JILLIAN’S CHOICE

Hosea 11:8 (NIV), --How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel ?--

(By William G. Johnnson. This selection is excerpted from his 2007 Devotional Book, Jesus, A Heart Full Of Grace, p. 209. All capitals and bold letters are supplied. Some punctuations are changed to eliminate internet incompatibility)

When a massive wall of water shattered Jillian Searle-s idyllic vacation, she was forced to make a horrific choice no parent should ever have to face: which of her two young sons to save.
Jillian was near her hotel pool with her sons Lachie, 5, and Blake, 2, on the Thai resort island of Phuket when the tsunami of December 26, 2004, struck without warning. –I just heard a terrible roaring, a loud roaring sound, and I turned around and I just saw masses, masses of water coming for us,-- she later told a television reporter in Perth , Australia . –I straightway thought, How am I going to keep my two children alive?—
Realizing that she could not keep the three of them afloat, she was forced to choose which of her boys to hold on to and which one to let go. –I knew I had to let go of one of them, and I just thought I-d better let go of the one that-s the oldest,-- she said.
Amid the churning water Jillian noticed a young woman clinging to a post. She begged the woman to take care of 5-year-old Lachie. As she pried his hand from hers, he pleaded, --Don-t let go of me, Mummy.-- The raging currents wrenched them apart. She looked back at Lachie, who had not yet learned to swim, and thought that was probably the last time she would see him alive.
Meanwhile Jillian-s husband, Brad, watched the terrifying scenario play out from a hotel balcony. He tried to rush to assist, but the rising water had blocked the doors.
When the water subsided, he found Jillian and Blake, and the family began a frantic search for Lachie. –You have to find him, because I let go of him,-- Jillian told her husband. “I gave him to somebody else, and I let go of him … And there is no possible way I can live my life knowing that I took his hand off mine.—
The story had a happy ending. Two hours later the Searles found Lachie with a Thai policeman. He had survived by clinging to a hotel door.
There is Another who longs after His children with inexpressible LOVE. His heart breaks at the thought of separation – separation that not He, but we, choose.
Don-t break His heart today.

Let-s pray: Eternal Father, You know our hearts and our entire beings more than we will ever know ourselves. Oftentimes, we deceive ourselves that everything is all right in our world and we go about, as if we don't need You and Your grace. Please SHAKE us from our stupor and INTERVENE on our behalf to do whatever it takes to separate us from our SINS, from our indifference to Your call to us to become RIGHTEOUS with Your help, and from our proud, selfish attitude. Help us to be forever grateful of Your eternal Love for us that keeps HOLDING ON to us in spite of our stubbornness. Please help us to CHOOSE never to be separated from You for always. Help us to choose Your righteousness, to choose to do right and obey Your will for us, over worldly pleasures, riches, power, position, worldly recognition and anything that will separate us from You. We pray for a HUMBLE HEART and a CONTRITE SPIRIT that we may not sin against You, and so we may see clearly Your plan for us to be a blessing to others. Please change us daily, inside and out, to what You want us to be - a true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in words but in deeds - TO BE MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM EACH DAY. Help us to put into daily practice Your basic TRUTH: From everyone who has been given much, mu ch will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48, NIV). Help us to SHARE Your blessings with Your suffering children, the poor, the destitute, the precious souls not yet reached by Your gospel of grace, and our needy AUP working students, who came from desperately poor families, and with our help, will someday alleviate their hard life. We humbly ask these things in the precious name of Your Eternal Son, to whom be glory, praise and honor forever. Amen

____________ _________ _________ ___

A STRONG START ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!

By Jose P. Orbe, Jr., joeorbe@adventist- pic.org

(From the homily delivered at PIC, June 15, 2007)

We all have come to church this day with one thing in common. Each of us—teacher, student, or even a parent, will START this month of June.

For freshmen, the month of June may mean new relationships: friends, roommates, etc.

Even for returning students, this month may mean a fresh start beginning with resolutions like, "I'll do it better this time." Among the optimistic parents, this month ushers hope when they wish that their students will do better this time. This church, PIC, is also off for a new start this month.

Books and records have to be closed to open new ones. But one thing that can't be separated from START is END. These two reckoning points are inseparable. Only God has been known to have no beginning and no end. From a human standpoint, everything that has beginnings must have endings.

