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Dear friends, we hope you enjoyed last week's devotional. It was Part II of "The Fountain of Living Water," and we failed to mention that it was written by Sergeant Jennifer Duelley, Corps Officer of Cartersville, Georgia.
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“Now, That’s a Different Kind of Love”
GOD’S WORD
Isaiah 53:1-3
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT (Written by Major Rick Raymer)
What can wash away my sin;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
His blood was spilled out of real genuine love, and He loved us so much that He died for us!
“Now, That’s a Different Kind of Love”
I hope you have your Bibles, please turn to Isaiah 53 (NLT)
Isaiah really puts this day into perspective because over 700 years before Christ was laid in a manger. Isaiah prophesies about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
This chapter is all about Jesus. Listen to Isaiah telling us about our Savior and Redeemer!
Who has believed our message? We can stop right here. Because according to Barna there are 2.4 billion Christians in the world.
That leaves almost 5 billion people who either do not believe the message or have never heard the message. We still have work to do, and I’ll start it off by asking you – do you believe in Jesus? Think about it. Isaiah continues:
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
Theologian Andrew Davis says – “the arm of the Lord, represents His awesome power, yet in this context it speaks of the infinitely mysterious frailty of the incarnate Son of God, whose seeming weakness in death was the most powerful thing that has ever occurred in human history.
Friends God has revealed Himself to us through His son the question is…are we paying attention?
Hear what Isaiah says in this second verse…My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
This verse shows us the incarnation and humanity of Christ. Isaiah even tells us that He was nothing to really look at, girls didn’t even take a second glance.
Now we get to the third verse and see –
3 He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
This verse is talking about Good Friday over two thousand years ago.
Isaiah is literally talking about how the Pharisees and Sadducees and many others wanted nothing to do with this man Jesus because He went against their way of expressing God. They wanted Jesus to follow their example and not that of His Father.
And so, they - His own people - wanted nothing to do with Him.
Now, fast forward to John’s gospel the first chapter verse eleven “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
His own people turned their backs on Jesus, just as Isaiah predicted, and even today, we are turning our backs on Jesus as well – because we want to do our own thing instead of Following Him.
Tom Wright said:
Think back over the last twenty-four hours or the previous seven days. Suppose Jesus had been there, physically present beside you, throughout that time.
Would you have been happy to have Him see what you did? Hear what you said? Know what you thought?
When He comes, as the New Testament insists, He will bring to light all the hidden things that are now in darkness and expose the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
He comes, of course, as the one who died for us; there is no doubting His love. But His love, His different kind of love, is the love that wants the very best for us and from us, not the sentimental type that doesn’t want to make a fuss and so refuses to confront the thing that’s actually wrong.
He loves, in the way a doctor or surgeon loves, wanting the best, working for life, and dealing powerfully, and drastically with the cancer or the blocked artery.
Have you experienced this different kind of love or are you okay with living without it – by going your own way?
Like the following questions:
- Are you married and seeing someone else on the side?
- Are you single and sleeping around?
- Are you reading or watching things on tv, or the internet that
Jesus would not be comfortable with?
- Do you feel trapped in a life filled with pornography?
Then, ask yourself am I living in such a way that places Jesus back on the cross? If your living in sin, or any of the questions we just talked about then yes, you are symbolically placing Jesus back on the cross.
Folks these or any other questions that make us pause in our faith, can change and be forgiven, by saying yes to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him.
My friends His love is different! What the animal sacrifices of old could not do, Jesus did over 2,000 years ago. That’s why we can call it a GOOD FRIDAY!
Next week we will conclude with part II of "Now, That's a different kind of love."
OUR CORPORATE PRAYER
Father, we know that the only thing that can wash away our sins is Your blood that was shed for us upon the cross of Calvary. Your sacrifice upon the cross has made all the difference. May You be honored and glorified as we live You out loud in the communities where You placed us, and may You truly be seen in all we do. In Your most Holy and sacred name, Jesus Christ, we make this prayer, amen.
OUR WORLDWIDE PRAYER MEETING FOR MARCH 16, 2023 ~ SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA, AND HUNGARY TERRITORY
REACHING OUT TO OTHERS
Do you know of someone in your neighborhood who does not know the Lord? Pray for them earnestly this week and ask God the Holy Spirit to give you the very words your neighbor needs to hear to be transformed by the Word of God.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
“God’s love supply is never empty.”
- Max Lucado
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