Pass over me, the wretchedness of me, the stinch of death that is yet in me
My door's stain with a crimson red remembrance is slowly fading though still covered
Has my mind forgotten my purification, the laver which graced me with a tender flow
No angels stir in the physical bath can bring purity
only when bethesdas source is the living water of the Savior's touch
Pass over me, the neglegence of me, the pestilence that is me
The desire for fruit exists in theory, the seeds have been planted, cultivated, watered
My eyes however raise and see my plowing, my plowing in Sodom, my watering in Gomorrah
Have I gone this far for Yah to cause me to die
Shall I not return to Egypt where the shakels were sore yet mine?
Pass over me, the white washed tomb, the desire for deaths heart that still looms
Seeking the pen and paper of those in a grave
finding life in the ink of a diatrade that's man made
Reinventing the Gospels as my spell, the good news I'm out of hell
this must mean what I am is special
He must have especially needed me, my will and power,
now that He has me His kingdom will do well
Oh that travesty of my hell, pass over this pride that leaks from my root
that rests beneath the threatening axe
The poet had it right and I admit, I walk through the den of the wicked and I still blend in
I know my words are not worthy of the lips of another mans quoting
If they are dripping with gall and vinegar of my desire to be noticed
Pass over this foolishness in me, this quarrelsome tongue
whose sword it'd rather unsheath
This youthful lust of a knight who wars in the darkness of night,
this battle I fight is a war of sin
I care not for I love not, though pursued by His love first, lust within is still birthed
Raising my child of intellectual gluttony,
feeding the sword that speaks to glory in often me
Pass over me, oh Angel of light that redeems what's shed in the shine
of Your all consuming eyes
Seeing my woeful deeds and hearing my pleas for pardon from the divine,
may fruit of faith still be growing authored by the lifegiving vine
A faith exemplified by my fathers bearing witness to a redemptive testament
of a gracious and binding blood covenant
May the Passover Lamb pass over my deeds here exposed in prose
grant me redemption based upon His scandalous hesed love
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Lamb's Kingdom of the Not Yet
On the 10th day of Nisan, the Sunday before our Messiah's death, Christ entered Jerusalem through the East gate from Bethany. He was seated humbly on a donkey, not a white horse adorned with glory but a King adorned with humility. This is presented in the gospels normally under the heading of the "triumphal entry" for throughout Church history this is widely accepted as the moment where Christ offered Himself as the King prophesied in the Law, Psalms and Prophets. This king that the government would rest on His shoulders and would set the captives free. They were looking for a military warrior with a sword to release them from the oppression they had been enduring for centuries, which is now the oppression under the hand of the Romans. The disciples followed their Rabbi's instructions in finding the colt that he prophesied would be tied up, and in respect they placed their cloaks on the unridden colt and placed their Rabbi on it and led him towards Jerusalem. The Jews residing in the city recognized the gesture that was occuring and welcomed him as though He were a conquerer or prince by placing their cloaks on the dirt road and welcoming him with palm branches as a sign of royal triumphal entry of a prince or king after a war while reciting a section of the Hallel in Psalm 118, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" Save us, Son of David, Save us! That was the cry of the people, however this request of saving was a seeking of a political savior to save them from their circumstances of oppresion, and not a spiritual Savior. This unfortunately is the normal request of humanity, a saving from circumstantial issues or a societal oppression, hardly was the request for a spiritual cleansing and saving from their wretched stone heart that their prophet Jeremiah declared was their true oppression. This is ultimately what Christ was offering. His kingdom is not of this world.
In regards to the Passover, which is the series that I have sought to write on, this is the beginning of His fulfillment of this festival. By tradition and law, the Jewish people were to find their unblemished lamb which they would bring into their household for the 4 days prior to the Passover, for the purpose of inspection and befriending so that their would be an ultimate cost to the sacrifice. At this point in the history of the Messiah He was accepted by the people as their lamb which was to then be inspected for the next few days and befriended by many. Israel should have known the exact moment in time that the Messiah, the anointed one, would enter. In Daniel 9:25-26 it says that the coming Messiah would arrive and be rejected, this exact time could have been determined by those that knew the Law and the prophets. (Harold Hohner has done the math and history and has proven that the exact timing if studied shows the exact date that the Messiah would come, that date is the day of the triumphal entry). However, as mentioned, this Messiah is not the king Israel desired for He was not there to redeem them from the Romans, but to redeem them from the Law. Just as Israel at the beginning of their Monarchy did not want the Kingdom that Yahweh was offering but their heart rushed towards the immediate remedy of an earthly king to "be like the other nations. This King however came humbly as a Lamb yet a King; rejected as the chief cornerstone which is now the foundational stone by which our salvation was secured.
