Golden Nuggets

Max Lucado Love goes the distance…and the Messiah traveled from limitless eternity to be confined by time in order to become one of us. He didn’t have to. He could have given up. At any step along the way, He could have called it quits. He didn’t because He is love. He was at once, man and G-d. Don’t we need a G-d man Savior? A just G-d Y’Shua could make us but not understand us. A just- man Y’Shua could love us but never save us. But a G-d man was near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next-door Savior. Joseph the carpenter swapped his Torah studies for a pregnant fiancée and an illegitimate son and made the big decisions of discipleship. He placed G-d’s plan ahead of his own. Matt. 8:27 Y’Shua went to great pains to be as human as the guy down the street. He didn’t need to study, but still went to the Synagogue. He had no need for income, but still worked in the workshop. Upon His shoulders rested the challenge of redeeming creation, but He still took time to walk ninety miles from Jericho to Cana to go to a wedding. Matt. 9:13 The ratio between those who missed Y’Shua and those who sought Him is thousands to one. But the ratio between those who sought Him and those who found Him was one to one. All who sought Him found Him. Mk. 5:34 Every society has a grapevine, even – or especially – the society of the sick. The woman with an issue, illness took her strength. What took yours: Red ink? Hard drink? Late nights in the wrong arms: long days on the wrong job/ Pregnant too soon? Too often? When your hand reaches through the masses, He knows. Yours is the hand He loves to hold. Mk. 7:34 He sighed. “It was never intended to be this way, your ears weren’t made to be deaf; you tongue wasn’t made to stumble.” The imbalance of it all caused the Master to languish. And in the agony of Y’Shua lies our hope. Had He not sighed, we would be in a pitiful condition. Had He simply chalked it all up to the inevitable or washed His hands of the whole stinking mess, what hope would we have? But He didn’t. The holy sigh assures us that G-d still groans for His people. He groans for the day when all sighs will cease, when what was intended to be will be. Jn. 8:12 If you have ever wondered how G-d reacts when you fail, watch carefully. He is writing. He is leaving a message. Not in the sand, but on a cross. His message has two words: not guilty. Lk. 22:24 We will never be cleansed until we confess we are dirty. And we will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Y’Shua, the One we have hurt, to wash ours. Lk. 22:41-44 The first one to hear Y’Shua’s fear was His Father. He could have gone to His mother. He could have confided in His disciples. He could have assembled a prayer meeting. All would have been appropriate, but none was His priority. Do the dame with your fears. Don’t avoid life’s Garden of Gethsemane. Enter them. Just don’t enter them alone. And while there, be honest. Pounding the ground is permitted. Tears are allowed. And if you sweat blood, you won’t be the first. Do what Y’Shua did; open your heart. Jn. 16:32 Unbelievable betrayal of the disciples at the cross. They knew Him but did they defend Him? Hardly, the most bitter pill Y’Shua had to swallow was the unbelievable betrayal by the disciples. From a human point of view, Y’Shua’s world had collapsed. No help from the people, no loyalty form His friends. But that’s not how Y’Shua saw it. He saw something else entirely. He wasn’t oblivious to the circumstances; He just wasn’t limited to them. Somehow He was able to see good in the bad, the purpose in the pain, and G-d’s presence in the problem. Matt. 27:27-29 Crown of thorns. Throughout Scripture thorns symbolize, the consequence of sin (Gen. 3:17-18; Num. 33:55; Prov. 22:5). The fruit of sin is thorns – spiny, prickly, cutting thorns. His crown was a picture of the fruit of our sin that pierced His heart. He knew the price of those sins was death. He knew the source of those sins was you, and since He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, He chose the nails for you. Rom. 8:1 Think about the thief who repented. He is enjoying the fruit of the one good choice He made. In the end all his bad choices were redeemed by a solitary good one. You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You look back over your life and say, “If only…” One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours. Jn. 10:10 The heart of Y’Shua was pure and peaceful. He refused to be guided by vengeance. He also refused to be guided by anything other than His high call. His heart was purposeful. Most lives aim at nothing in particular and achieve it. Y’Shua’s aimed at one goal – to save humanity from its sin. He saved your soul and longs to remake your heart. Will you accept His offer?