On facebook, many have posted that we should not be celebrating the fact that Bin Laden was killed. Many have suggested that we should be upset and disturbed that a soul was now eternally separated from our Lord.
We can confuse a celebration over a victory won from a battle with evil with that of the loss of a life. I personally am not celebrating the loss of Bin Laden's life, but am celebrating victory over evil.
In Scripture God commanded the Israelites to celebrate and never forget the Passover. There were many lives lost during the Passover. God was not commanding the Israelites to celebrate the loss of lives, but to celebrate the victory over darkness. To celebrate deliverance. To celebrate freedom in Him. The Israelites were not focused on the Egyptians that had died, but rather had their eyes fixed on God instead. That is as it should be. If they focused on any deaths, it was the deaths of their own people they remembered.
I believe what many are celebrating in this nation is very similar to what the Israelites celebrate during Passover. We are remembering the innocent lives that have been lost and are celebrating that they now have victory.
Scripture has proven, hearts can harden and remain hard. Pharaoh's heart was hardened and never did soften. This resulted in the loss of lives of many Egyptians, not only in the Passover itself, but following when they pursued the Israelites and died in the Red Sea.
God on another time commanded King Saul to "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys" in 1 Sam 15:3. He knew the people had evil in their hearts and would not ever come to Him. He did not want the Israelites to celebrate the loss of the Amalekites lives, but rather rejoice in the victory He brought them.
Scripture gives us examples of God's grace on the Israelites over and over again. Yet it also shows us times when He commanded an entire people destroyed, such as the Amelekites.
Bin Laden was given choices like the rest of us. We all can turn away from evil or we can follow it. Bin Laden's choice was to follow it; to harden his heart. Not only were lives lost in our nation at the hand of this man, but many lives of his own people were lost because of him.
As a follower of Christ, it is hard to reconcile in our hearts those that choose to follow evil instead of Him. True victory comes in belief in Christ.
So should we rejoice in Bin Laden's death? I believe we should rejoice in victory over evil. Bin Laden was similar to Hitler, who oddly enough died on May 1, 66 years ago. Coincidence?; Perhaps, but God moves in mysterious ways. By His grace, we no longer are witnessing someone get off free who had such evil and violence in his heart that he was willing to destroy nations, and even his own people. The vengeance was God's and we can celebrate that.
We cannot be held responsible for those that choose evil over good. We cannot mourn them either. We cannot mourn the fact that they made their own decisions and while we, along with God would love to see everyone turn to Him, He already knew that was not going to happen before we were all created. He knew the fall of man would come and already had His redemption plan to bring people back to Him all developed and underway. Praise Him for Jesus Christ as His plan for reconciling man to Him, even with all the evil in our hearts.
But not everyone will decide to accept such grace and that is what I mourn. I cannot mourn a man who made the decision not to accept, but I can mourn evil. Evil will still remain on this earth until the final victory is won during those last days and evil is thrown into the fiery Abyss for all eternity. That is one victory that we will ALL celebrate! Even on that final day, in front of the Great White Throne of God, He has the grace to give everyone one last chance. We have an awesome and loving God who is good, faithful and true! Praise Him!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wedding Perfection!
Sometimes we just need to indulge on our guilty pleasures and escape into something beautiful when the world is full of ugly. After watching such devastation in the southern portion of our nation and seeing so much suffering, I felt the Lord was going to show up this early morning during the union of Prince William and Kate Middleton. All I can say is, He did!
Thirty years ago I witnessed Prince Charles and Diana walk down the aisle to be united. I remember thinking at the time that her dress was a bit over the top and, while stylish at the time, would not likely be long-lived as far as style. I also remember a scared young girl that was nervous and unprepared for what lied ahead. While at the time it seemed fairy tale, it was clearly devoid of love. It seemed like two people were marrying that barely knew each other. The look on the groom's face in the picture below says it all.
Today's wedding was a polar opposite affair. Confident, relaxed and thoroughly enjoying themselves, it was what a wedding should be. For today, one could believe that fairy tales do come true.
