Is HE Real?
Hey Guys,
What a weird couple of weeks! Sorry I havent been around much, things have kind of blown up in my face around here. But Hey, if we didnt have craziness there'd be no point in life! (I'm totally joking!) I'm just trying to get "ready" to leave in May for a couple months and it's proving to be a weird ordeal all in the same. I'm lovin' it though. I've got a job openning here because I need some mulla while I'm gone, so that's half the craziness right there. But All is well, knowing me I'll just think things through so much that whatever happens will be in atleast ONE of my scenerios! I'm telling you, I think God must really appreciate half the stuff I tell him while I think all this out. He's probably laughing the whole time! I'm looking so, so forward to being gone for the summer, but right now God's stretching me faith a bit!
Matthew 27:43-46 "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About 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?"
Luke 22:39-44 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Most might think I'm crazy for bringing these passasges of scripture up right about now. Both have everything to do with Easter - or leading up to Easter - and nothing to do with a snowy February night. But instead of focusing on my insanity (which I insure you, is quite real, but so is my... sanity?)
Think about this Christ that I bring before you. Messiah, King of Kings, Ruler, Rabbi, all these names would come to mean something. But not now. In these moments, we catch him at the most human part of all. Anguish, loneliness, heartbreak, the list could go on. And this? Is our God. He is my God.
Who is God to you? Or what god do you serve? For a couple of years I served a 'god" that was very much an image of the Almighty God, but because of a grudge that I still hold myself in check with to this day, it was not He. It was simply, an idol. Yet when I finally stopped my crazy life outside of God, and saw God, I was in awe. Who wouldn't be? Even if you are not fully thrown into the presence of the One and Only, when you see glimpses of Him, you are never the same again.
Yet even though I knew who He was, and I had perfect proof that his words were Truth, I had questions.First off, even though I had the stories memorized backwoerds forwards, front, back and in 2 languages, I still wondered deep down, how it pertained to me. Why did this Jesus care that I was a sheep? And why, oh....why! Was he relating me to a lost coin? I knew the answers, but like many Christians today, didn't grasp the amazing reality. Why? Because Jesus Christ was never introduced.
Sure, I knew HIM, he's the one that's keeping me from hell, and for goodness sake's he's the one telling half the stories I don't understand! But I was never introduced to the intimate side of Jesus Christ you see. And that is where a relationship starts. Was Jesus Christ real when all I heard was "YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE JESUS WITH ALL OUR HEART, BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!" and then heard "him" tell the stories? I definitely had high times where I knew God and Jesus but what goes up must come down. It's when you can walk the valley with your eye on the mountain top that you know you've really captured and grasped who you're serving.
With all this whirling through my head as a young teen, I came across these 2 scriptures "Eloi! ELOI! lama SABACHTANI?!" This is a God that is all powerful, and at this point has withstood 2 temptations. And He could've summoned a legion of Angels to "show them" how it's done. But he stayed. And He stayed. But He stayed with Anguish and heartack all the more for you and I as for the thieves at his side. He knew his Father hated sin, but WHY was the Son to be forsaken? Even for such a short time as this? It was such a indistingushable pain that only the screams of a very real savior, and a very real man, yet an even more real God could make a person understand that He knew what it was like.
And in the Garden, it says that he sweated drops of blood. I don't run. I work out when I'm desperate. But I have never sweated so hard that a vein pops. Although that is very, medically possible. And because Jesus wanted God's will, yet the human side of him wanted a way out that battle was being waged. What a heartbreaking scene to observe, yet what a breathtaking point when He finally breathes, "your will! Father, not mine!"
How overwhelmed, yet comforted he must have felt as His Father's Angels comforted and took care of him. He needed that more than we'd ever imagine. Why? Because this was not a God that had it all undercontrol. The Father-God did, yes. But Jesus the Son had drabbed himself down to be a servant and a human. He had our limits. This, my dear friends, is a very real God.Do yourself a favor, next time you read through any of the temptation or the crucifixion, read it with drama in your voice. If Jesus Never seemed very real to you even though you believed him with all your heart, that'll give you something to think about.
