"Looking Unto Jesus!" - Too

 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2 KJV)

  "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11 NLT)

 Okay, so the word, "despising," is shown as if He was hating being shamed; yet, it really means to think little or nothing of; in other words, He didn't let it bother Him! This was something that He knew would happen, as it was written hundreds of years before, it was meant to be. Something to think about, if you ever feel disgusted or hurt by anyone who treats you bad for just sharing Jesus to them.

 Besides that, this "joy," that is being illustrated as being set before Him, is meant for you and me! That is what He came for, to pay the penalty for our sins, by hanging on the cross, to shed His blood for our sins! When He endured the cross, it was the way that things were planned, long ago; and it just so happened that the Romans were practicing the art of killing people on the cross, at just the right time. 

 As much as I might feel overwhelmed sometimes by certain things in this life, there is absolutely no way to compare anything that I have to go through, with what Jesus did for us! We are given things that come upon us, without our wanting it to happen, things just happen and we pray and hope for the best. But Jesus, set it up and took on everything, upon Himself. You just can't make this up...

"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 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!" (Isaiah 53:1-4 NLT)