William and Kate threw a wedding that was absolute perfection! Her gown was timeless, classic, elegant and reminded me of Grace Kelly. It was gorgeous without ornaments to make it over the top. Her tiara was perfect and sentimental. How befitting that she would wear the crown of William's grandmother, the Queen, given to her by her father, the King, on her 18th birthday.
The maid of honor was beautiful. Her gown was elegant, but understated and did not distract from the bride. She was a perfect maid of honor. Her glory was brighter out of her service to her sister. You could really feel the love between the girls.
You also felt the love between two brothers. I loved how Harry could not help but turn to look at Kate as she walked down the aisle and give a quick report to William who was not supposed to turn and look. It was classic Harry!
The children were beautifully adorned and so well behaved during the ceremony. Can you imagine how overwhelming that must be for young ones that age? I was also impressed with the young boys in the choir and how well behaved they were.
One of my favorite moments was when William did see her how he gave her a sideways glance and then leaned over and whispered to her "You look absolutely beautiful" and she did!
The couple smiled and whispered to each other off and on during the ceremony, much like you would expect a couple that was in love would do. They truly appeared to be enjoying their day, as they should be. The Queen herself smiled more than I have ever seen her smile. She was truly happy.
The readings and prayers were beautiful. Kate's brother was an excellent reader. He did a great job. I can't imagine being in his shoes knowing that so many dignitaries and people were watching and having to read to perfection, but he pulled it off! The couple spent a lot of time conveying a consistent message of love, unity and transformation into Christ-like image. I loved it!
I kept imagining the Lord being at the end of the aisle and looking down and seeing His Bride as beautiful and perfect looking as Kate was when she stood at the nave of the church with her father. She was breathtaking! I want Jesus to feel that way about us when He comes to receive His bride! I want Him to feel we are just as breathtaking.
Today I witnessed, not only history in the making, but probably one of the most perfect weddings I have ever seen or will ever see. It was full of love and happiness. Even the Lord sent sun to shine as soon as Kate stepped out of the car to enter the church.
I pray that the Lord will bless their union and that they will bring back faith, love and hope to a Nation that we feel is so important and close to us. I pray that the couple will grow much closer to God than their ancestors have seemed to do and will take all of what was read and prayed over to heart, transforming into one, united together and in Christ.
Thirty years ago I witnessed Prince Charles and Diana walk down the aisle to be united. I remember thinking at the time that her dress was a bit over the top and, while stylish at the time, would not likely be long-lived as far as style. I also remember a scared young girl that was nervous and unprepared for what lied ahead. While at the time it seemed fairy tale, it was clearly devoid of love. It seemed like two people were marrying that barely knew each other. The look on the groom's face in the picture below says it all.
Today's wedding was a polar opposite affair. Confident, relaxed and thoroughly enjoying themselves, it was what a wedding should be. For today, one could believe that fairy tales do come true.
William and Kate threw a wedding that was absolute perfection! Her gown was timeless, classic, elegant and reminded me of Grace Kelly. It was gorgeous without ornaments to make it over the top. Her tiara was perfect and sentimental. How befitting that she would wear the crown of William's grandmother, the Queen, given to her by her father, the King, on her 18th birthday.
The maid of honor was beautiful. Her gown was elegant, but understated and did not distract from the bride. She was a perfect maid of honor. Her glory was brighter out of her service to her sister. You could really feel the love between the girls.
You also felt the love between two brothers. I loved how Harry could not help but turn to look at Kate as she walked down the aisle and give a quick report to William who was not supposed to turn and look. It was classic Harry!
The children were beautifully adorned and so well behaved during the ceremony. Can you imagine how overwhelming that must be for young ones that age? I was also impressed with the young boys in the choir and how well behaved they were.
One of my favorite moments was when William did see her how he gave her a sideways glance and then leaned over and whispered to her "You look absolutely beautiful" and she did!
The couple smiled and whispered to each other off and on during the ceremony, much like you would expect a couple that was in love would do. They truly appeared to be enjoying their day, as they should be. The Queen herself smiled more than I have ever seen her smile. She was truly happy.
