Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Aug 9, 2007 5:21:46 GMT -5
THE BEGINNING OF HOPE
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28: 1 – 6
King James Version
The beginning of love was when God sent His Son to be our Saviour. Jesus willingly went to the cross out of obedience and love for His Father and out of love for us to take our sins on Him so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of a home in Heaven with Him for all eternity. He did not have to go to the cross and die for us. Nobody made Him die for us; He made the choice to die for us because He loves us so much.
Even when He was hanging there in agony and excruciating pain, He could have come down from that cross. All the nails in the world could not have held Him on that cross of torture if He had changed His mind about dying for us. What amazing unconditional love from the heart of our precious Saviour!
He was beaten and treated worse than any person has ever been or ever will be. They spat on Him and plucked His beard. They ridiculed and scorned Him. He endured all of that horror and abuse for us. There is no greater love than the love of our Saviour. There is no one like Jesus!
The beginning of hope was when Jesus rose from the dead. If He had stayed in the grave, we would have no hope. We would always be in the valley and have no hope of ever being on the mountaintop. Because Jesus rose from the grave we have the hope of not only seeing Him face to face one glorious day, we have the assurance that He will be faithful to lift us up out of the valley and set our feet on the mountaintop once again.
So often, we as Christians stay in the grave instead of rising from the despair, depression, heartaches, turmoil, and crises of our lives. If we have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour, then He lives in us and that alone is enough to give us hope. To know that the Saviour of the world lives in us and loves us should fill our hearts with such joy and happiness that we should be shouting constantly with excitement.
When satan and the world attack us with their poisonous barbs of criticism, sarcasm, hatred, prejudice and condemnation instead of allowing Jesus to restore His joy and peace to our hearts we stay in the valley of discouragement and depression and act as if we have no hope. How this must hurt Jesus who died so that we not only may be saved, but also so that we can live a victorious and peaceful life here on earth.
Do you have this hope today? Have you said “yes” to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you and be your personal Saviour? If not, don’t put it off. Give your heart and life to Him today. You will have a peace in your heart that you have never known. The world can’t give you this peace and the world can’t take it away. He is waiting with His arms open wide and a heart full of love and compassion for you. Run into His arms right now before it is too late!
Joanne Lowe
August 8, 2007
joannelowe8@cox.net
www.joannelowe.blogspot.com
www.heavenwardbound.com
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28: 1 – 6
King James Version
The beginning of love was when God sent His Son to be our Saviour. Jesus willingly went to the cross out of obedience and love for His Father and out of love for us to take our sins on Him so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of a home in Heaven with Him for all eternity. He did not have to go to the cross and die for us. Nobody made Him die for us; He made the choice to die for us because He loves us so much.
Even when He was hanging there in agony and excruciating pain, He could have come down from that cross. All the nails in the world could not have held Him on that cross of torture if He had changed His mind about dying for us. What amazing unconditional love from the heart of our precious Saviour!
He was beaten and treated worse than any person has ever been or ever will be. They spat on Him and plucked His beard. They ridiculed and scorned Him. He endured all of that horror and abuse for us. There is no greater love than the love of our Saviour. There is no one like Jesus!
The beginning of hope was when Jesus rose from the dead. If He had stayed in the grave, we would have no hope. We would always be in the valley and have no hope of ever being on the mountaintop. Because Jesus rose from the grave we have the hope of not only seeing Him face to face one glorious day, we have the assurance that He will be faithful to lift us up out of the valley and set our feet on the mountaintop once again.
So often, we as Christians stay in the grave instead of rising from the despair, depression, heartaches, turmoil, and crises of our lives. If we have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour, then He lives in us and that alone is enough to give us hope. To know that the Saviour of the world lives in us and loves us should fill our hearts with such joy and happiness that we should be shouting constantly with excitement.
When satan and the world attack us with their poisonous barbs of criticism, sarcasm, hatred, prejudice and condemnation instead of allowing Jesus to restore His joy and peace to our hearts we stay in the valley of discouragement and depression and act as if we have no hope. How this must hurt Jesus who died so that we not only may be saved, but also so that we can live a victorious and peaceful life here on earth.
Do you have this hope today? Have you said “yes” to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you and be your personal Saviour? If not, don’t put it off. Give your heart and life to Him today. You will have a peace in your heart that you have never known. The world can’t give you this peace and the world can’t take it away. He is waiting with His arms open wide and a heart full of love and compassion for you. Run into His arms right now before it is too late!
Joanne Lowe
August 8, 2007
joannelowe8@cox.net
www.joannelowe.blogspot.com
www.heavenwardbound.com