TODAY'S VERSE:

Matthew 27:46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

The phrase Jesus yelled out from the cross in this verse was used during a fun game of hangman after class one Sunday in prep school. What does it mean to you? What should it mean to you? Why did He yell it? Jesus went through tremendous suffering from the time of His three trials and through the time God abandoned, or forsook, Him. He never uttered one complaint until God the Father abandoned Him. That’s how we can tell that His separation from the Father must have been awful!  (I yell when I stub my toe!) And, it was all done because of the Father’s, the Son’s, and the Holy Spirit’s love for each other and for us. It was during that time when Jesus was judged for our sins.  God the Holy Spirit was giving Jesus the power to go through all of His sufferings; Jesus used His volition and the power of the Holy Spirit to obey the Father and not to sin!

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

God tells us He loves us and He proved it!  God the Father was willing to give His only beloved Son for our salvation and God the Son was willing to take on humanity and go to the cross for our salvation!  LOVE GIVES!

By believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior we have eternal life!  God loves us to the max!  There are many things that can distract us from God’s love.  They can be joys or fears.  Here are some examples: friends, activities, bullies, and failures.  All of these people and things have to be seen with our hearts focused on Jesus Christ.  Friends and activities are great, but not if they take us away from our peace in Christ (John 15:12-14). There will be bullies.  However, God loves us so much and always shows us kindness (Ephesians 2:4-7).  Failures in our lives can be BIG distractions, especially when others remind us of them (Colossians 3:2)!

As believers we are in fellowship with Jesus Christ!  He is our best Friend!  Even though He yelled out on the cross, He never was distracted from obeying His Father’s will.  He focused on the joy set before Him – our salvation!  (Hebrews 12:2-3)  

December can be a very distracting month!  Don’t let it be - have the right focus!  God wants us to enjoy this time leading up to and including the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ – Christmas!  He wants us to concentrate on the love He has for us and all the gifts He gives us, especially the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.  God gave freely to us and He wants us to learn to give freely, with no strings attached, to others!   Wrap yourself in God’s love and give His love to others!
 
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the LORD ALMIGHTY will accomplish this.