Psalm 51:11 "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."
I am reading a new book on my Kindle about Jesus. There are a lot of books about Jesus out there, and some I can just not seem to get into, but then there are the books that are written by folks that have a heart of worship, a heart so like mine.....well, these are the books that I can just fall into, almost as though I am writing the book myself. I see myself in every other line.....so it was this morning early, as I took a few moments to spend time learning more about my Savior. I say all this, and yet, it was not Jesus to whom my attention was drawn but to my God instead. As I was reading in the book, about the walk Jesus had on earth, about His life, and then about His death.....I was drawn into another realm where I seemed to sit in the presence of God as He told me what He had gone through while Jesus was on earth.
My Father told me His most agonizing moments when Jesus was being beaten, spit upon, cursed.....all those horrific things that my precious Savior suffered BEFORE He was hung on the cross.....this paled in comparison to the moment.....that heartbreaking moment as Jesus took on the sins of the world, those minutes as He hung there, sin draped over Him like a second skin.....and He was alone....totally alone..... nothing compared to those moments, because He could not look upon sin, because sin caused a breach between His Beloved Son and Himself, and God turned away.....those moments were heartbreaking to our God. But it was necessary, for the final sacrifice to be made, so death could be defeated, sickness and pain could be conquered.....and so sin would no longer be an unbreachible bridge between our God and ourselves. Jesus paid the price to restore man's relationship with God. But our God paid a price too..... Can you imagine giving up part of yourself, and that is what a child is....part of you....but giving this child, perfect in all aspects, no sin......no defilement.....completely without sin.....for a world of Christians that just decided that living in sin was easier, decidedly safer......no rules......no commitment.....no responsibility..... and you were going to give your child to die for these people......I am not sure I know a human that would, much less could, do this. But God did, and He suffered such agony when He was forced to turn from His precious Son.
Every blow was felt by God, every accusation cut deep as His Son, the Innocent One was making the way, doing what He was sent to do. It was necessary, sad to say, but necessary for the Christian to know what victory over sin is, what victory over death, over sickness, over heartache, over disappointment.....to know victory today, it took the suffering of our Lord Jesus then.....and our Father....our God.
As we are walking the path the Lord has set before us....the way that God, our Father, has made for us, His plan for our lives.....every hurt, every accusation, every disappointment and heartbreak.....they are felt by the Father's heart. He grieves when we cry....I believe He knows every tear I have shed in my life time....just think on this.....if the Lord knows every hair on your head by number, how many there are, how many there use to be, what has been lost.....then don't you think He would know, so very well, how many tears you have shed.....don't you think He would know every time that you wanted to just quit....give up.....but your love for Him, your passion for His presence, for His touch on your life......made you get back up and keep going, refusing to quit because the One who called you had never quit on you.
We will suffer agony in this life......our Lord Jesus suffered great agony......and our God, perhaps the greatest agony of all. Victory requires sacrifice.....sacrifice of our thoughts for His, sacrifice of our plans for His....and the ultimate giving up of our will, for His will for us. It truly is the agony of victory....but in victory agony turns sweet.....turns precious.......turns into eternal life.
Pats Pennings
11-12-13
