HAPPY THURSDAY!
Today’s scriptures are about the sacrifice of Christ. We’re coming closer to the Lenten season, where we celebrate the sacrifice of the one and only Lamb of God. I hope most of you saw the movie The Passion of Christ, which gives a visual of what we read in the bible, about Jesus’ crucifixion. If you don’t have the movie, I strongly recommend you get it. Every time I’ve watched it, I was left speechless, sullen, and shocked, yet grateful, humbled, thankful, and filled with the Holy Ghost, because I realized that He endured all of that for me. When God sacrificed the one and only blemish free man, who also happened to be His Son, He placed the sin of all mankind on that Cross. He had us in mind when He made that decision, and I can’t help but praise His Holy Name! Oh what a friend we have in Jesus—He gave His life for me.
Jesus laid down His life, and took it up again, so that we would never have to worry about death again. He paid a great price so that we could be free to be who we were created to be, yet still choose Him. We’re blessed to be able to go to God day or night in prayer, in the Name of Jesus. We can always be in the presence of the Lord, without the need to find a “holy” place, nor a temple or High Priest to make a sacrifice or pray for us. The Old Testament gives us an account of just how difficult it was to receive forgiveness or let alone talk to God. The book of Leviticus goes through all of the different types of sacrifice rituals, and the reasons for certain ones. After reading a portion of that book, I am more grateful to have been born in the times that I am in. I never want to think about what I would do without my Savior, Brother, King, and most importantly friend. He’s the best and truest friend we could ever have, and all He asks of us in return is to Love our Heavenly Father and to love each other. It’s written: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. (John 15:12-14 NIV)
I came across this as I was preparing to write today’s devotional: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Here’s another one of those verses that makes you shout Hallelujah, because we no longer have to worry about ever being separated from God again. Do you understand how major that is? Too many of us call ourselves children of God, and can’t grasp that concept. We no longer have to do what the world is doing, or love like the world loves, because we’re one with Christ Jesus. The day that we accepted Him was the day that we were redeemed, and given permanent residency in the Kingdom of God. The best part of this is that we don’t have to wait until we die to live in the Kingdom, because we’re now of the Spirit.
The one thing life in the flesh will bring us is refinement, which includes tests and trials, but nothing more than we could bear. To suffer with Christ is a privilege and an honor, because through our suffering, we know that God is making us better. We can always question Christ’s suffering, and His brutal murder, but the only answer we can come up with is that it was in the will of God, only to uplift the rest of mankind. God sacrificed one, to save billions upon trillions of others. That’s all we really need to know, and all other questions will be answered as God sees fit, most of which when we reach Heaven. If Jesus completed God’s will without complaining, and with a spirit of thanksgiving, then why can’t we? We aren’t going through anywhere near what He had to endure, and the fact is that He never deserved it, however, most of the things we suffer from, is directly from a choice that we made. I implore you to take on a heart of gratitude, and drop the constant complaining, things could always be worst.
Life is just that—life, we’re going to have our ups and downs; that’s just the way life goes. At the same time, we can choose to rejoice in everything that life brings our way, and keep our peace, or we can choose to complain every time we hit a bump in the road. I don’t know about you, but I choose to rejoice, because Jesus has already taken care of the hard stuff, everything I’m facing is light in comparison. I have to always remember that suffering with Christ is a blessing, that some will never get to experience. Let’s hope that that is not you, so if you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord, please take a moment and take the God Quiz right now! If you need someone to pray with, never hesitate to contact me. My favorite verse today is: Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455610&dtype=Scripture
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I love you!
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