"Killing Jesus"

     "A Friendly Shade," takes my thoughts in many different directions as I search for what to post.  This Easter season had me looking through the list of books downloaded on my Kindle.  I noticed, "Killing Kennedy", written by Bill O'Reilly, and remembered how much I enjoyed reading his book.  I have yet to order, "Killing Jesus," also written by Bill O'Reilly, but expect to read that one soon.   
     In the meantime, I decided to post my own version of "Killing Jesus."  As a matter of fact our pastor asked us to contemplate, explore, and share the death of Christ on the cross.  The sermon's scripture today was from Isaiah 53.  In verse 7, I was reminded of Jesus's great love for us as He took on our sins in silence.   "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth."
     By Jesus's actions, He basically said, "I will gladly, and in silence, lay down my life on the cross for you. I will pay the price for your sins." That is just what He did.  He bore the ridicule, the stripes on His back, and the nails.  He did that for me and for all of mankind.

          Killing Jesus

“Let Him die,” was the decree,

    yet killing Jesus was not to be.
“Kill Him! Kill Him!” followed the cry,
    but no reason why.

The mob moved within the crowd

    shouting in voices angry and loud.

“He’s spreading rumors all abroad,
     a common man, liar, and fraud.
“Kill Him! Kill Him!”
Oh! So much mayhem!

Soldiers took the whip to thresh,  

    bringing blood and tearing flesh.   
A vine of thorns became His crown;
To a splintered cross His hands were bound;
Nails pierced His hands and feet.
The crowd came alive and began to repeat,
    “Kill Him! Kill Him!”
People watched with faces grim.     
Mockers spit in His face-
  beneath them, was His place.
The cross, slammed into the ground,
    anguish was profound;
Agony and pain
    doubled from bodily strain.
Blood covered barren skin,
    or what had been.

“Father, forgive them,” was heard by those standing there,

    just before the heavens opened, a Son to declare.
Rejected, mocked, battered, and shamed;
   a King, unnamed-
In death, the temple rent in twain.
The earth did quake the valley and plain. 
Over it all, light turned to darkness,
    shouts ended in quietness.
Fear appeared on the witness face
    in that very place.     
All was silence
    after the violence.

“Kill Him! Kill Him,” had been the cry.   
They did not know He would not die-
    nor why.
"Arise! Arise!" was God's own cry.
Salvation was the reason why.

A resurrection was God's decree;
  a plan foretold to set the sinner free.
The Son of God, a Savior, missing from the grave.
He arose to live! Souls to save.
A coming day for all to see-
Killing Jesus was not to be.
                                         Mary Crisp Jameson

 

 

God's Protective Power

     Today, I was reminded of Psalm 91, God’s protective power, and the angels we are so unaware of going before and providing protection.   

Psalm 91
⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

      The reason this scripture and God’s protection came to mind is that we live every day, in most instants, completely unaware of His protection as illustrated by the following story that happened to us.   

      My husband and I were traveling and driving pretty close behind a truck hauling a large tank of oxygen when we came to a railroad crossing.   The driver of the truck, because of the type of material he was hauling, had to come almost to a creeping stop in order to ease across the tracks. We, in turn, slowed.  My husband had just made the comment, “He has to ease over those tracks to keep the oxygen from exploding.” 
     Then all of a sudden I looked out my passenger side window and there was an 18-wheeler passing us on the right shoulder of the highway.   
     “Whoa!  What is he doing?” I thought.  
     It happened fast as we continued to travel behind the truck with the load of oxygen.  The driver of that truck hauling the oxygen probably did not even see what had just happened.  However, when I looked back I noticed the 18-wheeler had finally stopped off to the side of the highway.  That was when I realized what had actually just occurred.  Obviously, the driver could not brake or slow down soon enough and had to leave the highway to avoid sandwiching  us between his truck and the one in front of us and, in turn, exploding that oxygen tank.  Thankfully, he and his truck was also safe and sound. 
     God was definitely at work saving all of us from what could have been a very tragic accident.
     I give God the praise and the glory for His protective hand through this and for His protective hand every day, even when I am unaware and negligent of His Holy presence.      