Often times we think we need a physical or societel redemption and healing, but yet our true state that is need of redemption is our stone cold souls. I just went through cancer and surgery to remove/redeem my body from a cancerous tumor, but unless that cancerous tumor of my uncircumcised heart is removed, no surgery or healing would be of eternal benefit to me. I sat a few nights ago for a few minutes watching a show on TV on world revival and their whole intent was for a momentary superficial revival through circumstance and sought to send the glory of God through the TV screen to bring forth a change in a persons external enviroment. How glory focused we are that we desire freedom from heartache, pain, and poverty rather than the raw sustanance that brings life to our malnourished and parched heart. More often than not we seek the physical while Christ is presenting the spiritual. As the apostle Paul said, because he counted all else as loss, he was able to endure all things with contentment. Only because He valued the spiritual presence of the Messiah rather than the adornment of the glory of Rome as His treasure. Your heart seeks what you truly worship. What is the object of your worship?
The Messiah has presented Himself as the King eternal, riding humbly on a donkey, hardly the procession of external royalty and prestige, for His kingship and royalty is not of this world but in His eternal abode. We are not here as His ambassador to flash our royal robes and prestige around as a symbol of our greatness and riches, but we are to clothe ourselves in humility and gentleness, presenting our Savior as King, clothed in splendor and majesty for all to see in glory. The self proclaimed kings of our generation place themselves on their own throne of stardom, but our king was placed on His throne through suffering and humility amongst His people.
I lift up my eyes, where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord ... the maker of heaven and earth. He is my exalted King who arrived in a lowly state and ascended in a glorious array. The first fruits of what was to come for all those who are found burried in his death, and soon to be risen to His life. This is the promise we have been given through the Cross and given a hint of through the deposit of the Holy Spirit. Our lowly King humbled Himself and the Father exalted Him above all and His enemies soon as footstool under His feet. This King offers you and I His kingdom now ... though in it's glory not yet
In regards to the Passover, which is the series that I have sought to write on, this is the beginning of His fulfillment of this festival. By tradition and law, the Jewish people were to find their unblemished lamb which they would bring into their household for the 4 days prior to the Passover, for the purpose of inspection and befriending so that their would be an ultimate cost to the sacrifice. At this point in the history of the Messiah He was accepted by the people as their lamb which was to then be inspected for the next few days and befriended by many. Israel should have known the exact moment in time that the Messiah, the anointed one, would enter. In Daniel 9:25-26 it says that the coming Messiah would arrive and be rejected, this exact time could have been determined by those that knew the Law and the prophets. (Harold Hohner has done the math and history and has proven that the exact timing if studied shows the exact date that the Messiah would come, that date is the day of the triumphal entry). However, as mentioned, this Messiah is not the king Israel desired for He was not there to redeem them from the Romans, but to redeem them from the Law. Just as Israel at the beginning of their Monarchy did not want the Kingdom that Yahweh was offering but their heart rushed towards the immediate remedy of an earthly king to "be like the other nations. This King however came humbly as a Lamb yet a King; rejected as the chief cornerstone which is now the foundational stone by which our salvation was secured.
Often times we think we need a physical or societel redemption and healing, but yet our true state that is need of redemption is our stone cold souls. I just went through cancer and surgery to remove/redeem my body from a cancerous tumor, but unless that cancerous tumor of my uncircumcised heart is removed, no surgery or healing would be of eternal benefit to me. I sat a few nights ago for a few minutes watching a show on TV on world revival and their whole intent was for a momentary superficial revival through circumstance and sought to send the glory of God through the TV screen to bring forth a change in a persons external enviroment. How glory focused we are that we desire freedom from heartache, pain, and poverty rather than the raw sustanance that brings life to our malnourished and parched heart. More often than not we seek the physical while Christ is presenting the spiritual. As the apostle Paul said, because he counted all else as loss, he was able to endure all things with contentment. Only because He valued the spiritual presence of the Messiah rather than the adornment of the glory of Rome as His treasure. Your heart seeks what you truly worship. What is the object of your worship?
The Messiah has presented Himself as the King eternal, riding humbly on a donkey, hardly the procession of external royalty and prestige, for His kingship and royalty is not of this world but in His eternal abode. We are not here as His ambassador to flash our royal robes and prestige around as a symbol of our greatness and riches, but we are to clothe ourselves in humility and gentleness, presenting our Savior as King, clothed in splendor and majesty for all to see in glory. The self proclaimed kings of our generation place themselves on their own throne of stardom, but our king was placed on His throne through suffering and humility amongst His people.
