He Walked Across the Cosmos, For You and For Me

He Walked Across the Cosmos, For You and For Me - Author Unknown

He came from splendour to be born in poverty. He left the presence of angels, for the company of you and me. He laid down a scepter in heaven to be laid in a manger, and exchanged the worship of Arch-angels, for the praise of lowly shepherds.

He walked into the world with all the power of Almighty God at his bidding, but He was carried out as a mutilated body lowered from a cross.

He rebuked the pious, but He comforted the sinner. He refused earthly kingship, although He was still a king. He loved his mother yet gave her away at the Cross. He healed the broken-hearted, but He himself died with a broken heart.

He loved the fellowship of friends, yet was cast out by his kinsmen. He rebuked both sage and seer, then blessed the little children. He held and executive meeting on the Mount of Transfiguration, then wept alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He could walk on water, but could not walk away from the tears in the eyes of the widow from Nain. He could command the stars in their orbits, but He refused to change the circumstances of His own execution. His mission was a commitment to free all men, yet He was imprisoned on the testimony of one man.

He delivered many from pain, but He was delivered to suffer agonizing pain. He dried the eyes of multitudes, but no one dried His eyes in Gethsemane. He carried the burdens of the world, but only one was brought forth to help Him bear His cross to Calvary.

His execution was thought to be insignificant, but became the controversy of the ages. His life was extinguished in a brief second of time, but then ignited to lighten the world.

His short span on thirty-three years on earth should have passed un-noted were it possible, but no one life has ever had such an impact on the minds of men.

His three and one-half years in the world’s eye was brief indeed, but His achievements are the greatest ever recorded.

He has inspired more men, conquered more hearts, delivered more prisoners, consoled more mourners, than any figure in the history of man. He spoke of love, but was murdered with hate. He shared all that He had, then on the Cross…He shared paradise with a thief.

He gave the world light, only to be driven into the cavern of death. He gave mankind guidance, only to be guided to Golgotha. He pointed men to the Tree of Life, they nailed Him to a tree on a hill called the Skull. He gave up His throne in heaven, to be laid in a borrowed tomb.

He walked out of heaven pure, perfect, and beautiful. He returned beaten, mutilated, and nail scarred. He fulfilled all that was written of Him, and yet man did not believe Him. His coming changed the course of nations. His return will be to judge the nations. His title was simple as stated on the Cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” but to those who have ever known Him, He is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

Blessings,

A.

Dependence

I was thinking about this topic a few days ago, and it's stuck with me.

We all depend on people. It's how we make it through life. When we are born, we depend on our mothers and fathers to care for us. When we are young children, we depend on our childhood friends to make us laugh. When we are teenagers, we depend on the love of someone else, to make us feel like we are worth it. When we are adults, we depend on the praise of others, to let us know that we are making it in this life. When we are elders, we depend on those around us to care for us.

My grandfather, Richard, is in a wheelchair. Ever since I was a little girl, that is how I've seen him. It doesn't make me love him any less, but I see the independence that he calls out for. He is dependent on his family to care for him. The simple things that I take for granted on any given day, he needs help doing. His meals are prepared for him, his clothes are laid out, certain precautions are taken. Yes, he is dependent, but his earlier years of independence push through.

Dependency is interwoven through the very fiber of our beings, even when we all try so hard to be independent.

Have you ever thought that maybe our dependence roots deeper than human interaction?

Isaiah 49:1 says, "Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name."

And Psalm 139:13 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."

We were created with a sense of dependency. God knew us before we were born. He knew the paths that we would take in life. He knew what parents we would be born to, what friends we would make and who we would marry.

But even with all of those interactions, there is one interaction that we have the CHOICE to make: our interaction and dependency on God.

There are many times in my life that I need someone to look up to, or there are times that I place my admiration in someone that has faults the same as I. Why put our hopes and dreams in something or someone that is as unstable as we are?

God wants us to depend on Him.

He is unchangeable. He is constant. His promises never fail. And more than that, because it is hard for us, as humans, to put our faith and trust in something that we can't see, God sent His son.

Christ became the proof that we needed. He opened the doors for us to come freely to God. We can be dependent on Him. We can lean on Him when we are weak and weary.

Matthew 11:28-30 -- "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus assures us that we can place all of us onto Him; fears, failures, sins, burdens, guilt...whatever we face in this life. And He will be there.

Unfailing.

Immovable.

Steadfast.

So even when you want to be independent, and prove to the world that you don't need anyone else, dependency is never far behind. It runs in our veins.

Maybe our dependency is God's subtle calling card to us. It says, "You're looking for someone to depend on, and lift you to your feet when you are weak and have fallen. Here I am. Depend on me. Fall on me. I will never leave you or forsake you."

In your search for independence, will you depend on God?

Blessings,

A.

Blessed Redeemer

In the event of Easter yesterday, I wanted to share this song with you today. It's a beautiful remembrance of the things that Christ did for us.

Let's not just remember His sacrifice on Easter, but always. Every day. Every hour.

Because without Him, where would we be?

Blessings,

A.

"His Hands" - Original Poem

I wrote this poem today. I was thinking about the concepts of Love, Faith and Hope.

This is the result.

Love.

Stretched out on a tree.

Encompassing the world.

Visible and unknown.

Piercing, aching.

Savior of souls.

His love pours out.

Faith.

Belief in a name.

Trust in a whisper.

Forever and always the same.

Beginning and end.

Keeper of souls.

Open your eyes wider.

Hope.

In the return.

A chance of everlasting.

For our savior we yearn.

Promises unbroken.

Collection of souls.

Praise shall never end.

Without love, there is no faith.

Without faith, there is no hope.

These hands hold it all.

Sacrifice bore love.

Through love, faith was born.

In faith, hope is bred.

Nails bore blood.

Through blood, tears were born.

In tears, a promise was bred.

His promise.

It was in His hands.

In His hands, His promise stretched out.

Love that is eternal.

Faith that is enduring.

Hope that is everlasting.