You Need To Know the Whole Truth about Jesus
It’s hard for me to get my brain around the whole truth about Jesus.
God. Creator. King. Alpha and Omega. Word Made Flesh. Savior. I AM.
God Himself formed in a teenage girl. Born in poverty. Cradled with critters. Humble.
What makes the maker of stars walk along dusty paths among broken people all the way to Calvary?
Love.
What makes perfect righteousness and justice stand and take a sinners’ punishment?
Love.
What makes the Great I AM, the One before whom no one can stand, suffer an undeserved death sentence?
Love.
Though He was God,
He did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;
He took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When He appeared in human form,
He humbled Himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Perfect humble love.
It’s easy for me to imagine Jesus gentle and loving when I think about Him sitting on the hillside with His disciples or welcoming little children to His lap, but…
When I think about Jesus:
Raising the dead.
Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out. John 11:43–44
Commanding demons.
“All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. Matthew 8:32
Feeding thousands.
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed. Mark 6:41 & 44
Flattening soldiers.
The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. As Jesus said “I am He,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! John 18:3 & 6
Calming Storms.
Soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke Him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Luke 8:23–24
I am humbled.
Jesus. God/Man. When you and I spend too much time focused on one side or the other we miss the whole of who He is. We miss the blessing of knowing Him.
When we make Him too small, too much like us, we fail to see our need for Him. Likewise, when we make Him too big, we make Him impersonal and unapproachable.
But Emmanuel . . . God with us, that is Jesus. Savior. King. Victorious. Shepherd. Love.
Do you ever feel less than lovable?
Me too.
When you’re… Cranky. Impatient. Unproductive. Critical. Discouraged. Insecure. Etc.
When life makes you feel small, insignificant, unlovable…
Remember – no matter how you feel – you are loved. The King of kings and Lord of lords gave up everything to show you how much. No success will make Him love you more. No failure will make Him love you less.
He is the perfect example of humble love.
And through His humble love, through His sacrifice, He defeated sin, death, and Satan’s power. He is victorious. He is the name above all names.
Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor
and gave Him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:3,5–11
Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
And He loves you!
When I think of His miracles and His victory, when I think of Him laying down the glories of heaven I am humbled. When I think of His example of perfect personal love I am able to love others.
Jesus. Emmanuel. The Word made flesh. The Way, Truth, and Life. Good news!
“Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all. Amen, and come Lord Jesus.” ~Frederick Buechner
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Beautiful & powerful post, Deb! I am so very grateful that no failure of mine will make Him love me less. May we all bask in the truth that we. are. loved! Richly, deeply, eternally. Thank you for this today!
It’s overwhelming isn’t it? God of the universe loves you and me unconditionally. I’ll never understand it, but I think that’s why it’s called faith. Blessings to you, Joanne!
Ahhhhhhh such encouragement here! It’s like a breath of fresh air, Deb. I am so grateful for his grace and mercy! My desire is to know Him more and the more I sit at His feet I find there’s so much more to learn!
Me too, Shannon. Me too!
What a powerful post, Deb! Such amazing love, unending Grace! Life without Him is really no life at all! Stopping by from Word Filled Wednesday. Thank you for this! Greetings and blessings from Athens, Greece
Thank you so much for visiting, Natasha. And for your encouragement. I love getting blessings from around the world. God’s blessings to you!!
Such a great reminder! I often find it difficult to wrap my head around the duality of God. How can He be fierce, yet gentle? How can He care about the world, yet still care about me?
We try to wrap our heads around who He is and what He does (or doesn’t do), but maybe we are not meant to understand it all….maybe we are meant to believe.
Visiting from #tellhisstory!
I agree, Becky. I always pray that these truths will simply draw me closer to Him. That with each glimpse I fall more and more in love. Blessings and thanks so much for visiting.
Oh, how I love Jesus!
Thank you for pointing us to Him today, Deb!
You are a blessing!
Sharing this one all over today~
Melanie
Thinking about who Jesus is, leaves me humbled. He really is too magnificent for my mind to grasp…but I like to try. This was such a wonderful post to read this morning. Now I’ll be thinking about Jesus today…as I should be.
I like that you cautioned us to see the WHOLE Jesus, man and God, so that He can be both approachable and worthy of all our praise and honor. May all our Savior did for us remind us to be humble and thankful.
Blessings, Deb!
Oh Deb, these words…hit where I needed them to hit. No matter how I feel, I am loved…so powerfully and humbly loved. “When life makes [me] feel small, insignificant, unlovable…” even then He loves me still. Truth.
This publishing journey for my book has been hard, so hard, and so so humbling…so much human criticism hitting along the way, from those most dear to me…and then all those voices telling me now: “See, they’re right, this sacrifice really wasn’t worth it…nobody wants to read your words” But the truth is this is God’s book, the God who has gently nudged me forward through the hard to get His words of love out there. What others say, their hurtful words do not take away His Love for me or those He yearns to draw near to through the book I’ve released.
Thank you for these words, Deb. I thank God for your refreshing and truth-speaking love.
I am so glad this blessed you Anna. Too often, I’ll let the voices around me get in my head. Who am I kidding, too often my own voice discourages me. But when I keep my eyes on Jesus the Author and Perfector, the One who will reign today until forever and who loves me, I can step ahead along the path He has prepared. Keep walking your path for Him. Keep writing that book for His glory. Be blessed!
Thanks, Deb. The book was launched last week.
Such powerful words – thank you so much for sharing them!
Deb,
Thank you for sharing these truths about Jesus. When I think about all Jesus did and all that He is, I’m simply in awe of Him.
Oh to be more like Jesus each day! When I think about representing Jesus well on this earth, I look to my pastor who seems to have so much of Jesus in him that simply being around him is to feel peace and love. I know I want to be more like Jesus each day.
Blessings!
Deb,
Thank you for this wonderful reminder of God’s everlasting and undeserved love.When I think about Jesus; who He is and what He has done .I am truly humbled and beyond thankful for His love. He has welcomed me into His family and He desires that I live for Him. , Oh what a Savior we serve Deb! Thank you again for this insightful and beautiful look at God’s amazing love. Have a wonderful weekend and may God bless you and yours!
Deb, this makes my eyes well up, and my heart sing this morning. — The Name above all other names. — I admit I don’t understand the complexity of this love. I don’t come from “love,” at least not love that’s expressed in word or otherwise. And, sometimes it causes me to try too hard with my own little family, to want to be more than I’m able to be for them (b/c God’s supposed to be in that place where their dependence begins, not me…) Ever grateful for His love that always was. Faithfully, it’s the constant guard over my life. And, how I love Him back. (( <3 ))
Remember the old hymn?
He who was rich beyond all measure
All for love’s sake became poor.
I’ll be singing this song all day because of your words here.
Thank you so much, Deb. “Remember – no matter how you feel – you are loved” That are the most beautiful words I heard today. Greetings from me, In Europe. Glad I read this today.
Oh My Goodness!! A great reminder of what we have in Jesus. Thank you for sharing with Thankful Thursdays.