He knows our suffering

read and reflect on Psalm 126

He knows our suffering.  Have you noticed that sometimes, in the presence of someone whose suffering seems greater than our own, our suffering seems lighter, less intense?  It is as if the suffering of another can temporarily take us our of ourselves.  The sufferings of Jesus can, indeed, elevate us and take us out of ourselves.

The cross says that life will not be easy.  If Jesus serves, we will serve.  If Jesus suffers, we too will experience hardships.  No servant is greater than the master.  Yet things are not always the way they appear.  Suffering is part of the path that leads to glory and beauty.  "He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:6).  Suffering has a purpose.  It is changing us so that we look more and more like Jesus himself and even death is not the end of the story.  When someone has suffered like you, they understand you before you speak.  They can even supply words that describe your suffering.  Jesus suffered; therefore, he knows our suffering.

Edward T. Welch

Forgiveness

How do we forgive someone who has wronged us or hurt someone we love?  How can we forgive when we don't feel forgiveness?

Corrie ten Boom, survivor of a women's Nazi concentration camp, wrote: "Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart."

For every Christian, forgiveness is a choice.  In order to fully receive God's forgiveness we must willingly extend forgiveness to others.

Through an act of her will, Corrie forgave her persecutors and her sister's murderers.  Jesus forgave humankind of even more.  How can we do less?

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32

Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  Colossians 3:13

So watch yourselves. If your sisters sins, rebuke him, and if she repents, forgive her.  If she sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, "I repent," forgive her.  Luke 17:3-4

Don't repay evil for evil.  Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you.  Instead, pay them back with a blessing.  That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.  1Peter 3:9

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive; so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.  Psalm 86:5

"If the wounds of millions

are to be healed,

what other way is there except

through forgiveness?"

Catherine Marshall

The Bible Promise Book for Women

Everyone Needs Someone

People need people

and friends need friends,

And we all need love

for a full lift depends

Not on vast riches

or great acclaim,

Not on success

or on worldly fame,

But just in knowing

that someone cares

And holds us close

in their thoughts and prayers

For only the knowledge

that we're understood

Makes everyday living

feel wonderfully good,

And we rob ourselves

of life's greatest need

When we lock up our hearts 

and fail to heed

The outstretched hand

reaching to find

A kindred spirit

whose heart and mind

Are lonely and longing

to somehow share

Our joys and sorrows

and to make us aware

That life's completeness

and richness depends

On the things we share

with our love ones and

friends.

Helen Steiner Rice

Alive by Hillsong

Here is an upbeat song to get us all jumping and praising the Lord for the weekend.  Have a blessed Friday and enjoy your weekend.

How Can God Love Me?

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.  Ephesians 1:7

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

One will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  
Romans 5:7-8

The measure of God's Love for us is shown by two things.  One is the degree of his sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sin.  The other is the degree of unworthiness that we had when he saved us.
We can hear the measure of his sacrifice in the words, "He gave his only son". (John 3:16)  We also heart in the word "Christ".  This is a name based on the Greek title Christos or "Anointed One," or "Messiah."  It is a term of great dignity.  The Messiah was to be the king of Israel.  He would conquer the Romans and bring peace and security to Israel.  In sum, then, the person that God sent to save sinners was his divine Son, his only Son, and the Anointed king of Israel--indeed the king of the world (Isaiah 9:6-7)
When we add to this consideration the horrific death by crucifixion that Christ endured, it becomes clear that the sacrifice the Father and the Son made was indescribably great--even infinite, when you consider the distance between the divine and the human.  But God chose to make this sacrifice to save us.
The measure of his love for us increases still more when we consider our unworthiness.  "Perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die---but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us" (Romans 5:7-8).  We deserved divine punishment, not divine sacrifice.
I have heard it said, "God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans."  This turns grace on its head.  We are worse off than frogs.  They have not sinned.  They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in our lives. God did not have to die for frogs.  They aren't bad enough.  We are.  Our debt is so great only divine sacrifice can pay it.
There is only one explanation for God's sacrifice for us.  It is not us.  It is "the riches of his grace"(Ephesians 1:7).  It is all free.  It is not a response to our worth.  It is the overflow of his infinite worth.  In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.
John Piper

If Grace Has a Lap

Many Christians seem to understand the concept of being saved by grace, but they have missed the concept of being sustained by grace.  James D. Mallory, Jr.

Almighty God,

great and majestic,

I know that You encircle the needs 

of your children

with the broad embrace of

eternal solution.

But Abba Father,

do not leave me

struggling and unstroked

upon this earth!

If grace has a lap,

find and hold me there till

all my cries and longing

snuggle at last into the

Arms of Peace.

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord: my sighing is not hidden from you... As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?  Psalm 38:9; 42:1-2

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart, he gently leads those that have young Isaiah 40:11

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  2 Cor 12:9

Giving Praises

Psalm 113 (MSG) 1-3

Hallelujah!

You who serve Yahweh, praise Yahweh!

Just to speak his name is praise!

Just to remember Yahweh is a blessing--

now and tomorrow and always.

From the east to the west, from dawn to dusk,

keep lifting all your praises to Yahweh!