Cross

The Face of My Father

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What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31-32 KJV

“Go sit on your bed until your father get’s home!” were the most terrifying ten words of my childhood. Those long minutes or hours as I waited for the return of my stepfather from work only magnified the fears that I had of the inevitable punishment that awaited me. The last person’s face I wanted to see was his. After I became a Christian it took me quite a few years to be able to pray to the Father. Sure I said the words in corporate worship but when I was alone I would pray only to Jesus. I would say things like, “I’m only coming to you Jesus. Will you forgive me and help me?” Sometimes it felt like I was still sitting on my bed, waiting for punishment. The last person I wanted to see was my Heavenly Father. How little did I know of the tender love of a father who sent His own Son to die in my place. How much He must have wanted me to run to Him and how patient He was for me to slowly unwrap the mystery of the great -great love of His heart. He was not looking forward to coming home so He could pull out His celestial belt to punish me. Instead He had sent Jesus to die in my place so that He could wrap me in His arms. God was not listening to the long litany of my sins, becoming angrier by the second. Instead, He was preparing to freely give me anything I needed because of Jesus Christ. What a love is this? Now I look forward to His return! In fact the very first face I l want to see is the face of my true and eternal father in Heaven. All this time He has been by my side sitting next to me and loving me as His child!

This was Dad at Our Wedding (I look nervous!)

Our Father’s World

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The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell within. Psalm 24:1 KJV

When I was a young Christian we used to sing these words, and I have discovered over the years that most of the trouble I have gotten into in life has been because I forgot them. This is not my world; it belongs to God. Neither I nor any other person gets to make the rules: God does! The whole of creation belongs to Him because He is the manufacturer and as the maker of this world He has put in our hands HIs owner’s manual (The Bible).  Finding out what God’s opinion on a decision rather than so called “expert” advice can save us from a whole world of hurt in our families our finances and our health (Not to mention our eternal destiny). But the good news is that in spite of our failures and sins God still cares about us. Our hope is in a second truth from today’s verse. Not only does the world belong to Him but also the people in it (Yup that’s you and me!). Just like everything else in the universe we were made by God, but with two gigantic differences. First, we were made in God’s image and second, He sent Jesus to the cross for us. Jesus didn’t die for fish or birds, lions, or monkeys. He died for messed up, mixed up and confused human beings like us. Now that is fantastic news indeed! We can have hope because no matter how low we feel we have fallen or how far away from God’s plan we have wandered, Jesus has bent lower and traveled farther to rescue us, remind us that we are His and to bring us home in His arms!

The Niagara Falls of God’s Love

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I would like to thank Rev James Laurence who writes the blog, My Pastoral Ponderings for inspiring me to write today about the unstoppable power of the love of Christ. His post on the Awe of God got my mind turning back to our time at Niagara Falls. I remember standing transfixed as I witnessed the power of the falls and think they are a clue that God has left us to remind us of Him.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

The Niagara River at just 38 miles in length is barely a creek in comparison to the 2,340 mile long Mississippi. But there is something about the Niagara that draws people from all around the world, and that is Niagara Falls. There that little river crashes 167 feet down to the rocks below in an astonishing display of raw power. It is an unforgettable sight but without it’s waterfall the Niagara would only be remembered as an obscure stream, marking the boundary between Canada and the United States.

Niagara reminds me of another short river that started with the man named Jesus. His early life in the village of Nazareth seemed uneventful to neighbors as he worked in a carpenter shop and played with His brothers and sisters in the streets. But His life picked up speed after he turned thirty years of age and was baptized by John. It flowed at a quickening pace as He healed a leper, ate dinner with sinners and gave sight to a blind beggar. Then what had been the gentle current of His life began to rush ahead as Jesus calmed a storm by his word and raised a man from the dead. Yet the most awesome display of all did not come till one dark afternoon as they nailed Jesus to a cross. There His final breath was swept over the edge of the waterfall of death. But the river of His life did not end there. Just like the Niagara River continues to flow past the falls so the love of Christ has rushed out of the grave and into our hearts. Now its depth and power compel us ahead because nothing – no nothing is more powerful than the waterfall of the love of Christ!

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