#2 ~ LENTEN MEDITATION ~ 2023 ~ for the Preparation of the GREAT PASSOVER ~ FOR the JOY SET BEFORE HIM+ : HE+ Kept a CLEAR Eye

 

 

FOR the JOY SET BEFORE HIM+ : 

HE+ Kept a CLEAR Eye

ENDURING the CROSS 

 

 

Looking unto JESUS

the AUTHOR+ and FINISHER+ of our faith;

WHO+ for the JOY that was set before HIM+

endured the Cross,  despising the shame,

and is set down at the Right Hand

of the Throne of GOD.

^{Hebrews 12:2}

How do WE endure ?   Do we do as The LORD JESUS , our Example+, did ?

When troubles hit, do WE stay focused upon the GOAL ? Do we keep a CLEAR EYE ?

Does His+ GOAL for our lives  give us joy  when troubles arrive ?

Or rather, does our “Endurance Meter” suddenly malfunction when His+ Appointed Troubles  come knocking at our door ?

Through His+ anguish of heart and body, HE+ kept His+ Eye on the GOAL:

Bringing many sons to Glory.

But harken !:  That was HIS+ HEAVENLY FATHER’S goal ! 

Let us read carefully this verse:

For it became HIM,

for WHOM are all things,

and by WHOM are all things,

in bringing many sons unto Glory,

to make the CAPTAIN+ of their Salvation

 perfect through sufferings.

^{Hebrews 2:10}

The LORD JESUS was utterly determined  to bring “many sons unto Glory” because . . .

                   That was HIS+ Heavenly FATHER’S Will.

The ONLY “Will” The LORD JESUS would ALLOW Himself+ to have  was this :

to DO HIS+  Heavenly  FATHER’S WILL.

 His+ Heavenly FATHER’S Will was to make the CAPTAIN+ of our Salvation perfect through  sufferings.

Who can understand THAT ?

Our LORD was perfect in His+ Love towards The FATHER

and in His+ Love towards man.

But harken ! If our LORD JESUS CHRIST endured sufferingS, according to Scripture, in order “to be made perfect” in His+ FATHER’S eyes, then . . .

What does THAT portend for us ?

What does THAT mean for Followers of CHRIST ?

When we face AWFUL hardships, tragedies, and grief --- sorrows that will NOT GO AWAY, tragedies that CANNOT be reversed --- can we understand what purpose The FATHER is working in our life ?

Can we accept that The FATHER is perfecting us through our awful, tragic SUFFERINGS, sufferings that human flesh would NEVER choose for itself, sufferings from which there is NO ESCAPE ?

Can we accept this Divine Promise --- with Joy ?

Yea, and all that will live godly

in CHRIST JESUS

shall suffer persecution.

^{2 Timothy 3:12}

We would never choose to be perfected THROUGH HEART-ACHE and SUFFERINGS . . . so HE chooses those valleys and high mountains for us.

Like with Job, the satan canNOT do EVERYTHING to us --- only that which is permitted by The FATHER. 

Even so, we OUGHT to come through our sufferings better than Job because we DO have The GOOD SHEPHERD+ walking with us through it all.   Job did not.   Yet , our FATHER’S eye was upon Job the entire time.

We have all the HELP that we NEED if we walk through our sufferings with JESUS CHRIST. HE+ desires our companionship, our DEEPEST companionship.

HE+ always, always, always

enables us to walk through our heart-aches

 with HIM+

in Victory.

We have His+ Victory through it all because The LORD JESUS was tested just as we are, yet , without sin. 

Thus, HE+ knows exactly how to help us through our sufferings.

Some might say: What about illness ? The LORD JESUS did not come down with cancer or arthritis or covid, did HE+ ? 

True, but . . . HE+ carried ALL those curses upon HIMSELF+ during His+ brutal beating and on the Cross.  

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Dear Brethren ,  ETERNITY WITH JESUS lasts a long, long time. Our present earthly heartaches will never even be remembered when we are in Heaven with HIM+. 

Let us SET our Heavenly FATHER’S WILL before us also, calling upon HIS SON+ JESUS to help us GROW into Perfection through every need, every horrible, human heart-ache.

HE+ has been there before us. For the joy that was set before HIM+ , HE+ endured the Cross, even unto death.

And WE, dear Brethren, are His+ JOY ! 

Because we have CHOSEN HIM+.

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