SACRIFICE - Good Friday Meditation

1 John 4:10 declares that God - because of His love for us - sent Jesus to be the "atoning sacrifice" or "propitiation" for our sins. It's incredibly humbling to realize once again that Jesus' purpose in coming to earth was to die for you and me.

Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus Christ became obedient to death when He went to the cross for us. I believe this means that by acting in obedience to the will of His Father, He was compelled to die on the cross. He knew that this was the only way to reconcile sinful man to God, and though - in His humanity - He didn't want the torture and pain, He submitted Himself to the suffering for our sake.

Surely He has borne our griefs a

nd carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken, s

mitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵ 

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

A

nd by His stripes we are healed.

 

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

¹¹ 

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

~ Isaiah 53:4-6, 10-11 ~

2 Corinthians 5:21 says that "God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

It is sobering and saddening to remember on this day that it was because of my sin that Jesus had to go to the cross. But this is GOOD Friday, and there is reason to rejoice. Why? Because of Jesus' perfect sacrifice, we have forgiveness and reconciliation with God, despite our sinful choices - marvelous grace!

Thank You, Jesus, for taking the punishment for my sin, for bearing the suffering and pain that I deserved. Thank You for being willing to be my sacrifice and for reminding me again of Your great love for me.

Once again I look upon the cross where You died;

I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside;

Once again I thank You, once again I pour out my life.

(Because You poured Yours out for me.)

LOVE - Holy Week Meditation

Yesterday and today I have been reading about the love of God, which is the only reason that I have anything to write about and rejoice in.

How often do we contemplate our reason for saying "I love you" to someone? Or what we mean when we ask someone, "Do you love me?" What my brother, Andrew Shaver, wrote in his blog post the other day was really profound to me:  The biblical gospel is clear.  God chooses to save people, not because they are special or good, or have potential, but simply because God chooses to set his love on people. Thank God for this!

 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” ~ John 10:14, 17-18

To be honest, I don't know that I have words adequate enough to express what I am thinking and feeling as I meditate on the significance of Jesus' love for me and the action of freely laying down His life for me.

I just watched the Jesus film and was brought to tears in the scene where Peter denies Jesus and then weeps bitterly outside...although, unlike Peter, I have never seen or walked with Jesus, I know the heart-wrenching pain of knowing that I have consciously sinned and grieved Him who loves me so deeply. That reality makes it all the more amazing that Jesus freely chose to love me and die for me.

Romans 5:8 declares that God's love is demonstrated by His willingness to die for sinners in order to reconcile them to Himself.

I can't think of any better motivation to obey and follow Jesus than to express my gratitude to Him - which is exactly what He told His disciples in John 14:15 -- "If you love Me, keep My commands."

Love for God starts with God and comes from Him -- 1 John 4:10, 19 declare that God loved us first and sent His Son to die for our sins, and that is why we love Him. And Ephesians 5 tells us to love in the same way that Christ loved us, by giving up His life for us.

Lord Jesus, may I never lose sight of Your love for me. On my own I cannot love the way You love, so I ask that You keep me humble in order that Your love can flow through me. I thank you today - and every day - for your amazing love. I do not understand it, but I am grateful for it, and I thank You that You are changing my heart and helping me learn to love like You. Thank You for dying for this unworthy sinner, and for choosing to set Your love upon me that I might declare Your love to the world. Amen.

HOSANNA - Palm Sunday Meditation

This picture is my creative expression of what we celebrate on Palm Sunday, and the meaning of the word "Hosanna."

Today is Palm Sunday. Here in Ukraine, the Protestant churches will celebrate a month later, but I have decided to take time this week to meditate on the events we celebrate at Easter - which are the foundation of my Christian faith.

The word "Hosanna" originally was a cry for help, for salvation -- "Save us!"
In the context of the New Testament, it is generally used as an expression of praise and exultation - "Salvation has come," which is probably the intended meaning of Matthew 21:9 when the crowd shouts, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

I chose John 1:29 as the focal point of my Palm Sunday poster, because I believe this is the reason to shout and sing "Hosanna!" Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, and when we cry "Hosanna," we are acknowledging that He is who He said He is.

I wonder if the people in Jerusalem really understood the significance of what they shouted as they waved their palm branches and rejoiced at Jesus' triumphal entrance. Perhaps some of them did, but not all believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the One sent from God to be the salvation of Israel.

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was a fulfillment of prophecy and an act of voluntary and complete obedience to His Father's will and it was also a demonstration of His love. It was the annunciation of Jesus' purpose on earth ... to be the Lamb of God, the Savior who takes away the sins of the world.

This Palm Sunday I witnessed a miracle -- following the pastor's sermon on John 3 and Jesus' declaration that a person must be born again to see the kingdom of God, one of the men in the congregation prayed to receive salvation and was spiritually born again, praise God!

HOSANNA in the highest, salvation has come! HOSANNA, to the Son of David, the Messiah, our Savior! BLESSED IS HE who comes IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!