BEST 3 WORDS EVER....

HE IS RISEN....

This is the day that Jesus stepped out of the grip of death's grasp and ushered all who will believe into ETERNAL LIFE...a life bought with his shed blood, by the strips on his back and the thorns upon his brow....but now, just three days later...HE IS RISEN...and as the Bible tells us, in just a short time, He would leave this earth and be taken up to His anointed place at the right hand of the Father...and there He waits until the command is given to go and bring the "faithful" home. UNTIL THEN, REMEMBER.....

When we see a problem...God sees a plan;

When we see a trial...God sees a triumph;

When we are faced with heartache...God gives us a glimpse of Heaven.

For when life beats us down to be broken beyond repair...

GOD GIVES US GRACE FOR THE JOURNEY....

HE'S JUST WAITING OVER THERE.

....JUST WAITING OVER THERE.....

Over there life is wonderful as we sit at Jesus' feet
We'll see the saints we longed to know, but never got to meet.

We'll see the angels in full array, their halos glowing as the sun;
We'll know that life is over, but our journey has just begun.

Now we're home with Jesus in the mansion with many rooms

He's banished pain and misery and life's overwhelming gloom.
As we walk the streets of gold, each step our hearts will sing

Our praises of adoration and hallelujahs to Christ our King.

For on that cross He bore the sins and paid the price for all

This King of Kings who came to earth, born in a cattle stall.

Of lowly birth the angels sang, this Christ-child born to save;

To lift the curse on all mankind...His triumph o'er the grave.

For death could not shackle Him; O' death where is thy sting?

No tomb could hold the Son of God...Creator, Lord and King!

Now we shall reign forevermore and eternity we'll share

With Jesus Christ, the King of Kings...for
He's Just Waiting Over There!

WPQ @ Sept 2017  

CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY....NOW GO AND LIVE LIKE YOU KNOW IT!

Out of the Cross- Part II

 NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY….as Dr. Alexander Metherell continues,

Once a person is hanging on the cross in the vertical position, crucifixion is an agonizing slow death by asphyxiation. The stresses that are placed on the muscles and the diaphragm in the inhaled position are acute; one, literally, must push up on his feet so the tension in the muscles is eased for a moment, allowing him to exhale. Each rise and fall upon the nail causes the flesh to tear in the foot until it eventually locks against the tarsal bone. Each breath was labored and exhaustive as Christ would scrape his bloodied back against the rough, coarse wood of the cross. As his breathing slowed, a medical condition known as respiratory acidosis occurs…carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid which causes an irregular heartbeat. This faint, but irregular heartbeat, would have been known by Jesus and He would have known the very minute of his death before he uttered, “Lord, into Thy Hands I commit my Spirit.” Death would have been sure, but not to a Roman guard. So, upon examination, the soldier took a spear and thrust it in his side, between his ribs, through his lung and into his heart.

A spear thrust into the heart of God….because of me.

All that has been described is because of ME....MY SIN…..MY SHAME...MY FAILURES….MY PLACE.

That cross was meant for me …and you. Each labored breath, as Christ rose upon that nail, had the weight of the sin of the world on his shoulders…..YOUR SIN AND MINE. He did not have to die; rather He chose to take my place. At any moment, he could have spoken just one word….COME, and the entire heavenly host would have left the glories of heaven in a mass assault against the darkness and evil of that crucifixion. But, he did not cry out for the angels. He would rather have endured the torture and the shame of that cross than to spend eternity without you and me. He spoke but one phrase that resounded throughout the heavenly realm…..IT IS FINISHED !!!!

He gave His life to pay a debt He did not owe and now the torture, the pain, the suffering of the Crucifixion matters not at all …if you and I fail to accept what Christ did to claim us as His own. Do you belong to Him or was His death wasted? Was the pain of this horrific event just a bad story in the history of the world or does it have a personal significance to you? Do you know my Jesus of the Cross or are His life and death of little importance in the greater scheme of your life?

The work has been done…it is finished….and the Christ of Calvary is RISEN.

Is He Alive in You Today?…..if not, let’s talk …the sooner, the better.

Blessed ….Because of the Cross,

WPQ

Out of the Cross Part I

The following is a reprint of  a former post....and on the celebration that follows at the end of this week, it is important to understand the great cost of our jubilation that comes at Easter.

