God Speaks I Listen

So… this is a kinda of strange blog today but there is a point to it so bare with me here.

God asked Jesus to do something for Him. It would be and understatement to say this was a really big request.  Jesus agreed to do it because He had seen the future. Jesus saw you and me and our need for salvation. His love for us and obedience to His Father was His motive for His earthly trip.

Jesus was conscious in Mary’s womb. He knew where He was and He knew why He was there. Jesus suffering began when He was in that womb. He had been glorified and was at His Father’s side and now here He was in a human woman’s womb. Jesus was in the body of a sinner in which He would in time save her from her sins. This ordeal of being born was a little humiliating for the Son of God. But Emanuel came!!!

Jesus spent 9 months a dark place in this woman’s body and then one day He was squeezed out, cleaned off and introduced to the world in a dirty barn wrapped in rags. He had to receive nourishment the old fashion way! (And you know what I mean)  The Son of God! A king! He had to have His diapers changed…well it wasn’t a cute little Pamper… it was more rags! As a little boy and He may have ran and fell, maybe skinned His knees. Maybe He got stung by a bee. And oh yeah… He did have to get potty trained too. Yes…Our wonderful Savior…the King of Kings!

As a kid I’m sure Jesus had chores to do and ran errands for His earthy parents. He even got into trouble with them once and got scolded for running off to church without telling anyone. Yup…the Messiah! I wonder what Jesus thought about all these very humbling experiences? After all He was God! Was this uncomfortable or embarrassing for Him to endure? And this wasn’t even the worst part of His story yet.

Poor Jesus was led to go on another trip out to a desolate place for about a month and 10 days with no food!!! There was no Dunkin Donuts or MacDonald’s anywhere in the area! Not even a goat or a well! Can you imagine no refreshments for miles around?  Jesus went through this for many days. I wonder what He did every day. What did He think about? He had no Wi-Fi…no TV and no one to talk to except the nastiest creature in the universe to talk to and be bullied by.   My Lord!

Jesus healed many people but He cried when He saw that even though He performed many miracles people still doubted Him. People didn’t really take Him seriously. He also saw people trying to jack up His Father’s house and He got really emotional about it!  Jesus had to go buck wild on them! He experienced people lying on Him and was talked about by back stabbers. Many people kissed up to Jesus just to get something from Him. They weren’t interested in being His real friend. Thank goodness He had His own crew but even they were shaky at times.  They had to be His friend on the down low! When the mess hit the fan they all left Him high and dry!  Jesus was all alone…no earthy support! They dissed the Messiah!!!

Then the whole thing with the plot to kill Jesus and the actual murder! That was “breaking news” all over town. Jesus got no justice at that time!! If that was today that would have been on CNN and blown up all over Facebook for sure!! Oh the Prince of peace!

I bring all of this up because Jesus didn’t just suffer on the cross. He suffered the entire time He was away from heaven and down here with us. Jesus suffered for 33 years! His whole earthly life.  After He was almost finished His work here on earth He asked the Father to give Him back His glory. He didn’t even wait until He got back home.Can you blame Him? Why would the God of the entire universe reduce Himself to a human form? That alone had to be a hard pill to swallow! I just can’t imagine how hard this all was for Jesus…Emanuel… God with us.

When I meditate on why Jesus did this….it just lets me know just what kind of God He is! No other god could or would do what He did for humanity. God is holy and things down here on earth are not. He wanted to come this unholy place and do this for you and me. Do you know how special that makes me feel? I can’t even express to you what I feel in my heart about it. Just know as I write this that tears are flowing down my face and I just have no words. I will personally try to show Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit how grateful I am with my body, mind and spirit. I will make myself a living sacrifice and try to tell people, show people and sing about God’s goodness and love for us.

I know Jesus had some good times and some great memories here on earth, but I know He suffered just having to be down here and I will take my communion often and I will never forget all the mess He went through for my benefit… and yours. The big take away here is that….GOD LOVES THE MESS OUT OF US!!!!! For real!!!!!! Meditate on that today and see how you feel after you’ve chewed on that for a while. You’re Gods girl!….You’re Gods guy! You are Gods Child! You are so loved!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Lord help us to understand the depth of your love for us!