Does Jesus Care

Chuckle:  Church Sign: "God does not believe in atheists; therefore atheists do not exist!" 

 

Ponder This:  "The more a person loves, the closer he approaches the image of God."  --Unknown  

 

DOES JESUS CARE ABOUT YOU?

 

    "In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through the years"  (Isaiah 63:9 NLT).

 

Does our Lord really care what happens to me?  Does he feel the pain that I feel?  Can he understand what I'm going through?  Yes, he does!  Because of his great love, God made provision to rescue us from the pain, sorrow, and eternal consequences of our sin.  To do this, Jesus, the God man, came to earth as human and as a result He can empathize with us in every way. 

 

Jesus fully understands our weaknesses and our fears.  As our High Priest, He made himself human, "And because he is human, he is able to deal gently with the people, though they are ignorant and wayward. For he is subject to the same weaknesses we have"  (Hebrews 5:2 NLT).  Since Jesus understands your pain, he pleads with you that you would be free from the suffering that sin causes and he desires you to experience the peace, joy, and freedom that comes from a personal love relationship with Him.

 

Jesus is like us because he experienced a full range of temptations as a human being while here on earth. He faced temptations as we do, only more so.  He is both sympathetic and empathetic toward us.  We should be encouraged from knowing that Jesus faced temptation without giving in to sin.  Through his example, and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can have the strength to resist sin and deal with hardships and suffering.

 

Jesus assures us of forgiveness and salvation.  As humanity's representative, he is now at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. "He lives forever to plead (intercede) with God on our behalf"  (Hebrews 7:25 NLT).  He is always available to hear us when we pray. "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words"  (Romans 8:26 NLT).

 

As we pray, the Holy Spirit penetrates to the deepest recesses of our being to help us root out those sinful thoughts and urges that we so carefully keep hidden from those around us.  Aren't we foolish to think that there are some sins that we can hide from God?  In the final analysis, our Lord really does understand what you are going through and is ready to help you through it.

 

It is not always easy to live the Christian life.  It is a mixture of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and pain and comfort.  Through it all, our Lord remains our faithful companion and encourager because he identifies with us and understands what we are feeling.  This old hymn puts it this way: "Just when I need Him, Jesus is near, Just when I falter, just when I fear; Ready to help me, ready to cheer. . . . Just when I need Him most."

 

Love, Jerry & Dotse