{judgment day, anyone?}

It's almost 9:45 pm on Saturday and here I am blogging.

I'm sure many, if not all of you, have heard of the predictions made by Harold Camping, talk show host from Family Radio. He is claimed to have spent the past 50 years of his life poring over the Scriptures, in which he made an "accurate" conclusion about Judgment Day.

Only, it has failed to be accurate.

The day that he predicted? May 21. The time that he predicted that it would begin? 6:00 pm. The sequence of events? An earthquake such that the world has never, or will ever experience again, followed by the rapture of 200 million believers (yes, only 3% of the population). Finally, the people left behind were set to experience 5 months of judgment before God destroyed the world on October 21, 2011.

All across the globe, Camping's name is being mocked, as the predictions that he made have not come to pass. He made statements such as, "The Bible guarantees it." My heart is heavy for him. Harold Camping, a frail, 89 year old man, is what many are calling a false prophet.

In my opinion, he has attempted to play God, and has failed at it. Miserably.

I can't even begin to express my thoughts on his assumed certainty, but even more than that, I can't imagine making the claims that he did, only for them to prove untrue, while in the mean time turning people's hearts away from God and onto himself.

He has made a grave error, and he will be responsible for every heart that he led astray. As for the people who followed him (yes, he had his own "following"), it is my prayer that they would not turn from God as a result of this.

My friends, this incident has come to show that although the end times are near, no one, and certainly not Harold Camping, has the authority to decide the outcome of God's plan.

And that's what it is. Prediction versus Plan.

God has a plan for His creation. Harold Camping made a prediction. Predictions can be changed, whereas God's plan has been set in stone before the world came into being.

As many verses have been quoted in the past few days, I have heard this one more than any other:

Matthew 24:36 -- But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

In my own life, being a follower of Christ means many things to me, but this more than the rest: I am not God. I make mistakes. I fail, time and time again. I don't have a fraction of the knowledge that God possesses, so for me to do something such as attempt to predict the end of the world, I only make it more apparent that I am not God.

In the next few days, weeks, months and years, I pray that each one of you would keep your eyes, ears and hearts alert. The fact is that not one of us knows when Christ will be sent to collect His beloved. It could be tomorrow, it could be 10 years from now. And that is why it is so important for us to cling to the truth found in the Scriptures.

We must meditate on the Word, day and night. The enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy, but Christ came so that we might have life, and have it abundantly, not that we should worry about our futures and miss out on the gift of the present. We do not have to fear tomorrow, for we are held in the hand of God today. Our future is certain. Our salvation is sealed. We need only look to the cross, and there, we will find truth.

Blessings my friends.

In Christ,

I am the Thorn in Your Crown

So many times in our lives, we try pointing the blame at someone else. We refuse to accept responsibility for the actions that we engage in, and we think of every possible lie to keep ourselves from being found out. We do everything from slandering the name and reputation of someone, to bearing false witness. All in the name of making ourselves look better. We sin both consciously and subconsciously. We sin without thinking about the consequences. We are promiscuous. We seek revenge. Our hearts are filled with rage, malice and hatred. This world has become about “I” and what “I” can do to advance myself.

Because of this, we put God into a corner, with only one solution to save the creation that He so dearly loves; redemption. At the Fall, we became chained and burdened by this world, subject to the effects of sin, but God had already devised a plan. He would become human, as are we, and ultimately sacrifice Himself, on our behalf, so that the separation that existed could be closed and mended. The blood of an animal was shed to hide the nakedness of Adam and Eve, and in the end, the blood of Christ, our God, was needed to atone for the sin that we had committed, do commit and will commit.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, punishment, judgment and wrath was poured out. Earth and all of God’s perfect creation was put under a curse; something that we brought upon ourselves.

Genesis 3:16-19:

To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.” 

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”

Read this part again, carefully.

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Placed on the head of our Savior, was a crown. A crown of thorns.

Matthew 27:28,29 — They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.

In the act of atoning for our sins, Christ wore the very curse that God had commanded upon humanity. And for what? To release us of the curse. So many of us live our lives as if we were still bound by sin, subject to punishment and waiting for our day of judgment.

