A True Story of Triumph
Apr. 10th, 2009 10:28 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildcat88If you read my fics, you will hopefully find a recurring thread of family, hope, and self-sacrifice - qualities that make for a interesting story (I hope!) and an admirable hero. They are just works of fiction though.
We'd all like to have a John Sheppard, wouldn't we? Someone we can count on to be there for us no matter what, someone who'd die for us if necessary. Well, good news! There is One.
I'd like to borrow a page from an author named Max Lucado...
We'd all like to have a John Sheppard, wouldn't we? Someone we can count on to be there for us no matter what, someone who'd die for us if necessary. Well, good news! There is One.
I'd like to borrow a page from an author named Max Lucado...
The Treasure of the Tomb
"So what should I do with Jesus?"
Pilate asked it first, but we've all asked it since.
It's a fair question. A necessary question. What do you do with such a man? He called himself God, but wore the clothes of a man. He called himself the Messiah, but never marshaled an army. He was regarded as king, but His only crown was of thorns. People revered Him as regal, yet His only robe was stitched with mockery.
Small wonder Pilate was puzzled. How do you explain such a man?
One way is to take a walk. His walk. His final walk. Follow His steps. Stand in His shadow. From Jericho to Jerusalem. From the temple to the garden. From the garden to the trial. From Pilate's palace to Golgotha's cross. Watch Him walk - angrily to the temple, wearily into Gethsemane, painfully up the Via Dolorosa. And powerfully out of the vacated tomb.
As you witness His walk, reflect on your own, for all of us have our own walk to Jerusalem. Our own path through hollow religion. Our own journey down the narrow path of rejection. And each of us, like Pilate, must cast a verdict on Jesus.
Pilate heard the voice of the people and left Jesus to walk the road alone. Will we?
I hope that permanently planted in your soul is the moment the Father stirred you in the darkness and led you down the path to freedom. It's a memory like no other. For when He sets you free, you are free indeed!
You see, when your Father comes to deliver you from bondage, you don't ask questions; you obey instructions. You take His hand. You walk the path. You leave bondage behind. And you never, ever forget.
I pray you never forget your walk or His: Jesus' final walk from Jericho to Jerusalem. For it was this walk that promised you freedom.
His final walk through the temple of Jerusalem. For it was on this walk that He denounced hollow religion.
His final walk to the Mount of Olives. For it was there He promised to return and take you home.
And His final walk from Pilate's palace to Golgotha's cross. Bare, bloody feet struggling up a stony narrow path. But just as vivid as the pain of the beam across His raw back is His vision of you and Him walking together.
He could see the hour He would come into your life, into your dark cabin to stir you out of your sleep and guide you to freedom.
But the walk isn't over. The journey isn't complete. There is one more walk that must be made.
"I will come back," He promised. And to prove it , He ripped in two the temple curtain and split open the doors of death. He will come back.
"The One who has redeemed us has returned!" we will cry.
And the journey will end and we will take our seats at His feast...forever.
See you at the table!
Will I see you at the table? Have you accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made on your behalf? Sin separates us from a holy God so He sent His Son, Jesus - God in the flesh - to take our punishment and reconcile us to Him. Christianity is not about doing or not doing stuff. It is about walking with Jesus - the One who died, rose again, and lives today. Want to take a walk?
If you have any questions or want to discuss, the comments to this post will be screened (unless you give me permission to unscreen). Or you can email me at rufflesfrisco@yahoo.com. I'd love to talk to you.
Happy Easter!!
"So what should I do with Jesus?"
Pilate asked it first, but we've all asked it since.
It's a fair question. A necessary question. What do you do with such a man? He called himself God, but wore the clothes of a man. He called himself the Messiah, but never marshaled an army. He was regarded as king, but His only crown was of thorns. People revered Him as regal, yet His only robe was stitched with mockery.
Small wonder Pilate was puzzled. How do you explain such a man?
One way is to take a walk. His walk. His final walk. Follow His steps. Stand in His shadow. From Jericho to Jerusalem. From the temple to the garden. From the garden to the trial. From Pilate's palace to Golgotha's cross. Watch Him walk - angrily to the temple, wearily into Gethsemane, painfully up the Via Dolorosa. And powerfully out of the vacated tomb.
As you witness His walk, reflect on your own, for all of us have our own walk to Jerusalem. Our own path through hollow religion. Our own journey down the narrow path of rejection. And each of us, like Pilate, must cast a verdict on Jesus.
Pilate heard the voice of the people and left Jesus to walk the road alone. Will we?
I hope that permanently planted in your soul is the moment the Father stirred you in the darkness and led you down the path to freedom. It's a memory like no other. For when He sets you free, you are free indeed!
You see, when your Father comes to deliver you from bondage, you don't ask questions; you obey instructions. You take His hand. You walk the path. You leave bondage behind. And you never, ever forget.
I pray you never forget your walk or His: Jesus' final walk from Jericho to Jerusalem. For it was this walk that promised you freedom.
His final walk through the temple of Jerusalem. For it was on this walk that He denounced hollow religion.
His final walk to the Mount of Olives. For it was there He promised to return and take you home.
And His final walk from Pilate's palace to Golgotha's cross. Bare, bloody feet struggling up a stony narrow path. But just as vivid as the pain of the beam across His raw back is His vision of you and Him walking together.
He could see the hour He would come into your life, into your dark cabin to stir you out of your sleep and guide you to freedom.
But the walk isn't over. The journey isn't complete. There is one more walk that must be made.
"I will come back," He promised. And to prove it , He ripped in two the temple curtain and split open the doors of death. He will come back.
"The One who has redeemed us has returned!" we will cry.
And the journey will end and we will take our seats at His feast...forever.
See you at the table!
Will I see you at the table? Have you accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made on your behalf? Sin separates us from a holy God so He sent His Son, Jesus - God in the flesh - to take our punishment and reconcile us to Him. Christianity is not about doing or not doing stuff. It is about walking with Jesus - the One who died, rose again, and lives today. Want to take a walk?
If you have any questions or want to discuss, the comments to this post will be screened (unless you give me permission to unscreen). Or you can email me at rufflesfrisco@yahoo.com. I'd love to talk to you.
Happy Easter!!