embracing the Cross and the purpose of God

The Cross and the Purpose of God

“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless.” Acts 2:23

The Cross:  The Cross is no accident or surprise, at least to God.  The Cross was pre-planned and predetermined by God Himself! This was God’s “fixed” plan which He determined before the foundation of the world.  

The Cross:  The Cross, therefore, is not peripheral or ancillary to human history.  It is the centerpiece of human history.  

The Cross:  There is an interplay here, a spiritual tension between God’s sovereign plan and human responsibility.  In God’s foreknowledge, the Lord knows the future and all potential futures. He knows, ordains, allows and uses all of our choices to fulfill His sovereign purpose and plan.  

The Cross:  The Cross is no mistake.  It is the very plan of God that changes everything for all time.  The Cross not only changes everything in this Cosmos, it also changes me.  It puts my broken life back together again.  It restores my soul.  It makes me fully human and renews the image of God from which I am carved out.  

The Cross: There is nothing like it in the entire universe.  There is no one who can thwart the purpose and power of the Cross. 

The Cross:  It is time to embrace it.    

all they way home

So, the journey from Mount Calvary (Psalm 22) to Mount Coronation (Psalm 24) found in Psalm 23 through the valley is finally complete.  The Shepherd has guided us all the way Home!  This is our journey and this is our destination — Home.  Notice who’s Home it is.  It is the LORD’s Home (Psalm 23:6).  Now, notice who it is who leads us all the way Home.  It is the LORD (Psalm 23:1).  In other words, He left his Home, sought us, found us and is now leading, guiding, providing, and protecting us along this long journey Home.  For most of us, the way is long.  Along this journey we discover that it is not easy nor is it comfortable but the LORD knows the way.  He has personally travelled this valley from the Cross to the Crown Himself and He knows the way for He is the Way!   

We are not there yet, but if the LORD is your shepherd, you are on the way.  If it were up to us we would never make it home.  We would die in the valley but this Shepherd even overcame death itself, so there is nothing that will keep or can keep Him from leading us all the way Home.  

Even though we have never been to His Home, we have distant memories of stories of what this Home was like.  We were made for His Home but we wandered and strayed and lost our way.  Now, we are headed Home where He makes all things new.  Where there is NO more sorrow, death, disease, injustice, child abuse, rape, poverty, famine, divorce, drug or sexual addictions murder or war — ever again!  Home is where righteousness and peace dwell.  

Home is real. It is earth and heaven made new with a “deep” cleansing and the removal of the curse. It is full of mountains and valleys, of rivers and streams, of colors brilliant, of beauty unknown, of creatures great and small and that which is most stunning of all, The Presence of the One transcendent!  He takes our breath away for we discover this is the One who cried in agony on the Cross in Psalm 22.  He is the One who is Crowned as King eternal in Psalm 24 and He is the One who is my Shepherd in Psalm 23 who has personally brought me all the way Home!

There is no place like Home!  

a rod and a staff

“Your rod and staff, they comfort me” — Psalm 23:4

A rod.  A staff.  One guards while the other guides  The Shepherd had a rod to protect that which was His.  The Shepherd had a staff to lead, direct, prompt, restore that which was His.  I find comfort in the fact that the Shepherd is diligent and vigilante to guard and guide me.  Can it really be true that whatever happens in my life, I can trust that the Shepherd has given His stamp of “ok” for it to be in my life?  Sometimes, don’t we question this?  Can it really be true? 

We discover that life can hurt but I believe that God is good and just and He will put the big hurt on all the injustices in the world with His Rod and make things right.  Then, He Himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  His rod is our comfort.  For me, His Rod is His justice. 

Ask Him now to gird His sword on His thigh and ride on the cause of truth, humility and righteousness in your life, see Psalm 45:33-4.  Call out to the God of Justice for his justice to prevail!  

The Shepherd also guides even when we stray.  Do I really believe this?  Is this true not only when I stray but when I actually rebel?  Out of His love, He uses His staff to teach us, to reprove us, correct us and train us in the way we should go.  He uses His staff to point the way, to lead the way, along His trail.   His staff is our comfort.  For me His staff, is the Word of God empowered by the Holy Spirit, see 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 6:17.  

Ask Him now to guide you as you open your heart to His Word to listen to Him and to obey Him.  

May He comfort you, right now.  

a ripple in time

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life — Psalm 23:6

When you drop a pebble in a pond it creates a ripple that travels across the pond.  Part of this ripple is seen by the eye and part of this ripple is unseen but it still ripples.  So, whether you see it or not, the impact of the pebble creates a ripple.  

When a boat races across a body of water it leaves an impact called a wake.  The wake is more obvious of course that a ripple but the same still applies here.  Whether you see it or not the impact of the boat creates a wake.  

When we follow the Shepherd whether it is in green meadows, quiet streams, pathways of righteousness, the valley of the shadow of death or even in the presence of our enemies, He causes a wake, a ripple in time of goodness and mercy that follows us as we follow Him!  You may see some of the goodness and mercy or you may never see it in this life.  But be assured that your life in the hand of the Shepherd makes an eternal impact!

My prayer is that I am just a pebble in the hand of the Shepherd and that I am willing to let Him “drop” me anywhere He wants and that through my life may many drink in the fullness of the wake of His goodness and mercy!  

Oh, Lord — Here I am.  “Drop” me.   

cup overlfowing

my cup overflows — Psalm 23:5

What is this cup?  This cup is the life, the heritage, the boundaries of my life which the Lord has given to me.  

David, the psalm writer declares that his cup overflows. Why? Because The Shepherd is with Him and he is with the Shepherd.  Because The Shepherd gives him green meadows, quiet streams, restores his soul and guides him along the way - even through the valley and even with enemies surrounding him.  Each one of us have the same Shepherd!

My cup overflows -- filled to brim and beyond with extravagant grace.  There is no limit to the supply of God’s grace!  My cup overflows --  with the joy of the Lord when we abide in Him.  Jesus said, These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.  My cup overflows -- with life because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath to the very last drop so that we would never taste the holy righteous wrath of God!  Instead, we get to drink the cup of salvation!  My cup overflows -- because Jesus “emptied” Himself of His rights and privileges in order to meet our truest and deepest needs.  My cup overflows -- even in the midst of the darkest night because of His promise to never, no never never never never never to leave me or forsake me.  My cup overflows -- for God is not only with me but He is for me!  

My cup overflows -- How about yours?  

fresh oil

I have been anointed with fresh oil — Psalm 92:10

Once again to be anointed with oil is symbolic of being set apart to God to fulfill the ministry He has called you to whether it is a janitor or a judge.  The oil covers the head, the heart, the hands, the gender and the feet - so that all of me is presented to the Lord and to His work. 

To be anointed with fresh oil is to realize that you cannot live today on yesterday’s anointing.  Just as a sailor cannot live on yesterday’s wind, even so, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit continually to be freshly anointed, Ephesians 5:18.   Just as God provided manna for each day, even so, we must be nourished on the Word of God daily to be freshly anointed, Matthew 4:4. Just as Jesus spent time with the Father, even so, we must hear His voice to be freshly anointed, Mark 1:35.  

Lord, I come.  I come to you in need of a fresh anointing through prayer and by the Spirit and the Word.  I come to you for a fresh anointing first to enjoy you and from there to serve you with all of my heart and my head with my hands and feet that the beauty of your holiness may be seen in me and through me.  In Jesus’ name - amen.