Hear these words: The punishment and judgment reserved for you and I, a punishment that we rightly deserve, was placed on Christ at the cross.

We are free. By the blood of Christ, because of the sacrifice that He made, you and I stand right before God.

And now, it is time that we start behaving according to the standards that God has set before us. Get rid of the lies, the anger, the malice. Do away with foul and abusive language. Love, and I mean really love everyone that you encounter; those who love you in return, and those who persecute you. Honor the temple that God has given you; be pure in body, mind and spirit. Take on the burdens of those who can’t carry their own. Pray, and never stop praying. Seek God in all that you do, for the glory of His name.

It’s never been said that following Christ would be easy, but the promise has been made that it is worth it. Because God is so worthy. He wore the thorns for us, out of a love that our hearts can’t even begin to imagine.

Bring your life to the foot of the cross and surrender all that you were, for the person that God says you are.

THE CHILD OF A LOVING FATHER.

THE SERVANT OF A HUMBLE KING.

THE HEIR OF A RIGHTEOUS LORD.

THE FRIEND OF A FORGIVING SAVIOR.

Isaiah 43:1 — Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

 Blessings,

A.

The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 53.

The Suffering Servant.

Do you know Him?

Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Maybe you’ve read this. Maybe you’ve pondered what it says. Maybe you’ve read it once and forgotten the weight that it holds.

Here is the story of Jesus Christ; a story that was told even before His birth.

He was a servant that grew in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot; but in dry ground. It says that there was nothing beautiful or majestic about Him. Imagine that? There was nothing to attract us to Him. He came into this world looking as you and I; there was nothing that would have given away who He was.

Because He didn’t come as a dictator, ruler or conqueror, He was despised and rejected. When was the last time that you’ve heard those words used? This man that came to save us from ourselves is said to be a man of sorrows; that He was acquainted with deepest grief. Mourning and sadness were dear friends. And what did those around Him do? What do we still do today? We have turned our backs on Him. We looked the other way.

This passage goes on to say that we didn’t care. We showed no concern for the burdens that weighed Him down. Notice what it says next? Yet it was our weaknesses He carried. We were the reason for His distress, and do you know what we did? We blamed His suffering on His own actions. The leaders charged Him with blasphemy and said that He had sinned against God and that His death was the punishment. People thought that His suffering was caused because He, a normal man with no particular feature of beauty, called Himself the Son of God.

So, He was brutally punished. He was pierced, why? So we could be whole. He was whipped, why? So we could be healed. And for what? All of us (yes the Bible says that ALL of us) have strayed away. He came as the Good Shepherd to care for His sheep, and we left Him; we abandoned Him. And even after the neglect, God still allowed His Son take away our sins.

The Bible says that while His suffering occurred, Jesus never said a word. He never opened His mouth. Even when all of these outrageous charges were being brought against Him, our Savior was quiet. And then He was led away. Not one of us cared that He had no children to carry His name; no one cared that His life was being brought to a close before He had a chance to have descendants. He had never sinned, and yet He was treated like a criminal, killed like a criminal and buried like a criminal.


But what they didn’t know is that God’s plan had already been set in motion and Christ’s line would reign forever and all eternity; His eternal kingdom.

It says that when Jesus sees what His suffering accomplished, that He will be satisfied. Because of Jesus Christ, each one of us is able to attain righteousness; not because we deserve it, but because He thinks we are worth it. He bore the sins of this world so that we could be free.

Jesus interceded on our behalf. And because of that, He now sits at the right hand of God; in His rightful place.

As a KING.

Father,

Let us remember what our Lord and Savior suffered that day on Calvary. He came as a servant, in Your Name and we punished Him for it. We denied that He could be Your Son, and we rejected Him. Why Lord, would You still show mercy to us who don’t deserve it? We don’t deserve Your love, grace or mercy and yet, You offer it. Thank You for Your promises and the hope that You’ve given us. I know that none of us is righteous enough on our own, but Lord, with You by our side, we can stand tall. Your blessings are greater than I can ever count or even imagine and Your favor for me never ceases to amaze. Father, I pray that You would give me a heart, fashioned after Yours. Break my heart for what breaks Yours, and keep me in constant thought about all the great things You do. Those who walked the earth in the past may not have been able to see the beauty that Christ held, but Lord, I do. Not just in His appearance, but in the works that He did and the words that He said. He is beautiful,  and it’s His beauty that will save the world.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

He Held the Weight of Our Impurity

Do you ever think about what Jesus had to endure while making His final journey to Calvary?

