Friday, April 6, 2012

For God so loved the world...

http://youtu.be/6dpvelclNCU - Glorious Day - Casting Crowns



Luke 22:47-23:56  (NIV)

Jesus Arrested

47 While He was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss Him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And He touched the man’s ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for Him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

Peter Disowns Jesus

54 Then seizing Him, they led Him away and took Him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with Him.”

57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know Him,” he said.

58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”

60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown Me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The Guards Mock Jesus


63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating Him. 64 They blindfolded Him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65 And they said many other insulting things to Him.

Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67 “If You are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”

Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe Me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

70 They all asked, “Are You then the Son of God?”

He replied, “You say that I am.”

71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from His own lips.”

Luke 23


1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see Him. From what he had heard about Him, he hoped to see Him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied Him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing Him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in an elegant robe, they sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined Him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against Him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; as you can see, He has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish Him and then release Him.” 

18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in Him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have Him punished and then release Him.”

23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that He be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion of Jesus


26 As the soldiers led Him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed Him, including women who mourned and wailed for Him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above Him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus


44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last.

47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

The Burial of Jesus

50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

But that wasn't the end of the story...



http://youtu.be/HGVrgRWqudA  - Revelation Song - Kari Jobe

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

http://youtu.be/7fwI4qbLpxE - Just Another Mountain - Jamie Slocum

Matthew 17:20
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”




Just another mountain...

God has trusted me with one little thing.   Sometimes I drop the ball, but I try to keep prayer requests in front of our Parents in Prayer at school and at my church.  It's not hard.  Anyone with a computer could do what I do.  But since I'm in front of my computer almost all day long, it's pretty logical that I take on this task.

The down side?  Being inundated with prayer needs can be overwhelming and heartbreaking.  I see so many good people who are hurting.  I don't understand why they have to go through such suffering.  Each one has their own "mountain" he/she is climbing.  The question is do they have a Life Line? or are they trying to climb the mountain on their own?

I love this song by Jamie Slocum - Just Another Mountain.  It's easy to become discouraged and allow ourselves to feel defeated, hopeless.  There are days when I see a friend struggling and I think, "Lord, could she just catch a break here! Please take this burden from her!"  But then He reminds me that as much as my heart breaks for my friend's suffering, He loves her more than I can imagine.  He reminds me that I have to keep looking up, trusting Him just like she does. 

I've watched TV specials on mountain climbing and it scares me to death.  I can't imagine being  on the side of cliff hoping to have a good hand or foot hold within reach for my next move.  Sometimes the holds are so tiny I don't see how the climber can possible get a finger in the crack enough to be able to hold on.  I know it takes a special kind of man or woman to scale a seemingly impossible rock climb.

As I watch a climber scale rock walls that seem impossible, it reminds me of my friends who are doing the same thing, scaling impossible mountains.  Just like that climber, my friends know how to find the hand and footholds. They know how important it is to have someone they can trust to help them on the climb.

Well, as any real climber can probably see, I don't know much about mountain or rock climbing.  So I turned to my good friend, Rick Love, and asked for his input regarding the relationship between physical  and spiritual mountain climbing.

from Rick -

Carol, I’m not a climber, at least from the technical sense, but the spiritual metaphors are virtually endless;


For the purposes of your metaphor, the following assumes the climber’s ascent and/or rappel will be ‘assisted’ not solo.

The climber begins by putting on his/her safety harness. (The Word of God. You gotta get into the word before you can get safely connected).

The climber’s ropes are secured to a metal eye bolt anchored deep into a rock’s crevice at a fixed high point above the climber. (The Solid Rock, wherein my faith is securely and firmly anchored, is God, that’s why I drive that eye bolt deep).

The climber uses high grade titanium carabiners to fix his rope to both the anchor point and harness. (The carabiner is that piece of equipment or instrument of my obedient Faith, for until I take that carabiner and ‘Clip In,’ I’m not secure. I would essentially be relying on my own strength and physical prowess to ‘free climb’ the wall, no safety net, etc.).

The rope (Jesus) is my life line (it’s what connects me to the Rock) and runs from the anchor in the Rock above me through the strong hands of a trusted belay man. (The Holy Spirit)

Once the climber is ‘clipped in,’ the climber communicates with his be-lay man in simple words meant to clarify safety and readiness, and then begins the climb, a process referred to as ‘on-belay.’ The climber and be-lay man are now one in so much as they are both connected to the rope. The be-layer’s attention remains fixed on the climber throughout the climb helping control the rate of ascent or descent, and while the climber may not always be able to see his be-lay man, he knows he’s there.

Of course, there are several versions to the metaphor, I Hope this helps.

Rick

-------------------------------------
Well, that's pretty much what I wanted to say but just didn't have the knowledge that Rick does.  Thanks, Rick!


Mountain Climbing Tips

INSPECT YOUR GEAR.  Make sure it's reliable.  Don't take someone else's word for it that the rope and anchors are in good shape.  Your life may depend on those items.

I thought, yep, that's great advice. For spiritual mountain climbing, My rope or life-line is Jesus and without Him, I'd surely fall even on the smallest climbs.  And I have to know my be-lay man if I'm going to really be able to trust him.  My Be-Lay Man is definitely the Holy Spirit who keeps me connected to my Life-line - Christ.  How many times has He saved me from certain disaster?  I can't begin to count.

I saw this techniques and immediately identified the spiritual meanings for me:

  • Test foot and handholds before using them.
  • Watch for lizards, snakes or other critters residing in handholds.  ( The Enemy and his friends)
  •  Know and trust your belayer. = )


What if I get scared when I'm on the rope?

Just stop, breathe, relax and enjoy the scenery around you. Take your time. Relax and trust your Be-Lay Man. I love this sentence:  "The beauty of a top rope is that you can always ask for tension and hang on the rope to rest or gain confidence in the safety system."  = ) I have everything I need to - all I have to do is ask.


Hmmm..... 

Who is your Be-Lay Man?  Who is Your Life-Line?

Inspect your climbing gear.  You need to know.