JESUS UNDERSTANDS

He was despised and rejected ---

a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our  backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care.

- Isaiah 53:3 (NLT)

Maybe this sounds like the story of your life or at least the story of your current situation. Think no one understands? Think no one cares?

Jesus Christ: the Son of God can relate. This verse strikes me in resemblance to the "loner" type. The lonesome person no one wants to be seen with. Imagine: the only man who ever walked the earth and never sinned: despised, rejected. In other words, Jesus was hated; the social outcast, you might say. All He ever did was save, forgive, heal, and deliver people, yet He was rejected by mankind.

What if you lived during the time the Son of God walked the earth? Maybe you would have avoided him like the plague. Maybe would have felt bad for Him and befriended Him, but only in secret: never to tell your family and friends. Maybe you would have admired Him from a distance, never bold enough to follow Him. Or maybe ---- just maybe you would have dared to believe, to take up your cross and follow Him. Maybe you would have dared to leave behind everything you knew (or thought you knew!) to take this journey with the Son of the Living God; to soak in the beautiful benefits of His presence (peace, joy unspeakable, comfort, healing, freedom); to sit at His feet and drink from the Living Water (the well that never runs dry!); to wash His feet with your tears & wipe them with your hair in repentance for your sins.

I posed this question at first, in a "what if" scenario, to allow your mind to ponder, in wonder what you would have done if you had the blessed opportunity to meet Jesus in person during His earthly life. However, this is very applicable for you now, today. Do you refuse to serve Jesus and give Him your whole heart in fear of what others might think? Or perhaps because you aren't willing to let Jesus free you from your bondage to sin? Or do you serve Jesus quietly  -- fearing what your family and friends might think? Or do you from time to time ponder the possibility of following Jesus, never bold enough to commit? Or do you live boldly for the Lord Jesus, beaming as a shining, brilliant light for Him? Following your loving Savior, falling more deeply in love with Him each day? Do you courageously live your life according to God's Word (1 John 5:3, Psalm 119:9)?

DO YOU DARE TO BELIEVE IN JESUS, who remains the same: yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6)? He still freely forgives all who repent & turn to Him (Titus 2:11-12, Ezekiel 33:11, Acts 2:38, Isaiah 55:6-7, Isaiah 1:18, 1 Timothy 2:8, Romans 10:9 & 13, 2 Peter 3:9, Isaiah 30:18), heals every sickness and every disease, because He is moved with compassion for the sick (Matt. 4:23), makes the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf talk, the mute hear, delivers all who are oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).

I challenge you today to let nothing stand in your way of serving Jesus with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart". I challenge you to move as far away from the torment of fiery hell as possible by moving as close to Jesus as you can possibly get. 1 John 5:3 says, "In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome". I can assure you that if you fall in love with God continually and make it your focus to please Him, His commands absolutely are not burdensome. He helps us keep them (1 Corinthians 10:13). Besides, what is easier? To live this life any way you want and burn in hell forever? Or to live this life according to God's Word and live in eternal bliss with Jesus in Heaven forever?

Would you dare to believe? Would you dare to live your life for Jesus out loud, unashamed (Romans 1:16)? Would you dare to believe in His willingness, eagerness, and desire to perform miracles and healing just as He did then? Would you believe on Him to heal your broken heart, your broken life? Would you be courageous enough to have that child like faith He yearns for you to have (Matthew 18:3)? I challenge you to read/re-read Isaiah 53 & let Him minister to you. Let these words about Jesus resonate within your soul, as you read about what He did to save you and heal you.

Prayer: 

Father, in the name of Jesus, let every person who reads this be changed. Impress upon them strongly to live the Gospel and speak your truth with GREAT BOLDNESS, UNASHAMED. Let them feel the awe, wonder, amazement, majesty of Your Presence, Jesus. Let us shamelessly be "doers of Your Word" & not hearers only, because we know according to James 1:22, we are fooling ourselves if we listen to Your Word & do not do what it says. Let us proudly serve you, because you had no shame in taking on the full weight of all our sins & sicknesses, so that we may be free from sin, sickness & every evil (Psalm 91) in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Father, for your infinite love, mercy, and grace. Thank You for all that You are: Savior, Healer, Provider, Prince of Peace, and so much more. 

In Jesus Name,

Amen

In God's Infinite Compassion,

Rachel Marie