Forsaken So We Could Live

Since I have come to know Christ as my Savior I've always thought I understood the "why" of the cross, until, that is, I read this...... This so moved me and has brought such a clearer understanding of the depth of God's love, I just had to share. I hope it touches your heart as well.

Enjoy and may God richly bless you.

Forsaken So We Could Live Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I was one of seven people who each spoke at our church's Good Friday service on one of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross. I chose, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"
In my more skeptical days, I viewed the question as odd -- almost ammunition for the cynic. Why would Christ, if he were truly God, need to ask God about anything? Also, why would an all-powerful God have been in such a vulnerable position?
I now realize that these questions are no more unique than the basic misunderstandings of Christianity and Christian doctrine that give rise to them. But interestingly, this utterance of Christ that was once a stumbling block for me has now become a powerful reinforcement for my faith.
I used to wonder how the crucifixion, no matter how much physical suffering Christ endured, could cancel out our sins. After all, other human beings have experienced similar physical punishment. But I was completely unaware of the spiritual wounding that was involved. The Scripture tells us, "The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?"
But Christ was spiritually separated from and abandoned by God. To atone for our sins, he took on our sins, and God cannot look upon sin. We cannot begin to comprehend the agony he experienced in this separation after he had enjoyed infinite bliss with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity past.
After having lived a sinless life, the full force of mankind's accumulated sin was heaped upon his human soul. All the spiritual forces of darkness were joined together in their collective hatred and fury in one last effort to defeat the conqueror of death because if they failed, death would be defeated forever.
Human beings had no power either to comfort or deliver him; the Father wouldn't because he had to allow him to complete his redemptive work. At that moment, Christ was the loneliest man who ever lived. Yet consider this staggering irony: At no time was Christ more perfectly in his Father's will. And through it all, he never renounced his Father, referring to him as "my God, my God."
Although we sometimes separate ourselves from God, he will never abandon us this side of eternity. Witness the prodigal son. And consider the martyrs who died joyfully because even in their death, though hated and persecuted by men, God did not abandon them. Ignatius, waiting to be thrown to the lions said, "Let me be food for the wild beasts, if only God be glorified." Christ, unlike the martyrs, did nothing to deserve his abandonment.
Skeptics should note that the Gospel writers never would have invented this potentially embarrassing saying of Christ because it suggests Christ's powerlessness to deliver himself from his own predicament.
But I believe the statement is only comprehensible in reference to God's Triune nature: Christ's nature as both fully human and fully divine and God's salvation plan for mankind.
Christ's question to the Father on the cross shows not that Christ wasn't God but that he was also a distinct divine personality in the Trinity and also fully human. If he had not been fully human, he could not have taken on our pain. Nor could he have died. If he was not God, he couldn't have lived a sinless life or wiped away our sins.
Evangelist John Stott wrote: "We are not to envisage God on a deck chair, but on a cross. The God who allows us to suffer, once suffered Himself in Christ, and continues to suffer with us and for us today. I myself could never believe in God were it not for the cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark -- the Cross, which symbolizes divine suffering. The cross of Christ is God's only self-justification in such a world as ours."
Despite his indescribable suffering, Christ would not rescue himself, precisely because he was a co-conspirator in the salvation plan, which required him to fulfill his prophesied substitutional sacrifice.
As Bishop Fulton Sheen observed: "Every other person who ever came into this world came into it to live. Christ came into it to die. Death was a stumbling block to Socrates -- it interrupted his teaching. But to Christ, death was the goal and fulfillment of his life, the gold that he was seeking."
Christ died forsaken by God so that his people might claim God as their God; he endured abandonment so we would never be abandoned; he tasted hell so we'd never have to taste it ourselves; he endured loneliness so we'd never be alone.

What an awesome God! I just loved that part where he says "that at no other time was Jesus more in the will of God than on the cross". Even though He was in agony physically, mentally, and spiritually, He was" in the will of God.

Sometimes I think we get caught up in a misconception that everything has to be all perfect and pretty looking to be in the will of God, when just maybe being right in the middle of a painful situation is exactly where God is at work within us and/or others!

This article was written by Jim Limbaugh ( I don't know if he is any relation to Rush)

Thats My King !!!!!

