"But the fact is, it was our pains he carried--[our] disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures."
Isaiah 53:4 [MSG]
The pain was excruciating.
This time, it drew fresh tears. He opened his eyes and barely saw through his hazy vision.
Dusty sweat trickled down his brow and into his eyes, stinging them.
He could hear the chaotic chatter at the background, someone mentioned his name in a statement and he tried to listen.
The next blow fell on his back and distracted his thoughts...
His body was in a great mess: His skin hung loose at different points where the razor-sharp pieces of metal ripped his flesh, and flies struggled to perch on the raw wound.
He had lost so much blood.
He was still losing more...
He was thirsty.
He asked himself again if he deserved to be thus punished- he could have simply disappeared.
Or unleashed a legion of his able bodied warriors.
All he needed to do was say a word. One word.
He remembered the slaps he received, the sharp pain that shot down his spine as the thorny crown was forced to sit on his head, the sight of the whip with sharp pieces of metal and bone attached.
And the mocking faces of the soldiers.
He remembered his Father.
He thought of the people he was supposed to represent.
He remembered how often his Father talked about his plan for their redemption and their future fellowship with Him.
This strengthened his resolve.
"For their sake", he muttered, "I'll do it for their sake".
The scheduled 39 strokes was almost done and he sagged as the last one hit him.
My Jesus!
Jesus was also human. He felt pain and joy. He was also tempted, but did not sin.
If you have "missed it", do not run away from God because He loves you and wants to help you to overcome.
And Jesus, "...since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted."
Hebrews 7.18 [NLT].
Friday, 4 April 2014
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
What's In A Shout?
"But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee."
-Psalm 5:11
Oftentimes, while in church, we hear the worship leader, or whoever is at the pulpit say, "Give the Lord a shout!"
I often wondered why one must shout, and I usually thought one can just worship God quietly. 'Must we shout and disturb everybody?' No, we mustn't disturb everybody, but there is a time to shout. These instructions often come by the spirit, and it's a note of victory to shout, whether it be a victory one already realised, or, a potential one.
There are many instances in Scripture where God's people were instructed to shout. The most popular one is the story of Joshua, the Israelites and the great walls of Jericho, where the children of Israel shouted on cue and brought down the great walls of Jericho. I'll not go into that one.
From our opening verse, the psalmist instructs those that trust God to rejoice and express that joy with a shout. He gave a very interesting reason, which is, "…because thou defendest them …"
God is our defense, and we can with this knowledge, shout out to him in joy when faced with a challenge, and see him work on our behalf. It has worked several times in the past, and still works because we still serve the same God, and he has not changed.
There is a story in the Bible, from the 13th chapter of second book of Chronicles that inspired this piece. Abijah, the grandson of Solomon had just been made king in Judah following the death of Rehoboam his father. Now, Jeroboam the rebel leader who led the rebellion of Israel from the kingship of David's lineage, was king over the rest of Israel. He came to fight against Abijah and Judah. Abijah set the battle in array, but stood in a hill and preached to Jeroboam, trying to let him see his error and also to convince him to give up the fight. But while Abijah spoke, Jeroboam set an ambush against Judah, to rout them from behind.
It's interesting to note that Israel had twice the number of soldiers that Judah had, 800,000 vs 400,000.
Abijah suddenly realised what was happening, and the battle was already against them. Listen to what happened next:
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
What a great victory! Not only did they defeat Jeroboam, the same Jeroboam never recovered from that defeat.
What's the lesson here? For me, whenever there's a challenge, I'll table it before God and give a shout of victory, because God is my defence!
"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."
Isaiah 12:6.
-Psalm 5:11
Oftentimes, while in church, we hear the worship leader, or whoever is at the pulpit say, "Give the Lord a shout!"
I often wondered why one must shout, and I usually thought one can just worship God quietly. 'Must we shout and disturb everybody?' No, we mustn't disturb everybody, but there is a time to shout. These instructions often come by the spirit, and it's a note of victory to shout, whether it be a victory one already realised, or, a potential one.
There are many instances in Scripture where God's people were instructed to shout. The most popular one is the story of Joshua, the Israelites and the great walls of Jericho, where the children of Israel shouted on cue and brought down the great walls of Jericho. I'll not go into that one.
From our opening verse, the psalmist instructs those that trust God to rejoice and express that joy with a shout. He gave a very interesting reason, which is, "…because thou defendest them …"
God is our defense, and we can with this knowledge, shout out to him in joy when faced with a challenge, and see him work on our behalf. It has worked several times in the past, and still works because we still serve the same God, and he has not changed.
There is a story in the Bible, from the 13th chapter of second book of Chronicles that inspired this piece. Abijah, the grandson of Solomon had just been made king in Judah following the death of Rehoboam his father. Now, Jeroboam the rebel leader who led the rebellion of Israel from the kingship of David's lineage, was king over the rest of Israel. He came to fight against Abijah and Judah. Abijah set the battle in array, but stood in a hill and preached to Jeroboam, trying to let him see his error and also to convince him to give up the fight. But while Abijah spoke, Jeroboam set an ambush against Judah, to rout them from behind.
It's interesting to note that Israel had twice the number of soldiers that Judah had, 800,000 vs 400,000.
Abijah suddenly realised what was happening, and the battle was already against them. Listen to what happened next:
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
What a great victory! Not only did they defeat Jeroboam, the same Jeroboam never recovered from that defeat.
What's the lesson here? For me, whenever there's a challenge, I'll table it before God and give a shout of victory, because God is my defence!
"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."
Isaiah 12:6.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Alvin Collum York
I recently watched a movie, 'The Leatherheads' that made me read about Alvin York. Portions of that movie was (loosely) based on him. Googling him, I found his info on wikipedia.
The introductory notes, "Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964) was one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others." got my attention, and I thought, 'only a man with the Holy Spirit can do this', cos it was so much like what David did.
In case you don't know, the medal of honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.
My suspicion of his Christian background was confirmed as I read further. The online encyclopedia had the following to say about a violent drunk who gave his life to Christ: "Despite his history of drinking and fighting, York attended church regularly and often led the hymn singing. A revival meeting at the end of 1914 led him to a conversion experience on January 1, 1915."
When asked by his divisional commander, General George B. Duncan, in 1919, to comment on his war feats, he said "A higher power than man power guided and watched over me and told me what to do."
As incredible as this seems, it's a true life story. Read more here.
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