The readings and prayers were beautiful. Kate's brother was an excellent reader. He did a great job. I can't imagine being in his shoes knowing that so many dignitaries and people were watching and having to read to perfection, but he pulled it off! The couple spent a lot of time conveying a consistent message of love, unity and transformation into Christ-like image. I loved it!
I kept imagining the Lord being at the end of the aisle and looking down and seeing His Bride as beautiful and perfect looking as Kate was when she stood at the nave of the church with her father. She was breathtaking! I want Jesus to feel that way about us when He comes to receive His bride! I want Him to feel we are just as breathtaking.
Today I witnessed, not only history in the making, but probably one of the most perfect weddings I have ever seen or will ever see. It was full of love and happiness. Even the Lord sent sun to shine as soon as Kate stepped out of the car to enter the church.
I pray that the Lord will bless their union and that they will bring back faith, love and hope to a Nation that we feel is so important and close to us. I pray that the couple will grow much closer to God than their ancestors have seemed to do and will take all of what was read and prayed over to heart, transforming into one, united together and in Christ.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Missed or is it Mis-Communication!
Sue asks: "Who's on first?"
Shae answers: "I'm on second."
Sue: "No, I asked who was on first?"
Shae: "My purse, no it is with Sam who is up in the stands."
Sue yells over to the dugout: "Hey Jack, who's on first?"
Jack: "Shae is on second and Bill is on third."
Sue in disgust throw up her hands, shaking her head and walks off the field: "I give up! These people are idiots!"
Have you ever worked with or participated in a group that communicated like this? Written out you think it is so clear that Sue wants to know who is on first and why can't people just answer her direct, as direct as she asks the question? Yet, somehow Sue walks away and never does learn who is on first. Tension likely grew and then walls between the different teammates began to rise up.
Having found myself recently involved with some individuals who are communicating just as poorly, it made me wonder why their communication turned so sour. What started the mis-communication in the first place?
Today in our instant gratification world, one thing we have lost is the art of listening to others. We have lost ability to actually speak with each other effectively. More people would rather text a quick phrase or two, not even properly spelled out but with acronyms and short-cut language than actually press their phone speed-dial button and talk to the person direct. Email has taken over phone calling as well. Bottom line, with all these whiz bang, new technology communication tools, people have distanced themselves from each other so much that they have lost the art of communication.
Misunderstandings occur because one team did not update another team on what they were doing so the other team goes off in a different direction. Team A is frustrated because Team B didn't do what they were expecting and therefore lost potential business. Team A did not communicate their plan to Team B, nor asked Team B for their buy-in, nor made sure that Team B understood their value to Team A. They instead sent either a quick email or text message expecting the team to interpret the message in their own way. The message sent may have been so incomplete and incompetent that no one would have understood the message unless they were inside of the head of the person that sent the message. It may have been a mid-sentence type of message. Team A never did get back a validation that Team B understood their direction.
Team B, not understanding the communication sent to them and not taking time to validate what was sent to them, chose to interpret the message their own way and chose their own path. After Team A started to challenge what Team B was doing, Team B, grew frustrated because they felt Team A was always criticizing their work. They began to resent Team A and therefore didn't show any appreciation to Team A. Instead they followed a path that made their life easier instead of realizing that their choice may have a huge impact overall that could result in a costly down-spiral for the company. Now the friction grows because no one took the time to make sure that both teams were properly informed and on the same page in the first place. So instead of having two teams that are aligned and working side by side, we see one team going left while the other is going right and the gulf gets larger and larger.
What do you do when the friction seems impossible to fix?
Do you find yourself in a place where you are witnessing the spiral downward of a great group of people all due to lack of proper communication? Do you realize you can lean on Someone Who truly does care and is the only One with the ability to fix the problem?
I have decided in my situation at work, to take my prayers up to the One Who is Able, the One who can fix the impossible. Even though team members may not even be believers, I do believe that Jesus cares about our daily tiffs and disagreements. He cares about broken relationships more than anyone else and is the only one that can bring about reparation of that broken relationship.
Be encouraged, we have an Advocate who stands in the gap for us. He cares about our concerns.
As I find myself in the middle of a "War of the Roses" at my workplace, I realize that there is Someone that can change things and bring about restoration of relationship. I choose to lean on Him and His understanding because once a relationship is as broken as what I am witnessing, if we lean on our own understanding it can only get worse.
For all of you entrepreneurs out there, it seems to me that offering some training on how to use technology to its fullest, while not losing the art of communication and consensus would be a great opportunity. Anyone interested? Just make sure you back up your agreements in writing! :-)
Shae answers: "I'm on second."
Sue: "No, I asked who was on first?"
Shae: "My purse, no it is with Sam who is up in the stands."
Sue yells over to the dugout: "Hey Jack, who's on first?"
Jack: "Shae is on second and Bill is on third."
Sue in disgust throw up her hands, shaking her head and walks off the field: "I give up! These people are idiots!"
Have you ever worked with or participated in a group that communicated like this? Written out you think it is so clear that Sue wants to know who is on first and why can't people just answer her direct, as direct as she asks the question? Yet, somehow Sue walks away and never does learn who is on first. Tension likely grew and then walls between the different teammates began to rise up.
Having found myself recently involved with some individuals who are communicating just as poorly, it made me wonder why their communication turned so sour. What started the mis-communication in the first place?
Today in our instant gratification world, one thing we have lost is the art of listening to others. We have lost ability to actually speak with each other effectively. More people would rather text a quick phrase or two, not even properly spelled out but with acronyms and short-cut language than actually press their phone speed-dial button and talk to the person direct. Email has taken over phone calling as well. Bottom line, with all these whiz bang, new technology communication tools, people have distanced themselves from each other so much that they have lost the art of communication.
Misunderstandings occur because one team did not update another team on what they were doing so the other team goes off in a different direction. Team A is frustrated because Team B didn't do what they were expecting and therefore lost potential business. Team A did not communicate their plan to Team B, nor asked Team B for their buy-in, nor made sure that Team B understood their value to Team A. They instead sent either a quick email or text message expecting the team to interpret the message in their own way. The message sent may have been so incomplete and incompetent that no one would have understood the message unless they were inside of the head of the person that sent the message. It may have been a mid-sentence type of message. Team A never did get back a validation that Team B understood their direction.
Team B, not understanding the communication sent to them and not taking time to validate what was sent to them, chose to interpret the message their own way and chose their own path. After Team A started to challenge what Team B was doing, Team B, grew frustrated because they felt Team A was always criticizing their work. They began to resent Team A and therefore didn't show any appreciation to Team A. Instead they followed a path that made their life easier instead of realizing that their choice may have a huge impact overall that could result in a costly down-spiral for the company. Now the friction grows because no one took the time to make sure that both teams were properly informed and on the same page in the first place. So instead of having two teams that are aligned and working side by side, we see one team going left while the other is going right and the gulf gets larger and larger.
What do you do when the friction seems impossible to fix?
Do you find yourself in a place where you are witnessing the spiral downward of a great group of people all due to lack of proper communication? Do you realize you can lean on Someone Who truly does care and is the only One with the ability to fix the problem?
I have decided in my situation at work, to take my prayers up to the One Who is Able, the One who can fix the impossible. Even though team members may not even be believers, I do believe that Jesus cares about our daily tiffs and disagreements. He cares about broken relationships more than anyone else and is the only one that can bring about reparation of that broken relationship.
Be encouraged, we have an Advocate who stands in the gap for us. He cares about our concerns.
As I find myself in the middle of a "War of the Roses" at my workplace, I realize that there is Someone that can change things and bring about restoration of relationship. I choose to lean on Him and His understanding because once a relationship is as broken as what I am witnessing, if we lean on our own understanding it can only get worse.
For all of you entrepreneurs out there, it seems to me that offering some training on how to use technology to its fullest, while not losing the art of communication and consensus would be a great opportunity. Anyone interested? Just make sure you back up your agreements in writing! :-)
Juror Dismissed!
Having spent the majority of my adult life never having to actually report in for Jury Duty because my number was always previously dismissed, today was a different story.
Like any other person that gets the summons to do Jury Duty, I was apprehensive. Oh gosh, why now? How can I get out of this? Please, as I dialed the number the day before to see if I would have to report, have my number already be dismissed.
Lo and behold that wasn't the case. I had to report. I prayed that this decision would change somewhere in the night and I would be excused from having to serve.
As I called many times late into the night, hoping He answered my prayers that an update would occur so that my number would no longer be required to report, I heard that Still Small Voice say to me, "I want to teach you about My Justice". Yes, I had heard direct from the Mighty Shophet Himself. He wanted me to not shirk my responsibilities. I repented and promised Him that I would go in with a positive attitude and be willing to surrender to Him completely. No matter what the case, I would be a willing servant.
I reported early this morning, still apprehensive, yet knowing He was with me made a big difference. I had my crossword puzzle books,my Bible study materials and Bible with me, set for a long day at the courthouse.
Going through security was a breeze, other than my belt setting off the alarm, that is. Upstairs, check-in went quickly as well. I looked around the room and was surprised to only see anywhere from 30-50 people in a very large room. See the numbers that had to report started with 519 and went all the way through 3210. I was expecting a big crowd. Go figure... they don't use numbers sequentially. They must be rather random.
I felt a bit more at ease seeing the smaller number of folks, figuring it must be a quick civil case of some sort because otherwise the selection pool would likely be larger. While waiting I was learning that people were driving long distances to report in and felt a little selfish and foolish for my small drive in comparison. Just another way the Lord reminded me to remain humble and obedient to Him.
We all grabbed our cup of coffee and then the Jury Coordinator came in and told us that we would be watching a movie and then the judge would be coming in to speak with us.
We watched a movie telling us how "wonderful" and "rewarding" it is to be a juror. I snickered at the poor attempt at marketing, but actually did find some of the information rather interesting. They then proceeded to tell us what could be expected of a juror and the process we would go through. The movie ended and I was rather looking forward to the process at this point. I was fairly certain I was going to be selected, probably based on hearing from The Lord Himself that He wanted me to learn about His justice.
But to my surprise, the judge came in and told us, after introducing himself to us, that the case we were top have heard had been dismissed just seconds before. The DA had interviewed their star witness late last night and realized they would have to dismiss the case after the interview. I was, at this point, rather stunned and smiled knowing that we would be dismissed and yet show that we had fulfilled our duty, meaning we could not be called again this year.
Reality set in, however, as I was walking back to my car. I asked the Lord why He would tell me I was to learn about His justice only to come and find out I wasn't needed because the case had been dismissed before we ever started through the process. Then I started to think about whether justice had been served or not. Was this the Lord's way of serving justice? Did the eye witness do poorly in the interview because justice would be served by not bringing the case to trial, or did a criminal get let loose because a witness was suddenly having second thoughts or faded memories?
I still have unanswered questions about this one, but at least I feel better knowing I followed the Lord's prompting and fulfilled not only my duty as a citizen, but also submitted to obedience to Him. Now I just have to figure out how to reconcile the case dismissal in my mind. I am at the moment leaning that the Lord intervened and allowed freedom to a person that either deserved it or that would now turn their life around, realizing that God had intervened on their behalf.
Jury duty summons' in the future? Well one thing is certain, I will ask of the Lord, listen, and follow His lead, and not be near as apprehensive as I was today. We may not always have answers to the way things turn out in life, but we do have One we can turn to who does have the answers. We may have to wait a while to learn the answers, but we will get them eventually direct from the One who knows!
Like any other person that gets the summons to do Jury Duty, I was apprehensive. Oh gosh, why now? How can I get out of this? Please, as I dialed the number the day before to see if I would have to report, have my number already be dismissed.
Lo and behold that wasn't the case. I had to report. I prayed that this decision would change somewhere in the night and I would be excused from having to serve.