• Imagine the agony He felt as His seamless robe rubbed against the fresh wounds.
• Feel the sharp points of the crown of thorns that pressed into His skull.
• Run your fingers down His temples, tracing the drops of blood that fell.
• Try to stand tall as the weight of the cross buckles His knees.
• Hear the roar of the crowd beckoning Him to His death.
• Subject yourself to the force of destiny that pushed Him to carry on.

Question: What was all of this for?
Answer: So that the weight of our impurity could be forever taken away.

As Christ walked that final journey, He held the weight of our sins. As He was nailed to the Cross, He thought about each one of us. As He hung against His own weight, He was abandoned by the only person who could save Him: His Father.

We were important enough to the Son of Man, that He would lay down His life for us.

John 15:13 -- Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 10:11 -- I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd; He is also the Lamb of God, and many people don't understand that concept.

How can Christ be both the shepherd, as well as the lamb? What does that mean?

John 1:29 -- The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus was born into a world of sin, as perfection.
He came as the flesh of God.
His mission was to bring us, the lost sheep, into His presence.

He didn't come as a dictator.
Or a conqueror.
But as innocence.

He was spotless.
He was pure.
He was immune to sin.

In the Old Testament, people brought lambs to the altar, as a way to atone for their sins. They brought forth the purest lamb, as way to seek forgiveness from God. But when Jesus entered the world, He became that Perfect Sacrifice. He had become that perfect lamb that would atone for the sins of humanity. He would break the barrier that existed between God and man.

As He climbed the hill to Calvary, He was like a lamb being brought to the altar; the difference was that His altar was the Cross. As He hung on that Cross, every past, present and future sin of humanity was placed on Him.

And He was punished. Harshly.
He was subject to the judgment that one day you and I should have endured.
Christ became sin.

A man that was more pure than the whitest white, had become stained by the impurity that we had become. He was drenched in His own blood, but the sin that consumed Him was even greater. The impurity that He took from us, so that we could become right with God, weighed so heavily on Him, that God could not look upon Him; He can't look upon sin. So in the hours from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock, God's own court was in session and He was forced to forsake His Son.

This is hard to imagine, but this may make the picture more clear:

A perfect God created man, in His own image. He was proud of what He had created, but that man sinned, and caused the rest of humanity to be subject to judgment. God loved His people so much, that He sent His only Son into the world, to become the perfect sacrifice. With the shedding of His Son's blood, the barrier that had been up since the Fall of Man was now broken. But before that veil could be torn, God had to judge the sins of the world. Because impurity had been placed on His own Son, God was forced to pour out His wrath on Jesus. The one man who had done no wrong, the one man who had never sinned, was now being forced to endure the judgment that should have been poured out on you and me. For three hours, before that veil was torn (the moment that Jesus released His spirit), God had forsaken His Son, so that after judgment was complete, we could be reconciled to God.

The next time that you think that you have it rough, or feel like you can't go on, think about Christ. He took all the pain and agony that we would suffer, so that we wouldn't have to. All of it was placed on Him when He held the weight of impurity and climbed that hill.

His life was a testament of LOVE; don't let His sacrifice be for nothing.

Lay your burdens at the feet of Jesus, because they have already been taken care of.

The price has been paid.
The veil has been torn.
We are no longer separated.

We have been forgiven.

Blessings,

A.

The Power of the Cross

Do you need love? Are you searching for mercy? Looking for peace of mind? Want understanding without judgment?

Look no further than at the foot of the Cross.

Jesus Christ was born. He lived and He died. He was buried and He rose again. All so that we may find rest in our souls.

The Cross was meant to be a symbol of death, torture and finality. But instead, it became a symbol of hope, love and eternity.

Everything that Christ suffered, was for us.

As His arms stretched wide, so did His love.

As His arms encompassed the world, so did His mercy.

