Pierced For Our Transgressions

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:45(NIV)

Jesus encumbered himself with our ill manners, our ailments, our grief, burdens. We didn’t understand what God did. We might have thought the Father was punishing His Son. People could have thought God cruel for what He put Jesus through. Is this the way God would reward someone for doing His work? Why did we have to lose the Teacher?

But, God had a plan. He sent His Son to Earth so we would know God and follow His ways. Jesus healed and taught of His Father’s love. Our sins cut Him to the heart. Our lack of righteousness crushed Him. As cruel and unjust as His death seemed, this process brought is peace. I marvel at the prayer God’s Son prayed three times in Gethsemane, “If at all possible, take this cup from my lips. But, not my will, but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Because Jesus willingly gave His will over to the Father, we are healed from our illnesses, our grief, anger, impatience, talecarrying, and impure thoughts.

Release

A devotional thought from 2010
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“. . . to release the oppressed.” Luke 4:18d (NIV)



Who are the oppressed? Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the verb oppress as “1) to weigh heavily on the mind, spirits, etc. of burden, 2) to keep down by cruel or unjust use of authority; tyrannize over”

Again we see oppression in two different lights.

We have witnessed political oppression when we heard of a nation taking over a smaller, weaker country. We read in history about the religious oppression of the Jewish people in Europe in the days prior to and during World War II. In the late summer of 1990, we heard of a Middle East nation overtaking a smaller one in that region. Our government leaders weighed the options of bearing arms against the aggressor country.

Later, we heard of government in the same part of the world that took away the rights of women, taking away their jobs and allowing them out of their homes only if they were covered from head to foot. I was saddened by what we saw.

Sin, if allowed to run rampant in our lives can oppress God’s people. But Jesus came to show us we can strive to live better lives by staying close to Him. God tells us to take His yoke upon us. (Matthew 11:2930)

The enemy uses the memory of our transgressions to keep us down. He comes into our lives and whispers, “Do you remember. . . .” Satan brings to our attention what shames us. We can’t be vulnerable to the adversary, if we turn our sins over to Jesus when we realize what we have done. All it takes is to say “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Our Ransom

“-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:28 (NIV)



A servant-one who serves. Our system of government in the United States provides for regular elections so the people can choose leaders to serve our cities, our states and our nation.

Our military members serve our nation. As a child, I remember hearing the phrase, “He’s in the service.” Everyone knew what it meant. In the 21st Century, we still take the time to thank a veteran ‘for service to our nation.’

Whenever people eat in a restaurant, they watch and evaluate that place of business by how attentive the server is. The diner gauges the quality of the establishment by ‘its service.’

God gave us His Son Jesus to serve us, to show us how to live for the Father. The Son taught us how to love one another, how to renew our mind away from the world’s way of thinking.

Jesus came to earth in order for us to be cleansed of our sins, made perfect in His eyes in order for us to spend eternity with Him in His home. But, Jesus Christ had to pay a terrible price for this.

God’s Son, the only perfect person to walk this earth, took all the sins man would ever commit as His own. He took upon Himself the most unspeakable deeds, those done in the dark of night upon His heart and soul, in order for us, weak and puny as we are, to have a home in Heaven.

God’s Restoring Us

“Then we will not turn away from you; revive us

and we will call on you name. Restore us O God

Almighty, make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.”

Psalm 80:18-19 (NIV)]



How many times do we hear of someone who asks Jesus to take care of our needs and then makes a huge commitment to do something that her or she thinks He wants done? Most of the time, the person soon forgets the situation and the promise.



The scripture above tells us all we have to do is stay with Him. The psalmist pleads with the Lord to restore the people to the place where His face will shine upon them. When God grants this plea from us, we become His anew.



We face many trials in our lives. But when we stay close to God and ask His protection, we come out stronger people. The trials of which I speak can take the guise of unemployment, large debt, illness of a family member, or our own health issues.



God didn’t promise us an easy life just because we follow Him. He promised to be there with us as we go through the rough parts.

Lent, Why Do We Observe it?

Every spring we go through a time of preparation for celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. What would we tell someone who asked us what lent was all about?

The custom of observing Lent stems from a desire to draw closer to the Lord. For forty week days we deny ourselves something that we like in order to understand what Jesus endured in the desert before He started His ministry.

It was explained to me that the Sundays in the Lenten season are “little Easters”, in that we can end our self denial and celebrate, as we would on Resurrection Day.

Certain Protestant groups and the Roman Catholic Church observe this special event of the Christian year. A thought that came out of our Ash Wednesday service is that we are not only to abstain from an action but we are also to fill the void left with something positive.

Another facet of the Lenten observance is some groups ask those in their flock to think about something they may want to change about themselves. I had become soured about an issue in my life; I chose to give it to the Lord. During this Lenten season I have begun to see myself as how I think God sees me. It has been an eye-opening experience for me.

Just As He Said

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know you

are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen,

just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”

Matt 28:5-6 (NIV)



Two women approached the garden tomb where they saw the men lay the Master. Their mission was to complete the burial procedure. They believed it to be disrespectful not to finish the work.


Matthew records a violent earthquake followed by an angel who moves the rock away from the tomb’s door. This must have caused the women fear. The angel’s first words are, “Do not be afraid.”
With the next words, “He is not here.” The women could have panicked. Their first thought could have been of someone stealing the Master’s body. But how?

The angel knows why they came to the tomb. He continues, “. . . he has risen, just as he said.” He invites them to see the place where the men had laid Jesus’ body.

Jesus Christ had shared with his disciples what would happen to Him in the future. The angel reminded the two women of this.

We have recorded information about Him telling them He wouldn’t be with them much longer. The disciples didn’t (didn’t want to?) understand.

In today’s world we know some people learn from being told about an event and its consequence. We also know others have to experience that circumstance or its outcome before they might learn a lesson. The disciples seem to belong to the group that has to suffer through the ordeal.

The key words I see in this passage remind me of Jesus’ genuineness: “. . . Just as He said.” I praise Him for that.

Being a People of Prayer

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions

with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always

keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)

In a recent blog post, I mentioned I prayed for a friend whenever her name came to mind. One of my followers left a beautiful comment, something about how this was a wonderful way to pray for people.

I emailed her, thanking her for the kind words. The next day, I had an appointment with our pastor to try to confirm where we were in the process of getting the preliminary work done for the Easter Drama. At the end of our meeting, we prayed-he, for the drama and the cast and the crew. When he finished, I prayed for his wife, who had lost her mother two days before, and daughter and his wife’s father and sisters, When we finished he told me I had prayed as someone who had been through the grief process, as well as one who spent time in prayer. I have never been so complimented in my life.

I related the story of praying for a friend who had an issue major, so that she couldn’t talk about it, in her family. I then told him about the comment I received. I further shared something that happened to me while we were recently on a trip to see our son.

We drove six hundred miles across Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and into Kansas. The terrain across Illinois and Missouri is rather flat. The interstate goes by very few towns, causing the trip to seem long and hard. When we did go by a small town, I’d see a church. I felt led to pray for God to draw that congregation closer to Him and for the Holy Spirit to give that pastor or those pastors the words the people need to hear.



Why do we pray?

1. To converse with God

2. To seek His guidance

3. To discover His Will for our lives

4. To be in His Will

5. To obey His leading