My thoughts race. Is it possible to start right and end wrong? Or to start wrong and end right? Does it necessarily follow that when you start right, you would end right? Or when you start wrong you will end up wrong.

Have there been occasions in your life when you asked, "What happened, have I not started strong?" "Why did I end up this wretched way?" For lovers, "Where did I go wrong, what did I do to make her/him change mind?" What is even alarming is that even the Holy Book recorded men and women who "apparently" started right but ended wrong (cite examples).

Certainly, all starters want to end right. And the Scriptures have starting guides in order for men and women to finish right? Is it okay to do whatever one wishes to do after all the end justifies the mean? Do the Scriptures warrant this? What does the Bible have to offer? Are there indicators for a surefire great finish?

There are four (4) critical points we need to consider if we are to start and remain right with God. And all these four are anchored on the following biblical truths:
1. Only Jesus truly desires our happiness, and He is committed to perform or complete (finish) the good work He has started in us (Philippians 1.6).
2. Only by looking to Jesus can we start, endure, and finish the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12.1,2).

Often times it’s the look that makes the difference between failure and success. It’s not just how you would start this school year, it’s not how you will resolve to teach your students, and it’s not the ways you would apply to get your children achieve better in school, it’s not what you invest in a relationship or undertaking, a strong start isn’t enough to win the race.

Put on your thinking caps and consider this carefully. My finishing the race—my semester, my relationship, my undertaking, my work, my parenting, my job, etc… will be significantly dependent on my capability to keep my focus on Jesus. It’s in the “look unto Jesus” that will maintain my balance. Remember Peter who walked on the sea (relate the short story).

What does it mean to keep our eyes (our focus) on Jesus?

Study with me in Hebrews 12. There are four (4) critical points to consider.

To look unto Jesus means…
1. Recount the experiences of those of have completed the race ahead of us.
2. Resist the extraneous offers of this sinful world.
3. Run with endurance the race of life.
4. Reflect on the encouragements in the life of Jesus.

A prolific Christian writer once penned these words—
If you want to be distressed—look within
If you want to be defeated—look back
If you want to be distracted—look around
If you want to be dismayed—look ahead
If you want to be delivered—LOOK UP!

Think carefully. It’s not the strong start that will bring us to the finish line; it’s how we can keep our balance, our focus on Jesus. Remember, it’s Jesus who will complete the work He has begun. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. He is the Alpha & Omega. Those who remain in Him shall make it to the finish line and have eternal life (1John 2.24, 25).

To wait can be rewarding

Thought: Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling when you feel like stripping your gears.

Biblical text: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

An old train on a branch line was puffing and creaking slowly through the countryside when suddenly it lurched to a stop. The only passenger in the three-car train rose quickly to his feet and hurried to find the conductor. "Why have we stopped?" he demanded. "I'm a salesman and i have an appointment in less than an hour in the next town. Surely this old train can make it through the pasture!"

The conductor smiled, "Nothing to worry about, sir. Just a cow on the tracks. Gotta wait her out." The salesman returned to his seat, fuming and fidgeting until the train began to creep forward again about ten minutes later. It chugged along for a mile or two and then ground to a halt once again.

This time the conductor found the salesman. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll be on our way shortly. It's just a temporary delay." The exasperated salesman asked, "What now? Did we catch up to the cow again?"

What the salesman didn't know was that the schedule for this particular train had been made so as to allow for temporary delays and cows on the track! The salesman made his appointment, but he was worn to a frazzle by his own frustration and concern.Allow for delays.

You'll enjoy life's journey more.

Use time wisely

Thought: The greatest possession you have is the 24 hours directly in front of you.

Biblical text: "I thought in my heart, 'God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.'" (Ecclesiastes 3:17 NIV)

Dr. C C Albertson once wrote this about the use of time: "It might be wise for us to take a little inventory of our resources as to time and review our habits of using it. There are 168 hours in each week. Fifty-six of these we spend in sleep. Of the remaining 112 hours, we devote 40 to labor. This leaves 64 hours, of which let us assign 12 hours for our daily meals...

