Today's Text and Thought of Encouragement: "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you…when you see this, your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like green and tender grass. And the powerful hand of the Lord shall be revealed and known to be with you." Isaiah 66: 13, 14 Amplified Bible "He shareth my sorrow, my need He full knoweth, My wound He can heal with His wonderful balm; And into my torrent of grief from Him floweth, The exquisite sense of an infinite calm." J. Danson Smith Today's Study Text: "Now that we know what we have – Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God – let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – yet was without sin. So let's walk right up to Him and get what He is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help in our time of need." Hebrews 4: 14-16 N.I.V. The Message Bible "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human) and lived among us." John 1: 14 Amplified Bible EXPLORATION: "He's My Friend" – Part 4 "He Lives In My Neighborhood" "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." Robert Murray M'Cheyne What does it mean to me to know that Jesus understands what I am going through right now? "He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience from trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death….He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile." Dorothy Sayers INSPIRATION: "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human) and lived among us." John 1: 14 Amplified Bible I've been so blessed in my life to be able to be around great gospel music. So it was no surprise when I went off to college that I asked my parents if I could take an old Elvis Presley vinyl record, with gospel music on it to school with me. Obviously, through the years, that old scratched record, as my dad used to say, "Had seen better days!" And so several years ago, I purchased The complete Gospel Records of Elvis Presley called Peace In The Valley. There are many songs on these CD's which I absolutely love, not the least is one written by Pierce Walker called, "He Knows Just What I Need." Perhaps you've heard this song as well but for those of you who haven't, here are the words: "My Jesus knows when I am lonely He knows each pain, He sees each tear He understands each lonely heartache He understands because He cares. My Jesus knows just what I need Oh yes, He knows just what I need He satisfies and every need supplies, Yes, He knows just what I need. My Jesus knows just what I need Oh yes, He knows just what I need He satisfies and every need supplies Yes, He knows just what I need." Exactly as the song repeats the chorus twice, so I repeated it too because I don't think we can remind ourselves frequently enough regarding the words from the Apostle John when he penned this phenomenal news: "The Word (Christ) became flesh (human) and lived among us" (John 1: 14, Amplified Bible). Yes indeed, the Word knew exactly what we needed and He cared enough to see that we received what we so desperately needed, too. I don't believe any commentator or Bible scholar depicted this text in a way better for us to understand than Eugene Peterson has in The Message Bible: "The Word was made flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1: 14). I want to share the thoughts from Frank A. Thomas, Senior Servant at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church who comments, "I love this rendering of this text because of the choice of the word "neighborhood." The Word was made flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. Neighborhood reminds me of the place where I grew up and the people with whom I grew up. I remember the street corner where we played baseball…I remember the playground, where what seemed like millions of kids played basketball . . .I remember block parties, where all the neighbors would sit out on the front lawns with the streets blocked off, and all day we would just have food, games, and fun together . . . The Word was made flesh and moved into my south-side neighborhood." But Frank Thomas doesn't stop by just focusing on the fact that "The Word" moved into his neighborhood. Instead, he shares his expansive thinking to include everybody, just like God did when He came to walk among us. As Frank Thomas points out, "The beauty of this text is that Jesus moves into every neighborhood: from barrio street corners to Gold Coast condos, from ghetto projects to suburban mansions." You see, as Thomas underscores, when the "Word" became flesh, it was because, as John reminds his readers, "God so loved the world" (John 3: 16, K.J.V.). Simply put so that even I can understand, the "Word," my friend Jesus, stepped into our world and walked up and down every street whether it was dirt or paved or stone and He looked at each person He met and said, "I love you." Even me – even you! As this thought began to sink into my mind, I began to wonder what it was that made the "Word" want to get so close-up to the sorrow, the heartache, and the pain of life in your neighborhood and mine. Here's where I went back to the words penned by Bible commentator Matthew Henry who points out that "when Jesus took upon Himself the nature of man, He put Himself into the place and condition of man. The Word might have been made flesh and dwelt among the angels; but having taken a body of the same mould as ours, in it He came, and resided in the same world with us. He dwelt among us…even though He had no need of us… us that were corrupt and revolted from God. The Lord God, (The Word) came and dwelt even among the rebellious…He was not in the world as a wayfaring man that tarries but for a night, but He dwelt among us, He has made a long residence with us." Yes, the "Word" moved down into this world because He loves you. He loves me. And He cares enough for us to be able to understand everything that strikes you and your life. In the words of J. Danson Smith: | 
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