Will Stand, Forever

These words of Jesus have been coming to mind as of late, whenever I watch the election news coverage :

"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste;

and any city or house divided against itself will not stand."

Matthew 12:25

Our nation is divided on so many issues. The truth in this verse is one reason why America will not stand.  Sin creates division.  Sin separates us from God.  Sin is our captor.  Sin demands a price for our release.  Death is the price that had to be paid for our release from sin and to bring us to God.  The good news, Jesus paid the price for us and it was an unbelievable price.  How we value the price paid and the Person Who paid the price determines how important it is to us to act on getting the good news out, of Jesus dying willingly in our place, of Jesus providing peace and oneness for us with God and each other and providing the peace of God within our hearts, in a broken, divided world.  We don't need to be praying and working for God to save America, we need to be praying and working for God to save the broken people in America.  One day, the kingdom of Jesus and righteousness and oneness is going to fill the earth.  It will stand forever.  Giving ourselves up for Him, surrendering our wills to His enlarges His kingdom now.  It is our calling.  It is our obligation, because we've been given to Jesus (John 13:3) and He gave Himself for us (Titus 2:14) and He is Lord.

Faces

This is has been a great weekend.  It started out Friday night with dear brothers and sisters in Christ at Discovery Baptist's Good Friday service.  It was an evening of quiet reflection - of Jesus as He went to the cross.  I've been thinking about what the different faces of the people in this story looked like.  The ugly, snarling faces of the people as they yelled for the crucifixion of Jesus.  The laughing faces of some when the crown of thorns was sunk into Jesus brow.   Not pleasant to think about.  The message Tim and I heard Friday night mentioned the look Jesus gave Peter when the rooster crowed.  Imagine the shame and agony on Peter's face when his eyes met Jesus eyes.  Jesus eyes brought Jesus words to Peter's remembrance, that he would deny Him.  Peter didn't remember after the first denial, or the second, or the third.  It was after the rooster crowed and Jesus looked into Peter's face and eyes.  The look by Jesus couldn't have been a look of "I told you so."  That would not be fitting with His character, not when it was His desire to have relationship with Peter.  I think Jesus look was one of sadness, grief, and redemptive compassion.  This is what caused Peter to weep bitterly.  Jesus loved Peter and Peter had not loved Jesus in return, but denied that he knew Him.  What about the agony on Jesus face, when the Father tore Himself away from Jesus, His face was not even recognizable, because of the beatings.  And what did Mary's face look like, as she watched what happened to Jesus?  Certainly there must have been tears streaming down.    

Saturday morning I read the four gospel accounts of the resurrection.  The anticipation began to build for Sunday morning.  On the first day of the week, the two Mary's (neither the mother of Jesus) went to the tomb to anoint Jesus body with spices.  John records that Mary Magdalene was weeping.  Had Mary cried herself to sleep the night of Jesus crucifixion?  Did she even sleep that first night?  The events of the day and what she had seen must have been tormenting her relentlessly.  No thoughts of Jesus having raised from the dead.  Just grief.  Matthew records that the two Mary's were trying to figure out who they were going to get to roll the large stone aside.  Grief-stricken faces changed to fearful faces as they encountered an angel of the Lord when they arrived at the tomb.  The guards at the tomb had trembled with fear at the earthquake as the angel descended, whom God had sent to roll the stone away.  The angel's appearance was like lightning.  Imagine the terror on the guard's faces.  Matthew recorded that the guards shook and became like dead men, they were so terrified.  They didn't see Jesus walk away.  Their faces were buried in the ground.  But the angel told the women not to be afraid.  But they were afraid.  Fearful faces and tear-stained faces.  The angel knew they were looking for Jesus, the body of Jesus, but the angel said they weren't going to find Him there because He had risen as He said He would.  And then the angel instructed them to go tell His disciples that He had risen.  Matthew tells us that they left quickly, running, with fear and great joy on their faces.  How do those two emotions express themselves on faces, at the same time?  We are told that Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus first.  She was still overcome with grief, after her angelic encounter.  She thought that Jesus was the gardener.  Jesus asks her why she is weeping and who she is looking for.  Then He says her name. "Mary."  Recognition of Him envelopes her, she clings to Him - her face surely expressing great joy, through the tears.  The women run and tell the eleven, but the eleven don't believe them.  Luke says it seemed like an idle tale to them.  Sarcastic disbelief on their faces, even though Jesus had told them He would rise.  But it did move Peter and John to get up and run to the tomb.  John made it first and stopped at the entrance of the tomb.  Peter followed and didn't stop but goes all the way in.  Peter sees the linen cloths lying there, the face cloth folded up, separate from the linen cloths.  Disbelief on Peter's face turns to marveling.  John then enters, sees the empty tomb and the cloths, and the disbelief on his face turns to belief.  His eyes and face must have been shining now.  Jesus had risen, just as He said!

