Smitten For Life
Once I understood, I could not unsee Him.
The moment I realized the actual reality of the cross,
there was no going back.
I had no idea up to that point that I had only gone through the motions of religion my whole life. I didn't know, I didn't understand, that Jesus is actually real. And I remember, that was all I kept telling people once I knew. Once I knew that He really is alive and the Bible is not just a book about the past (old and unrelatable) but is relevant to my current circumstances, I couldn't stop telling people that He is real. I knew everyone knew about Jesus, but did they know He was as real as my mom or teacher -- like -- REAL! I'm pretty sure up to that point I sorta put Him in the same box as an historic figure. I didn't deny He existed. I just had no idea that He was looking to be friends with me! haha!
So, on this Good Friday,
that is what I'd love to tell the world:
HE IS REAL!
Do you believe it? If not, all you have to do is ask Him. Start talking to Him. Believe that He is the Son of God who came and died on the cross for your sins (there is Biblical, Old Testament, reason why He had to die -- only a sacrifice could make things right). Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and wash you clean (because sin separates us from our Holy God, our Father). And then ask Him to come into your heart, your life, and fill you with His presence. He loves you soooooooooooooooooooooooooo muuuuuuch! :) He wants so much to be close to you! So much so that He was willing to die to bridge the gap between you and God the Father -- AMAZING, RIGHT?? And then ask Him to help you follow Him. This is more than just a one day friendship. He wants to be your friend forever! haha! Now that's true love! ;)
Following Jesus is such an adventure and SOOO much better than living in the world's system and concept of love. (WAY better!!!) I'm telling you, if you stay with Jesus, you're gonna be blown away by His love. Honestly, once you tap into it, you'll probably feel the way I did and say: "There's no going back. I'm smitten for life!"
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Isaiah 53:1-12 NLT
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