As I called many times late into the night, hoping He answered my prayers that an update would occur so that my number would no longer be required to report, I heard that Still Small Voice say to me, "I want to teach you about My Justice". Yes, I had heard direct from the Mighty Shophet Himself. He wanted me to not shirk my responsibilities. I repented and promised Him that I would go in with a positive attitude and be willing to surrender to Him completely. No matter what the case, I would be a willing servant.
I reported early this morning, still apprehensive, yet knowing He was with me made a big difference. I had my crossword puzzle books,my Bible study materials and Bible with me, set for a long day at the courthouse.
Going through security was a breeze, other than my belt setting off the alarm, that is. Upstairs, check-in went quickly as well. I looked around the room and was surprised to only see anywhere from 30-50 people in a very large room. See the numbers that had to report started with 519 and went all the way through 3210. I was expecting a big crowd. Go figure... they don't use numbers sequentially. They must be rather random.
I felt a bit more at ease seeing the smaller number of folks, figuring it must be a quick civil case of some sort because otherwise the selection pool would likely be larger. While waiting I was learning that people were driving long distances to report in and felt a little selfish and foolish for my small drive in comparison. Just another way the Lord reminded me to remain humble and obedient to Him.
We all grabbed our cup of coffee and then the Jury Coordinator came in and told us that we would be watching a movie and then the judge would be coming in to speak with us.
We watched a movie telling us how "wonderful" and "rewarding" it is to be a juror. I snickered at the poor attempt at marketing, but actually did find some of the information rather interesting. They then proceeded to tell us what could be expected of a juror and the process we would go through. The movie ended and I was rather looking forward to the process at this point. I was fairly certain I was going to be selected, probably based on hearing from The Lord Himself that He wanted me to learn about His justice.
But to my surprise, the judge came in and told us, after introducing himself to us, that the case we were top have heard had been dismissed just seconds before. The DA had interviewed their star witness late last night and realized they would have to dismiss the case after the interview. I was, at this point, rather stunned and smiled knowing that we would be dismissed and yet show that we had fulfilled our duty, meaning we could not be called again this year.
Reality set in, however, as I was walking back to my car. I asked the Lord why He would tell me I was to learn about His justice only to come and find out I wasn't needed because the case had been dismissed before we ever started through the process. Then I started to think about whether justice had been served or not. Was this the Lord's way of serving justice? Did the eye witness do poorly in the interview because justice would be served by not bringing the case to trial, or did a criminal get let loose because a witness was suddenly having second thoughts or faded memories?
I still have unanswered questions about this one, but at least I feel better knowing I followed the Lord's prompting and fulfilled not only my duty as a citizen, but also submitted to obedience to Him. Now I just have to figure out how to reconcile the case dismissal in my mind. I am at the moment leaning that the Lord intervened and allowed freedom to a person that either deserved it or that would now turn their life around, realizing that God had intervened on their behalf.
Jury duty summons' in the future? Well one thing is certain, I will ask of the Lord, listen, and follow His lead, and not be near as apprehensive as I was today. We may not always have answers to the way things turn out in life, but we do have One we can turn to who does have the answers. We may have to wait a while to learn the answers, but we will get them eventually direct from the One who knows!
Cries from the Cross
Can you hear the cries? Have you really listened to them? There are seven of them. Seven cries and each holds a special meaning, a prophetic message.
After listening to a wonderful sermon by Pastor Damon Thompson, I could not stop thinking about the seven cries. His message was powerful and I just had to share my thoughts on this one. Thank you Jesus for how you speak through your anointed ones!
Christ's first cry from the cross was "Father, forgive them" in Luke 23:36. Jesus was teaching the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness frees us. It is probably the most important deliverance a person can have on their life. I personally imagine that Christ's glory brightened up even a little bit more, if that is even possible, as He uttered this cry. Up on a cross, suffering along with the two beside Him, yet He is thinking of others, and focused on making sure His heart harbors no darkness, oh don't you just love that heart?
A second cry. Turning to the sinner next to Him, who saw His goodness, He cries out "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" in Luke 23:43. Christ was teaching us that we have the ability to turn to Him, even when all hope seems gone. Christ demonstrated that even through His own pain and suffering on our behalf, that the invitation was still there. We can turn to Him, always at any time.