The Carpenter's Foundation

     We studied about the foundation and the cornerstone set by Jesus last Sunday.  It reminded me of how precise a carpenter has to be when he constructs a home.  However, no matter how solid man sets a foundation, there is only one which will truly stand, and that is the foundation and cornerstone set by Jesus.   No other can raise a temple in three days, but when Jesus died on the cross He raised a temple in three days, and he established Himself as the very cornerstone of life.    Ephesians 2: 20b "...Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone."  John 2:19 "Jesus answered  and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

The Carpenter’s Foundation

Wham, wham, wham!
Tap, tap, tap!
You could hear the echo of the hammer
  as the boy worked along side his dad-
  a simple life portrayed.
It was just a carpenter’s trade,
  one the boy had come to do.

Wham, wham, wham!

Tap, tap, tap!
The foundation soon to be hammered in place;
  the cornerstone set!
A death to cover mankind's debt.
This Carpenter would build the way
  with blood and sweat.

Wham, wham, wham!

Tap, tap, tap!
Do you hear it pounding in your ear-
  the nails being set in place,
  see His pain, sweat, and blood
  dripping with His labor of love?

Wham, wham, wham!

Tap, tap, tap!
One cross with 3 long nails-
  the people's anger unfurled.
A foundation set before the world.
Behold the tender embrace
  of a Carpenter come to build a dwelling place;
A cornerstone set by His nail-scarred hand,
  unshakable as the earth quaked and rocks rent the land.

Wham, wham, wham!
Tap, tap, tap!
The final nail in place;
  the Cross slammed into the ground.
Darkness fell and silence was the sound-
  a death, a resurrection, a call!

Listen! Rid your doubt,
  heed His shout,
  “It is finished! Come unto me."
By the Carpenter's nail-scarred hand,
   He has set us free.
                             Mary Crisp Jameson

The Bread of Life

     I didn’t see it coming! It crept in unaware.    What once looked enticing no longer gives joy. What once was comfortable no longer fits quite right. What once looked lean and trim no longer does.  Buttons don’t button. Zippers won’t zip. Tummies bulge, muscles droop, and chins sag.  Not at all the "blast from the past." 
     There is so much that can be said about bread and what its fattening power can impose upon the body.

     Yet, there is good bread, One which can strengthen the heart of man without the fear of gaining weight.
     John 6:33; 35-40 “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
     “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
     Giving more thought to the Bread of Life, I pray to live more on the Word than on the abundance of food.
     Matthew 4:4 “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Bullets

     What fun it is to look for deer tracks in the snow!  And there are plenty of those deer roaming around “A Friendly Shade.”  It is also a delight to secretly watch as they slip across the clearing unknowingly aware they are being watched.  They seem to have a natural instinct for survival as they are always alert and watchful. The slightly sound will send them leaping, very quickly, out of sight.  Yet, I have to admit that as much as I enjoy watching the deer creep silently out of the woods, I still have just as much enjoyment when hunting season arrives.

     Preparing for the hunt, I rise early, before dawn, to gather whatever gear is needed. One of the first things is to make sure I have plenty of bullets, not that I am a poor shot, but because I want to be prepared.  My .44 magnum rifle may have a shorter range capacity than some others, but it produces a powerful force when aimed properly at an unsuspecting target.    

     That is also what Satan does.  While being fully supplied with enough bullets to deceive even the smartest of people, his aim is quick and powerful.  Like a good hunter, he is ready and waiting for just the right moment to seek out his unsuspecting target.  If the target sucessfully dodges that first bullet, there will be another coming behind it.   

     As humans, we don’t have the natural instinct given wild animals for survival.  We have something better, a Book that never ages.  Within the pages of this Book, God gave us our very own set of bullets as well as the wisdom to choose to use them in order to avoid becoming Satan’s target:

 

               THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

 

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.

3. Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neightbor’s house, wife or possessions.