2010 CHALLENGE 8: SORROW

3:16

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For God so loved the world

that HE GAVE His only begotten Son

that whosoever lives in Him

shall have ETERNAL LIFE.

John 3:16

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Today is March 16 or 3/16 and I am reminded that Jesus came to give LIFE and to give it abundantly. I have also been reminded that the "abundant life" that we may think of as humans probably does not align itself to God's version.

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This is Kristy and her mother Kathy in a picture taken at our church building several years ago. When I think of these two women, I think of LIFE... ETERNAL LIFE...

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This past Sunday morning, Kristy spoke to our women's class, telling her story of her recent trip to Haiti. Her account was sobering. Kristy is no stranger to mission trips. Throughout her young life, she has been on several. She has had a great model, in how Kathy, in how to give of herself through missions. After graduating from Rice University, Kristy spent 2 years working with the Peace Corps in the jungles of Ecuador. She realized that her undergrad degree in mediterranean cultures would help more if she had a nursing degree. So, she returned to the states and took more schooling to become a nurse. Her trip to Haiti was with a christian medical team.

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As she spoke to us on Sunday morning, there was one part that was revolutionary to my thinking. Kristy said that arriving in Haiti may have been much like the experience those had arriving in New York after 9/11. There was grief beyond measure. There was wailing. There was a stench. She quickly thought of our Lord Jesus who was no stranger to any of this. She said that she gained perspective as she "thought a lot about The Man of Sorrows who was well acquainted with grief."

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As she talked, I began to think a little bit of what Jesus' last three years of life on this planet were like for Him... all the people He served... Here are just a few of the stories of His service with the scripture locations of the stories after each one. My mother-in-love's "gospel zip codes", after each story listed below, help to find multiple places the same story is told in the gospels. Example: (for instance, the first one about healing the nobleman's son is not found in Matthew, Mark, or Luke but it is found in John 4).

• Jesus healed the Nobleman's son - 0004


• Jesus healed the man with demons - 0140


• Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law - 8140
  
• Jesus cleansed the leper - 8150


• Jesus healed the paralyzed man whose friends let him down through the roof -9250


• Jesus healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda - 0005


• Jesus healed the man with the withered hand -12,360
  
• Jesus healed the Centurion's servant - 8070


• Jesus raised back to life the widow of Nain's son - 0070


• Jesus healed the blind and mute man - 12,000
  

The gospels are full of story after story of hurting and sorrow. Jesus was there. He ministered. He listened. He served. Jesus was well acquainted with sorrow and grief.

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Isaiah 53 says,

"He was despised and rejected by men,

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A MAN OF SORROWS,

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and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

He was despised,

and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows..."

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As Kristy continued to talk about Haiti, she told of the primitive conditions. She was in charge of a large tent with 50 cots holding injured women. They used buckets for toilets and bed pans. Death and dismay were all around. She shared about the nursing school that collapsed while it's nursing students were still in class. Gone! The Department of Health... gone! The Medical School... gone! Sobering!

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Kristy saw lost limbs and open wounds. There were many orphans! Yet, in the midst of the death, sorrow, and great grief people began to seek God. They wanted life that is eternal! They wanted something that would give them hope!

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Because of Kristy, and those like her, seeds of hope have been and are being planted of a God who is good all the time. Kristy said that she is aware that, oftentimes, it is sorrow that draws people to Him!

3:16
For God so loved the world
that HE GAVE His only begotten Son
that whosoever lives in Him
shall have ETERNAL LIFE.
John 3:16

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Jesus is LIFE and LIGHT,

the CHIEF SERVANT,

and the WOUNDED HEALER!!!

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GIGATTAATTGIG!!!

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Note:

You may learn a little more about Kristy Here.

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