"Here is your mother" Jesus cries out to the beloved disciple in John 19:26-27. When we have the cross in common, we establish new family members. Christ was showing that we all belong to each other when we enter into His kingdom. I rejoice to have new family members with me and thank Him for such beautiful family!
Having been adopted as a one-year old child, experiencing the loss of many loved ones who died before I turned the age of 10, I had developed a sense of abandonment. One of the things that came out of a prayer session I had with some dear prayer warriors and sisters in Christ that pray with me, is that I may have been bound to this sense of abandonment. What a joy it was to be delivered from any residual effects that abandonment may have had on my life. However, this experience gave me a whole new understanding of how Christ felt when he cried out "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani" which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" found in Matthew 27:46. The Father turned his back on Christ in those final moments, for Christ was loaded down with the burden of all of my sins and all of the sins of the world. During those few moments, He was soiled with our sin and therefore had to be forsaken. He experienced being forsaken so that we would never have to experience it again. He has promised and his promises are true, that He will never forsake us. For those who have been abandoned in life, this has to be a huge comfort. You have someone to turn to and depend on no matter what. He is always there for you. Praise Him that He had victory and was able to be restored to the Father.
John 19:23 gives us Christ's fifth cry from the Cross. "I am thirsty". My eyes were opened from the sermon. I realized that this thirst was what we typically presume. We think of it as a physical thirst, with His body exposed to the full sun beating down on Him; His sweat and blood being poured out in the heat of the day. However, after examining the passage more thoroughly, it says right before that cry "knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty". Jesus was talking of a spiritual thirst. He was thirsty to have the work finished. Carrying the burden of the sin of mankind on Him, He was thirsty to be close again to His father, just as He was carrying our own thirst for the Father. He wanted to be back in that kind of communion with His Father, just as we desire that same communion. Jesus wanted the fulfillment of Scripture to be complete, full and final. He was the fulfillment of all Scripture written. ALL Scripture is about Jesus and His fulfillment of the eternal plan laid out before us through His work on the Cross.
His sixth cry was "IT IS FINISHED"! Finished indeed! Damon said something that brought a smile to my face was worthy of further consideration. When Christ cried out "It is finished", he suggested that there was likely great partying going on in the underworld. Satan probably thought Jesus was giving up and not realizing the full extent of what Jesus was proclaiming. However, Christ ends up with the last party. Here was perfection being betrayed by the same people that He created. Here was the price paid, complete atonement. Here was the manifestation of all Scripture being fulfilled. Here was the man who "fought off every one of hell's hounds so that we could be with Him in Heaven" (Damon Thompson).
The true happy dancing occurred on that early Sunday morning as Jesus claimed victory now the tables were turned. The underworld no longer were rejoicing and partying. All of its inhabitants were now trembling. Hallelujah that it is finished! All death is defeated - it is finished! Cancer is defeated - it is finished! Addictions are no longer - it is finished! Reconciliation is complete through Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven is brought to earth through Christ and His beloved Bride. It is finished! Light has defeated darkness, purity has defeated perversion, truth has defeated lies and deceptions...it is finished!
The final cry came in Luke 23:26 where Christ drops his head and claims "into Your hands I commit My Spirit", returning the treasure of who He is into the only hands worth trusting, His Father's. He gave and surrendered all to the Father, in his birth, life on earth, crucifixion, and continues to surrender to His Father next to whom He now sits. He has been rewarded as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all things, as a result. Hallelujah! "Jesus was born to die where all other men were born to live" - Damon Thompson.
Christ cried out seven times so that we would never have to cry any more. Hallelujah, Praise Him!
After listening to a wonderful sermon by Pastor Damon Thompson, I could not stop thinking about the seven cries. His message was powerful and I just had to share my thoughts on this one. Thank you Jesus for how you speak through your anointed ones!
Christ's first cry from the cross was "Father, forgive them" in Luke 23:36. Jesus was teaching the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness frees us. It is probably the most important deliverance a person can have on their life. I personally imagine that Christ's glory brightened up even a little bit more, if that is even possible, as He uttered this cry. Up on a cross, suffering along with the two beside Him, yet He is thinking of others, and focused on making sure His heart harbors no darkness, oh don't you just love that heart?
