Sunday, May 19, 2013

“A Month of Thankfulness” Devotional Series (Day 19)


With His Stripes We Are Healed.

SIH’s Think On These Things: Isa 53:4-9

 

 

Isa 53:4-9 (KJV)  4) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  5) But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  8) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  9) And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.

 

What a blessing it is for us to enjoy the physical and mental health that our Lord has so graciously given to us.  My Father used to always tell me that no matter how our health may be failing us… “Just look around, there is ALWAYS somebody worse off than us.”  Over the course of my life, I have found this to be a very true statement. We all have a certain degree of mental and physical health to enjoy, and therefore, we all owe the Lord thanks for the health that we enjoy.

 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The blessings that we receive in this life, and the next, all flow through the work of Jesus on the cross.  Some of these blessings include the eradication of: the calamities of life, the physical and emotional pains of life, our sins, the judgment of our sins, as well as our physical sicknesses and afflictions.   

His death is an absolute victory, therefore, everyone in the above list will be done away totally when we enter into eternity (Rev 21:1-8).  But for now, while we are yet in our sinful flesh, every one of them still affects us and remains in our presence.  We still face calamities, pains of life, sin, chastening for sin, and physical sicknesses.  But we can rest assured, through the death of Christ, perfect, absolute, salvation from all these issues will take place in eternity.

Based upon the Lord’s sovereign will, and the work of Christ on the cross, He controls our physical and mental ills that we face.  He can choose to remove any given health issue but He does not promise He will remove every physical issue before eternity (Matt 4:23-25). Likewise there are times that He chooses to allow the affliction to remain upon us for His glory and our good (2 Cor 12:1-9).

Also we need to consider how often He sovereignly withholds a health issue from us, under which we would have otherwise suffered?  Every day, when we wake up and enjoy any level of heath, we should be a time of thanksgiving to God for the life and health He has given to us.

 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Why did He have to come and die?  It was because of the presence of sin in the world.  It was because of OUR sin that He suffered so brutally and died.

 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.

In these verses we have a description of the great sacrifice He made on behalf of His people so that we might be saved. 

 

Folks, with thankful hearts lets honor Him today for the health He has given to us.  And, most importantly, let’s thank Him for the great sacrifice He made on our behalf securing for us deliverance from our afflictions.

 

May the Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.

 




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