I have often wondered at what point Jesus understood He was to go to the cross? \u00a0How long did He live with that knowledge? \u00a0Or how many times did Jesus look around at what everyone else was doing and long for marriage and family life? \u00a0Did He ever wish for a different profession? \u00a0Something other than carpentry? \u00a0How many times did He set aside longings for what He knew He was on earth to accomplish?<\/p>\n
In Hebrews 12:2 we are told that, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame …”<\/em><\/span> \u00a0Jesus lived for a future joy. \u00a0In fact, He’s still living for that future joy, a time when all of His brothers and sisters have received the salvation He died to give them. \u00a0We too, as believers and followers of Jesus, must live for future joy. \u00a0In our perfect life yet to come, we will live out the fulness of our destinies; we will be whole and complete with perfect minds, hearts and bodies. \u00a0Our purposes will be clear. \u00a0We will have phenomenal harmony in every relationship, everyone will get along and appreciate one another. \u00a0In the next life all our dreams come true and sorrows end.<\/p>\n This future focus can be very hard to remember in America where so many live to have it all now. \u00a0 Variations on the message, “You can do anything you set your mind to!” abound. \u00a0With such wealth and privilege all around us, it is easy to fall into dreaming only about the here and now. \u00a0While in fact, this is just a prelude. \u00a0In this life we are preparing and being prepared for what comes next. \u00a0We live in what has been called the, “already but not yet”. \u00a0We labor towards a heavenly life and are graced and rewarded with tastes of what’s to come.<\/p>\n When we forget about our eternal future, we are left with placing all our hopes in this life, a guarantee for disappointment. \u00a0Patti, my mentor and friend, has said to me numerous times over 30 years, “Maybe God doesn’t have that for you.” \u00a0Many times I have faced that some dreams don’t come true – here. \u00a0Here on this earth. \u00a0But, later, what I will taste, what you will taste, will be more glorious than any of our hopes or dreams of today. \u00a0This knowledge is part of what sustains us through the disappointments. \u00a0The future joy is what sustained Jesus through today, His day of execution and separation. \u00a0It is why He was able to walk willingly into the hands of His persecutors. \u00a0It is why He didn’t run from the pain, but moved steadily into it.<\/p>\n For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. \u00a0Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Hebrews 12:2-3<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n To meditate further on these ideas see: \u00a0Eph 2:10, Phil 1:6, Rms 8:18, 1Cor 2:9, 1Cor 12:12-31, 1Peter 1:4, Rev 21:5<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have often wondered at what point Jesus understood He was to go to the cross? \u00a0How long did He live with that knowledge? \u00a0Or how many times did Jesus look around at what everyone else was doing and long for marriage and family life? \u00a0Did He ever wish for a different profession? \u00a0Something other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}