Is the Suffering Really Necessary

-

 

As I shared Monday conflict, unkindness, cruelty, and suffering are areas I prefer to avoid, but in the Holy Week devotional montage I referenced  listen to how they describe the necessity of suffering.

"The only Savior who truly saves, only saves through suffering. The cross was the only means of making us sinners right before a holy God. Our salvation was purchased with suffering, and it will be sealed and preserved with suffering (James 1:2–4), not comfort. We are promised comfort in the Christian life  (2 Cor. 1:4), but not the cheap, temporal imitation we’ve grown accustomed to in our modern world.

If we come to the crucified one expecting him to make life easier and more comfortable, we’re not listening to him. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).


The disciples certainly imagined there would be opposition in Jerusalem, but not like this. They expected a hostile takeover—and that did happen—but they expected Rome would be the bruised one, not the King. They were happy to have an opposed King, but not a rejected one, certainly not one who was betrayed, tortured, and executed.


Jesus did not come to purchase the approval of others. No, he “was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised” (Isa. 53:3). 


Why? Because it is God’s approval we desperately need. And God’s approval doesn’t come by popular opinion, but by divine intervention—the substitution of his own Son in our place. 


We were saved through rejection (Isa. 53:3), and by God’s grace, we will be carried and delivered through rejection (Matt. 10:22). The call to Calvary—to follow Jesus—is a call to die, and rise again. It’s a call to everlasting next-life gain through temporary this-life loss. 


Salvation isn’t about securing our unique and selfish desires and ambitions on this earth, but about securing and preparing our souls for another world, a new creation built and preserved for our glory in God’s and our satisfaction in him.


To truly live, we must surrender to the King we really needed, not the one we might have imagined for ourselves."


Again and again I see in life how our expectations open us up to disappointment. The first followers of Jesus had expectations of what their King would do to make things right. But they had no clue of what needed to be righted...their hearts.  God's way, as uncomfortable as it is at times (as it was for Jesus), is the best way to fulfill our expectations beyond our ability to comprehend. No one knows us better, nor our needs, than our Creator and He is a good, good, Father.  Thank You for the cross.


The Songs  (You may want to save some for tomorrow.)


Crown Him with Many Crowns Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xHVtE3BT0c


Thank You for the Cross- Life Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMweYRopdd4


Suffering He Knows Jeremy Camp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsccUg4TDd8


Good Good Father  Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlsQrycKKsY



Popular posts from this blog

She Fought the Good Fight

-
Image
February 27 Bible Gateway's verse yesterday was: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him . 1 John 4:9 A fitting verse for the day my everyday friend, soul sister, monster of the faith and mischievous partner in crime, Kaye, left this world behind and headed to her heavenly home. My husband was able to be by her bedside and said he knew she heard the words of our faith that he shared. Her sweet daughter held the phone up to her ear so I could say good-bye and the brightest single star you have ever seen shown through my bedroom window as she exited this earth! Yesterday, my heart literally ached so badly that I told the Lord, "Take me too!" Wouldn't she have been surprised if I had snuck up on her in heaven and said, "Thought you were going somewhere without me, did ya." When we received the call she was ready to go, I called out to the Lord for comfort and He led me to the Bible Gat
Read more

Toe Sucking

-
Image
June 13 If I keep my eyes on God, I won't trip over my own feet. Psalm 25:12 …or allow them to be sucked off by carp!  For as long as I've been on this lake (49 years) we've gone to feed the carp at various marinas.   I have a bag of old bread waiting to be tossed to the carp tomorrow by our grandchildren!   There's a new adventure at a couple of the marinas.  Toe sucking!   For 25 cents you can buy a small scoop of peanut butter to go on your toes. Then the carp suck it off!   I just got a pedicure, so I have an excuse not to participate! What we do need to participate in is keeping our feet on the paths the Lord sets before us. Give careful though to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:26 
Read more

Remember Your Story

-
Image
Our oldest granddaughter made this bouquet and hand painted card for me.💖 Nothing touches our lives that God doesn't allow.  He has a plan and a purpose, sometimes far into the future, that can be used for His glory. (Jeremiah 29:11) Flash back 40 years and I approached life's downs with an "I can't believe this is happening." and truth be told "How can I fix it?" attitude.   Now that I am older and wiser I see that God truly works all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28) I thank God for the stroke 8 years ago and how it mellowed me out (okay some of you are laughing, but it really did). And honestly,  I like getting old. Sure, there are regrets, but there is also value in being able to pass along the wisdom learned from those regrets. God CAN use everything for His good. Mentoring moments are what I feel called to at this stage of life.  Working on a talk for a women's retreat weekend, I came ac
Read more