Wednesday's Words to Live By For May 30th - June 5th 2012 "Jesus Carried 'It' All In His Body" Part I

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

Believe!

Scriptures: Isaiah 53:3-5 & Romans 8:1-12

Isaiah 53:3-5 – (www.biblegateway.com – Amplified)

³He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

⁴Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows  and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].

 ⁵But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

Romans 8:1-12 – (www.biblegateway.com – Amplified)

¹THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

²For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.

³For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],

⁴So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].

⁵For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.

⁶Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

⁷[That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.

⁸So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

⁹But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].

¹⁰But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].

¹¹And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

¹²So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.

Jesus paid it all and carried it all in His body; from His crucifixion to His death on the cross. There is NOW no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-12).

Isaiah 53:3-5 let us know that Jesus was despised, rejected, forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, acquainted with grief and sickness, wounded for our transgressions (transgress means to violent a command or law: sin – per www.merriam-webster.com),  and bruised for our guilt and iniquities (iniquity means gross injustice: wickedness; a wicked act or thing: sin – per www.merriam-webster.com).  Jesus has already borne (borne is a past participle of bear which mean to put up with something trying or painful; the power to sustain without flinching or breaking. The synonym for bear is suffer, endure, abide, tolerance and stand – they all mean the same as bear – per www.merriam-webster.com) our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains.

Jesus endured the cross without saying a word; He took whatever was dished out to Him.  Jesus endured so we would not be defeated by the things listed above or any other thing. Things are going to come to us but we do not have to bear them in our body or life because Jesus has borne them in His own body!

Therefore, anything we have ever imagined that could happen to us Jesus has already taken care of it. Everything we are going through today, Jesus has already made the way of escape out of it for us. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says:

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure”(www.biblegateway.com – NLT).

Everything Jesus conquered on the cross (the things listed above and whatever else try to attack us) cannot harm us IF we follow God’s way out. These things can also destroy us if we open the door for them to come in. The door can be opened in many ways: not believing what the Word of God says about what Jesus has done for us is the main way the door can be opened. Another way is accepting the lies, illusions (deceptions) and delusions (false impressions) of the devil that you suffer with the things Jesus has already given us the victory over (sicknesses, diseases, sin, rejection, abandonment, guilt, shame, etc.). Jesus has shut the door to everything we will ever face (everything He defeated on the cross) and sealed it shut with His blood so let it stay shut!

God Bless,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

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