Isaiah 53

"Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors."

Amazing love, how can it be?

What does it mean? Why is this so important? How can someone dying on the cross result in forgiveness of all our sins? I get asked these questions a lot.

HE was born of a virgin. I cannot imagine how confused or afraid Mary must have been when the angel came to her. She must have been not even 16, never with a man, and yet she is going to give birth to a son. Not just any son, but the One that will save the entire world from their sins.

HE was born in a stable. People seem to picture stables as a sanitary place, when really thats not the case at all. Its disgusting, completely unsanitary. The ground is full of animal feces, and the hay with saliva. And yet, He lay there completely comfortable, and sound asleep. "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

HIS genealogy.:

"Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king..." Matthew 1:2-6 (this is not the complete list).

This is crazy to me. Our Savior, is in the most interesting family tree:

Abraham: the man of faith. He doubted God, and lied about Sarah being his wife.

Yet, he was told to sacrifice the son that he was promised, and was obedient the whole way. (Genesis 22:1-19)

Ruth: she slept at the feet of a man who wasn't her husband, on the threshold floor. (Ruth 3)

King David: committed adultery and then committed murder to cover it up. Yet, he was a man after Gods heart.

(Now, I know I am missing a lot of details, but this is just coming from my mind mostly, so give me a break. haha)

HE died on the cross. The most shameful death of that time. Not only that, but He was rejected, insulted, spat on, and cursed at. He became the lowest of lows, a nobody. (Read Isaiah 53)

On the cross He saved us from all of our sins. As far as the east is from the west. Past, present, and future. He bore all the shame that we deserved, all because He loves us. He loves us that much, to take our place, to die for us. Just so He can spend eternity with us. Amazing love, how can it be? That You my King would die for me?

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him..."

(Mark 16:6)

He Is Alive!

Welcome to my life.

I hardly ever understand why things happen the way they do. I know its always for a reason, but what's the reason? God is in control, thats the only thing I really know.

I've heard it said before, "you can't always get what you want", but thats not what I'm asking Him. I just want to know what the heck He is doing. Where is He taking me? Why does it have to hurt so much? Does He really have a plan for me? Is there hope? A lot of times I don't have the answers to those question. The questions that run through my mind over and over again every day. I feel lost with no direction. I had so many plans, and they all seemed to be working out perfectly, and then out of no where, they are taken away. Gone, completely. Why?

"Now I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

I hold on to that promise with everything in me, but sometimes if I can't see it, I doubt.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1

My life is an emotional roller coaster. I have all these things I am exited about, like getting married and having my own kids someday, starting my own photography studio. One day I believe that they will all happen, and then the next I think its impossible.

...“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Mark 10:27

"After all this has passed, I still will remain
After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain"

-Superchick

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

I've heard these things at least 100 times. I believe them, but how much longer must I wait? How much longer can I wait? That is yet to be seen.