Showing posts with label Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cross. Show all posts

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Saturday Selah: Song to the Lord

Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". Selah notes a break in the song and as such is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage.
Saturday Selah
I will exalt You, my God the King;

I will praise Your name for ever and ever. ~ Psalm 145:1
Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, O my soul. ~ Psalm 146:1

Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

How pleasant and fitting to praise Him! ~ Psalm 147:1

This week I discovered a delightful poet, Helen Lowrie Marshall [1904-1975]. Her poems sing praise to God and refreshment on my soul. I want to share a Selah from her with you:

Each day, upon my daily round,
I find myself on holy ground-
The morning-glories on my fence
Inspire quiet reverence.
Just one small, tender seedling grew,
And now, this miracle in blue.
A robin in the apple tree
Sings out his glad doxology.
I hear the pure, unsullied joy
Of laughter from a little boy;
I bow before the firm belief
And faith of one who lives with grief;
I watch a jet plane skim the skies
And marvel at man's enterprise;
I look upon a field of wheat
And thank God for the bread we eat;
I watch the benedictive rain
On low-bowed heads of flower and grain.
A friend drops in, a neighbor calls,
The lamps are lit, night gently falls;
Contentment settles with the sun
In labors of the day well done.
So many little altars there,
So many simple calls to prayer,
So many reasons for thanksgiving-
The sacraments of daily living.

Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD from the heavens,

Praise Him in the heights above. ~ Psalm 148:1

Praise the LORD.

Sing to the LORD a new song,

His praise in the assembly of the saints. ~Psalm 149:1

Praise the LORD.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty heavens. ~ Psalm 150:1
On this Saturday, while we wait in excitement for Resurrection Sunday...pause to praise the Lord God Almighty for His beautiful gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Weight of the Cross



Good Friday: We Were His Cross

And He, bearing His cross, went out to...Golgotha, where they crucified Him. ~ John 19:17-18
John, the beloved disciple, describes Christ's crucifixion in simple, straight-forward terms.

Let's break it down and explore the details:

And He...

Jesus - (Yahweh saves)

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. ~ Matthew 1:21

Christ - (the Anointed One)

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ~ Matthew 16:16

Son of God -

And when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God." ~ Matthew 27:54

~~~~~~~

...bearing His cross...

was spat upon and beaten -

I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. ~ Isaiah 50:6

Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands. ~ Matthew 26:67

was scourged and disfigured -

So His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. ~ Isaiah 52:14

So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. The the soldiers led Him away...they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head...then struck Him on the head with a reed and spat upon Him. ~ Mark 15:15-19

~~~~~~~

...where they crucified Him...

died in our place -

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. ~ Isaiah 53:6-7

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him...Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." ~ Luke 23:33-34

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness all over the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" ~ Matthew 27:45-46

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, adn the rocks were split. ~ Matthew 27: 50-51

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WHY HIM?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

Therefore remember that...at that time you were without Christ...having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For through Him we...have access by one Spirit to the Father. ~ Ephesians 3:11-13, 18

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ~ Titus 3:4-7

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CELEBRATE GOOD FRIDAY!

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ Galatians 2:20