I heard this once at the "Just Give Me Jesus Conference", and it so touched my heart! It truely describes our Lord and King, Jesus!
Click....Turn Up The Volume.....Be Blessed!

That's My King

I think at one time or another we have all thought our contributuion to the building of Gods Kingdom, to be insignificant. We may even think the same of some of the disciples that followed Jesus, that we don't hear much about, such as Andrew. We don't read about the great speeches he may have delivered, or the thousands he brought to the Lord. But, what stands out to me is in John1:40-42 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him was, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (Which is translated Peter).

I would imagine even Andrew didn't realize the significance of what he was doing when he brought his brother, Peter, to see Jesus. We've read about Peter's impact on leading thousands upon thousands to Christ, but we don't hear much else about Andrew. Yet the way I see this, is that Andrew did indeed lead thousands upon thousands to Christ, and then some. "He brought Peter", and I am sure, although it's not written, Andrew continued to lead others to Christ. Another point that stood out was, Andrew found "first his own brother". I see this as instructive to us to seek and lead those in our families as priority. Not that we are not to lead another to the Lord when or if the opportunity arrises.

I found this point about Andrew refreshing and fitting to our study with "Made to Count".

No matter how insignificant we may think our actions to be when we are seeking to serve others for the building of Gods Kingdom, we don't know God's plan. Andrew had no idea the ministry Peter would come to when he asked him to come meet Jesus, any more than we do when we do the same.

Not one of us is insignificant in the eyes of God, nor our actions when we are serving Him.

As we approach the Easter celebration, I pray many of us will step out in boldness and ask another to "Come meet Jesus".

Libby is now an Official Babysitter!!!!!

Libby passed the Red Cross Babysitting class today !!

Yeah Libby!!!

Now, she's just waiting for the calls to come rolling in!!!

Angels To Watch Over Us

Matthew 18:10

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that, their angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven".

My daughter called me yesterday all excited to share with me once again something amazing my 22 month old granddaughter, Kammy had said. This time though she was more surprised by the content than her ability to say the words. She said they were sitting in the living room watching "Nemo", when Kammy said, "Mommy look" as she was pointing up to the ceiling. Her mom looked up and asked "what"?, Kammy answered, "the angel, Mommy, look the angel"! "The what"? "What did you say"? She again pointed up and said, "see her"? "See the angel mommy"?

My daughter said she wanted so much to see the angel, she continued to look up even after Kammy seemed to lose interest, as if this angel was someone she'd seen before and was use to its' presence.

I later shared with my youngest daughter that we shouldn't be surprised, God's word speaks of each of us having a guardian angel, sent to watch over us.

I believe when we are yet still very young and our time since we have walked along side the Lord in the heavens, before being sent to earth, has still been quite short, we still have the ability to see the heavenly things upon the earth. As we grow older and experience more of this world, we somehow spiritually distance ourselves, and lose the ability to see.

As I grow closer to the Lord, I can only pray I regain the ability to see the heavenly things while still here on earth. Then again, everytime the Bible tells of someone being visited by an angel they appearred frightened, because the first words the angel would speak would be, "don't be frightened"! Maybe that too, was due to being older. Gods' word says we must come to Him like a child. Kammy sure didn't speak as if she was the least bit afraid, she sounded happy that the angel had joined them for their evening of watching "Nemo"!

Being the Favorite

Its' always been fun when the whole family gets together and the girls start to tell their stories about when they were little. I will hear about things that I never even knew happened back then !!!! But the thing that I have always found the most humor in, is how they will each joke about how "they're my favorite". And they'll argue between them on their proof of just how they know that they are indeed "the favored daughter"!

Yesterday I had recalled one of those times and it just got me to thinking about how God does that very thing. We know that God is not a respector of persons and loves us all the same, yet comes so close and so deep into our hearts that we get that feeling that we just know we have to be His favorite. I couldn't pick one of my girls over another even if I tried. My relationship with each of my girls is so very unique, and I enjoy a multitude of things between them, yet my love for them is uncomparable.

