Day 233: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
Read: Psalms 63, Isaiah 53:1 - 12
Thou shalt not commit adultery - spiritual or otherwise (check)! Why? Suffering is not very far behind it. Woe be unto the one who intentionally places a
stumbling block in front of one of God's children - for them it should
be like placing a millstone over his or her neck and throwing them into
the sea (check)! Why? Someone suffering for it greatly cannot be very
far behind it. Read throughout the Psalms and it does not take very long to notice that personal suffering, great personal suffering in fact, is never to be very far away from someone's stark reality, or long held at bay by the strength of one's charisma or personality. I have often glanced over it, never much considered it. What about you readers out there - what has been your response?
We read and we see the words of the Psalmist. We read the words and
have some vague notion of the impact it might have had on the writer.
But in all likelihood we are quickly (too quickly?) moving beyond it to find out that great display of Love and Mercy God is getting ready to place on the Psalmist's life. All well and
good, we all need to know how the outcome of the story of God stepping
briskly into our lives. We all need to know the true blessing of
experiencing God's mercy and grace to somehow gain a measure of self
confidence before the suffering comes. Yes, all that is just wonderful to know and have available to fall back on when that predictable suffering shows up. However, what about the 'when'? When the predictable suffering comes?
So my question for all of us today is this: When do we actually engage
the suffering as the Psalmist did? When do we place ourselves into the
story of the real suffering that prompted the writer to write? When do
we permit ourselves to engage the writer and his words exactly where
the writer is at that moment of time when they put pen to parchment?
When do we permit ourselves to suffer alongside the one's who are doing
the suffering? When do we give ourselves the permission to come
alongside of them, kneel beside them, place our hands around their
shoulders and be a Christian? When do we dare, or better yet, why should we dare, to risk identifying with them? Why should we dare to survey the wondrous cross where Jesus died?
What have we to gain? What have we to lose? What do those who are suffering have to gain? To lose? Suffering and pain should never be allowed to have
the last word. We know God will be present in the midst of that
suffering and God will have the last word (Isaiah 43:1 - 13) on it.
Great and wonderful will be the works of God's hands! God dared to
identify with the suffering of mankind. God sent His Son Jesus to us in
the midst of that impossible suffering. He sent us a suffering servant
to suffer for us. Jesus suffered, oh how, in Love, He suffered intensely, greatly and impossibly much. How much will we dare to allow ourselves to walk through someone else's suffering? How close will we dare allow ourselves to come to surveying Jesus' cross?
Let Us Pray: Lord of all creation by whose hands we are all molded and shaped into the image of His Son Jesus, who for the sake of Your great Love,
suffered impossibly much for our sakes, died that we might have eternal
life through belief in Him, we do lift up to You our prayer for those who physically and spiritually suffer greatly this day that You might cause one of Your children to come alongside and walk with them. We thank you for the message of hope, joy, peace and heaven they might
bring to their hearts, that You have given them through the Love and
suffering of Your Son Jesus. May all Your people be filled with confidence and with certainty of their faith in Christ and in the power of a love that is steadfastly ready to bear the burden
of being self giving, and self sacrificing, Help us to just come
alongside, share more of ourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Psalms 63, Isaiah 53:1 - 12
Thou shalt not commit adultery - spiritual or otherwise (check)! Why? Suffering is not very far behind it. Woe be unto the one who intentionally places a stumbling block in front of one of God's children - for them it should be like placing a millstone over his or her neck and throwing them into the sea (check)! Why? Someone suffering for it greatly cannot be very far behind it. Read throughout the Psalms and it does not take very long to notice that personal suffering, great personal suffering in fact, is never to be very far away from someone's stark reality, or long held at bay by the strength of one's charisma or personality. I have often glanced over it, never much considered it. What about you readers out there - what has been your response?
We read and we see the words of the Psalmist. We read the words and have some vague notion of the impact it might have had on the writer. But in all likelihood we are quickly (too quickly?) moving beyond it to find out that great display of Love and Mercy God is getting ready to place on the Psalmist's life. All well and good, we all need to know how the outcome of the story of God stepping briskly into our lives. We all need to know the true blessing of experiencing God's mercy and grace to somehow gain a measure of self confidence before the suffering comes. Yes, all that is just wonderful to know and have available to fall back on when that predictable suffering shows up. However, what about the 'when'? When the predictable suffering comes?
So my question for all of us today is this: When do we actually engage the suffering as the Psalmist did? When do we place ourselves into the story of the real suffering that prompted the writer to write? When do we permit ourselves to engage the writer and his words exactly where the writer is at that moment of time when they put pen to parchment? When do we permit ourselves to suffer alongside the one's who are doing the suffering? When do we give ourselves the permission to come alongside of them, kneel beside them, place our hands around their shoulders and be a Christian? When do we dare, or better yet, why should we dare, to risk identifying with them? Why should we dare to survey the wondrous cross where Jesus died?
What have we to gain? What have we to lose? What do those who are suffering have to gain? To lose? Suffering and pain should never be allowed to have the last word. We know God will be present in the midst of that suffering and God will have the last word (Isaiah 43:1 - 13) on it. Great and wonderful will be the works of God's hands! God dared to identify with the suffering of mankind. God sent His Son Jesus to us in the midst of that impossible suffering. He sent us a suffering servant to suffer for us. Jesus suffered, oh how, in Love, He suffered intensely, greatly and impossibly much. How much will we dare to allow ourselves to walk through someone else's suffering? How close will we dare allow ourselves to come to surveying Jesus' cross?
Let Us Pray: Lord of all creation by whose hands we are all molded and shaped into the image of His Son Jesus, who for the sake of Your great Love, suffered impossibly much for our sakes, died that we might have eternal life through belief in Him, we do lift up to You our prayer for those who physically and spiritually suffer greatly this day that You might cause one of Your children to come alongside and walk with them. We thank you for the message of hope, joy, peace and heaven they might bring to their hearts, that You have given them through the Love and suffering of Your Son Jesus. May all Your people be filled with confidence and with certainty of their faith in Christ and in the power of a love that is steadfastly ready to bear the burden of being self giving, and self sacrificing, Help us to just come alongside, share more of ourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - Piano with Lyrics
www.youtube.com
Solo piano meditation on the hymn "'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" recorded January, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment