Песнь Возрождения № 419

В багрянице стоишь Ты в терновом венце,
Туго спереди связаны руки; Сколько скорби глубокой на бледном лице,
Сколько жалости к людям и муки.

Но не телом скорбишь Ты, Спаситель людей,
Хоть позорная пытка ужасна; В страшный час для
Тебя несравненно больней Знать, что жертва для многих напрасна.

Взор любовью горел, озаряя врагов, Сердце
нежно обнять всех стремилось; Но не многим понятна Христова любовь,
И толпа над Ним злобно глумилась.

"Дайте скипетр Ему, на колени скорей! Здравст-
вуй, Царь Иудейский!" - кричали И в затекшие руки
Царя всех царей Тростниковую палку давали.

Били ею Его по колючкам венка, И по впалым
ланитам хлестали, И плевали в лицо. Кровь стекала с чела.
А они все сильней насмехались.

Так страдал и томился Спаситель людей; Мир порочный над Богом глумился.
За тебя, о мой друг, твой Спаситель страдал,
За тебя Он так тяжко томился.

Make Time for Him

At my workplace, I have the privilege of working with a diverse group of people. One of them is a lady who has been with the company for many years and is considered to be a devout Christian. Her actions may indeed support this consideration as she daily (twice-a-day) hands out devotionals to everyone who accepts them. On Thursday, the devotional she laid on my desk said something many of us can relate to in the modern world; it's titled, Our Demanding Schedules. You can read the full devotional by clicking here if you'd like. The author refers to a passage in Mark 1:32-34:

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.

In this passage, Jesus is described to have been busy all night healing the sick and casting out demons. We don't know if he attended to the sick and demon-possessed one-at-a-time or if he healed many at once. Either way, we can tell from the passage that He had a long night ahead of Him and His days were filled with similar activities. But in verses 35-39 we read:

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

This is where we must follow after Christ's set example. The strength He got in His busy schedule was acquired through His quiet time with the Father. Yes, even if that meant getting up before daylight. Let's pray for the strength and desire to do so in the demanding schedules we face today. May the Lord bless each and every one of you.

Repent Like a Prophet

In our church, Friday is intended to be a day of fasting and commitment to pray for those who do not know Christ or have fallen away. Today, during our regular Friday Bible study/prayer meeting, we read a passage from Daniel chapter 9 that caught my otherwise fading attention. Why fading? A long day at work and lack of sleep results in a lack of proper attentiveness, therefore, I was entering "zone-out" mode. Fortunately, God has a way of keeping us on our toes. The ninth chapter in the Book of Daniel is an account of history many do not wish to see to this day. But it's not the history that caught my attention. When Daniel realized his (and Israel's) position before the Lord, it says he set his "face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes". The remaining verses in the chapter mostly make up his prayer and the appearance of an angel of God, Gabriel. Near the end of his prayer, in verse 19, Daniel says the following:

O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

Can you feel the stress level of this man when you read those lines? On Friday night, I did. When was the last time I came before God, fell on my knees and cried out for myself and my people? "But you're already a member of the Church!", you say. Yes, but was Daniel not already a servant of the Lord? What did he have to repent about? This is where we must come to a very grim conclusion... we do not repent the way we ought to. We do not admit our sinfulness before the almighty, sinless God. Why would Daniel, a man of strong faith and works need to pray a prayer of deep repentance? Because he saw his own heart. Brother/sister in Christ, take a few moments out of your day to think about your position before the Lord. Is everything well with your soul? Are all of your words living up to your actions? Are you cleansed by the power of Christ's blood? Do other's see His image in you? If you answered no to at least one of those questions, stop reading this and pray the prayer of repentance. It is a most urgent action you must take! May the Lord be with you!

Love = Cold

It's Winter. Yes, I know it's almost Spring but it's still winter. And with the cold weather usually come cold, eerie feelings of loneliness and despair. As if you're the only one alive on this planet and even the imaginary beings on the farthest known planet despise you for living so close to them. Maybe it's not that extreme but it's a proven fact that people become more depressed during the colder seasons of the year and it makes sense. The problem with those feelings is not that they are annoyingly difficult to get over. Rather, the problem is quite the contrary. The problem is that there is a lot of love. As a matter of fact, there's way too much of it. Too much love towards yourself. Ouch, bet you didn't see that one coming! Haha, I tricked you! I will now go eat a bowl of cereal as a reward to myself.

On a more serious note, that little trick of mine parked my thoughts exactly where they need to be for the remainder of this post. It's a thought my brain's been churning for the past couple of weeks. Feelings of loneliness [usually] arrive thanks to our self-propelled trait called, "pride". For the purposes of this post, I prefer the Russian Biblical term, "самолюбие" or "self-love". Though modern society claims that self-love is 'oh-so-necessary' for the survival of the human race, we see the opposite in action. With the rise of humanism and many other "bright" ideas, people have become more independent, self-loving, and cold. In turn, it results in a race where fulfilling personal desires is top priority. These personal desires are in no way approved by God's word.

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 1 John 3:10-11

The most simple of all commandments is to love those around us. If we do, feelings of loneliness will no longer swarm our minds. It's when we set our pride aside and begin to love others that we will see warmer winters. :)

With what?

With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6-8

I recently ran accross this passage and it reminded of a question posed by many people today: "How do I know the will of God in my service before Him?". Christian's today are so rooted in their lifestyles consisting of materialism, relationships, issues, and so on that their knowledge of God's will in their life is down to a minimum. This passage has a clear answer to all who ask the above question: "what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?". Nothing more - nothing less. Note: nothing less. The word of God has an answer to all of our questions.