"We have left 52 hours, net, of conscious active life to devote to any purpose to which we are inclined."

Is it too much to say that God requires a tithe of this free time? One tenth of 52 hours is 5.2 hours. How much of this tithe of time do we devote to strictly religious uses?"

If one allowed an hour for church and an hour for a Bible study or prayer meeting each week, that person would still have 192 minutes a week - enough for nearly a half hour each day in prayer and Bible reading. Such a person would still have more than 45 hours a week for life's chores and personal fun!

The old excuse, "I have too little time," doesn't fly. What is more likely the case is this: too little planning of the time we have!

God provides...

'Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme, will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.'-The Ministry of Healing, p. 481 (1905)

When communication isn't the answer...

He who thinks by the inch and talks by the yard deserves to be kicked by the foot.

Biblical text: A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. (Proverbs 18:6 NIV).

What must surely be one of the most frustrating conversations in history was reported in Theatre Arts magazine. A subscriber, desiring to report on a particular upcoming event in his community, dialled "Information" to get the magazine's telephone number.

The operator drawled, "Sorry, but there is nobody listed by the name of 'Theodore Arts.'"

The subscriber insisted: "It's not a person; it's a publication. I want Theatre Arts."The operator responded, this time a little louder. "I told you, we have no listing for Theodore Arts in this city. Perhaps he lives in another city."

By now the subscriber was thoroughly peeved. "Confound it, the word is Theatre: T-H-E-A-T-R-E!"

The operator came back with certainty in her voice, "That's not the way to spell Theodore."

Sometimes there's just no communicating with someone who refuses to hear you, who seems unwilling to understand your point of view, or who simply "doesn't get" what you are trying to say. Rather than give that person a real kick, however, better to hang up and try dialling someone who can hear you and does understand!

Wisdom comes often from listening!

Learn from others' mistakes rather than making them all yourself.

Biblical text: The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15 NIV).

In his autobiography, Lee Iacocca gives others an opportunity to learn from a mistake he once made. In 1956, Ford emphasised auto safety rather than performance and horsepower. The company introduced crash padding for dashboards and sent out a film to explain how much safer the new dashboards were. The narrator on the film claimed the padding was so thick a person could drop an egg on it from a two storey building and it would bounce right off without breaking. As a district assistant sales manager for Ford, Iacocca decided he'd demonstrate this fact!

With 1,100 salesmen watching him, he climbed a high ladder and proceeded to drop an egg on a strip of the dash padding he had placed on the floor of the stage. The egg missed the padding and splattered on the floor. A second egg bounced off his assistant's shoulder. Eggs three and four landed on target, but broke on impact. Finally, with the fifth egg, he got the desired result. Iacocca writes, "I learned two lessons that day. First, never use eggs at a sales rally. And second, never go before our customers without rehearsing what you want to say - as well as what you're going to do - to help sell your product."

Good advice!

Running down others

Text: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29 NIV).

Thought: Two things are hard on the heart - running upstairs and running down people.
A faculty member at a university once became very distraught over the weaknesses of a particular administrator with whom he had a negative relationship. He allowed himself to think about the man constantly. Hateful, negative thoughts so preoccupied him that it affected the quality of his relationships with his family, his church, and his colleagues. He finally concluded that he needed to leave and accept a teaching appointment elsewhere.

A friend asked him, "Wouldn't you really prefer to teach at this university, if the man were not here?" "Of course," the man responded, "but as long as he is here, then my staying is too disruptive to everything in life. I have to go."

The friend then asked, "Why have you made this administrator the centre of your life?" As much as the man tried to deny the truth of this, he finally had to admit that he had allowed one individual and his weaknesses to distort his entire view of life. Still, it was not the administrator's doing. It was his own. From that day forward, he focussed on his students and his teaching... and he found new joy in his "old job."

When you concentrate on running down others usually the only one that gets run down is you.

Prayer: Lord, may I never cease to remember who You are, and thank You for Your mighty works and enduring love-Amen.

Prayer for help

Bible text: Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am." Isaiah 58:9

Thought: When you think there is no one to turn to, God is waiting.

Almighty God, You said through the prophet Isaiah that when I call, You will answer, and while I am speaking, You would hear. I thank You that prayer begins with You. It originates in Your heart, sweeps into my heart, and gives me the boldness to ask for what You desire to give.

