Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Good Stuff: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 and more below---

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

13 See, my servant will act wisely [a] ; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him [b]— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15 so will he sprinkle many nations, [c] and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression [d] and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. [e]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [f] his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life [g] and be satisfied [h] ; by his knowledge [i] my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, [j] and he will divide the spoils with the strong, [k] because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.




You know who that is talking about right?


What if what we really needed was not known by us? If there is a God, and I believe there is, would he not want what is best for us? If he knew everything would that not be true? If he created us and everything around us - the air we breath, the sun and its light, what makes us smile, outter space, spiders, notes that can form a melody, the laws of science we enjoy to discover, time, and well everything else we know of and are yet to learn about - if he created it all then would he not know what is best for it? Does Bill Gates and his dream team of computronic engineers not know the minutest details of thier creations and how they are best utulized? How much more does the One who created the ablity to create know about what he has made? Sometimes he uses that which he creates for purposes other than what we might think would be our best use for that creation. What is he doing with you? For example - see the above section of verse from the book of Isaiah from the Bible. His son suffered unto death so that we might have our transgressions blotted from record so that we would accomplish his perfect will - to bring us to him. <-- More details upon request In the last 2 days I read of a similar topic in 2 different books. What I believe the theme of what I read was is that many times we have to wait or give up something we think we want to receive something better at a later time. This topic was touched on in Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover" where it states that, "an immature person is someone who cannot wait". Of course he was referring to the use of credit to buy things we don't need so we can impress people we don't like... but as you can see the satement, which is biblical, as he states in his book, has an overreaching message to other life situations as well. Think about that quote... ... ... I think it makes sense. The other book that I just finished yesterday - C.S. Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew" was an easy read and an excellent story as well. I don't want to ruin it but the same principal of waiting for your reward rather than consuming the present 'temptation' is paralleled here as well. I would recommend both of these books. Thought out from left field - just remembered a guy I met this morning and a networking breakfast. We spoke just briefly, but I do remember the last thing he said in his 10 second commercial, "I sell custom made suits for $280" That is a steal of a deal... so maybe you wanna check him out. http://www.d.jones.com/ Read about how he started doing what he is doing. Likely he won't remember me, but if you buy a suit from him tell him you know me... Ryan, the fellow Aggie sitting at the breakfast table at the BNI breakfast at Prestonwood Country Club... :)

And boomerang back to the conversation before the random recollection of this morning. It is some what on the same subject. But how is Christianity different than any other "religion" out there. All others are based upon what you can do to get to God, but Christianity is based upon what you could not do and God did through his son, the Jesus, aka, Jesus Christ (not used as a cuss word in this case), aka the Messiah (the chosen One; Hebrew). Give it a bit of thought. In all other religous views of the world there is a path to God or certain set of acts one must abide by to be good enough to be accepted by God. Christianity tells you that you are not good enough for God (because He, being perfect does not tolerate any act of imperfection (sin); we all act imperfectly at times), but he accepts you as perfect because his son's blood paid the price for your sins. No greater love is there than this, that a man would give his life for another.

Some and many of you may already know the above but assumption on my part may not bide well for those I attribute already knowing this who may not. Any questions welcome - I don't have all or many of the answers, but I do enjoy discussion on the topic.


I hope your life is good today