IN GODS GREAT GOSPEL

No one knows me, we think. People know my name but not my heart. They know my face but not my feelings. I have a social security number but not a soul mate. No one really knows me. The response of heaven is, “God does!” Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do. Angels won’t suffice. God sent more than miracles and messages, he sent himself. He sent his Son.

In God’s great gospel, he not only sends, he becomes. He lives with. He lives as one of us. He knows our hurt, he knows our hunger, he knows betrayal. Most of all, he knows sin. He knows them better than you do. He knows their price, because he paid it. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). God knows you.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

He has Been There

Most families keep their family secrets a secret. Some stories remain unmentioned at the family reunion and unrecorded in the family Bible. That is, unless you’re Jesus. He displayed the bad apples of his family tree in the first chapter of the New Testament. Rahab was a Jericho harlot. David was one day writing psalms, another day seducing his captain’s wife. But did Jesus erase their names from the list? Not at all!

If your family tree has bruised fruit, Jesus wants you to know, “I’ve been there.” The phrase “I’ve been there” is in the chorus of Christ’s theme song. To the lonely, he whispers “I’ve been there. To the discouraged, Christ nods his head and sighs, “I’ve been there.” When you turn to him for help, he runs to you to help. He’s been there!

Untying Knots

Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. Tightening shoes by wrapping strings together? Nothing easy about that. Who came up with the idea of shoes anyway?

My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench watching kids gather and play at the bus stop. One day a little fellow struggled to board the bus, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment. All of a sudden it was too late. The bus door closed. With tear-filled eyes he looked at Roy on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”

We never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” And when we do, who shows up? Jesus, our next-door Savior. Go ahead, ask him: “Do you untie knots?” “Yes,” he will say.

IN GODS GREAT GOSPEL