Three Nails!!

Three nails and nine words! "I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God"! A slow walk from a beaten bleeding man.... being cursed and mocked. Spit on yelled at, stumbling on uneven stone, beat some more....eyes blurred my guess is seeing double. So thirsty and yet through this all continued to walk. He could have sent legions of angels to destroy anyone who whispered a cross word. But he kept walking, falling in pain. He got to the place they call Golgotha, they lay down what we call a tree. But it was two heavy splintered pieces of wood bound together to make a cross. Naked being striped of his cloths with bleeding open wounds, fear and anger PAIN. They stretched out his wounded body with a huge strike they drove the first nail through his wrist and my guess a few more to be sure it was secure in the wood. then repeated it on the other arm. They took his feet I assume together with a jumping thrust my guess they started the third nail through his two ankles, hammering until secure. They stood this "tree" we call it with such a delicate nature, up my guess is jostling the worn injured bleeding body of Christ. With a mighty final thrust. Leaving this frail man to be suffocated after many hours of more taunting and deprived of drink. Christ's lowered his head letting the world know it was finished. My savior my Lord endured that for me. For you, for all who believe in him. I in the words of Paul am the worst sinner. I am human and fall short in may different ways each day. I am given chance after fighting chance to prove my self worthy and fall short each time. But are you not glad of the words over and over from Christ. 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am amazed "faithful and Just", he told us this is what he would do and no matter how much or how many times, just confess and with your heart be sorry. Leave it be he says. Leave it to him. Faithful and Just, do believe that? We sin and sin over and over many times the same sin we just asked to be abolished. Faithful and Just he calls it. Call upon him for forgiveness and he was already there ready. You know I am so glad for this, could you imagine if your salvation was judged or given to you by the law of man. By man who himself repeatedly ask for Gods grace and forgiving hand, is ready to condemn many times upon first mistake. These things will not change man from the begging of time has seen the splinter in ones eye but ignored the log in his own. Mat. 7-15. I don't share with you today a personal story to parallel this lesson as there are far to many. I like Paul am the worst sinner. Today don't reflect your own personal stories either Christ said bring it to my feet with a believing heart and leave it. Don't dwell don't revisit it. So do that reflect on how grateful you are for Gods forgiving grace. Three nail's nine words and the death of the only perfect man= I Am Free! Will you please pray with me? "God in times of our shortcomings we come to you and ask forgive us Lord. We sometimes feel this is the majority of our conversations with you, and start to feel remorse, I am thankful Lord for your grace. Thank you for enduring such great pain for me Lord, and watching me day in and out commit the same sins over and over. Lord I pray with thanksgiving to you today for these gifts you give us. I pray for strength to share these gifts and to have forgiveness in my heart like you do for me. Lord bless me with strength, guide me with it help me keep faith with it and help me share you with others through it. Dry mine eyes Lord lift my head to worship you no matter where my feet may be. It is with this ultimate sacrifice and your grace that these words are able to fall upon your ears Christ in your name Amen".

Thirst for God!

In a nation that is abundant with all you can eat and drink options, we seem to have no problem finding all types of food and beverages that will fill us to the brim when hungry. As a culinary student I am very passionate about food, and seem to know it well. Have you ever been so hungry you think you could eat an entire cow, Hahaha? But when you find yourself in one of these all you can eat restaurants you don't really eat as much as you may have thought you would? In retrospect though have you ever been so thirsty you just don't seem to be able to get enough to quench your thirst? You eventually however get your fill. But before long you are thirsty again, hungry again. When in this search for these special all you can eat and drink places sometimes they are our answer because we just cant decide what it is we want, we just don't know what it is.... Spiritual thirst is like this. We thirst for God in so many ways. With prayers and request to our God we pray and fervently ask Lord I want to know you more. The more you seek him the more you want to seek him more know him better. Like these restaurants the world too is full of places unending to fulfill the humans desires, but before long and always you find your self just not quite satisfied. Though you may find happiness or satisfaction it is for a short time. Unlike feeding your soul and refreshing it through God. God gives us peace for the moment and a desire to to seek him more. The worlds buffets through satin constantly try to lure us to feast and fill up on worldly desire and actions, but leaving us displaced, empty, not satisfied. My Grandfather is a life long student of God. He has spent his entire life searching learning and sharing God. Still to this day he is much older wiser and has many things to share about his studies and his learned lessons. Yet he still strives daily to know God more, I couldn't think of what it is he dose not know. Paul was like this. The Apostle Paul must have similarly impressed others in his day. Despite all his maturity in Christ, all he had seen and experienced, late in life (in Philippians 3:10) Paul wrote of the passion that propelled him: "that I may know Him." What is he talking about? Didn't he already know Jesus more closely than perhaps anyone else ever will? Of course he did. But the more he knew Jesus, the more he wanted to know Him. The more Paul progressed in spiritual strength, the more thirsty for God He became. The writer of Psalm 42 has a similar thirst he writes " As a deer pants for the water brooks so pants my soul for you. When Christ told us in John 4:14 saying "whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst". Just like these all you can eat places however you become hungry again you thirst again but can continue to be left empty. Maybe that place with all its options still did not have the meal you sought. Either way your body was left hungry again. Our human body's will continue to remain left unsatisfied in what ever we quench it with in the world, whatever sinful desire we try to satisify, or simply try to find happiness without God. So why dose a believer thirst so much even after receiving this water that is given from Christ in John? The water dose not destroy your thirst. If this were the case you have no need for his water afterward when you drink of this Christ given water it gives you a spring so you know where to find a drink when you need it. As you drink more from this fountain you require more from it, you want others to drink from it. People who do not receive this drink will continually be unfulfilled not knowing what it is they don't have not sure just what is missing from there life. A Christian's life can become arid even after receiving this fountain for many reasons, one very common is drinking from the fountains of the world and not retreating to his eternal fountain to refresh his soul and body. Matthew 5:6 a thirsting desire for the Lord and his rightouness is a blessing. This is because the holly spirit is at work in you. When the Holly Spirit is at work it too like your human conscious is putting your mind and body to work. In 1 Cor. 6:19 tells us our body's are temples and the holy spirit dwells and works there. Find blessing in your thirst for God. Retreat often to this fountain and replenish your soul, Read his word Pray never ceasing to want to be close and talk to God, Grow and be happy. God gives us this desire to want unending happiness. When you require a true thirst for God you long for even more. Do you thirst for God? Thirst is God-planed, for part of growth of a soul toward it"s heavenly home. Lets Pray " Lord God I want to Know you, I want to be close to you. Lord please let me meditate your word not just read it. Lord I thank you for the water you quench my thirst for you with. Like my Grandpa and the apostle Paul I want to know you and share you with the world. Help teach me how to gain refuge in you. Lord help me to see with your eyes speak with your tongue and hear with your ears. Lord I thank you for the cost of this fountain that is given freely to me. it is through your holy name I thank you and please forgive me Lord when I find retreat from the world, but thank you when become arid and thirsty that you are there to refresh me. Forgive my sins and it is through your sons name I pray Lord Amen"