JESUS CAN IDENTIFY WITH YOUR PAIN

Private pains, deep hurts, shameful addictions. You may think that nobody understands what you are going through, but God does. He can identify with all your pains and is able to help you (see Hebrews 2:18, 4:15).

In the Old Testament, the grain offering brought to God speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. The fine flour, which the grain offering is made with, is flour that has been pounded, ground, beaten and sifted through to get it consistently even and fine. Therefore, it typifies the humanity and sufferings of Jesus.

One of the ways the Jewish women prepared the grain offering was to bake it. The baking done in the depths of the oven speaks of the “hidden” sufferings that Jesus went through. I believe that Jesus faced sufferings that we cannot fully understand. Even as a young boy, He must have gone through sufferings that prepared Him to die for all humanity at the cross. And during His ministry years, it must have grieved Him when time and time again, He found unbelief not just in the people around Him, but even in His disciples.

Jesus also suffered at the hands of men—slanderers who misunderstood Him. Once, the Pharisees insinuated that He was born out of wedlock because His mother was with child before she married Joseph (see John 8:39, 41). That scandalous remark, probably not the first, must have hurt Him.

Consider also the temptations He faced. There were not only three. God’s Word says that He was tempted for 40 days (see Luke 4:2)! Not all the temptations were recorded. Those 40 days must have tried Him sorely.What do all these mean?

My friend, Jesus went through all those temptations and sufferings for you, yet He did not sin (see Hebrews 4:15). There is no temptation or suffering that you are going through that He cannot identify with. So come to His throne of grace today and receive His superabounding grace to face and overcome those trials in your life!  (Article & Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).

FEED ON GOD’S LOVE DAILY

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

My friend, God wants you to live each day knowing that you are His beloved child, in whom He is well pleased. That is your daily nourishment from Him—to know, believe and confess that you are His beloved and that you are well-pleasing to Him all the time.

Some years ago, I was taking a cab in New York and I took the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the driver. Her response was quite typical. She said flippantly, “God loves everybody, man!”

It is absolutely true that God loves everybody, but to experience His love firsthand in your life, you have to personalize His love for you. Jesus died for you and do you know that even if you were the only person on earth, God would still have sent His Son to die on the cross for you? That is how precious YOU are to Him!

You need to personalize John 3:16 by declaring, “For God so loved _______________ (insert your name), He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for _______________ (insert your name).” Be like the disciple John, who personalized the Lord’s love for him by calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

The sun shines on every blade of grass in a field. But if you put a magnifying glass over one particular blade of grass, it will center the heat from the sun over that blade, and that blade of grass will burn. That is what you must do with God’s love. Put a magnifying glass over your life and imagine God’s love being focused and concentrated on YOU! When you personalize God’s love for YOU, when you live each day knowing that God loves YOU, you will be blazing with a supernatural ability to overcome every challenge in life!  (Article; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).