Reality

This morning the girls and I were doing our devotions and talking about how much God loves us. I was explaining to them how God sent Jesus, not just to die for us, but to be beaten, ridiculed, tortured and nailed (still alive) to a cross, even though he had done NOTHING wrong. I ended up in tears. I was overwhelmed (not for the first time) by the thought that God loved us enough to allow it to happen. Can you imagine if it had been your child? Do you love anyone enough to allow your only child tobe tortured, even though he was completely innocent, to save the other person?! I gave the girls an example of letting my oldest pay the ultimate penalty, in order for others to live. My youngest ended up tearfully saying "I would miss her".
You've heard the saying "what would Jesus do", well, we know what he would do. We know what He DID do. The next time we think things are bad, or we aren't being treated right, or we deserve better....what if we thought about what Jesus did? What if we thought about how God felt? That would be a reality check, wouldn't it?
Jesus died on a cross to pay a penalty He didn't deserve, His Father allowed it--to provide a way for us to be with him.
If I keep that in mind, I can handle just about anything. Most of us won't go through anything nearly as bad as that, thank God. If we can keep our situations in perspective, and seek God first, then what He did for us will not have been in vain. I heard it said once that every time we sin, we are nailing Jesus back on that cross. There's a visual for you to keep in mind!