There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the dwelling places of the Most High God. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. The nations made an uproar. The kingdoms tottered. He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. (vs. 4-7)
Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. (Jesus, John 4)
Speaking of even-if 's.
The young virgin was going about her daily tasks when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to her. She was to be the mother of the Messiah. His name was to be Emmanuel, God with us. The Holy Spirit of God implanted the child in her womb. Joy unspeakable! The Savior in her. Ultimately to be in us.
Mary at the cross. Looking up at her bleeding Son. Almost unrecognizable for the beating He had received. She and her other kids had trouble believing His mission when it turned pedestrian. Thought He was going to reign as a king, not walk the dusty roads as a healer and forgiver. James, his brother, thought Him a little crazy. Even tried to rescue Jesus from a group He was speaking to because He seemed to have delusions of grandeur. And now....the bloody sweat of her Son, this Child of Promise, falls like gentle raindrops on the dust beneath His cross. Where is the angel now? Had she heard him correctly? All looked lost and hopeless. Didn't know her Son was now her Savior.
God in heaven. The Father Who knew from the beginning what the road to Calvary was all about. Though He predestined and foreordained the death of His Son for the forgiveness of our sins, this Lamb was personal. The cringing Abba endured with the Son the spit and stripes, the blasphemy and cursings, the derision and torture. But there was a moment when He could not look. The sins of centuries too hard to bear as they fell on the Son hanging there.
"My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?" Heartbroken, body bleeding and soul dirtied for the taking on of sin. The Father could not put His holy eyes on our filth. But heaven held its breath. Perhaps the streams that make it glad stopped flowing for a moment. It was the definitive hour for all of the universe and heaven, too. All created for this occasion.
"I have to!" The Father must have cried to His Son. "You know I have to! You must be Emmanuel forever!" And then He turned His face.
But make no mistake. "It is finished!" marked the end. And the Father stood up with this world in His hands and shook it fiercely. With a word it would have exploded with His wrath. God Almighty could only just keep His composure as His Son relinquished His life. The light of the world turned out for several hours. Midday complete darkness. This Father was aroused and heartsick. I think this world just barely made it through the death of Christ.
The Son on Sunday. Sitting up. Moving with ease out of graveclothes and beyond the heavy stone that could not hold Him in. Going back to Abba. Done with death. Risen to life eternal. To enter heaven as the conquering Lamb worthy to receive for all time the honor due His name. To take from the river of Life a cup of living water and put it to our lips so we might drink and be glad. So that the river that flows through the City of God flows also through us until we are there to swim in its waters and drink of its joys.
It looked so bleak. The cross. How could Mary know her boy would die? Yes, old Simeon had pronounced "a sword will pass through your own soul." But that was years ago, and she had never fully realized what it meant. Could her boy now be Messiah even if He is dying between two criminals? How can there be trust when it all falls apart? All but one disciple ran away in fear. It looked like even Jesus didn't get what was going on. She walked away in hopelessness. A grief too deep to speak. For it seemed that she had not only lost her firstborn, but the Jews had lost their Messiah.
Tragedy rose up in triumph, though. God was in the midst. Controlling history. Vanquishing His oldest enemy, Satan. Conquering death not only for His Son, but now for us.
Can't see the outcome of what is on your plate today? Impossible to understand what your Heavenly Father is doing in your situation? Is it possible to remember that He is enthroned above the circle of the earth in glory and power? That though the kingdoms are in an uproar and nations totter on the brink of disaster, He is in the midst and shall not be moved? Hang on. Take a drink of living water from a stream of gladness flowing from the river of Life. Then trust that His eye is on you just as surely as it was on His Son and when it is time, He will stand up and melt the enemy before your very eyes.
Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. (Jesus, John 4)
Speaking of even-if 's.
The young virgin was going about her daily tasks when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to her. She was to be the mother of the Messiah. His name was to be Emmanuel, God with us. The Holy Spirit of God implanted the child in her womb. Joy unspeakable! The Savior in her. Ultimately to be in us.
Mary at the cross. Looking up at her bleeding Son. Almost unrecognizable for the beating He had received. She and her other kids had trouble believing His mission when it turned pedestrian. Thought He was going to reign as a king, not walk the dusty roads as a healer and forgiver. James, his brother, thought Him a little crazy. Even tried to rescue Jesus from a group He was speaking to because He seemed to have delusions of grandeur. And now....the bloody sweat of her Son, this Child of Promise, falls like gentle raindrops on the dust beneath His cross. Where is the angel now? Had she heard him correctly? All looked lost and hopeless. Didn't know her Son was now her Savior.
God in heaven. The Father Who knew from the beginning what the road to Calvary was all about. Though He predestined and foreordained the death of His Son for the forgiveness of our sins, this Lamb was personal. The cringing Abba endured with the Son the spit and stripes, the blasphemy and cursings, the derision and torture. But there was a moment when He could not look. The sins of centuries too hard to bear as they fell on the Son hanging there.
"My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?" Heartbroken, body bleeding and soul dirtied for the taking on of sin. The Father could not put His holy eyes on our filth. But heaven held its breath. Perhaps the streams that make it glad stopped flowing for a moment. It was the definitive hour for all of the universe and heaven, too. All created for this occasion.
"I have to!" The Father must have cried to His Son. "You know I have to! You must be Emmanuel forever!" And then He turned His face.
But make no mistake. "It is finished!" marked the end. And the Father stood up with this world in His hands and shook it fiercely. With a word it would have exploded with His wrath. God Almighty could only just keep His composure as His Son relinquished His life. The light of the world turned out for several hours. Midday complete darkness. This Father was aroused and heartsick. I think this world just barely made it through the death of Christ.
The Son on Sunday. Sitting up. Moving with ease out of graveclothes and beyond the heavy stone that could not hold Him in. Going back to Abba. Done with death. Risen to life eternal. To enter heaven as the conquering Lamb worthy to receive for all time the honor due His name. To take from the river of Life a cup of living water and put it to our lips so we might drink and be glad. So that the river that flows through the City of God flows also through us until we are there to swim in its waters and drink of its joys.
It looked so bleak. The cross. How could Mary know her boy would die? Yes, old Simeon had pronounced "a sword will pass through your own soul." But that was years ago, and she had never fully realized what it meant. Could her boy now be Messiah even if He is dying between two criminals? How can there be trust when it all falls apart? All but one disciple ran away in fear. It looked like even Jesus didn't get what was going on. She walked away in hopelessness. A grief too deep to speak. For it seemed that she had not only lost her firstborn, but the Jews had lost their Messiah.
Tragedy rose up in triumph, though. God was in the midst. Controlling history. Vanquishing His oldest enemy, Satan. Conquering death not only for His Son, but now for us.
Can't see the outcome of what is on your plate today? Impossible to understand what your Heavenly Father is doing in your situation? Is it possible to remember that He is enthroned above the circle of the earth in glory and power? That though the kingdoms are in an uproar and nations totter on the brink of disaster, He is in the midst and shall not be moved? Hang on. Take a drink of living water from a stream of gladness flowing from the river of Life. Then trust that His eye is on you just as surely as it was on His Son and when it is time, He will stand up and melt the enemy before your very eyes.
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