Sharing
Over the past few weeks I have heard some profound messages in my classes and our chapel, as well as seeing dear friends grieve the death of their husband and father after a vigorous battle with pancreatic cancer. Needless to say, my Spirit has been attentive. Some truths are being illuminated. At times like these, our eyes get a heavenly adjustment if our hearts are open and receptive.
With permission I share these profound incites.
"What is crushed? I feel I am being crushed....and Your Word says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed..." this is the struggle we all feel, a question we all ask and some of us are literally being crushed, or so it seems. My friend, Dale, had a good answer to this - or rather, he pointed to the correct understanding and definition of "being crushed," here are his words:
My family has been wondering what God's definition of crushed was...he says we will be pressed but not crushed or whatever...I had a short struggle with that. I realized that we aren't crushed.
Crushed is when you are alone in the whole universe...just existing...you create everything and then everthing turns against you and you are forced to wipe them out with floods...so on...and in the end you have to sacrifice your own flesh and blood son...not just son...the thing that is part of the trinity, just to show the people that you love them.
Later I turned to Isaiah 53, see if you recognize this:(read it slowly if you have the time, it will be worth your while)
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
That would be all 12 verses. I believe it is the first time (a few days ago) I truly read this passage with open eyes.
I must add another wonderful piece of understanding. A message I heard challenged me, about being faithful. What keeps us faithful? God isn't going to say, "well done my good and successful servant," but rather, "my good and faithful servant." We were challenged to look at Isaiah. John 12:41 says "Isaiah....saw Jesus' glory...." He was compelled to preach about Jesus for 60 years - and those 60 years were FRUITLESS in our estimation of success. Not one convert! Why did he do it? Because he saw His Glory! Wow.
The Weight, the value, the magnitude of HIS GLORY turns sacrifice into a lifestyle of worship, our sufferings into ...offerings. Romans 8:18 says it far better than I can:
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." HIS GLORY! My soul can hardly contain the need to shout it out!! OH, Glory, Glory! His Glory....far....outweights....it all!!!
With permission I share these profound incites.
"What is crushed? I feel I am being crushed....and Your Word says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed..." this is the struggle we all feel, a question we all ask and some of us are literally being crushed, or so it seems. My friend, Dale, had a good answer to this - or rather, he pointed to the correct understanding and definition of "being crushed," here are his words:
My family has been wondering what God's definition of crushed was...he says we will be pressed but not crushed or whatever...I had a short struggle with that. I realized that we aren't crushed.
Crushed is when you are alone in the whole universe...just existing...you create everything and then everthing turns against you and you are forced to wipe them out with floods...so on...and in the end you have to sacrifice your own flesh and blood son...not just son...the thing that is part of the trinity, just to show the people that you love them.
Later I turned to Isaiah 53, see if you recognize this:(read it slowly if you have the time, it will be worth your while)
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
That would be all 12 verses. I believe it is the first time (a few days ago) I truly read this passage with open eyes.
I must add another wonderful piece of understanding. A message I heard challenged me, about being faithful. What keeps us faithful? God isn't going to say, "well done my good and successful servant," but rather, "my good and faithful servant." We were challenged to look at Isaiah. John 12:41 says "Isaiah....saw Jesus' glory...." He was compelled to preach about Jesus for 60 years - and those 60 years were FRUITLESS in our estimation of success. Not one convert! Why did he do it? Because he saw His Glory! Wow.
The Weight, the value, the magnitude of HIS GLORY turns sacrifice into a lifestyle of worship, our sufferings into ...offerings. Romans 8:18 says it far better than I can:
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." HIS GLORY! My soul can hardly contain the need to shout it out!! OH, Glory, Glory! His Glory....far....outweights....it all!!!
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