Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday prayer

Good Friday is one of those days in history that changed the world. Verses from Isaiah 53 have been on my heart today: "the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed."

I pray that we will each know the peace that Jesus purchased for us...a deep abiding peace within our inner person that sets us free from any lies we may hear from the Accuser that we are not good enough, or that we are disgusting, or that what we have done is so shameful that the suffering of Christ couldn't redeem it. May each of us know His peace today that was purchased at an incomprehensible price.

Brenning Manning was meditating on the crucifixion of Jesus, and intentionally wanting to know the agony He endured. He was trying to let himself receive the truth of what Jesus did on the Cross. At one point he heard the cry of Jesus' wounds: "This isn't a joke. It is not a laughing matter to me that I have loved you." Brennan said it was then that he realized that no one had ever loved him like that. No one else ever could love him like that.

Jesus paid everything that we might live in peace with God. It was no laughing matter to Him. We continually need to be receiving that gift and opening ourselves to the magnitude of it because it is beyond understanding. As Isaiah says, "By His stripes we are healed" -- not partially healed, but fully healed. Completely set free.

May you receive the love of Jesus today - and experience the inner peace His sacrifice provides. May you know the depths to which you are loved by God.
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