I hope that each time I spend time with my girls I do make them feel like they are my favorite, because I know what that feels like. When I sit down in the quiet and call out to my Father and He hears my voice and He comes to me, I feel special. I feel like He has ears only for my words at that moment, that He has all the time in the world, and it's all mine, for as long as I choose to sit with Him. I know he has an open door policy at all times and at any time I need Him or even just want to sit with Him when I don't need anything except Him.

Once a Mom, we are always a Mom, no matter how old they become they are still your little girls, how precious the moments.

I can't help but think, this is exactly how God feels about all of us, no matter what we do, no matter how old we become, in His eyes we are all His little children, each one His favorite!

How many sheep did I feed today?

This is a quote from Chilly Chilton's blog,


see, here's the problem...
“blah, blah, blah”
Yeah: talk.
we can say it, think it, blog it, sing it, quote it, preach it...but do we, each and every day, LIVE IT?

If all of us would grasp on to this truth and make the change within ourselves we would soon be living life the way its really meant to be. Jesus told Peter, "feed my sheep". That was meant for us also. How many sheep are we feeding in a day?
You can read the rest of his blog by linking onto his site from my list below.
Its a convicting message we all need to hear. I'm praying the conviction in my own heart stay strong to seek out the lost sheep, and not just talk about it any more.
How about you?

Captivating

To cap-ti-vate, according to Webster is to fascinate, enrapture; (to delight in).



His love "captivates" me,

Brings me to a higher place,

Where I can see,

Hear and touch His grace,

His love "captivates" me.



These past couple of months the Lord has brought me to a greater understanding of who He is, and just how intense and deep His love.

Many times in the past I've made the declaration, "I surrender all to Him" and His plan for my life, and although at the time I believed every word I spoke. I've come to the realization that I was merely speaking the words. To live for His plan, means I had to let go of my own dream for my life. Amazingly, I found freedom, and such an overwhelming peace in the letting go, I have found myself "captivated"!!!! Wonderfully and beautifully captivated!!!!!!!

The Beauty of the Lord

During praise and worship at our church we sing a song called "The Beauty of the Lord".

"Jesus Your love has come one step closer,

I will trust, You will never let me go

Jesus Your love has won me over,

All my trust has found no other.

I will declare the beauty of the Lord

Nothing compares to the beauty of the Lord

Jesus Your love takes my breath away

Now, I'm living everyday for the beauty of the Lord

Jesus, Your love it takes my breath away."

This is one of my favorite worship songs, although I have to be honest, I love every worship song! When I sing these songs, they are not just songs to me, but prayer from the depths of my heart! The first line of this song, states that the love of Jesus has come "one step" closer. What does that mean? I believe if we are praising Him, we have indeed "come one step closer"!!

Through His word, we know, when we seek Him, we will find Him, when we find Him, He will not release His hold upon us.

Next, we sing that the love of Jesus has won our hearts and our trust is placed in only Him! Read those words again. His love, and His trust, has taken "first place" in our lives!

If we truely absorb the meaning in these words, there can only be but one result; It will take our" breath away", then, We will declare the beauty of the Lord!

To be in His presence, in His grip, and most assuredly in His heart, how can we not see just how incredibly beautiful He is!

I pray that you will recognize His beauty today and His beauty will remain with you always!

God Speaks

"Hear Me with Your Eyes" and "See Me with Your Ears"!

This is the message that came to me repeatedly for months as I prayed. Initially, I thought it was in reference to all of God's creation, that we see Him through these things. Not that I dispute that in any way, I just think we've come to say it so much, instead of grasping the true essence of the meaning, it has just become cliche'. "We see God in the trees, the sky, and the stars"! And, we do, but, I just knew God was speaking to me to seek the greater depth of His words. I prayed for clarity! "Hear Me with your eyes, see Me with your ears". I prayed for understanding! "Hear Me with your eyes, see Me with your ears". I prayed for God to show me what He meant! Still, the words I would hear remained the same.

As the days turned to weeks and weeks to months, life went on, bringing with it the joys, and the struggles and heartaches of this life, and I just surrendered the "knowing" to God, knowing He would reveal the meaning in His time and not a second sooner. In the meantime I had begun facilitating a study on the prayers of Jesus, and had been praying about the" hearing of His voice", as well as grieving in my heart about the loss of a young man to suicide. I continued to think about this young mans family and how they must be feeling, and asking God to use me to be somehow, a beacon of light to them.

