Good Friday; What's So Amazing About It?

It's Good Friday. The day my Lord was crucified. Two thousand years ago, more or less Jesus was hung on a tree and killed and I am amazed. What amazes me is not the amount of pain he suffered, not the way he died, not even the humbleness with which he endured shame and pain. No, what amazes me is that he chose to suffer a cruel beating and death for me. He didn’t have to die. He had other choices. What amazes me is that when he was dying on the cross, he was looking through eternity past, present and future and did not see a people who loved him but people who hated him. He saw sinful, stubborn, rebellious people; that’s what we all are apart from God. If I’m honest with myself, I know that I’ve done things worthy of death. Knowing all that in advance, Jesus still said, “My child, I love you enough to die for you.” I know how sinful I can be, so I amazed that the creator of the universe would die for me. It amazes me that God knew our sinfulness and still wanted to die in our place. If we were good, holy and sinless, or if we loved him, it would make sense for him to perish for us. So, as I think about Good Friday, I stand in awe at the choice Jesus made for me …. But not just for me. He looked through eternity and saw value in each one of us. God’s love for me and you was so great that he loved us when we were sinning and hated him. When he was hanging on that tree, the only reason he was there is because he loved us even though we were separated from him.

Comments

Thank You God For Turning Our Ashes into Beauty

There are tragedy and sadness in everyone's life, No one is exempt. Yet, in the midst of the hurt and pain, God is there. He takes the things that hurt us and make us sad and turns them into things are beautiful. The death of my mother was a tragedy to my dad. However, because of that tragedy, my dad began to see his need for God. In his brokenness, he found a God that could make him whole. God turned his ashes into beauty. My dad, in turn, taught me to love God. I am blessed to know God as my savior because of my dad. God also blessed me with a lovely step-mom Life is harsh at times, and many things are sad, Yet, if we let him, he will take our ashes and make them into a work of art. He delights in making the ash heaps of our life beautiful. When we are broken, God is near, and where there is sorrow, he will turn it into dancing. Thank you, God, F...

Doctors and Taxes

Tonight, I’m doing something I absolutely hate. My husband and I are working on a budget. I imagine that most of you feel the same way. It’ kind of like taxes and doctors, we dislike them and breathe a sigh of relief when they are done. Truth be told; we really don’t enjoy working on a budget at all. Yet it is one of the necessary components in knowing exactly how much you have and what you can spend. If indeed we are responsible to God for how we handle the resources that God has given us, then we need a clear picture. One piece of the puzzle that can bring the whole puzzle into focus is a budget. It allows you to see and compare what you spend with what you have. Sometimes as I’ve done a budget and looked at what I saw, I could see that the problem was little things that add up. I realized that the problem was that I forgot the advice I had been given long ago, little things add up. As we do a budget, we often see little things th...

Rest For Your Soul

Tonight was such a beautiful sunny night that I decided to go for a walk and enjoy the warm summer sun before another wave of rain hits. As I cranked up my music and headed out. I could not help but praise God for the area in which I live. I, quite literally, live 5 minutes from a small town. If I want to walk, I can walk down deserted country roads without driving at all. Yes, I am incredibly blessed. I saw baby bunnies eating grass by the edge of the road and talked with the most friendly Jersey cows. They always walk over to the edge of the fence as I walk by nodding their heads in greeting. There was a deer, in a hurry to catch up with his “deer” friends I suppose. There were daisies and buttercups, apple trees by the edge of the road and a creek that floods at least once during the spring. I also occasionally see a very friendly donkey and a few horses who always come to the edge of the fence hoping I have sugar for...

Inspirations

Search This Blog