Tag: cross

Good: What One Clings To

See him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;

O the worm-wood and the Gall! O the pangs his soul sustained!

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

(James Montgomery)

photo-004

 . . . fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)

On this side of the cross, we call this day good. We cling to the cross, surrendering there, surveying its wonder. Amazed by love that held our Savior to a rugged, tortuous death. Taking our place. The beatings, the demeaning slurs and slaps and mockeries all weigh down this redeemed heart.

As I stand under the shadow of the cross today, I feel relieved that the narrative doesn’t end there. What is my faith built on? Do I really surrender at the cross? Or do I surrender to His love? Do I surrender when I find out the tomb is empty or when I see Him ascend in the clouds? Do I promise to love Him over breakfast on the beach, when He asks that searching question: “Do you love me?”

What does my love and devotion look like? Is it ritual or real? Is it messy or measured? Does my sin hold His attention or does His love hold mine?

I have contemplated the cross year after year, and you’d think I’d have more answers than questions. But tonight, I wonder why do we cling to the cross, why do we relive the suffering of Jesus? He demonstrated and declared, “It is finished!” Why can’t I just fast forward to the sunrise and the joy that was set before Him? As I walked to my car, after the Good Friday service, a song poured into my heart and onto my lips:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

(Edward Mote)

What is your hope built on?

Posted on by kelrohlf 1

un(glued): upset, disordered

IMG_0446

God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. (Romans 8:3-4 The Message)

 

Unable to fix our

Never ending problems,

God, the Father

Lavished

Us with

Eternal love!

Down with death, Jesus lives!

 

Imagine if, we could buy some magic glue to mend our broken hearts. But no, it takes blood. A body and a cross drenched with blood heal our dead-end attempts at life. That’s it! That’s enough!

Linking with FMF!

 

Posted on by kelrohlf 6

un(stoppable): incapable of being stopped

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3 ESV)

IMG_3675

Unstoppable, Jesus set His face toward the steep hill. Step by excruciating step. Searing pain emanating from His back weighed down, under the burden of His cross. Carrying death on His raw, bleeding back, so we could rest easy. So we might not grow weary. He endured it all without regret, for us to embrace peace, experience joy and cling to hope in the face of our own versions of suffering.

Before Jesus offered Himself on the cross, before He died, He challenged the disciples to follow Him by denying themselves and taking up their cross daily. He was using this metaphor to foreshadow the way He would die.

Yet, I often wonder, what the disciples thought He meant. Why would He make a reference to taking up the cross, how morbid? That was how criminals died. They weren’t criminals.

Yet, haven’t we been robbing God since the beginning of time? Stealing His glory. Congratulating ourselves. Look at me! Look what I did!

All in vain, because the Father isn’t interested in our accomplishments, He wants our company. Jesus invites us to give up our self-effort. Then we will be unstoppable, just like Him!

 Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? (Luke 9:23-25 The Message)

 

 

Posted on by kelrohlf 2