Broken

 

      I begin this blog with the acknowledgement that I've reached the end of myself.  There is a blessing from Jesus that comes from that, which is Him meeting me there in my brokenness.  The first beattitude that Jesus talks about on The Sermon on the Mount is in Matthew 5:3  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  He redefines what happiness truly means.  We can chase after our desires but real happiness comes in pleasing Jesus.  Right now I feel bummed because I'm not getting to do what I want without an aide to help me, but when I finish this blog on my own then I will be truly happy that I did something pleasing for the Lord.

Psalm 14:18 "The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit."

     We need to be beautifully broken before the Lord.  When we are, He will draw us nearer to Him and put us back together as He sees fit.  We first have to trust Him with our brokenness, then we can be restored thru Him to be what He wants us to be and do what is pleasing in His sight.

Psalm 37:4   "Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart."

     How many people confuse 'the desires of their heart' with what God really means, is in the verse is 'a relationship with Jesus Christ"?  "That verse does not say “God will give you the desires of your heart because you delight in Him”. Instead, the verse commands us to “Delight yourself in the Lord” and then He will fulfill your desires because He is the only One who can satisfy your heart." [gracecalling.com]

     How many of us would like an easy life?  Jesus promised that we would suffer in our trials, but that He would also give us peace in them.  John 16:33  "These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

     In all of our found brokenness, God's love for us never decreases.  He will never forsake His children.  Even tho we may struggle through our trials, would we not give up our desires, if it's not Jesus' will?

John 1:24  "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

     When we willingly submit our lives to Christ, then we glorify Him with our testimonies and bear fruit in this broken world.  Even if our life isn’t what we hoped for, God will not abandon us or leave us in tribulation. Isaiah 29:11 states “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

     As for myself, I built my life on dreams and desires of my own. Now that all of that has left me, I've concentrated my life more on what God wants from me.  This will be my 1356th blog since 2011.  These are more important to God, than any number of tests I took in school or lab tests I ran at work.  These blogs have also drawn me nearer to Christ , than anything I've ever done.  My blog collection has truly been a source of happiness for me.

Remember, in all of our pain and sufferings, it is Christ who calls us and in Him are our desires truly satisfied.

Our Silent Example

 Isaiah 53

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of dry ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we would look at Him,
Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.
3 He was despised and abandoned by men,
A man of great pain and familiar with sickness;
And like one from whom people hide their faces,
He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.

4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by God, and humiliated.
5 But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the living
For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the Lord desired
To crush Him, causing Him grief;
If He renders Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
For He will bear their wrongdoings.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the plunder with the strong,
Because He poured out His life unto death,
And was counted with wrongdoers;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the wrongdoers.

     I'm starting this blog with Isaiah 53, also known as 'The Suffering Servant'.  It is the Old Testament's account of Isaiah's prophecy of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. In the following other verses I list below, we see also how Jesus was willing and without complaint in following His Father's will.  No other could die for our sins, and rise again for our justification.

     

Mark 15:4-5 " But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!”  But Jesus said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed."

Matthew 27:14 "And still He did not answer him in regard to even a single charge, so the governor was greatly amazed."

Luke 23:9 "And he questioned Him at some length; but He offered him no answer at all."

     The point of this blog is that we should follow Jesus' example in not complaining when trials become part of the Lord's will for us.  Why do we question 'Why me?'  Why not us?   Jesus was a willing sacrifice and paid our sin debt, while He knew no sin of his own.

    Ecclesiastes tells us that there is time to speak and a time to keep silent. , When is there a fitting time? When is it better to speak? And when is it better to stay quiet? This is practical wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 " There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—; A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak".

     The silence of Jesus reminds us that silent suffering was necessary for Jesus. We are taught that sometimes being quiet takes more strength than talking. Isaiah 53:10 "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. "

Silence allows us to refocus and redirect our thoughts on what is truly important, which is to think about the things God desires us to think about.

John 10:27-29
"My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand."

     We follow Jesus' example by knowing; Jesus did not plead His own case, Jesus wad patient under affliction, and Jesus was oppressed, yet did not open His mouth.  Haven't we all felt all of these 3 ways and a need to tell our side?  There is power in silence and a comfort in knowing God is on your side.

     As for myself, this is a new challenge for me.  Silence is not my strength.  When I am hurt, mistreated, or felt wronged, then I want to speak up and let the other party know how I feel.  Jesus is letting me know, that its not always necessary.  Silence can bring on a time of reflection, not only for myself but for the other side as well.  It's hard to be slow to speak and quick to listen, but it is possible.  With my mask, it's kind of been forced upon me to wait for someone else to take the mask off before I can talk.  Sometimes I'm just chomping at the bit.  The term 'Silence is golden' is really determined by who is having to be silent.  Personally, I need my quiet time with myself and with the Lord.