As His arms reached from east to west, so did His promise of peace.

As His arms held the weight of the world, so did His understanding.

If you feel like you've run out of love, look no further, for love has come.

Are you praying that someone would show you mercy? Find it in our Savior's embrace.

If you're fighting a battle, with peace no where to be found, let the peace of Jesus wash over you.

Are you looking for someone to understand your pain? Christ has been there; He understands.

Sometimes, we need a reminder. We are not alone. We don't have to walk this life in fear.

2 Timothy 1:7 -- For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

At the Cross, we find the love of Jesus. We find His mercy overflowing. We find a peace that only He can give. And we find understanding beyond anything we could imagine.

The Cross is power.

And it held the very man that holds our hearts.

Please watch this video and listen to the lyrics; it's the reminder that we all need.

You're Not Alone - Meredith Andrews

He Stayed

During Christ's life, He never felt the sting of sin that you and I feel on a daily basis. That is, not until He was nailed to the cross.

There, on that cross, He felt everything.

He felt shame, disgrace, anger, frustration...everything.

And while the sky was darkened, as my Savior was dying, He cried out to His Father.

Matthew 27:46 -- About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

In the book, He Chose the Nails, by Max Lucado, he states that when Jesus cried this, it was the prayer, the plea, the cry of a sinner.

For the first time in Jesus' life, He knew exactly how every one of us felt, and how we feel now. He not only took the sins of the past, He took the sins of the future too. With him, He nailed our sins to the cross. Why? Because He didn't want to give us up. He loves us that much.

Have you ever thought about why He stayed there? Or have you ever thought about Him staying there at all? God Himself was nailed to the cross that day, and He had the power of it all to change His circumstances. But He didn't. He cared about us that much. And He still cares. And He understands everything that we go through.

Do you sometimes feel like telling God that He doesn't understand? Well take heart, because not only has Christ conquered the world, and death, but He took on every sin, burden and worry that we will ever feel. He knows exactly what we are going through and how we feel, because He felt it too.

Cast your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you :)

And remember..

He stayed.

Blessings,

A.

Crown of Glory

Have you ever thought of God's promise to you? Have you ever thought about the Crown of Thorns? I found this picture, and I think it gives an idea of what our Savior did for us.

Both the Romans and the Jews wanted Him dead. His own people, the Jews, rejected Him. They joined in the mocking. They joined in the torture.

Why the crown? Why thorns?

Jesus called Himself the 'King of the Jews.' So as an act of mockery, they decided to give Him a crown. Not a crown that is fit for a King. But a crown intended to inflict pain. Draw blood. His blood.

A crown of thorns.

Do you realize how much Christ went through for us? In the book we are going through in my Bible study, by Max Lucado, called He Chose the Nails, it says that the only required act to save us, was shed blood. But Jesus did so much more.

He wore that crown of thorns. He felt the piercing in His skull. He felt the blood dripping down His face. And you know what amazes me? He still stayed there. He could have called down the angels out of heaven. But He didn't.

So the next time you think you're going through something that seems to hard to bear, remember Jesus. He went through so much more. He took those thorns, so that one day, we could stand before Him, be with Him, forever.

In His rightful Crown of Glory.

Blessings,

A.

Something New Every Day

Today I learned something new.

That while Christ was on the cross, He was forsaken by His Father for 3 hours. From noon until 3pm, darkness covered the land, and God turned away from the sin that was staining Jesus. Our sin.

This was the only way for the price to be paid. And Jesus did it. So that we may live with Him forever. You've probably never thought about that, huh? I guess it's something that we pass by in the text.

In the bible, Jesus calls out to God: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Can you imagine that? After being beaten and tortured for us, Jesus calls out to the only person that can save Him, looking for help, and God isn't there. Why? Because God can't bear to look at sin. It had consumed His Son. It was written all over His face. And God couldn't look at it.

This is what took place. These events happened. And for what?

Once Jesus gave up His spirit and died, the veil in the temple separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, was torn. From top to bottom. Imagine that. Not bottom to top. TOP TO BOTTOM.

There was no longer that separation between God and man anymore. Jesus became the mediator. And through Jesus, we find life.

Beautiful life.

Blessings,

A.