I just finished reading Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Christ…a legal journalist’s personal investigation of the evidence for Jesus. I read it all with a great hunger to see how he would treat the historical and empirical evidence regarding Christ. It is a compelling read, a must for every believer….not to bring you to faith, but to give greater clarity to what you already believe.

One chapter really tore me up….it dealt with the medical evidence regarding the torture and crucifixion of my Lord. I was NOT prepared for the insight of this chapter and the vivid picture that was indelibly imprinted in my heart and soul. The expert, Dr. Alexander Metherell, shared the weight of his medical and scientific credentials to set aside any thought that somehow the crucifixion of Christ was a staged event…that He swooned upon the cross, was pronounced dead and then was revived after he was taken down from the cross and put in a cool tomb.

As I read the following, I came to the stark realization of what Christ endured upon the cross so that I might be saved…

The torture before the cross is enough to kill most men, thirty-nine lashes or more depending on the mood of the soldier. The beating began at the shoulders, down the back, the buttocks and the legs; each lash with this braided leather thong embedded with metal balls and chards of bone literally ripping the flesh away, exposing bones, muscles, veins and often vital organs. The prisoner enters hypovolemic shock often fainting and dying from massive blood loss. Christ, already at the point of exhaustion and collapse, was in serious to critical condition, but he did not succumb to death (we have the written text regarding the Crucifixion). The soldiers would have laid Christ on a horizontal beam and nailed a 5-7 inch spike into each wrist just below the palm…to have nailed it into his palm would have been futile… his weight would have torn the skin and he would fallen from the cross. The Romans knew the nature of this business all too well.

The pain from this action would have been UNBEARABLE. Imagine, if you can, that feeling of pain that you get when you hit the ulna nerve (your funny bone). It’s extremely painful when you bang your elbow, even if only a glancing blow. What if someone could grab that nerve with a pair of pliers and squeeze and twist without letting go…the effect would be similar to what Jesus endured. In fact, the pain was so unbearable that there was literally no word to describe it; they had to invent a new word…. EXCRUCIATING, meaning, “Out of the Cross”. 

Think on that for just a moment if you can…the pain that Christ endured on the cross for you and for me was so unbearable, so life-devastating, so beyond words….that they had to create a word that would somehow capture the intense anguish and pain caused during the crucifixion….

THEN….Jesus was hoisted on the crossbar to be attached to the vertical stake having his feet nailed in the same manner, crushing and impaling the nerves in his feet. The weight of his body would have immediately pulled and stretched his arms, probably six inches in length and would have dislocated his shoulders…now death by asphyxiation had begun….

Tomorrow, we’ll examine the rest of the story… and how it impacts you and me.

Blessed by the Savior,

WPQ

You've Got to Walk the Walk....

Growing up in a Baptist church stills holds some of my fondest and most profound memories. I still can recall moments and people that God used to mentor and mold me into the man I am today. Whether that has proven to be good or bad, I will have to let others debate the outcome; but this I know… God used a lot of great people who poured their faith, their time and most of all, their love into me in my childhood and adolescent years; and for those people and all they did for me, I will be eternally grateful.

One such God-fearing, God-honoring man was our Minister of Education/Youth Pastor, Jack Robinson. I am guessing that at my age now, Jack has already gone home to glory; however, he left behind many a well taught lesson in faith and service.

At the age of 16, I was ordained to preach, and at that time Jack took me aside and gave me a new Bible that he had purchased. He had marked in my new Bible and had underlined two verses, Proverbs 3:5-6 which read, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." His advice to me was so simple, yet so profound as he explained to me that in these two small verses, all was encapsulated in the 4 W's for a life well lived for God.

I would need to seek His WILL; WALK in His way; read and study His WORD and do the WORK of the Lord until my time in this life was over and I was at home with my Heavenly Father.

I have found in my years of seeking the Lord that Jack's advice was the best and most profound thing he could share with a 16 year old young man that was seeking to be an effective witness for Christ…and it is still true today for me and for us all.

If we want to be used by God, then we have to surrender our will to His will, all the time knowing that His desire is for our good and His glory. We must trust that God will not guide where He does not provide as we walk daily in His love and light. We must be diligent in studying and living out His Word as we share what Christ has done through His shed blood and last, but certainly not least, we must work for the Lord as if someone else's life depended on it…because it does! Remember, you may be the only Jesus that some one you know may ever see.

So there you have it…the 4 W's that will lead each of us to a life well-lived in service, dedication and surrender to our sovereign Lord, for…..

