Wednesday Words of Encouragement

Isaiah 53 ~

Who has believed what we have heard?
And who has the arm of the Lord been revealed to?
² He grew up before Him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at Him,
no appearance that we should desire Him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

⁴ Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
⁶ We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for  the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.
⁸ He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
⁹ They made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.

¹⁰ Yet the Lord was pleased to crush Him severely.
When You make Him a restitution offering,
He will see His seed, He will prolong His days,
and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.
¹¹ He will see it out of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
My righteous Servant will justify many,
and He will carry their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion,
and He will receive the mighty as spoil,
because He submitted Himself to death,
and was counted among the rebels;
yet He bore the sin of many
and interceded for the rebels.

Here in Isaiah 53 we have a picture of the suffering servant, Jesus. As we look at this passage some of the words used to describe him are despised, rejected, suffering, struck down, afflicted, crushed, pierced, punished, oppressed, and judged. What a terrible weight to bear. And all of this was done for us.The perfect lamb, Jesus, stepped in and took our place. He took all of this punishment on Himself so we wouldn't have to bear it. Do we truly understand the magnitude of what Christ did for us?

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 says ~

We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

Notice the contrast here. We are not crushed, not in despair, not abandoned and not destroyed. Because of Christ's work on the cross we have the ability to face trials and hard things without being utterly destroyed by them. Because He was willing to take our sins upon Himself, we can go through anything victoriously. 

Don't make Jesus sacrifice meaningless by wallowing in despair. He paid the price for us. He made it possible to walk through dark times because we have hope, knowing that these struggles we face are temporary. And that is a reason to get up and keep moving forward each day!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ~

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.