The day of the funeral as I listened to the accounts of family and friends of what could possibly have happened to bring this boy's life to such a traggic end, my heart wrenched in agony for what his final moments must have been like. As I looked around I watched and listened and I could literally feel the heaviness in my heart begin to grow. For this young man to be in so much pain, and to feel he had no one to turn to and to believe he had no other way, still just breaks my heart.

For several days after, I desperately prayed for this family and their loss. It didn't make sense to me and I questioned why such things have to happen. For days upon days I prayed and I heard nothing, then this began to frustrate me as well. I was asking God, "why can't I hear you?" "Won't you answer me, tell me something, anything?'

Two weeks after the funeral and four weeks into learning about the way Jesus prayed, it happened........revealation!!!

I was driving along this driveway to my moms place, which looks something like a park, with lots of trees and wild animals. (By wild I am referring to the sort such as chipmunks or squirrels, not like bears and coyotes!) As I was admiring the prettiness of the snow, untouched on the ground, layered upon the bushes and covering the branches on the trees, something caught my eye! I stopped the car, when I saw the brightest red cardinal sitting up in a tree, who was then accompanied by another. I felt the Holy Spirit well up within me as I watched even more beautifully, bright red cardinals join these initial two. As I looked around, they were everywhere, about fifteen to twenty birds some sitting and some fluttering from tree to tree! I was so excited, even as I yelled out to Libby to "look" , "see them?" I also began to pray, thanking God for such an awsome sight! Still looking into the trees, I noticed the cardinals weren't alone! There were more birds, beautiful birds, black, white, and red! I still don't know for sure the species, but I think maybe they were woodpeckers. My heart was beating so fast and so hard, the way it does when you know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, and it came back to me;" Hear Me with your eyes"! I cried out, "Oh, Lord give me understanding, I want to hear what You are showing me in this"! I felt the Lord telling me to take in all He had placed before me, to really look at what I was seeing. I was in awe, seeing all these brilliant colors dashing through the stillness of the cold, the dead of winter, where everything appears lifeless. It was as if God had taken Spring and set it right down into the middle of Winter!!!! Right in the middle of what appeared to be desolation, came life, exquisite and stunningly beautiful life!

This all happened so quickly, yet I realized, when a little old man was trying to get into my car, freaking the day lights out of Libby, that I had been blocking the drive. I proceeded on my way, though the Holy Spirit was still speaking to my heart. This vision I had taken in and Gods voice stayed with me the rest of the day and throughout that night. Although I believe this is one of those moments that God will continue to bring me back to, to reveal new things for a very long time, maybe even for the rest of my life. I believe what He was telling me right then was three things. One: Just how incredibly personal our God is. God knows my love of birds, He knew those birds would attract my attention. And, He knew my heart had been troubled. Two: No matter how desolete anything or situation can appear, underneath or inside is life. And God will bring newness and color into even into the darkest of circumstances. We may not understand or even see it happen, but I know God will bring something good out of that traggic situation. Third: God longs to speak to us in many ways, not just when we go to church or during praise and worship, or during our daily prayer or devotion time. God wants to and will speak directly into our hearts, if we will only keep our eyes open to hear Him. I think sometimes we kind of keep God in a box of our limited expectations, believing He will only speak to us as others do, when we are active in conversation. Although, I know God does speak at those times, I know now it's not the only time He speaks. He truely does speak to us in so many ways, He knows our hearts, our hurts, our ways. He knows exactly how to speak to us and when, if we will only keep our eyes open to hear!

Also, I experienced the love of God in a new way that day, in a way that I really don't think I could describe no matter how hard I tried. Since then, I have seen God speaking in several circumstances and situations, through people He has placed in my life, through books I am reading, Not to mention through His word and through prayer. The list of ways He speaks to us is literally endless.

I'm still praying about the second part of His message to me, "See Me with Your Ears", although I think maybe it's similiar to the first part, I'm going to keep an open mind and an open heart, not to mention eyes and ears to however the Lord would choose to reveal. I don't want to ever keep Him in a box of my own limited expectations again!