I lift up my eyes, where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord ... the maker of heaven and earth. He is my exalted King who arrived in a lowly state and ascended in a glorious array. The first fruits of what was to come for all those who are found burried in his death, and soon to be risen to His life. This is the promise we have been given through the Cross and given a hint of through the deposit of the Holy Spirit. Our lowly King humbled Himself and the Father exalted Him above all and His enemies soon as footstool under His feet. This King offers you and I His kingdom now ... though in it's glory not yet
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Entrusting Yourself to the One who Judges Righteously: Introduction to the Passion week
I was writing a blog yesterday which my lovely computer decided to delete, which I must say, really challenged my sanctification! However, I lived to wake up another day, and my computer did as well (though there was temptation to annihilate it with much gusto) Well, after thinking about the post, I decided it was to lengthy to begin with and to approach this idea a little differently. I wanted to write something in regards to the Passover/Easter weeks we recently celebrated as we pondered and reminisced of our sweet Savior's passion week. In the following days I will partake in a journey through the final days of the Christ and reflect on each day in how it corresponded to the Passover week and how He, our Savior, "fulfilled" the feast, not only as our Passover Lamb but gave new meaning to the festivities and symbolism the original feast was to commemorate. This current post will be an introduction to this venture, as I will approach the thought of the mindset of Jesus as He approached that final hour. Be looking in upcoming weeks as we start on the day of the Triumphal entry and continue on to the cross.
As He approached his final hours His heart and eyes were fixed solely on His prize, the winning and redemption of His elect from slavery to sin. Passover was ultimately in remembrance of this day in Israel's history, when God redeemed the people from the bondage and slavery of Egypt and brought them into their promised land. It was commemorating that day when the Angel of the Lord "passed over" those who by faith placed the blood of the lamb on their door. As we see through the writer of the Hebrews, Christ was tempted in all things yet without sin that He may be our great high priest, able to sympathize with His people. In doing so He is the great example of the lamb being led to the slaughter, but also reveals Himself as the great Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and causes them to lie down in green pastures as we see in the feeding of the thousands. On His road to calvary, as the Scripture above indicates, He continuously entrusted His life to the one who judges justly. Christ, based upon the truth uttered by His mouth, was being reviled by the religious leaders of the day, the ones who were supposed to be upholding rightoues judgement based upon God's holy laws He instituted and who had been given the Law and the Prophets which pointed to the Savior of the Jews that was to come. The Author of these laws and the giver of these feasts was standing before them, tabernacled in flesh, and was condemned by the words and judgment of these earthly judges. Through all this, he entrusted Himself to the one who judgest righteously, His father. No time did he hurl back insults or thrash in rage and violence, but set His eyes as flint towards to the cross, never losing eye on His ultimate purpose and glory. He is our example of our heavenly calling, of being so heavenly minded and being of earthly good, that He shows through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we too can walk our road of calvary in a manner worthy of that calling. Setting our eyes on the things above, not on the earth below, and entrusting our lives to the one who judges righteosly knowing that we have been given the deposit of the Holy Spirit and the promises of an inheritance of communion with the God-head in glory.
In those final days the Hallel would be recited and sung, thus the disciples and Christ would have sung these hymns of Psalm 113-118 on those days of Passover. I now lead you to a few of the stanzas of Psalm 118, which Christ would have sung with His disciples approaching that final hour which He had been foretelling would occur in the upcoming days. The hour of horror and isolation as being considered accursed by man and His father as He bore the sins of humanity.
When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly ~ 1 Peter 2:23
As He approached his final hours His heart and eyes were fixed solely on His prize, the winning and redemption of His elect from slavery to sin. Passover was ultimately in remembrance of this day in Israel's history, when God redeemed the people from the bondage and slavery of Egypt and brought them into their promised land. It was commemorating that day when the Angel of the Lord "passed over" those who by faith placed the blood of the lamb on their door. As we see through the writer of the Hebrews, Christ was tempted in all things yet without sin that He may be our great high priest, able to sympathize with His people. In doing so He is the great example of the lamb being led to the slaughter, but also reveals Himself as the great Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and causes them to lie down in green pastures as we see in the feeding of the thousands. On His road to calvary, as the Scripture above indicates, He continuously entrusted His life to the one who judges justly. Christ, based upon the truth uttered by His mouth, was being reviled by the religious leaders of the day, the ones who were supposed to be upholding rightoues judgement based upon God's holy laws He instituted and who had been given the Law and the Prophets which pointed to the Savior of the Jews that was to come. The Author of these laws and the giver of these feasts was standing before them, tabernacled in flesh, and was condemned by the words and judgment of these earthly judges. Through all this, he entrusted Himself to the one who judgest righteously, His father. No time did he hurl back insults or thrash in rage and violence, but set His eyes as flint towards to the cross, never losing eye on His ultimate purpose and glory. He is our example of our heavenly calling, of being so heavenly minded and being of earthly good, that He shows through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we too can walk our road of calvary in a manner worthy of that calling. Setting our eyes on the things above, not on the earth below, and entrusting our lives to the one who judges righteosly knowing that we have been given the deposit of the Holy Spirit and the promises of an inheritance of communion with the God-head in glory.