A second cry. Turning to the sinner next to Him, who saw His goodness, He cries out "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" in Luke 23:43. Christ was teaching us that we have the ability to turn to Him, even when all hope seems gone. Christ demonstrated that even through His own pain and suffering on our behalf, that the invitation was still there. We can turn to Him, always at any time.
"Here is your mother" Jesus cries out to the beloved disciple in John 19:26-27. When we have the cross in common, we establish new family members. Christ was showing that we all belong to each other when we enter into His kingdom. I rejoice to have new family members with me and thank Him for such beautiful family!
Having been adopted as a one-year old child, experiencing the loss of many loved ones who died before I turned the age of 10, I had developed a sense of abandonment. One of the things that came out of a prayer session I had with some dear prayer warriors and sisters in Christ that pray with me, is that I may have been bound to this sense of abandonment. What a joy it was to be delivered from any residual effects that abandonment may have had on my life. However, this experience gave me a whole new understanding of how Christ felt when he cried out "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani" which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" found in Matthew 27:46. The Father turned his back on Christ in those final moments, for Christ was loaded down with the burden of all of my sins and all of the sins of the world. During those few moments, He was soiled with our sin and therefore had to be forsaken. He experienced being forsaken so that we would never have to experience it again. He has promised and his promises are true, that He will never forsake us. For those who have been abandoned in life, this has to be a huge comfort. You have someone to turn to and depend on no matter what. He is always there for you. Praise Him that He had victory and was able to be restored to the Father.
John 19:23 gives us Christ's fifth cry from the Cross. "I am thirsty". My eyes were opened from the sermon. I realized that this thirst was what we typically presume. We think of it as a physical thirst, with His body exposed to the full sun beating down on Him; His sweat and blood being poured out in the heat of the day. However, after examining the passage more thoroughly, it says right before that cry "knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty". Jesus was talking of a spiritual thirst. He was thirsty to have the work finished. Carrying the burden of the sin of mankind on Him, He was thirsty to be close again to His father, just as He was carrying our own thirst for the Father. He wanted to be back in that kind of communion with His Father, just as we desire that same communion. Jesus wanted the fulfillment of Scripture to be complete, full and final. He was the fulfillment of all Scripture written. ALL Scripture is about Jesus and His fulfillment of the eternal plan laid out before us through His work on the Cross.
His sixth cry was "IT IS FINISHED"! Finished indeed! Damon said something that brought a smile to my face was worthy of further consideration. When Christ cried out "It is finished", he suggested that there was likely great partying going on in the underworld. Satan probably thought Jesus was giving up and not realizing the full extent of what Jesus was proclaiming. However, Christ ends up with the last party. Here was perfection being betrayed by the same people that He created. Here was the price paid, complete atonement. Here was the manifestation of all Scripture being fulfilled. Here was the man who "fought off every one of hell's hounds so that we could be with Him in Heaven" (Damon Thompson).
The true happy dancing occurred on that early Sunday morning as Jesus claimed victory now the tables were turned. The underworld no longer were rejoicing and partying. All of its inhabitants were now trembling. Hallelujah that it is finished! All death is defeated - it is finished! Cancer is defeated - it is finished! Addictions are no longer - it is finished! Reconciliation is complete through Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven is brought to earth through Christ and His beloved Bride. It is finished! Light has defeated darkness, purity has defeated perversion, truth has defeated lies and deceptions...it is finished!
The final cry came in Luke 23:26 where Christ drops his head and claims "into Your hands I commit My Spirit", returning the treasure of who He is into the only hands worth trusting, His Father's. He gave and surrendered all to the Father, in his birth, life on earth, crucifixion, and continues to surrender to His Father next to whom He now sits. He has been rewarded as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all things, as a result. Hallelujah! "Jesus was born to die where all other men were born to live" - Damon Thompson.
Christ cried out seven times so that we would never have to cry any more. Hallelujah, Praise Him!
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