Daily Devotions
September 5th, 2013 by Pastor SolleyLuke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
The pasty few days as I have been sick I have been given some time to think and to think of how much we as His children mean to Jesus. As the evening went on Sunday I was getting sicker and sicker, too sick to sleep, to sick to read, too sick to watch TV, too sick to do anything. On Monday things got worse and soon I knew I had to go to the hospital. On the second trip to the hospital on Monday night I was in so much pain I could not open my eyes, could not touch my head or neck on anything, not rest on a pillow or apply a cold pack, nothing was helping. After a few hours of tests and some pain meds through the IV we went home and with some stronger meds I was able to sleep. Staying on the meds on Tuesday the pain was kept under control, yesterday the pain was better and I am sure today will be better as well. As I look back my eyes could not focus to read my Bible on Monday or Tuesday, but we can of course always pray and my mind was drawn to Jesus and the prayers of Jesus in His most trying hour. What I went through for a few hours, what I may be called to go through in my life, what any of us may endure or go through will not, cannot not even compare to what Jesus went through for us. The pain and the anguish that Jesus went through on the way to and then on the cross goes beyond what we could even imagine it to have been really like. Yet when Jesus spoke from the cross, when His voice was heard, for whom was He concerned? Jesus prayed for those who rejected Him, for those who spit in His face, for those who beat Him and mocked Him. Jesus prayed for those who nailed Him to the cross, for those who gambled over His robes. Jesus prayed for one the great sinners who was paying for his crimes that day, prayed for that one to join Him in paradise. Jesus prayed for those He cared about and loved in His humanity in this world. But find one time after the garden that Jesus prayed for Himself and it cannot be done. I His greatest hour of need, in His greatest time of suffering, in His darkest hour on this earth, when it seems to all that Satan had the victory, Jesus prayed for you and for me. Even as I write this I cannot help but shed a tear over how much my Jesus loves me. How great is the God that loves us, that died for all of us, and that cares for us today?