Today, if You Hear His Voice

September 2011 e-Newsletter
by John Paul Jackson

When Jesus was crucified, all the provision for our spiritual, emotional and physical healing was made. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we were healed.

The word transgression means “rebellion.” He was wounded for our rebellion, for the decisions of our hearts to turn away from Him.

The word bruised means “crushed” and “misshapen.” He was bruised for our iniquities; Isaiah says elsewhere that He wasn’t even recognizable as a man.

The word iniquity means “perversion.” There are sins and rebellion—and then there is perversion. Jesus died for the most perverse of humanity. There is healing even for those who are so lost and corrupted that their souls have deformed, and they are no longer considered normal by the rest of society. There is healing even for them.

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. The wounding of His soul allows for the healing of our souls.

When the stripes were made, all provision for healing was made. His stripes brought us complete freedom from physical pain and brokenness.

There is now nothing else that needs to be done for us, because Jesus did everything.

And everything He did for us—the purpose of His heart, His goal—can be summed up in a single phrase: He wants our hearts.

Related Topic: The Communion Effect

The Greatest Commandment

Salvation took effort on God’s part, but relationship with Him takes effort on our part. He is waiting.

As we spend time in Isaiah 53, we realize that it was not a small, flimsy agreement we made with the Father the day we accepted Jesus as our Savior. We were paid for with the blood of His Son. A significant price was laid down for our hearts.

And today, that is what He wants. He wants our hearts.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

— Matthew 22:35–37

Jesus suffered the full wrath of God on the cross. Why? So He could have what He wanted: the heart of mankind.

Where is your heart today? How long has it been since you considered, really considered, what He did for you on the cross—the price that was paid for your freedom and the reason that price was paid?

If we want to see change in our circumstances, if we want to thrive while the rest of the world is spinning out of control, God cannot be a hobby in our lives, something we do during our free time—or a novelty item we decide to pick up again when we’re in trouble. He is worth more than that. One commandment is the first and the greatest: “Give Me your heart. I want your heart.”

Today, If You Hear His Voice

The Bible tells us to seek God while He may be found. It isn’t that He can’t be found all the time; it is that in His system of creation, our desires are very important. What we desire, we often obtain. If we want Him, we will find Him, but it is also true that if we want to ignore Him, we will be able to ignore Him.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Seek Him while He may be found. Give Him what He longs for. Remember the greatest commandment and look to see His face. He is waiting.

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