In my communion with You, Lord may the desires of my heart be honed by Your greater desires for me. Then, Lord, grant me the desires of my heart. And may my human understanding be surpassed by Your gift of knowledge, my inadequate judgment with Your wisdom, and my limited expectations with Your vision.

May this day be one continuous conversation with You. I ask this not just for my own peace and security, but also for my responsibility to loved ones and friends around me. The margin of human error is an ever-present concern. So I yield my mind, heart, will, and imagination to be channels for the flow of Your divine guidance. Without Your help I will hit wide of the mark. But with Your power, I cannot fail.

Soul-sized Issues

Bible text: Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Hebrews 10:22
Thought: Like cold water to a parched throat so is peace to a weary soul.

Prayer:Sovereign Father, as I begun this new day filled with responsibilities and soul sized issues; I am irresistibly drawn into Your presence by the magnetism of Your love and my need for your guidance. I come to You at Your invitation; in the quiet of intimate communion with You, the tightly wound springs of pressure and stress are released and a profound inner peace fills my heart and mind.

I hear again the impelling cadences of the drumbeat of Your Spirit calling me to press on in the battle for truth, righteousness, and justice. My mind snaps to full attention, and my heart salutes You as Sovereign Lord. You have given me a mind capable of receiving Your mind, an imagination able to envision Your plan and purpose for me, and a will ready to do Your will.

Help me to remember that no problem is too small to escape Your concern and no perplexity is too great to resist Your solutions. I know You will go before me to show me the way, behind me to press me forward, beside me to give me courage, above me to protect me, and within me to give me wisdom and discernment.
Lead on, oh King Eternal…in Your all-powerful name.

Majestic and powerful is God

Bible text: O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth . . . . What is man that You are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour. You have made him to have dominion over the work of Your hands.Psalm 8:1,4-6

Thought: Kneel before Jesus and you can stand before anyone

Prayer:Gracious God, ultimate Sovereign of our Nation and Lord of our lives, I am stunned again by Your majesty and the magnitude of the delegated dominion You have entrusted to me. I respond with awe and wonder and begin this day with renewed commitment to serve You.

In a culture that often denies Your sovereignty and worships at the throne of the perpendicular pronoun, help me to exemplify the greatness of servanthood. You have given me a life full of opportunities to serve and enabled me to live at full potential for Your glory. I humbler myself before You and acknowledge that I could not breathe a breath, think a thought, make sound decisions, or press on to excellence without Your power. You alone are the One I seek to please. I have been blessed to be a blessing. And so I greet this day with, "Life’s a privilege!" intentionally and "How may I serve?" incisiveness. Grant me grave and courage to give myself away to You and to others with whom I work this day.

Strength for today

Bible text: You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Psalm 31:3

Thought: Walk boldly and wisely....There is a hand above that will help you on.
- Philip James Bailey

Prayer: Almighty God, You have promised strength for the work of this day, power to handle the pressures, light for the way, patience in problems, help from above, unfading courage, and undying love. In the stresses and strains of living, often I sense my wells have run dry. Life has a way of de-powering me, depleting my resiliency, and draining my patience. People can get me down and perplexities stir me up.

Lord, I pray for a fresh flow of Your strength-strength to think clearly, serve creatively, and endure consistently; strength to fill up diminished human resources; silent strength that flows from Your limitless source, quietly filling them with artesian power.

You never ask me to do more than You will provide the strength to accomplish. So make me a riverbed for the flow of Your creative Spirit. Fill this day with serendipities, unexpected surprises of Your grace. Be Lord of every conversation, the unseen guest at every meeting and the guide of every decision. In the name of Him who is the way, the truth and the life.

Overcoming Pride

Bible text: God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14

Thought: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I try to grasp the glory for myself. It’s so easy to take pride in my accomplishments and what I’ve accumulated in my self-made kingdom of things. Help me to not miss the real purpose of life: to know You and emulate Your love, justice, and righteousness. Help me turn from all my lesser goals of life and focus on Your ultimate calling.

I commit this day to seeking that, which delights You. I want to give You the glory for all I have and am, and for the opportunities to serve You by being a servant to others and caring for what You have entrusted to me.

