This morning something amazing happened. Ready? Here it is:
Anyway. That wasn't what I wanted to talk about today.
I was just reading Bible Gateway's verse of the day. Here it is in the NLT (New Living Translation)
So yes, I believe Y'shua's eyes snapped and twinkled. I believe he loved to joke and to also express affection. But. There was a date looming. A date with a cross. A betrayal by a disciple who should have been a friend. The abandonment of all his followers out of fear for their own hides.
And you know according to these two verses in Isaiah 53, it was OUR weakness he carried. OUR sorrows that burdened him. There was a point when Jesus stood on one of the mountains surrounding Jerusalem and he lamented... (Mt 23:37)
And somehow, when we think of Jesus (those of us who do not know him personally) we think of someone who had a lot of bad luck....and maybe was responsible for his own death. But read again:
Isa. 53:4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
On the nights years ago when I lay night after sleepless night; shedding tear after burning tear; holding lit cigarettes to the skin of my arms until they were charred. IT WAS THOSE SORROWS, those moments when I felt completely alone: He was there! Bearing that pain with me and removing its power to kill me and he brought it with him to the cross and put an end to it.
Y'shua was not the kind of person who tried to cheer up a mourning friend by goofing around--he hurt with the things that hurt us, his friends. And he never ever makes light of your sadness. He died so that these things no longer have the power to tear you up inside because once you hand those things to him, he takes away their ability to destroy you.
I still have an ache when I look back on my sad youth but it is not the agony that it once was. Rather I think "Ahhh Lord Jesus, why didn't I give you my broken heart way back then? I could have saved myself so much grief."
This Easter season, do some thinking on the way Jesus holds your sorrows for you. Consider maybe giving them to him completely; laying them at the cross and thanking him for removing the power of that sadness and its ability to wreck your heart completely.
I slept until 8:00 AM (and I went to bed at 6:00ish PM)
I haven't done that for many YEARS! I'm usually up by 4:00 or 5:00 AM every morning, weekends included. Last night was my first night off of steroids (and steroids cause insomnia) and I drank some herbal "sleep tea"...thus, I slept like a rock. (with the exception of some stomach cramps early in the night. Don't know what that was about). Pain has just been wiping me out. And yesterday I had to take the bus to NY to get my medi-port flushed and labs drawn. That was the first day I've been out for more than an hour or so since this last flare started.Anyway. That wasn't what I wanted to talk about today.
I was just reading Bible Gateway's verse of the day. Here it is in the NLT (New Living Translation)
I believe that Y'shua ("Jesus" in Hebrew) was a man of extreme emotions. King David was "a man after God's own heart" and if there was ever a bipolar saint, David is IT. We tend to think of Jesus as some milquetoast who was quiet and reserved. Removed. But that is not the picture that Scripture gives us of him. I believe that Jesus was a man of ready laughter. And the disciples too, "partied" while they had the "bridegroom" with them. This is what Jesus told the Pharisees who criticized them for eating and drinking, instead of fasting and mourning. Jesus basically told them, "They will rejoice when they have me with them and when I'm gone they will fast and mourn."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. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! Isa 53:3-4
So yes, I believe Y'shua's eyes snapped and twinkled. I believe he loved to joke and to also express affection. But. There was a date looming. A date with a cross. A betrayal by a disciple who should have been a friend. The abandonment of all his followers out of fear for their own hides.
And you know according to these two verses in Isaiah 53, it was OUR weakness he carried. OUR sorrows that burdened him. There was a point when Jesus stood on one of the mountains surrounding Jerusalem and he lamented... (Mt 23:37)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"He not only mourned for our sins....He mourned for our sorrows. That person you adored who met an untimely death. The series of bad choices you made that wrecked your life. The man or woman you loved who did not love you back. The wayward child who is now in prison for his /her crimes...these are all pains to him because they are YOUR pain.
And somehow, when we think of Jesus (those of us who do not know him personally) we think of someone who had a lot of bad luck....and maybe was responsible for his own death. But read again:
Isa. 53:4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
On the nights years ago when I lay night after sleepless night; shedding tear after burning tear; holding lit cigarettes to the skin of my arms until they were charred. IT WAS THOSE SORROWS, those moments when I felt completely alone: He was there! Bearing that pain with me and removing its power to kill me and he brought it with him to the cross and put an end to it.
Y'shua was not the kind of person who tried to cheer up a mourning friend by goofing around--he hurt with the things that hurt us, his friends. And he never ever makes light of your sadness. He died so that these things no longer have the power to tear you up inside because once you hand those things to him, he takes away their ability to destroy you.
I still have an ache when I look back on my sad youth but it is not the agony that it once was. Rather I think "Ahhh Lord Jesus, why didn't I give you my broken heart way back then? I could have saved myself so much grief."
This Easter season, do some thinking on the way Jesus holds your sorrows for you. Consider maybe giving them to him completely; laying them at the cross and thanking him for removing the power of that sadness and its ability to wreck your heart completely.
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