Talk to you later
Cass
What a weird couple of weeks! Sorry I havent been around much, things have kind of blown up in my face around here. But Hey, if we didnt have craziness there'd be no point in life! (I'm totally joking!) I'm just trying to get "ready" to leave in May for a couple months and it's proving to be a weird ordeal all in the same. I'm lovin' it though. I've got a job openning here because I need some mulla while I'm gone, so that's half the craziness right there. But All is well, knowing me I'll just think things through so much that whatever happens will be in atleast ONE of my scenerios! I'm telling you, I think God must really appreciate half the stuff I tell him while I think all this out. He's probably laughing the whole time! I'm looking so, so forward to being gone for the summer, but right now God's stretching me faith a bit!
Matthew 27:43-46 "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About 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?"
Luke 22:39-44 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Most might think I'm crazy for bringing these passasges of scripture up right about now. Both have everything to do with Easter - or leading up to Easter - and nothing to do with a snowy February night. But instead of focusing on my insanity (which I insure you, is quite real, but so is my... sanity?)
Think about this Christ that I bring before you. Messiah, King of Kings, Ruler, Rabbi, all these names would come to mean something. But not now. In these moments, we catch him at the most human part of all. Anguish, loneliness, heartbreak, the list could go on. And this? Is our God. He is my God.
Who is God to you? Or what god do you serve? For a couple of years I served a 'god" that was very much an image of the Almighty God, but because of a grudge that I still hold myself in check with to this day, it was not He. It was simply, an idol. Yet when I finally stopped my crazy life outside of God, and saw God, I was in awe. Who wouldn't be? Even if you are not fully thrown into the presence of the One and Only, when you see glimpses of Him, you are never the same again.
Yet even though I knew who He was, and I had perfect proof that his words were Truth, I had questions.First off, even though I had the stories memorized backwoerds forwards, front, back and in 2 languages, I still wondered deep down, how it pertained to me. Why did this Jesus care that I was a sheep? And why, oh....why! Was he relating me to a lost coin? I knew the answers, but like many Christians today, didn't grasp the amazing reality. Why? Because Jesus Christ was never introduced.
Sure, I knew HIM, he's the one that's keeping me from hell, and for goodness sake's he's the one telling half the stories I don't understand! But I was never introduced to the intimate side of Jesus Christ you see. And that is where a relationship starts. Was Jesus Christ real when all I heard was "YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE JESUS WITH ALL OUR HEART, BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!" and then heard "him" tell the stories? I definitely had high times where I knew God and Jesus but what goes up must come down. It's when you can walk the valley with your eye on the mountain top that you know you've really captured and grasped who you're serving.
With all this whirling through my head as a young teen, I came across these 2 scriptures "Eloi! ELOI! lama SABACHTANI?!" This is a God that is all powerful, and at this point has withstood 2 temptations. And He could've summoned a legion of Angels to "show them" how it's done. But he stayed. And He stayed. But He stayed with Anguish and heartack all the more for you and I as for the thieves at his side. He knew his Father hated sin, but WHY was the Son to be forsaken? Even for such a short time as this? It was such a indistingushable pain that only the screams of a very real savior, and a very real man, yet an even more real God could make a person understand that He knew what it was like.
And in the Garden, it says that he sweated drops of blood. I don't run. I work out when I'm desperate. But I have never sweated so hard that a vein pops. Although that is very, medically possible. And because Jesus wanted God's will, yet the human side of him wanted a way out that battle was being waged. What a heartbreaking scene to observe, yet what a breathtaking point when He finally breathes, "your will! Father, not mine!"
How overwhelmed, yet comforted he must have felt as His Father's Angels comforted and took care of him. He needed that more than we'd ever imagine. Why? Because this was not a God that had it all undercontrol. The Father-God did, yes. But Jesus the Son had drabbed himself down to be a servant and a human. He had our limits. This, my dear friends, is a very real God.Do yourself a favor, next time you read through any of the temptation or the crucifixion, read it with drama in your voice. If Jesus Never seemed very real to you even though you believed him with all your heart, that'll give you something to think about.
Talk to you later
Cass
posted by Cass | 10:40 PM
3 Comments:
Great post, Cass!
Indeed He is real!
great word Cass...as always !
pleased to hear that you are getting excited about your work offer :-)
Our God IS real ,and He knows each one of us, His children, by name and loves us .amazing to think that the God who created the universe cares about US and listens to and answers our prayers ...
thank God for Jesus
peace and joy be yours as you continue on the highway of faith
sandra
this post was good. got me thinking about who I serve and you had put some of it into perspective for me! Thanks! Your a great girl! Keep folllowing hard after our Real God!
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