MEANS: confirm or support (something that has been questioned);
maintain (a custom or practice)
FROM: Middle English up and hold (hold is partly from Old Norse hald: hold, support, custody)
BIBLE VERSE: “Here is my servant,
whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I
delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.”
(Isaiah 42:1)
THOUGHTS: What do you ‘uphold’? Values? Rights? Freedoms? The flag?
Virtue? I notice that the original Norse hald
has the connotation of ‘custody’ as well as supporting. In that sense, when we
uphold something or someone, we are in custody, in charge, or a steward of that thing.
Our verse is from Isaiah where
God is talking about the one ‘I uphold…my chosen’. While in Isaiah this refers to
the Suffering Servant, it also could refer to each of us. Every living thing is
upheld by God’s love and chosen to act in the world. God has custody, charge,
stewardship of our lives. We do not have to stress, because God has chosen us
and loves us...no matter what!
PRAYER: Loving
Father, help me to trust that you uphold me in all events of my life. You are
there in things I think are ‘bad’ and those I count as ‘good’ or blessings. All
are yours and we are in your hand.
MEANS: an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game,
or other competition
FROM: Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French victorie, from Latin victoria
BIBLE VERSE: But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(I Corinthians 15:57)
THOUGHTS: I don’t
know about you, but I often think of victory more in terms of military might,
than in a playful game. For others, even the contest of a game can be a
struggle for ultimate ‘victory’. Currently there are men and women contesting to
‘win the victory’ and the prize of election.
In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul specifies that God
‘gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’. What is this a victory
from or over? In the verses before, Paul talks about our ultimate resurrection
when “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised…” (Echoes of the
trumpets in this passage from Handel’s Messiah
in my head!) He says that “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Verse 57 affirms
that we have victory over sin and death in Christ. Christ’s Resurrection has
‘won for us the victory’. There are in fact at least 34 verses in the Bible
telling of God’s work in bringing a victory for God’s people. As we enter the last couple of weeks before Easter, it is a reminder of the
price paid so that the Love of God could win such a victory.
PRAYER: Victorious
God, help me to remember that in You I have victory over all things that might
make me afraid. You are in charge and lead us to victory over the ultimate
enemy-death.
SCRAPBOOK PROMPTS:
You may want to list in your journal some of the things you
‘uphold’ as important.
Are there things that make you afraid? Write them or draw
them in your journal and then write VICTORY over them.
Consider the idea that you are upheld by God and
that gives you victory over all things.
