salvation.  To know righteousness, is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.  And as a Christian, we are given the indwelling Holy Spirit who puts His law in our hearts.  He is the one who changes us from the inside out.

As Christ followers, we will be taunted and abused, but we are not to be afraid or terrified.  The Lord has redeemed us and fights on our behalf.  Just like God created a pathway through the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape the Egyptians, God provides the pathway for His redeemed through the troubles and the sorrows.

In this chapter, the Lord also prophesies about His second coming, when He will fight the battle at Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation, creating a pathway through the terrors for those becoming believers in those seven years.  Jesus will then set up the Millennial kingdom and fulfill Israel's covenants as promised.  It will be Garden of Eden-like, without troubles or sorrows.  

One can choose to be downtrodden by sin, becoming a path for others to walk over;  or we can choose to walk on and in the path that God provides, which leads to joy and eternal life.

today's meditation (Is.50) Following Our Perfect Example

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 50:1-11) 

1   This is what the Lord says:
     “Where is the certificate of divorce
     By which I have sent your mother away?
     Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you?
     Behold, you were sold for your wrongdoings,
     And for your wrongful acts your mother was sent away.
2   Why was there no one when I came?
     When I called, why was there no one to answer?
     Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem?
     Or do I have no power to rescue?
     Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke,
     I turn rivers into a wilderness;
     Their fish stink for lack of water,
     And die of thirst.
3   I clothe the heavens with blackness,
     And make sackcloth their covering.”

4   The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
     So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
     He awakens Me morning by morning,
     He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
5   The Lord God has opened My ear,
     And I was not disobedient,
     Nor did I turn back.
6   I gave My back to those who strike Me,
     And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
     I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
7   For the Lord God helps Me,
     Therefore, I am not disgraced;
     Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
     And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8   He who vindicates Me is near;
     Who will contend with Me?
     Let us stand up to each other.
     Who has a case against Me?
     Let him approach Me.
9   Behold, the Lord God helps Me;
     Who is he who condemns Me?
     Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;
     A moth will eat them.
10 Who is among you who fears the Lord,
     Who obeys the voice of His servant,
     Who walks in darkness and has no light?
     Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
     Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows,
     Walk in the light of your fire 
     And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze.
     This you will have from My hand:
     You will lie down in torment.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

In this chapter, we see how the Lord (Jesus) is our perfect example, as He speaks again about His first coming to earth in flesh.  In dying FOR sin, He is our example in that we need to die TO sin.  When we humbly ask for His forgiveness, He forgives and chooses to remember our sins no more.  And in Jesus' example of rising from death, when we put our faith in Him, we receive eternal life.

Willingly going to the cross to suffer and die for sins, He is our perfect example of how to remain obedient to God, looking to God for help.  We do not have to fear anyone or anything but find comfort in knowing that God is near and will fight for us.  To trust in the Lord is to rely on His help and guidance;  not trying to do things our way, but giving Him the control.  

Jesus is also our perfect example in life.  In fearing God, we will want to be obedient to His will, trusting that what He says is for our benefit.  We should trust in Him even for the right words to speak in order to lift up and encourage others.  And every morning, we should be listening to learn God's words so that we can continue growing and maturing, to know more and more what His will is for our lives.  

One can choose to walk in their own light that they create, which only leads to darkness and eternal death;  or one can choose to walk in the light of the Lord, which leads to hope and eternal life.

today's meditation (Is.49) Being Set Free

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 49:1-26) 

1   Listen to Me, you islands,
     And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
     The Lord called Me from the womb;
     From the body of My mother He named Me.
2   He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
     In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
     And He has also made Me a sharpened arrow,
     He has hidden Me in His quiver.
3   He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
     In whom I will show My glory.”
4   But I said, “I have labored in vain,
     I have spent My strength for nothing and futility;
     Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
     And My reward is with My God.”

5   And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
     To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him 
     (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
     And My God is My strength),
6   He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant 
     To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel;
     I will also make You a light of the nations
     So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7   This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
     Says to the despised One,
     To the One abhorred by the nation,
     To the Servant of rulers:
     “Kings will see and arise,
     Princes will also bow down,
     Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

8   This is what the Lord says:
     “At a favorable time I answered You,
     And on a day of salvation I helped You;
     And I will watch over You and make You a covenant of the people,
     To restore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;
9   Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go free,’
     To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
     They will feed along the roads,
     And their pasture will be on all bare heights.
10 They will not hunger or thirst,
     Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
     For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
     And He will guide them to springs of water.
11 I will make all My mountains a road,
     And My highways will be raised up.
12 Behold, these will come from afar;
     And behold, these will come from the north and from the west,
     And these from the land of Aswan.”
13 Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth!
     Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains!
     For the Lord has comforted His people 
     And will have compassion on His afflicted.

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
     And the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child 
     And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
     Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
     Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your builders hurry;
     Your destroyers and devastators 
     Will leave you.
18 Raise your eyes and look around;
     All of them gather together, they come to you.
     As I live,” declares the Lord,
     “You will certainly put them all on as jewelry and bind them on as a bride.
19 For your ruins and deserted places and your destroyed land—
     Now you will certainly be too cramped for the inhabitants,
     And those who swallowed you will be far away.
20 The children you lost will yet say in your ears,
     ‘The place is too cramped for me;
     Make room for me that I may live here.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
     ‘Who has fathered these for me,
     Since I have been bereaved of my children
     And cannot conceive, and I am an exile, and a wanderer?
     And who has raised these?
     Behold, I was left alone;
     Where are these from?’”

22 This is what the Lord God says:

     “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations 
     And set up My flag to the peoples;
     And they will bring your sons in their arms,
     And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your guardians,
     And their princesses your nurses.
     They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground 
     And lick the dust from your feet;
     And you will know that I am the Lord;
     Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

24 “Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
     Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

25 Indeed, this is what the Lord says:

     “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
     And the prey of a tyrant will be rescued;
     For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
     And I will save your sons.
26 I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh,
     And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
     And humanity will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior 
     And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

There is only one God, and God is one, a Trinity made up of three Persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  God chose to keep His name "Jesus" a mystery until He came in flesh the first time.  Since He is all-knowing, He has always known that He would have to pay the price for sin.  From prophesies and knowing the Lord personally, only those people with eyes to see will recognize Him.  

In this chapter, the Lord (Jesus) is speaking and referring to Himself as to when He would be born of a virgin.  Mary isn't any sort of deity.  She was a believer, but still just a woman in need of saving, who provided the human part of when Jesus came to earth in flesh.  This was so that He could take our place in death to pay the price for sin.  But in order to live a perfect life and rise again, Jesus had to also remain 100% God.

Jesus' mission was to restore Israel and to be a light to the gentiles.  His strength was spent on "nothing and futility."  As we are sinful - we are "nothing and futility" - until we accept His salvation!  He was despised at His first coming, but He will be worshiped at His second coming.  At the end of the Tribulation, He will come again to rid the earth of evil, and then set up the Millennial kingdom so that Israel's covenants will be fulfilled as He has promised.

The Lord has done great things, is doing great things, and will do great things - because of His promises and His great love - so we can KNOW that He is Lord.  And He is our Light.  Because of His work on the cross, when we accept His free gift of salvation, we are set free from sin and darkness.  In Him we find peace, hope and joy!