"He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." (John 7:18 KJV)
"I look up to the mountains - does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever." (PSALM 121 NLT)
I assure you, if you are His child, He cares about every single thing that goes on in your life! As I went into the part of choosing a title for the post yesterday, a picture popped into my head, the one which shows Jesus kneeling at a rock, hands folded, and looking up into heaven. I know that it is a very popular picture, because that same picture is the one that is on the cover of my Family Bible.
Think about what that portrays, as the Son of God prays to the Father: How much more do we need to be praying and counting on help from the LORD! We have such a blessed life, even in our trials and our storms, we are blessed because we are loved, more than we can ever know or truly understand. That is why we do not worry about anything; at least we should not be worried; but how and why we do, sometimes worry, is all because of where our heart might be, in that moment.
Maybe I am wrong, but it appears to me that there is more to this than just what we might say. Jesus did not come doing His own will: He came to do the will of the Father that sent Him here to die on our behalf. Let that sink in for just a moment, and then you can maybe see why it was Jesus speaks about seeking the glory of the Father.
Yes, Jesus was God! He had eternally been with the Father, yet He was here to experience death in human flesh! That is some pretty crazy stuff, if you get right down to it; so much so, that many people can't even fathom it, let alone believe that it actually happened. And yet, people still ask: Why would God need to come and die on a cross for my sin?
Only God could have taken our place, because only God is righteous enough, to be innocent enough, to die as a spotless Lamb: a sacrifice for our sins, once and for all! We really do need to speak more about this...
"Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD'S presence like a tender green shoot. a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all." (Isaiah 53:1-6 NLT
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