Make me an example of what it truly means to live life to Your glory and honour. Help me to point to You as the source of all that You have provided and all that You have enabled me to accomplish.

To You be the glory!

Created by God

Bible text: You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8

Thought: Don't be content with being average. Average is a close to the bottom as it is to the top. - Unknown

Prayer: Holy Father, You created me for Yourself and I realise my heart will remain restless until it rests in You. I confess my ambivalence. I want You to be Lord of my life, and yet sometimes I sense reservation within me. I want Your direction in my life, but at times I feel troubled about losing my own control. I need Your love and yet fear the implications of loving others as You have loved me. But there are times when I am reluctant to ask You to begin a vital spiritual awakening in my own heart.

Yet I am willing to be made willing. Help me to see what my life could be if I loved You with all my heart and removed the self-erected obstacles to trusting You completely. I want to open my mind to think magnificently with wisdom of Your Spirit, commit my will to seek the guidance of Your spirit, and face the challenges of this day with the power of Your Spirit.

More Than Conqueror

Thought: "Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." - Napolean Hill

Bible text: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
Paul says that as believers in Jesus we are more than conquerors. A conqueror is a winner. He or she has beat out the opposition and come out on top. So, how can one who is on top be more on top? Or, how can a winner be more than a winner?

An old preacher explained it to me this way:

Two boxers agree to a big fight against a tough opponent with a million dollar prize going to the winner. The fight is hard fought going many rounds with each boxer giving it all he has. Eyes are swollen shut. Blood is flowing freely. Punches are landed on the face and body. Finally the fight comes to an end when one boxer knocks out the other. The referee comes in lifts the hand of the boxer left standing and announces the new champ. The promoter of the fight congratulates the winner and hands him a check for the million-dollar prize.

Reaping the Rewards

The boxer retires to his dressing room, gets cleaned up and heads home. When he arrives his wife meets him at the door. She kisses him and congratulates him on a hard-fought fight. He smiles and hands her the million-dollar check. He is a conqueror, but she is more than a conqueror. She gets the spoils of his fight. She gets the benefit of his hard work. She reaps the fruit of the work he sowed.

Jesus has done all the hard work for salvation for us. He lived the perfect life. He resisted the devil’s temptations. He willingly sacrificed His life. He was resurrected and lives forever with the Father in heaven. He is a conqueror.

Jesus gives us the check. We get the spoils. We are more than conquerors. Now that’s a fight we can’t lose. That’s good news!

By Chad McComas. Copyright © 2006 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®

me!

Houdini Christians

Bible text: “The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet” (James 4:10)

Thought: “Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.” - Anonymous

Harry Houdini was perhaps the greatest escape artist this world has ever known. His name still lives on the lips of world renowned escape artists, and his enigmatic persona is still influential to professional magicians everywhere.

Houdini perfected the skill of physical escape from seemingly impossible devices and situations; all while audiences looked on with breathless anticipation. He dazzled the masses with escapes designed to push the boundaries of physical human ability.

Whether he was being placed upside down in a vat of water, or he was hoisted by his feet with a crane while bound in a straight jacket, Houdini never failed to satisfy. One of his escapes even involved his body being placed in a giant paper bag, from which he emerged without ripping the paper.

Escape in the physical realm can often be accomplished through practice, knowledge, and physical flexibility, but in the spiritual realm it’s not so simple. There are people in this life who sincerely desire to follow God, but they have disillusioned themselves into believing that they, like Houdini who escaped from physical chains, can escape the chains of sin through their own effort.

Spiritual Houdinis

They say things like, “I’ve got to do better,” or “I’ve got to try harder,” or “From now on I promise that I ...” The belief is that if they try hard enough, they will somehow escape the clutches of sin that have bound them for so long. These exercises in spiritual “escapism” are emotionally, spiritually, and often physically exhausting because one of two possible scenarios can occur.

1. They fail miserably to make the necessary changes and get discouraged by their weakness.

2. They actually succeed in a behavioral change and begin to believe that their promises are valid, even though an inner change has not taken place.

