He never misses a chance to show us His love

"Pilate, therefore wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted saying, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him."                            Luke 23:20-21    CSB 

It is now Good Friday and Jesus has had to suffer heavy questioning from the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod. He has had no sleep and has had to face trumped up charges against Him together with a somewhat unfair trial. Finally a bewildered and procrastinating Pilate, hands Jesus over to be beaten and crucified.

Soldiers mocked Him, slapped and spat at Him, pulled out His beard and then flogged Him with the most barbaric form possible - a leather whip interlaced with sharp stones and broken pottery. Each lash ripped His back to shreds. They wound a crown of thorns and forced it on to His head. The thorns were possibly about two inches long, so one could imagine the pain that He suffered. They then paraded Him around to humiliate Him in front of the crown, many hungry for His blood and the excitement of the kill. He was then placed on a wooden cross and had long nails hammered into His hands and feet and He was finally hoisted up between two criminals who had also been crucified.

One of the crucified men at the side of Jesus started verbally abusing Him, challenging Him to come down off the cross and save Himself and the two of them. He carried on blaspheming Jesus Luke 23:39. The other criminal rebuked Him saying that Jesus was innocent and shouldn't have been here, whereas they were both guilty. He turned his head to Jesus and said, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom'. Jesus' reply was breathtaking, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise' V43 NKJV.

This is the kind of love Jesus demonstrates. None of us, just like the criminal, deserve His love and forgiveness, but when we call to Him with repentance we receive it. Just think for a moment, none of the pain and suffering that Jesus had suffered these past couple of days could prevent Him from demonstrating love in action. His body was broken, people were laughing and insulting Him, others waiting for Him to perform a miracle and come off the cross, and He was in agony and yet, a criminal who deserved to be on the cross called to Him and, Jesus' ears were opened and He gave the man Paradise. Amazing.

His grace is enormous; His kindness eternal. He knows what it is to suffer and, He knows what it feels like to be let down and disappointed. You may have been let down recently, your world may be shattered but, hey, this is the reason that Jesus hung on the cross and died for YOU! He can take all of those let downs and disappointments; all of the pain and humiliation, in fact, He wants to change your life right now. Why not allow Him to:

'Lord Jesus, please come into my life and help me. Please take away the hurt and the pain and be my friend. I am sorry for all the bad things that I have done in my life. Please forgive me Lord and fill me with Your Spirit and be my friend. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Total Anguish

"Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground."  v44   of   Luke 22:39-65    Christian Standard Bible 

Anguish can be described as, 'agonising physical or mental pain and torment'. We can only imagine the anguish that Jesus was going through as He knelt and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what He would have to face and being in human form the prospect would have been quite daunting.

He asked His Father, 'If You are willing take this cup away from Me - nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done' V42. It was a lonely, frightening night for Jesus; He was so full of anxiety, that an angel came from heaven to strengthen Him V43. His disciples couldn't stay awake and slept soundly, therefore He had no back up or prayer support, no wonder He was so anxious.

Many question whether Jesus did actually sweat blood and I would say that He did. There is a medical condition called Hematidrosis, which is very rare. This condition causes one's sweat to contain blood. The sweat glands are surrounded by tiny blood vessels that can restrict and then dilate to the point of rupture, causing blood to effuse into the sweat glands. The cause of this is extreme anguish. Sourced from WebMD.com

It really would have been an anxious time for Jesus; He was facing the cross and the pain and humiliation of this. Then one of His team - Judas betrayed Him to the authorities V47-48. Judas used an act of love - a kiss, to do this and received thirty pieces of silver for doing so. This was short lived however, because later Judas returned the silver to the Chief Priests and  hung himself because, he was so full of remorse. Some ask, if he had gone to Jesus and repented, would he have been forgiven? We don't know the answer to this but, it may have been possible. Then there was Peter, who despite disagreeing with Jesus' claim that he would deny Him three times, went ahead and did this.

