Hello, John and Doves,Open letter to those whose privacy has been invaded and paraded on the web...Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 barely scratch the surface regarding what Jesus endured from the Roman soldiers, even before He walked the Via Dolorosa.He has walked in your footsteps. He Himself was tempted to wipe out His tormentors with a thought. And you know that He could have. Yes, in the throes of agony, Christ Himself was tempted to murder--to take the law into His own hands.It is written,For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.God knows what's going on. He has the 4-1-1. He has the lowdown--whatever you want to call "being in the loop."This is why you can rest in Christ:
The psalmist Asaph (A musician in King David's time) knew where you now stand:
1Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked....
12This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
15If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
16When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20They are like a dream when one awakes;
when you arise, Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies....
26My flesh and my heart may fail, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4IMOtKNTJ8
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Your portion forever. He has a forever home for you.
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
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To the Church in Philadelphia
7“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
What do pillars do all the livelong day? Picture it--they lift up their hands in endless praise of El Elyon (God Most High).
~Blessings,
Mike