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME….AND ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

Living in surrender…loving in obedience,

WPQ

...Or a Roof Repairer?

When we left our story yesterday, we stood in the crowd and parted a way for the lame man, as he rolled up his mat and walked home to an elated family. We clapped and exclaimed that never had we seen such a miracle as we shook our heads in amazement and then, we went back to our busy lives…unsettled but not unchanged!

Maybe, before we departed, we paused and looked up into that gaping hole in the roof and wondered, “Who’s going to fix that hole that’s left behind? I’m sure glad this isn’t my house.”

Now, we can be sure it would not be the learned scholars and scribes….they were too busy criticizing Jesus for His methods; for surely, they would never have told such a man that his sins were forgiven and Jesus had no right to do that either. This was not the way things were to be done in the religious realm in Capernaum.

It was not going to be the four men that had brought their lame friend to Jesus. They had already gone above and beyond their call to duty…used up their concern and compassion and had seen the glorious outcome wrought by their unselfish deed. Surely, the work of patching the roof should be done by someone else?

What about the enamored people that stood outside the house….clapping and cheering; caught up in the excitement of this unforgettable moment? These onsite onlookers were just there for the show and they hung around to see if anything else was about to happen; if not, they would move on looking for the next thrill, for they were curiosity seekers…not Christ seekers. For them it was all about the miracle…not the Master!

Then, there were the fortunate few that had actually been up close and personal with Jesus…they had a front-row seat to the action and this wonderful miracle had occurred right before their eyes. But, they could not be bothered to accomplish such a menial task as fixing a hole in the roof. In fact, in their arrogance of proximity, they had not been willing to make a hole through the crowd that would allow the men to come through the front door, but rather forced them to resort to digging a hole in the roof. If they were so unwilling to step aside and allow the men to enter the house in the first place, then they would certainly be unwilling to fix the roof.

So my question for you…..into which group do you fall…the religious naysayers; the “diggers” of the hole; the thrill-seeking onlookers or the front-row followers….all willing participants in the moment of the miracle but not the restitution of the roof. So who would be a roof repairer you ask….someone that serves Jesus because of who He is rather than what He has done or will do.

The person that dons the work clothes and climbs up on the roof after all the crowds are gone is the one who is the embodiment of faithfulness, loyalty and duty to the task. When the cheers have subsided, this person picks up the tools of the trade and gets their hands dirty doing the work that no one else wants to do….keeping the church parking lot clean or driving the church bus every Sunday; working in the soup kitchen, peeling onions or preparing the next meal; taking a home-cooked meal to a shut-in or tending to the toddlers every Sunday in Sunday School….the list goes on and so do the people that have learned that the cross comes before the crown. They have learned there are no small jobs for God…only small people with a big God…and with Him, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

Christ told us that “whoever loses his life for me will find it.”(Matthew 16:25) and Paul taught us, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24

Across this country and around the globe, there are people with little talent doing little jobs to advance the kingdom of God ….how about you? Are you a Hole Maker or a Roof Repairer …are you working to bring God’s kingdom to those around you?

I pray that with an open and honest heart you can say, “Lord, here am I. Send me to do the job that you need done, today!’

AMEN,

WPQ

Thought for the Day:

Whatever task God has given you

Be filled with holy zest;

For when you’re working for the Lord

He expects your very best!

.

All of you, our Lord requires.

It’s what He asks of you;

For He gave all that He could give…

Nothing less from you will do.

WPQ@2001

Are You a Hole-Maker…

One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is found in the second chapter of Mark in the first twelve verses…the story of the paralytic and his four friends.

Now, these men all heard that Jesus had returned to Capernaum and could be found in a nearby home; they were eager to see him for they had heard the stories that were circulating regarding his healings in the region of Galilee. But, their eagerness was not for themselves but for their friend who laid confined in his paralyzed condition. So, in a spirit of love and compassion for their stricken friend and in a unified body of cooperation, each of the four grabbed a corner of his pallet and they took off to see Jesus. They believed if they could just get in front of Jesus, He would heal their friend.

When they got to their destination, the house was filled to overflowing and they could not get in to see Jesus; but rather than return home, rejected and disappointed, they devised a plan that would bring the house down…or at least the roof. Climbing up the steps on the side of the home, they laid their friend aside and began digging through the roof until they had a hole big enough to lower their friend down in front of Jesus. Scripture says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Mark 2: 5 and then in Mark 2:11-12, “He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take up your mat and go home.” He got up, took up his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” NIV Translation.

