Cross

So He Could Cover Us With Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 

Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top through the whole. So, they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast-lots for it to decide whose it will be”—
John 19:23b-24a DLNT

They stripped Him of his tunic
His seamless cloak with all the rest
Dividing up all that they could
Then gambled for the best

While above their heads He watched
As He fought His fight with death
In suffering still He loved us all
As He struggled for each breath

And when they took Him from the cross
Where He had suffered in our place
There He died for us, alone, exposed
So, He could cover us with grace

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Matthew 5:40 ESV

So He Could Cover Us With Grace by Peter Caligiuri 
Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved

Photo by David Dibert on Pexels.com

Author’s note: I have been intrigued by the stories of the shroud of Turin, and have watched with interest several presentations about its history. But, as I recently came upon the verse in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells us to yield our tunic and cloak, I remembered how the soldiers, ruthlessly stripped Him naked and then gambled for His seamless robe. Then, I was ashamed to think that I had been drawn to stories of the cloth He may have been buried in, but never wondered about what He wore in life.

We don’t Know What He Looked Like

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
We don't know what He looked like

Whether He was tall and thin

If His hair was long or short

Or the color of His skin



We're only told His hands could heal

And His voice could calm the wind

And how He sometimes prayed all night

Then welcomed children close to Him



No, we don’t know what He looked like

But when darkness hid the sun

At the cross the soldiers cried out

 “Truly this must be God’s Son!”



So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:54 NKJV



We Don't Know What He looked Like

By Peter Caligiuri

Copyright © 2024

All rights reserved
Photo by David Dibert on Pexels.com

Stepping into the New Year

/ pastorpete51 / 10 Comments 
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Today is the first day of another year and I am weaker than I was when I was younger, but my hope is stronger because weakness is teaching me to rely more on Jesus and less on me. Being crucified with Christ used to be a mysterious and frightening idea. But in today’s verse, Paul was teaching the Galatians that nothing on earth could make him afraid anymore, because his real life was now in the Christ, who had loved and given His life for him.

But trusting is a choice, and it our choice. Just as the trapeze artist must let go of the bar and fly across space, trusting in her partner to catch her, so we must let go of our own strength and ability in order to take hold of the hands of God. He is reaching out and calling us forward into 2024. Why not surrender your life to Him, and step into the year ahead, with confidence in His love? That same Jesus who gave Himself for us, will certainly watch over us and care for us, no matter what lies on the road ahead.