"Acquainted With Suffering And Victory"

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not".  Isaiah 53:3

While the cross was the place where the payment for our sins was made, there was much more happening at the crucifixion.  It was there where we see how acquainted with what we face that Jesus was.

He knows exactly where you are, how you feel and what you are going through. He knows what it is like to agonize over the will of God-- if it be possible let this cup pass from me.  He knows what it is like to be falsely accused.  He knows what it is like to be betrayed by someone you are close to-- betrayed with a kiss.  He knows what it is like to walk the long rode of suffering.  He knows what it is like to be abandoned by those whom you love.  He knows what it is like to be mocked, ridiculed, beaten, cursed, made fun of, bullied and blasphemed.  He faced it all.  No one else may know what you are going through, but He does-- He's been there and done that.

But He also knows what it is like to be victorious.  The empty tomb showed us that.  He was victorious over all the things we have named.  Yes, He went through them, but He came out on the other side victorious.  Yes, He suffered, but He was still victorious.  Through the crucifixion and the resurrection we see suffering and victory. 

When we look at our lives, sometimes we only see the suffering-- the cross we are bearing.  But keep in mind, through the suffering, that there is also victory-- an empty tomb.  Jesus suffered for us.  He took our sins, bore our shame and guilt, suffered and bleed for us on the cross.  But He also rose from the dead victoriously for us.  So that sin could not destroy us, condemnation could not defeat us and death could not overcome us.  He turned His victory over to us so now, though these things "touch" us, we can still walk through them victoriously.   

Have a great day.  There may be a cross in your life but there is also an empty tomb.  
 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

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