So what are some of the poignant precepts we can glean from this wonderful story?

Well, first and foremost, it took cooperation and sacrifice to get the paralytic man to Jesus. Each friend had to do his part; set aside petty differences and preferences; cooperate for the welfare of another and lay aside any selfish motive or desire to see Jesus for their own gain. Next, when confronted with the large crowd, each man determined not to be deterred from their original mission…to see Jesus heal their friend. This took thinking outside the box and the will and determination to get their hands dirty.  And last, but certainly not least, was the resolute belief that Jesus was the only answer for their friend…only Jesus could restore their friend’s health. Even though the throng held them back, their priority was to get their friend to Jesus.

They didn’t stop to make excuses that the crowd was too big…it just wasn’t in the cards for their friend to be healed …or that opening a hole in the roof would certainly break up the service and have the whole town talking about how rude they were to disturb the Teacher….they had but one priority…to see Jesus heal their friend….and looking down from the lofty rooftop, that’s exactly what they got to see…. as their long-time paralytic friend rolled up his mat and then made his way through the parting crowd.

Are you a hole-make when it comes to Jesus? Are you looking for ways to bring your sin-crippled friends to Jesus so that they may be forever healed and made holy by His shed blood? Are you willing to set aside your agenda and think and do whatever necessary to bring others to Christ? Are you willing to be laughed at or thought to be different or foolish because you will make a way to lead others to the Savior, even when others tell you there is no way… that those you seek to win to Christ are hopelessly lost?

You just have to have a willing heart ….God will take care of the rest….as you trust in Him and follow the leading of His Spirit…. And that only leaves one problem;

WHO’S GOING TO FIX THAT HOLE IN THE ROOF…..Come back tomorrow and hear the rest of the story.

Dirty Hands Mean a Helping Heart,

WPQ

Thought for the Day:

It only takes a moment to proclaim a word of truth;

You just have to be willing to dig through the roof.

To lay before the Master the one that needs His touch..

And His hands will heal them for He loves them that much.

How Much Do You Love?

If you look at your calendar, you will see that today is the last day of the "LOVE" month...you know, the month with that made up holiday called Valentine's Day (it must be made up since the banks were open).  On that day, we are to express our love for those special people in our life with flowers, candy and mushy, sentimental greeting cards that pledge our undying love.

Now, while I am one who believes that it is good to express our deepest and most affectionate love on Valentine's Day, we need to do that with all of our days. It is not the giving of things that lets those we love know that we care for them; rather it is how we care for them in our prayers that shows our true and deepest affections.

Just look at Scripture and Paul's writings in Colossians 1: 9-14 that says, " For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin."

It is evident in this Scripture the great love that Paul has for the Colossians believers because he is praying for them in an intercessory mindset...He is doing what God has called each of us to do...Pray for those we love and intercede for them...CONTINUALLY!!!!

We are called by our Heavenly Father to love others and there is no greater way (short of giving up our own life) to show our love than to pray and intercede on the behalf of those we love. Does your spouse know how much you love them? Are your praying DAILY for God to work in their life as He helps them to grow in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord? Do you have a child or children that know how much their Mom or Dad loves them because DAILY and without CEASING, your are praying for God to work and have His way in molding your child into a child of the King....making them like Jesus because of your intercessory prayers. There are many ways, most of them admirable, in expressing our love for our family, our spouse and our friends; but there is none better than the example set by Paul as he prayed for those believers.

Why not show your love today in a very real way, in a very quiet place.... simply get on your knees and take those you know to the Throne Room of Heaven to intercede for them with your Heavenly Father. It will touch the heart of a loving Father and He will hear and answer your prayers...for He LOVES THEM EVEN MORE THAN YOU!!!! Make today the day that your love breaks through and shows those most special to you how much your really care...for your intercessory prayers will be answered and God will be glorified.

Praying for those I love...Continually on my knees,

WPQ

Poem for the day:

There are those in our lives

We love with all our heart....

And no matter what they do,

It's been that way from the start.

But we are called to share a greater love

One that draws us close and keeps us there

As we lift up the ones we love

And intercede for them in prayer.

We must take them to Jesus

And when we come on bended knee;

The hand of God will protect them

And the devil, he will flee.

For who can stand against Him

And the angels gathered there;

All because we sought His face

Through our intercessory prayer.

WPQ © January 2018