Good day to all and I trust each of you had a restful and enjoyable holiday weekend. Waine and I had some good bonding time with Kai and Hailie and a good time watching the US Tennis Open. You got to love Venus for that costume? Please continue to pray for ET and his family. ET has completed his second round of chemotherapy and his spirits are up and he is trusting and believing. Pray traveling mercies for Waine as he heads to Jamaica today.
Medical Tidbit- A positive attitude in the morning get's your organs working correctly and your mind functioning on all cylinders. A negative attitude has the exact opposite effect.
I wanted to continue my journey in Matthew 27 today verses 45-66, "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave Him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save Him." And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely He was the Son of God!" Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for His needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the Body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Lord Jesus thank you and amen and amen!
All of us know the story of the Crucifixion of Christ however when I read this account in Matthew today, I picked up some things that I had not been previously blessed with.
1. When Jesus said He was thirsty, someone in the crowd IMMEDIATELY ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar to offer Him. Isn't that like humans to resist being kind to a suffering human being. This person is probably regretting that decision today, even as we speak. That person now knows that Christ is Lord, because that person is in hell with Satan the great deceiver. That Vinegar-Sponge Bob was probably trying to be the "big man" showing the crowd and the Centurions that he was one of the "group"--the in crowd as it were. Sometimes it is better to stand up for your beliefs than to be a crowd pleaser who is usually not remembered after the crowd has had their of the crowd pleaser.
2. Jesus cried out to God and asked why God had forsaken Him. Many theologians believe that when Christ took on our sins and became sin, Christ could not longer be in the presence of God. God and sin can not exist physically or spiritually in the same space, Hallelujah! When we rebuke sin, we are immediately in the presence of the God Almighty. When you rebuke fear you are immediately transmitted to the land of hope and assurance whether you realize it or not. Rejecting fear rejects Satan. Embracing hope, embraces the Jesus who sacrificed Himself so that we can live. SIN is serious! So serious that God turned His face from His beloved Son, Jesus the Christ. That should provide us with some incite.
3. Jesus GAVE UP HIS SPIRIT AND THEN HE DIED. As a physician I believe that we willingly give up our spirit before we die. Most people GIVE IN to death. I have worked many emergency room hours where people come in looking like train wrecks and they look at me and say "Doc, I am not ready to die and I will fight with you to get me out of this medical crisis." and they walk out of the hospital. I have conversely taken of people who look perfectly fine and they look at me and say "Doc, I'm not going to make it." and they don't. People have to have their spirits aligned with death to die and all of us will align our will to death AT THE APPOINTED HOUR however we should never give in to death until that appointed hour comes. Likewise we need not give into despair just because the physical evidence is stacked against us. We serve a God that HAS overcome all despair and calamity! Remember that.
4. The chief priests and their crew were so afraid of Jesus and His truths that they thought they could buy insurance to keep the prophesies from happening. These den of vipers thought that Rome could prevent the resurrection of Jesus. This is a great example of what we see today. People trying to fix spiritual matters. They are on TV constantly tell the public what "good Christians" should do. I can tell you some of them do not demonstrate the Fruits of the Spirit that Jesus talks about and neither did the religous rulers of Jesus' day. We have no power in the spiritual realm other than through intercession through Christ. We have no power over Satan other than the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We have no influence with God other than through Christ. These chief priests, Sadducees and Pharisees truly were seeing through a glass darkly as Paul described and then they saw the Truth face-to-face but it was too late.
It is hard to say whether the Centurions and other Jewish spectators confessed their sins and accepted Christ. I am sure some did. I am equally sure that some people are so blinded by the lies that they tell themselves daily that they will never see the truth. It is only important that we, I and you, see and execute the truths as revealed by God on a daily basis. He does reveal truths to all of us daily. The question is whether we are able to accept the truth and let truth work in our lives.
To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. Amen and be blessed today through God's Word.
Stephanie
Medical Tidbit- A positive attitude in the morning get's your organs working correctly and your mind functioning on all cylinders. A negative attitude has the exact opposite effect.
I wanted to continue my journey in Matthew 27 today verses 45-66, "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave Him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save Him." And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely He was the Son of God!" Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for His needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the Body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Lord Jesus thank you and amen and amen!
All of us know the story of the Crucifixion of Christ however when I read this account in Matthew today, I picked up some things that I had not been previously blessed with.
1. When Jesus said He was thirsty, someone in the crowd IMMEDIATELY ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar to offer Him. Isn't that like humans to resist being kind to a suffering human being. This person is probably regretting that decision today, even as we speak. That person now knows that Christ is Lord, because that person is in hell with Satan the great deceiver. That Vinegar-Sponge Bob was probably trying to be the "big man" showing the crowd and the Centurions that he was one of the "group"--the in crowd as it were. Sometimes it is better to stand up for your beliefs than to be a crowd pleaser who is usually not remembered after the crowd has had their of the crowd pleaser.
2. Jesus cried out to God and asked why God had forsaken Him. Many theologians believe that when Christ took on our sins and became sin, Christ could not longer be in the presence of God. God and sin can not exist physically or spiritually in the same space, Hallelujah! When we rebuke sin, we are immediately in the presence of the God Almighty. When you rebuke fear you are immediately transmitted to the land of hope and assurance whether you realize it or not. Rejecting fear rejects Satan. Embracing hope, embraces the Jesus who sacrificed Himself so that we can live. SIN is serious! So serious that God turned His face from His beloved Son, Jesus the Christ. That should provide us with some incite.
3. Jesus GAVE UP HIS SPIRIT AND THEN HE DIED. As a physician I believe that we willingly give up our spirit before we die. Most people GIVE IN to death. I have worked many emergency room hours where people come in looking like train wrecks and they look at me and say "Doc, I am not ready to die and I will fight with you to get me out of this medical crisis." and they walk out of the hospital. I have conversely taken of people who look perfectly fine and they look at me and say "Doc, I'm not going to make it." and they don't. People have to have their spirits aligned with death to die and all of us will align our will to death AT THE APPOINTED HOUR however we should never give in to death until that appointed hour comes. Likewise we need not give into despair just because the physical evidence is stacked against us. We serve a God that HAS overcome all despair and calamity! Remember that.
4. The chief priests and their crew were so afraid of Jesus and His truths that they thought they could buy insurance to keep the prophesies from happening. These den of vipers thought that Rome could prevent the resurrection of Jesus. This is a great example of what we see today. People trying to fix spiritual matters. They are on TV constantly tell the public what "good Christians" should do. I can tell you some of them do not demonstrate the Fruits of the Spirit that Jesus talks about and neither did the religous rulers of Jesus' day. We have no power in the spiritual realm other than through intercession through Christ. We have no power over Satan other than the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We have no influence with God other than through Christ. These chief priests, Sadducees and Pharisees truly were seeing through a glass darkly as Paul described and then they saw the Truth face-to-face but it was too late.
It is hard to say whether the Centurions and other Jewish spectators confessed their sins and accepted Christ. I am sure some did. I am equally sure that some people are so blinded by the lies that they tell themselves daily that they will never see the truth. It is only important that we, I and you, see and execute the truths as revealed by God on a daily basis. He does reveal truths to all of us daily. The question is whether we are able to accept the truth and let truth work in our lives.
To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. Amen and be blessed today through God's Word.
Stephanie
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