All of this led to Jesus' anguish. In His humanity, He must have felt very let down and hurt, even alone, after all, He had been with these people for over three years. Following all of this, He was mocked and beaten after seeing Pilate. However, there was much more suffering ahead.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."                               Mark 11:9     CSB

Baruch Haba is a Hebrew word for 'Welcome', Jews may use this term with a blessing too. The word 'Hosanna' is Hebrew for 'Pray, please save', and our title today, 'Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai, is Hebrew for 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'. 

As Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem, He rode a donkey. One would think, not the most becoming ways of travelling for a 'king'. However, one would be wrong as riding a donkey was almost like a status symbol for kings to use in that day and age. As He approached the city, the people spread their clothes and leafy branches on the road to make it easier for the donkey to tread on. It was also a sign of an offering to Him. 

The people were calling out this term to Jesus by way of praise and adoration as He went by. An alternative declaration would have been, 'Welcome to Him who has come in the name of YHWH'. 

The term Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai, was occasionally spoken at a Jewish wedding, especially to the Bride and Bridegroom. Some Rabbis still use this term in the ceremony. It has been said that Jewish guests at a wedding would shout out when they saw the Bridegroom coming with his entourage, in order to welcome him. Many Jewish scholars, have even suggested that this could be interpreted as, 'Come Bridegroom! Baruch Haba B'shem Adonai'. 

As Jesus - the Lamb, is the Bridegroom, one day as scripture tells us, we will be with our Bridegroom - 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb' Revelation 21:9, and this will only be the beginning!

Sourced from www.ourancientpaths.org

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Jesus has your back

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."                     Jude 24    NKJV 

As we approach Easter, take the time to fully realise all that Jesus did for us; take the time to consider and understand how He has set us free from our sinful life to present us, holy before His Father. Colossians 1:22 says that He has reconciled us, 'in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight.' Amazing, when He sees us, we are blameless in His sight. If you are feeling bad about yourself today, remember that. Warren W Wiersbe writes:

 'God chose us to be without blame before Him in love. People may have accusations to bring against us, but they cannot change our relationship with God.'

The devil will accuse us to God; he will attempt to get us into trouble but, the Lord rebukes him Zechariah 3:1-2. He will have no accusatory statements made against us. When Satan creeps in unnoticed and sees what we are doing, he may then run to God to tell tales; but God refuses to take it on board. Jesus keeps us from stumbling; the enemy will try to trip us up or lead us down the wrong path. But, Jesus is right there with us, and if we have placed Him in charge, He will pick us up or lead us in the right direction. 

Can you imagine what it will be like to see Jesus face to face. One thing is for sure, we will have no sin clinging to our bodies; we will be spotless and without blemish. But are you open to the fact that, even in our earthly body with all of the sin smothered  upon us, when Jesus looks at us we are perfect; He sees the finished product, He sees us through the eyes of faith.

You may not be feeling this way today. You may be feeling battered and bruised or taken for granted - even left out in the cold. Try to focus on how Jesus sees you; talk to Him, He really is interested. He has your back so stay in His presence and remember, He can change your situation in the click of a finger

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Build yourself up - workout with Jesus

"But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."                                                    Jude 20-21    NKJV

There is a lot that we need to be weary about in our Christian walk. Jude speaks of apostates and false teachers. Apostates may have had a fleeting commitment to Jesus but, they have soon fallen away refusing to be involved with Him any longer. They tend to be rebellious people. There is a big difference here with the backslider, who may have fell away because of something that has happened in their life but still believe and do return to Jesus. The apostate can become like poison to the church.

Then there are the false teachers. Jude describes these perfectly in verse 4, 'For certain men have crept in unnoticed.' This is the hallmark of the false teacher; they turn up and begin to mislead people teaching their own version of scripture and, because of their persuasiveness, can lead people astray and also split a church. Notice the words, 'crept in unnoticed'. They just turn up therefore, a believer needs to be weary and alert in all they do (1 Peter 5:8).

