In Touch Devotional 4th October 2024, By Charles Stanley, Friday Message
TOPIC: Understood by Jesus
SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 4:14-15
Whenever disaster happens in a friend’s life, it is natural to try and offer comfort. But do you ever feel as if you’ve said the wrong thing? Sometimes expressions of consolation create even more pain. For example, “I understand” can feel empty if you haven’t actually experienced a comparable situation.
Yet most of us long to feel understood. And it helps to know other people who have faced similar circumstances (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Today’s passage reassures us that Jesus truly understands since He experienced struggles like ours.
In today’s passage, the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as our High Priest. The priest—the Jewish people’s bridge to God—offered sacrifices for their sins. Christ not only took on this role, but He also became the sacrifice when He died on the cross. By doing so and dying in our place, Jesus endured great suffering on our behalf. Now He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven and intercedes for us. What’s more, Jesus truly understands our pain and weakness. Though fully God, He was also fully human and faced the very temptations, needs, and hurts we experience.
If you feel alone in the hardships you’re facing, recall Jesus’ trials and suffering. You’ll find comfort in His understanding.
Bible in One Year: Matthew 5-7
Thought for Today: You are never alone in the hardships you face, because Jesus truly understands and offers comfort.
Dr. Charles Stanley, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Stanley’s heart’s desire is to get the gospel to “as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, as clearly as possible, as irresistibly as possible, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.