God loves you. He wants to encourage you today.
Have you messed up your life? Are you consumed by shame?
God wants to be your loving father no matter how you've messed up.
God took your guilt and your punishment upon Himself by sending His Eternal Son to die on the cross.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)
Imagine the trauma the Father God suffered when he saw his own Son tormented on the cross, how he felt the terrible pain and loneliness of his Son.
But Father God made all this happen, so that Jesus would bear your guilt and my guilt.
God is just. Crimes must never go unpunished, but Jesus took our punishment upon Himself.
But perhaps you suffer because you are a victim. So many children are sexually abused, sometimes by their own parents. Young women are lured by lies and forced to work as prostitutes.
Even if you see yourself as a victim, the shame is unbearable. Imagine you are a decent woman who is tricked and enslaved. The idea that you are or have been a prostitute is unthinkable.
There are also men or women who lose everything and go broke because of their own mistakes, or because of circumstances that were out of their control. Some are tempted to commit suicide.
When the mother of Jesus became pregnant, she was not yet married. Jesus had to endure the shame of a supposedly illegitimate child in a small town.
Then Jesus hung stark naked on the cross. He was despised. He bore your shame.
There are some Christians, some pastors and also some priests who want to help guilty or despised fellow human beings with genuine compassion and understanding, but many suffering people experience cruel rejection in churches.
A young woman wanted to attend a service, but she was not even allowed inside the church because she was wearing a miniskirt.
Some children are sexually abused by pastors or priests. When they later report the crime, they are often condemned by the church and treated badly.
But Jesus was not like these priests and corrupt church leaders.
The hypocritical religious leaders despised Jesus because he was kind to sinners and social outcasts.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."' Luke 7:34 (NIV)
Jesus lived as a human being, but he was also God. He died as a man, but he did not remain dead. Three days after his death he returned to his disciples.
Now Jesus is in heaven with Father God. He is the eternal Son of God, but he still remains human. He loves you with God's love, but also with the compassion and understanding of a fellow human being.
Jesus understands your guilt and your shame. He has carried all this so that you no longer have to carry this terrible burden.
As a man on earth, Jesus invited everyone to come to him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Jesus lived a short time among men as a mortal man.
Now he is the risen Son of God. He has sent his Holy Spirit to activate God's love in your life.
Would you like to receive Jesus? He wants to comfort you with His love. He also wants to heal you with His unlimited power.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)
He now stands as a priest before the eternal throne of Father God, pleading on your behalf.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
Have you messed up your life? Are you consumed by shame?
God wants to be your loving father no matter how you've messed up.
God took your guilt and your punishment upon Himself by sending His Eternal Son to die on the cross.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)
Imagine the trauma the Father God suffered when he saw his own Son tormented on the cross, how he felt the terrible pain and loneliness of his Son.
But Father God made all this happen, so that Jesus would bear your guilt and my guilt.
God is just. Crimes must never go unpunished, but Jesus took our punishment upon Himself.
But perhaps you suffer because you are a victim. So many children are sexually abused, sometimes by their own parents. Young women are lured by lies and forced to work as prostitutes.
Even if you see yourself as a victim, the shame is unbearable. Imagine you are a decent woman who is tricked and enslaved. The idea that you are or have been a prostitute is unthinkable.
There are also men or women who lose everything and go broke because of their own mistakes, or because of circumstances that were out of their control. Some are tempted to commit suicide.
When the mother of Jesus became pregnant, she was not yet married. Jesus had to endure the shame of a supposedly illegitimate child in a small town.
Then Jesus hung stark naked on the cross. He was despised. He bore your shame.
There are some Christians, some pastors and also some priests who want to help guilty or despised fellow human beings with genuine compassion and understanding, but many suffering people experience cruel rejection in churches.
A young woman wanted to attend a service, but she was not even allowed inside the church because she was wearing a miniskirt.
Some children are sexually abused by pastors or priests. When they later report the crime, they are often condemned by the church and treated badly.
But Jesus was not like these priests and corrupt church leaders.
The hypocritical religious leaders despised Jesus because he was kind to sinners and social outcasts.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."' Luke 7:34 (NIV)
Jesus lived as a human being, but he was also God. He died as a man, but he did not remain dead. Three days after his death he returned to his disciples.
Now Jesus is in heaven with Father God. He is the eternal Son of God, but he still remains human. He loves you with God's love, but also with the compassion and understanding of a fellow human being.
Jesus understands your guilt and your shame. He has carried all this so that you no longer have to carry this terrible burden.
As a man on earth, Jesus invited everyone to come to him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Jesus lived a short time among men as a mortal man.
Now he is the risen Son of God. He has sent his Holy Spirit to activate God's love in your life.
Would you like to receive Jesus? He wants to comfort you with His love. He also wants to heal you with His unlimited power.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)
He now stands as a priest before the eternal throne of Father God, pleading on your behalf.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
