Episode 16: Isaiah 53:5
Dear friends, welcome to Peace Prayers. My name is Juli, and I would love to be able to spend some time with you today. What I'd like to do is read a Scripture from the Bible about peace, and then pray it together over our lives. That way we can have a few minutes to start our day with God's peace. I'm so excited to get started with you. Thank you for joining me today.
Today's verse is Isaiah 53:5. But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed.
Let's pray together.
Jesus, I don't know what to say. The only thing that seems even remotely appropriate is thank You. The entire human race owes everything to You. We sinned. We went the wrong way. We abandoned the gift of life that we were given. Our pride decided that it knew what was right for us. The cost of that is immeasurable. There was no way that we would ever be able to make our own way back. And as a result, we had sin in the world, brokenness, division, strife, all of the horrors of being human. We still had the wonderful world that You created, but we had broken it. I am so sorry for that.
But the amazing thing is, is that You never gave up on us. You had a plan right away. You had a plan before we did it. There's nothing that gets past You, but there was such a cost for that, for our peace. No matter how many times I read Your word, how often I meditate or contemplate it, no matter films that I may see depicting it, or read other people's words, or have conversations. Jesus, I will never be able to fully understand the true measure of suffering that You went through on my behalf, that You went to bring me peace, wholeness. You redeemed me and You redeemed everyone. May I never forget that. May I never hold that lightly or consider it a small thing or take it for granted. Every breath that I breathe is due to You, LORD Jesus, the word of creation. And every breath that I continue to breathe is because of Your redemptive act.
I would be so lost without You. There is no future without Your sacrifice. For the piercing, the crushing, the punishment, the wounds. We don't like those words. We don't want those words on our conscience, but You took the burden of the entire human race. Every sin that ever has been or ever will be committed, and You separated Yourself from Your Father for us. Father, You separated Yourself from Your son for us. We are so unworthy, but I am so grateful.
I pray that we would feel the full import of that today. And this isn't to make us feel guilty. This isn't to make us feel bad, but it is a thing of hope and joy. We get to live. We get to move forward in all the grace and joy and happiness and redemption that was provided for us.
So, let's take advantage of that. Let's love Him in response. Let's obey Him in response. It is a happy, happy thing, a beautiful and scandalous mystery, a severe mercy. You are every contradiction, LORD, but I thank You for that.
And let's take advantage of that peace and that wholeness that You provided. We are no longer bound to our sin. We are new creatures. The old bonds of slavery do not have to hold us anymore. So, today, when you hear my voice and you remember Jesus's sacrifice, shake off those chains that are holding you back. Take a small step forward. Move in victory. Remember that you are free. It doesn't matter the circumstances of your life, painful though they may be. God has born the suffering already.
He is bringing healing. He is bringing redemption. You get to live free, and we still live in the consequences in the broken world, but we don't have to be bound by that. We can know that the victory was already won and that we didn't have to do it. The pain that we're living, I'm so sorry for your pain. I don't want to discount your pain or mine, but that pain is nothing to the agony of the cross. So I pray gratitude pours out of us at every step.
Jesus, accept my thanks, and today I wanna live that way, and tomorrow I wanna live that way with a hope of peace. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You.
And wherever you're at today, I pray that that reaches you. I pray that that brings you hope. Your misery is not forever. Jesus loves you so much, and he wants to be with you today. He wants to give you victory today.
In Your name, I pray. Amen.
That is it for me today, my friends. Thank you so much for joining, and I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful rest of your day. If you'd like to connect with me, you can find me over on Instagram at thejulihernandez, and I'd love to see you there.
Otherwise, we will see you on Friday.