In those final days the Hallel would be recited and sung, thus the disciples and Christ would have sung these hymns of Psalm 113-118 on those days of Passover. I now lead you to a few of the stanzas of Psalm 118, which Christ would have sung with His disciples approaching that final hour which He had been foretelling would occur in the upcoming days. The hour of horror and isolation as being considered accursed by man and His father as He bore the sins of humanity.
"Out of my distress I called on the LORD, the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes (vs 6-9)These words are the ones that Jesus would have sung the night of his betrayal and would have heard as the Paschal lamb was being slaughtered inside the temple as Christ approached His darkest moment. These are the words that were sung as He was being beaten, flogged, mocked, insulted and ultimately offered up to the Father as a sacrifice for redemption unknowingly by His offenders. The Messiah was reminded through words written centuries before that the Father was the Sovereign and in control of His impeding torture and being hung from a Roman cross. This too is our reminder of the great love of the Father and the great price of the Messiah who bore the wrath that was due me, that I may be adopted as a Son of the King from the family of the evil one. This is the frontal that ought to be placed on my forehead and sung in my ears and imbedded in my mind as I carry my cross daily. It is marvelous in our eyes that the chosen stone that was rejected by the builders has become our chief cornerstone that we too have been built upon. He is good, His steadfast love endures forever. No matter our circumstances in life, or the sorrow and pain we feel now, it can not compare to the glory we will have in eternity with the Father. How deep the Father's love for us!
"The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the LORD does valiently, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiently! I shall not die but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord! (vs14-16)"
"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (vs 22-23)"
"You are my God, and I will give thanks to you, You are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! (v28-29)"
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Juniper Tree
One of my favorite things to do in life is in the early morning as the sun is rising, on a gloomy day where the sky is between rain and sweating, or when the sun is raining it's sweet rays down on the world, is to just sit under a tree and think and contemplate. To unwind. To sit in wonder. There is just something surreal and that brings solace as I watch the branches sway around me as if they are waving at me underneath them, or seeing life and death in it's very form in the roots of the trees foundation and it's fruit, or the withering away of what was in the past and looking forward to what is to come. There is just something to life that can be found sitting under a tree.
I also tend to process through my writing and sometimes talking things out, often repeating what someone else has said in my own words so that I know I understand (ask my wife on this one, she'll testify). This blog (though I hate the term) will be an attempt in doing these two things: finding rest through contemplative writing.
I have chosen the name "Under the Juniper Tree" not only because of the solitude and rest I find underneath a tree of shade, but also in remembrance of the story of Elijah in 2 Kings 19:1-8. This is where the Lord met with Elijah in the wilderness during one of Elijah's most spiritually parched times in his life. Feeling alone in a barren land and thinking he was the only lone prophet of the house of Israel left, he sat under the juniper tree and fell asleep in anguish. There, the Angel of the Lord restored him to strength through physical and spiritual sustenance as the Lord prepared a meal for Elijah and caused him to rest under the tree, then continuing on through the strength of the one meal the Lord provided. During the forty day travel, the meal the Lord provided under that tree gave him the strength he needed for the forty day journey to the mountain of God, Horeb. This ultimately is where I feel like the Lord will meet with me and bring sustenance to my bones in the dry and weary land we call "the far country" and give me the strength to make it through the journey.
I also tend to process through my writing and sometimes talking things out, often repeating what someone else has said in my own words so that I know I understand (ask my wife on this one, she'll testify). This blog (though I hate the term) will be an attempt in doing these two things: finding rest through contemplative writing.
I have chosen the name "Under the Juniper Tree" not only because of the solitude and rest I find underneath a tree of shade, but also in remembrance of the story of Elijah in 2 Kings 19:1-8. This is where the Lord met with Elijah in the wilderness during one of Elijah's most spiritually parched times in his life. Feeling alone in a barren land and thinking he was the only lone prophet of the house of Israel left, he sat under the juniper tree and fell asleep in anguish. There, the Angel of the Lord restored him to strength through physical and spiritual sustenance as the Lord prepared a meal for Elijah and caused him to rest under the tree, then continuing on through the strength of the one meal the Lord provided. During the forty day travel, the meal the Lord provided under that tree gave him the strength he needed for the forty day journey to the mountain of God, Horeb. This ultimately is where I feel like the Lord will meet with me and bring sustenance to my bones in the dry and weary land we call "the far country" and give me the strength to make it through the journey.
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