Jesus is risen, and because He lives, we will live too.  Someday our faith will be sight.  Someday we are really going to get to look into the face and eyes of our Beloved Savior.  For me, I'm convinced it will be through tears of great joy, along with wonder, and marveling.

Today has been a wonderful day, spent first celebrating with Harvest Bible Chapel, Spring Lake, our beloved online Michigan church.  Such joy seeing the grinning, transformed-by-Jesus faces of twenty-two of His saints, as they were baptized at the end of the service, impromptu - the testimonies were precious.  And then the celebration moved to our home church here in Port Orchard, at Christ the Rock Community Church.  More baptisms and precious testimonies and tears of joy, seeing such joyful, Jesus loving faces.

Thank You Jesus, for the cross.  It transforms hearts, then faces.

I'm shifting gears a bit now, but it's still about faces.  I promised you some pictures of Charlie, and Ben, and Mai.  They are in this album, along with more faces of the people I love that I spent the afternoon with...I trust that you, friends, had a wonderful day, too.

Ok, here's a sneak preview, before you click on the link...

Anticipating...

...the celebration of tomorrow!

Secure

"It is finished!"

Our salvation has been secured.

What a cost -

Nothing, shall ever separate us from the love of our Savior...

Forsaken, for Our Oneness

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?...Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me."  John 14:10a, 11a

Jesus,

One with the Father,

cherished by Him from eternity past,

became sin on the cross.

Jesus became our pride, 

and our lust,

and our foolishness, 

and our rebellion and hostility towards God.

The list goes on and on.

The Father no longer took joy and pleasure in His Son.
The Son became abhorrent to the Father.
He pulled away and turned from the Son.
The oneness was gone.

His feelings for Jesus turned to righteous anger,

and in fury He poured His wrath out on Jesus.

Jesus,

sin hanging on a tree,

feeling the crush of His Father's wrath,

cried out,

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!"

His body, crushed,

and His heart, was crushed also,
for you, and me.

Then, "It is finished" fell from His lips.

The plan made from before the creation of the world was accomplished. 

The price for sin was paid, in full.

The Lamb of God, the Son, had been crushed by the Father's wrath

so His sheep, His gifts from the Father, His chosen - could be forgiven.

Jesus committed His spirit into His Father's hands, His scourged, pierced body going limp.  His bloodied and shredded body was then placed in a tomb where it lay for the next three days and three nights...but the forsaking was over, and the oneness between Jesus and the Father was restored, and will never be broken again, and we are lovingly held in Their oneness for all eternity, too.

"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me."  John 17:22,23 

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest day:

Christ on the road to Calvary.

Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten,

Then nailed to a cross of wood...

Oh, to see the pain written on Your face,

Bearing the awesome weight of sin.

Every bitter thought, every evil deed

Crowning Your blood stained brow...

Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath

Quakes as its Maker bows His head.

Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life,

"Finished!" the victory cry!

 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Mother

For the last three weeks I have been in LA, helping my sister care for my sweet mom who had to have emergency surgery on February 29th.  Today is my last day with her before heading home and it just happens to be her 75th birthday!  It has been wonderful being with you, Mother.  Your continual trust in our Sovereign Lord throughout this past month has been a blessing.
Happy Birthday - so glad I was able to spend it with you!  Being with you on your birthday was golden.  Seeing the smile on your face, priceless!

My twin sister Karin thinks I look like my mom,
I think I look like them both!

 

Stay tuned.  Charlie, Ben, and Mai arrived back from Vietnam 

while I was away.  More family pictures to come!