The Scriptures tell us that escaping from our sinful selves is virtually impossible if we intend to accomplish it on our own. In Jeremiah we are told that it is no more possible for us to escape this condition, than it is for a leopard to escape the spots that punctuate his fur. Our sinful condition is not just something that we do, it’s who we are, and there has to be a better way. There is!

“The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet” (James 4:10).

The submission of our entire lives to the Divine Creator is the only escape from our dreadful situation, and it involves more than behavior manipulation. Only God can re-create us, and when we have allowed this to happen, escape will come from the inside out.

Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission from e-gracenotes.org

Are You Using Your Today Well?

Thought: The only preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today.

Biblical text: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

A comic strip created by Charles Schulz addresses the need for each of us to make the most of the immediate present in our lives:

Charlie Brown is seen at bat. STRIKE THREE. He has struck out again and slumps down on the players' bench. He says, "Rats! I'll never be a big-league player. I just don't have it! All my life I've dreamed of playing in the big leagues, but I know I'll never make it.

"Lucy turns to console him. "Charlie Brown," she says, "You're thinking too far ahead. What you need to do is set yourself more immediate goals."

"Yes. Start with this next inning when you go out to pitch. See if you can walk out to the mound without falling down."

The first step toward walking into any future is the step that you take today. Make it a forward, positive, springy and light-hearted, energetic, well-aimed, purposeful step.

The steps you take today become the well-worn path of tomorrow.

Another Man's Crime

Thought: "When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship" - Joseph Campbell

Bible text: “But the fact is, it was our pains he carried--our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him--our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Calvin Willis stepped out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, his arms raised in victory. Willis had served 22 years—half his lifetime—behind prison bars for another man’s brutal crime. Post-conviction DNA testing in 2003 excluded Willis as the perpetrator of a 1981 rape for which he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Despite a solid alibi and evidence that pointed toward another individual, witnesses’ accounts and a match between Willis’ blood type and fluids found at the scene persuaded a jury that Willis was guilty. Only after technological advances enabled further testing of the decades-old DNA was Willis exonerated.

It is unthinkable that Willis, or any other human being, would purposely accept the punishment for another’s crime. However, fully understanding the path His conviction would lead Him, Jesus suffered willingly for crimes he had no part in—the sins of countless generations to come. He took the wrongs of the beings He loved so much and made the crimes His own, accepting not only the disfiguring stigma of the sins themselves, but also the separation from God that was an inherent part of the process.

Healing Power

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 foretells the story of His great sacrifice. “But the fact is, it was our pains he carried--our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him--our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Christ knew we were imperfect. He could see each and every sin humans would commit throughout the centuries. He knew many would turn their back and refuse His sacrifice. And yet, we are told, like a lamb about to be sacrificed, Jesus lay down His life in an effort to save even one person who might choose life over sin and Christ over chaos (Isaiah 53:7).

While it is only natural for a human to seek justice over a wrongful conviction, Christ knew His acceptance of our sins would have wonderful eternal ramifications for those who would choose Him. Isaiah 53:12 states, “Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly--the best of everything, the highest honors--Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep.” For the cost of His suffering, we are invited to spend eternity with Him in a place created especially for us.

By Lauren Schwarz. Copyright © 2006 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE ®.

Soul sized issues

Bible text: Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Hebrews 10:22

Thought: Like cold water to a parched throat so is peace to a weary soul.

Prayer:Sovereign Father, as I begun this new day filled with responsibilities and soul sized issues; I am irresistibly drawn into Your presence by the magnetism of Your love and my need for your guidance. I come to You at Your invitation; in the quiet of intimate communion with You, the tightly wound springs of pressure and stress are released and a profound inner peace fills my heart and mind.

I hear again the impelling cadences of the drumbeat of Your Spirit calling me to press on in the battle for truth, righteousness, and justice. My mind snaps to full attention, and my heart salutes You as Sovereign Lord. You have given me a mind capable of receiving Your mind, an imagination able to envision Your plan and purpose for me, and a will ready to do Your will.

Help me to remember that no problem is too small to escape Your concern and no perplexity is too great to resist Your solutions. I know You will go before me to show me the way, behind me to press me forward, beside me to give me courage, above me to protect me, and within me to give me wisdom and discernment.

Lead on, oh King Eternal…in Your all-powerful name.