Nailed to the Cross

 Col 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

We are at the end of passion week. Jesus is living out his final few days on earth. Life on earth is about to enter a new age. Today, over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. He has suffered humiliation and shame and now hangs on a cross, a spear is thrust into His body, and His blood is spilled for you and me. On the cross, the nails that were hammered into His hands and feet, blotting out the law that condemned us to eternal damnation. The fountain of blood providing eternal life is open for all who will plunge in and be made clean from sin. For all the good reasons that Christ came to earth, this was His ultimate mission. He suffered on the cross to provide salvation, and to give us an example of what it means to give it all to the Father, and follow His steps. As follows of Jesus Christ, He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He did not promise that the journey would be easy. In fact, He said that it would be one of suffering. On this good Friday, we thank God that His Son came to be nailed to a cross and die for our sin and give eternal life. Give Him glory for all He has done, for today, salvation has come.

The Sacrificial Lamb

 1 Peter  3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,

The observance of the death of Christ is recognized today, Friday, the end of Passion Week. As Christians, we celebrate this special day with thanksgiving that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, renting the veil of the temple in half, giving us access to God, closing the chasm between man and God.  The week follows the Jewish Passover, which changes from year to year depending on the full moon after the spring equinox. The Passover occurred when the death angel came and killed all the firstborn in Egypt. The Jews were spared this death if their house had the shed blood of the lamb stricken over the door post of their home. The blood, signifying Jesus’ blood that was shed on Friday of Holy Week, covers our sin and the penalty for sin that we owe. He paid the debt that we could not pay. He was the sacrificial lamb who took on the wages of sin for you and me. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life eternal because He died on the cross and became the substitutionary lamb of God.  It would appear to be a sad day for those who followed Him, grieved that their Messiah was being nailed to a cross between two thieves. But Christ, who willingly gave His life, said, “It is finished.” The songwriter pens, “It is finished, the battle is over, it is finished, there'll be no more war, it is finished, the end of the conflict, it is finished and Jesus is Lord.” The victory has been won. The good news is that Good Friday is God’s gift to us, and Sunday is coming!

With All Your Heart

Ps 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Deut. 11:13 to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

To serve and love God with your whole heart. What does it mean to give someone your whole heart. The heart is known to harbor the seeds of affections. Our passions, our desires that will fulfill and satisfy needs and wants. When we speak from the heart, we speak what we really feel without deception. From the heart come the issues of life, the essences of who you really are. All means that there is no place for any other affection to give yourself to. It does not mean that you are not tempted to give in to other desires that may try to infiltrate. That is why we must guard our heart. Living for Christ is not something we do, but something we are. Serving God without loving His precepts is to live in bondage. To serve and love Him with ALL your heart is to know what real freedom is. The truth shall set you free.

Without Love

1 Corinth 13:2b “though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing.”- 

Without faith it is impossible to please God, and without love it is impossible to see God. Love, the greatest passion known to man. It will win over hate every time if it comes from God. Without love, our life has no purpose and it will end without hope. Every day we are given a chance to show love to God and to others. Having God’s love in our life and letting it work in our life should be the purpose we live. Our faith at times may be weak and we sometime may falter in our trust. Satan can bring discouragement and we faint in well doing, but love is a choice. We wake up each day and make the choice to love God and show our love to those we will encounter that day. Love must come from the heart and flow from a love for God. There are many people who show acts of kindness, but it does not flow from a heart that loves God. Paul even says, that a person could even be willing to die for someone else, but if done without divine love, it is of no worth. “May today bring me new opportunities to manifest the love of God to a hurting world, may His love flow through me so that others may say, ‘ I see Jesus’”.