Give Thanks

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for bearing the pain of watching Your only Beloved Son, Whom You so dearly love, go through the passion and die the death on the Cross. Now that I am a parent, I can only catch a glimpse of how painful it was for You. And You did that for me! 

I can better appreciate Psalm 8:

1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens.

2 Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

5 Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth!

When my little one was having her rotten tooth extracted, she was screaming and writhing in pain. How I wished it was me in her place.  Yet, it was necessary for her to go through that for her own good. I just couldn't bear to watch. I walked away.

But You sent Your only Beloved Son to suffer that much pain for my good. There was nothing wrong with Him. You sent Him to take all that pain to remove my rottenness. [2 Corinthians 5:21]. This is so that I can be made whole without having to suffer that pain.

Is it more painful to go through the Cross or to watch the ordeal? It was excruciatingly painful to die on the Cross and I thank Your Son, My Lord Jesus, for having willingly laid down His life for me. And I am grateful to You Father for having borne the pain of Your heart being shredded in billion pieces from watching all that come to pass.

I believe You love Your only Son so much to spare Him from watching You suffer. Yet, the only way to redeem me from the clutches of the evil one was for You, God, to take my place of punishment.  It was either You or Your only Beloved Son. You chose to take the more painful part.

Now that all that has come to pass, the blessed Holy Spirit is in my midst bearing the untold griefs of my stubbornness. Yet He patiently coax and persuade. Like a loving parent who sees the folly of an ignorant child insisting on his foolish ways, He lovingly advise and guide. Whenever I make a mess, He is always there to clear it up. Whenever I take a wrong turn, He is right there to lead me back to the right one. He is Your love for me in motion.

The blessed Holy Spirit is here today to indwell me only because You sent Your only Beloved Son to die on the Cross.  Christ crucified did not just show and prove Your great love for me, He unleashed the power of Your love in me!

The more I trust You, the more of Your graciousness I experience. All of Your graciousness is laid before me for my taking.  The more I let go, the more I receive.  The more I hold on, the more I am deceived.

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with [a]oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

Thank You Heavenly Father for giving me Your only Beloved Son to die on the Cross as Jesus the Man as Your Messiah, Your Anointed One. And He has already undone all the works of the devil in my live as well as the lives of each and every member of my household. [1 John 3:8].

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

Christ crucified makes me fearless in the overwhelming presence of fear.  For Christ crucified is the irrevocable statement of declaration of God's perfect love for me.

When all things present themselves as every valid reason to succumb, Christ crucified is the power to stand on God's Word. The creator of the entire cosmos is on my side.  His every resource and power are for me.

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:24

24 But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

Hebrews 12:1-13

12 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.
4 You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.
5 And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him;
6 For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes.
7 You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?
8 Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all].
9 Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live?
10 For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.
11 For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].
12 So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees,
13 And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured.

Spirit of Sonship

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  Romans 8:15.

The reason I can afford to not fear is because I am God's beloved child.

Conversely, I fear because I do not know that I am God's beloved child.

God's perfect love for me cast out all fear. 1 John 4:18

How do I know that I am God's beloved child?

God told me through Jesus the Christ in John 16:27 that God is my Father and He Himself tenderly loves me.

And God sent His only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man to be the Christ to die on the Cross to show and prove His love for me. Romans 5:8

So, when everything else seems to be against me, I am reminded by Christ crucified that God is on my side and is working all things out for my good. Romans 8:28

What the heck! Come what may. For I know that at the end of it all, I shall only see good! And through it all, I get to experience for myself what it is like to trust the only One Who really cares for and about me.

I shall not bow to Baal! Romans 11:4.

I do not have to resort to the beggarly elements of the world.

Galatians 4:9
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Daniel 3:14-27

14 [Then] Nebuchadnezzar said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer or bagpipe, and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, very good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast at once into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that god who can deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary for us to answer you on this point.
17 If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up!
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and his facial expression was changed [to antagonism] against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was usually heated.
20 And he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these [three] men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics or undergarments, their turbans, and their other clothing, and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame and sparks from the fire killed those men who handled Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [saw and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, True, O king.
25 He answered, Behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods!
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the midst of the fire.
27 And the satraps, the deputies, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered around together and saw these men—that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither were their garments scorched or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them.

God is with me, for me and in me. For He Who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4