We build ourselves up in our faith by being aware of such things and we can only do this by spending time with God. We need to grow and then grow some more, Check out a bodybuilder; to get to the level where their muscles are bulging, they have to work out and watch their diet. Thus, their appearance responds to their commitment. If they stop, their body becomes flabby. Don't be a flabby Christian. Keep building yourself up.

Then we need to pray and we never pray alone; the Holy Spirit prays with us. Sometimes it helps to just pray in the Spirit - praying in tongues - the prayer language that you were given if you have been baptised in the Holy Spirit. It's powerful and much needed. Sometimes we don't know how to pray about something; praying in tongues therefore, meets this need.

Jude then tells us to, 'keep yourselves in the love of God.' How do we do this? Praying God's Word back to Him is a start, making the prayer personal to your needs. Jesus is your friend, the greatest friend you will ever have. Speak to Him, listen to Him and do this on a daily basis while you're doing your regular workout.

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You have a calling

"Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. 2 Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you."                                                                    Jude 1-2  CSB 

It's easy to understand that pastors, evangelists and other significant leaders are the people called by God. The truth is, if you are a Christian, you have been called as well. God has no favourites and all are equal in His sight and have a particular gifting which is a treasure to Him.

Jude was a brother of James and also half brother to Jesus. Initially, he was rather skeptical about the deity of Jesus but, as time went on, he was able to write that he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ. He made no mention of being related to Jesus, humbly preferring to give the glory to Jesus and honouring  his brother James. However, Jude was special in God's eyes and he wrote this piece of work or essay that is power-packed with advice and warning about church behaviour and false teachers.

If we are a believer, we are sanctified. This means we are set apart for sacred use and made or declared to be holy and devoted to a deity - Jesus Himself. Note also that Jude tells us we are preserved in Jesus Christ. The word 'preserved' means that we are carefully watched and protected. We are secure in Jesus, preserved for glory and in our daily walk with Jesus, kept from stumbling.

Because we are set apart and preserved, we are the recipients of God's choicest blessings: mercy, peace and love. Jude asks that this be multiplied to us, so we need to receive this. God in His mercy doesn't give us what we deserve. Instead, He gave our punishment to His own Son on the cross. We need to remember this - always.

Just think for a moment, God loves us enough to preserve us in His faithful love (Hesed). He offers us all mercy, peace and love - the complete bundle. He holds nothing back and neither should we. We have a calling and we need to ensure that we fulfil this calling to the letter. This is why we are carefully watched and protected. To Jesus, we are special!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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How God wants your marriage

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her."   Ephesians 5:25    CSB

 Christian marriage is of the utmost importance to God. It is a covenant for life between husband and wife, with God right in the centre of it. The husband is to be the head of the marriage - in some circles a contentious subject. The thing is, each of the partners are equal in the sight of God because, both have been made in the image of God. However, the wife is to submit to the authority of her husband in everything, (Don't shoot the messenger here - read Ephesians 5:24). The husband is called to reflect God and His character and love his wife, not in a dictatorial manner, but with the love of Jesus. The wife in return is called to respect her husband.

As both partners move towards God, they also move more closer to each other. There are though, marital strongholds that we need to be aware of and avoid. Marriage is not easy at times; it takes a lot of patience, hard work and a dose of the old give and take to make it work. 

Occasionally, things can breakdown and partners can be at loggerheads. The devil loves this and looks for ways to promote it more. When married couples wake in the morning and feel miserable, or return from work or wherever and feel the same, there is a marital stronghold taking place. 

Prayer is neglected, harsh words are spoken and the atmosphere is heavy with lethargy and bitterness. A wedge has been driven between the couple and we know who is responsible for this. But, let's be honest, many is the time when it is the partner's fault also. The truth being, they should never have allowed their marriage to fall this low.

Divorce is not the answer, neither is separation. It takes both couples to admit their wrongs and allow grace to penetrate their relationship. Grace is the mainstay of a Christian marriage, we should live by it - God's unmerited gift of divine favour. We all need grace, God gave it to us massively when we didn't deserve it. Why not give some grace to your wife or husband today and then, determine that this is the way forward from now on.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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