Good Friday, 2011

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul,[b]and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
(New King James Version)

Great Spangled Fritillary hanging out

on a yummy butterfly bush. The afternoon sun is delightful on these 'wings of velvet'.May the wings of a butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond

~~Irish Blessing

We surely know that his wings kiss the sun and if you go to visit a 'butterfly house' one of these little wonders may light on your shoulder.

However, luck happiness and riches today or any day are beyond his capabilities!

Psalm 107:1-2, 8-9

Oh, give thanks to the LORD,

for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

Oh, that men would give thanks to the

LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the

children of men!

For He satisfies the longing soul,

And fills the hungry soul with

goodness.

Did you ever wonder

about the passage in Mark 7:31-37?

³¹ Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. ³² Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. ³³ And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴ Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
³⁵ Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” (Mark 7:31-37, New King James Version)

It always kind of bothered me as to why Jesus would do those gestures I've put in bold in the passage above. What about you??

To listen to a great exposition of this passage click here and scroll down to Sunday May 9, 2010 and listen to the message (free) To Speak or Not to Speak. I just loved it!!!!!

True Love

Happy day of love and loving! While reading today in the Daily Study Bible (MacArthur) I was struck by the true love shown in the selected passages, which were not chosen because it is Feb. 14, but because that is where we are in these Scriptures, as we read each day.

From the Old Testament: Ex. 39 and 40 - the descriptions of the furnishings for the Tabernacle and the priests and we see the Beauty of His Love, as he wants us to see His Beauty every time we come together for worship. And when Moses finished the work and it was all done "The Glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle". (Ex. 40:34) Can anything be more beautiful than His Glory??

From Proverbs 8:23-31 - His love expressed through His Wisdom in the creation. We see His love every time we open our lives to all He has created for our enjoyment and edification. "Rejoicing in the world, His earth and having my delight in the sons of men". (vs. 31)

But then, --and I wonder - is this love??-- next in the reading, is Matthew 27: 1-26 which records the "trial" of Jesus Christ before Pilate, after the "trial" of Jesus Christ before the chief priests and the high priest; the presentation of the Christ before the people who yelled out for Barabas to be released; and then verse 26, "he delivered Him to be crucified". And I was so humbled by this extreme act of love, a love I can never know in full, a love that surpasses all love ever before expressed or ever after, a love that only a Loving God can give through the willing love, and death, of His Son for us. And I know -- This is love.

Oh My!! such nonsense is shown in red hearts, candy and flowers that soon fade and...
Oh My!! such love is shown in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"We love because He first loved us".1 John 4:19...Thank You, God, for True Love.