Do you need a reason to be truly thankful, friend? Well how about remembering the incalculable blessing you have been given because Yeshua died on the cross in exchange for your life, saving you from the penalty of the law and healing you from the hopeless condition of “spiritual death.” Is not this the most amazing and wonderful thing ever done for you? Because of Yeshua you have an everlasting hope; you will never be separated from love; you have a place within the heart of God; you are forever accepted, welcomed, and beloved…. Because of Yeshua, you will never die; you will be resurrected from the dead to experience peace and love and joy forever and ever as a member of God’s family… Moreover, because of God’s grace you are given strength to face the challenges of this life and to live without fear. You understand this world to be a “corridor” to the world to come where you will enjoy the great consolation of heaven, even experiencing the glory of the direct and personal revelation of God Himself!
Please remember, however, that the cost of your redemption was utterly priceless and beyond all reckoning, namely “the precious life blood of Messiah, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you” (1 Pet. 1:18-20). As Isaiah foretold of Yeshua: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced (profaned) for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was upon him, and in his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5). In this famous passage that foretold the suffering of Yeshua, note that the word translated “wound” (i.e., chaburah: חַבּוּרָה, “blow” or “stripe”) comes from the same root as the word for “friend” (i.e., chaver: חָבֵר), and therefore we can read “in His friendship we are healed.” Yeshua gave up His life for us so that we could become his friends… As he later said regarding his sacrifice: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Indeed of Yeshua it may truly be said, yesh ohev davek me’ach – “there is a friend who sticks (davek) closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). Praise God for Yeshua our “Leper Messiah,” and the “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34). O give thanks to the LORD for his great friendship for you and for the great gift of his salvation! Amen.
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