REFLECTIONS OF THE CROSS

Matthew 27:26  "Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified."

Scourged Jesus.....He was stripped and tied to a whipping post. Then He was beaten with a whip consisting of several leather thongs, each coated with jagged pieces of metal or bone and weighted at the end with lead, tearing into His body with each whip.

This time of year, no matter how I approach the Easter season, spring approaching, my heart begins to grieve knowing it was this time of year that my precious Lord became the sacrifice for my sins, for your sins and for all the sins of the world.....past sin, present sin, and all the sin that will come.

The Lord put this on my heart this morning, I believe that this will be another type of series of writings.  I believe He is bringing it to me to help me get through this time, this season, and perhaps there are those like me who also need the Lord's touch in this.

It has been 29 years, so long ago but sometimes seeming like yesterday, that my parents were taken from me.  One night they were here, the next morning they were with the Lord.  It was very difficult to get through this and it took years but the Father held me and comforted me.  The Lord gave me a vision of Mama in Heaven to still my nightmares.  He showed me how beautiful and happy she was there.  He gave me healing.

The Lord has given me healing after losing my husband three years ago and losing my stepson later the same year.  He has brought me through all the pain and heartache.  He has never left me alone.

But nothing has been able to stop the deep grief I feel, more so these last few years, of my Savior's suffering on the cross.  The deeper I go into the Lord, the more I love Him, the closer I come to Him, the more I feel His heart, that beautiful heart of my God, the deeper the agony, the ache.  Sometimes I thnk that I should not feel that way, that perhaps I should only feel the joy of His sacrifice, the thanksgiving that I do feel for what He did to save my soul, to bring me into a wonderful relationship with the Father....my head knows these things, and I am so thankful for my Lord's sacrifice, my heart still aches.  It touches me to the core of my soul when I envision the beating my Lord Jesus took.  The suffering and shame that was hurled upon Him, my shame...my suffering....He accepted it all so I would be free.

The two most sensitive parts of my body are my hands and my feet.  I just this moment realized that it may be for the sole purpose of my never forgeting those precious hands of my Savior as spikes were driven into His hands, into His feet.  Look into the center of your hand, at the palm of your hand....I am crying as I look at my hands....it is impossible to look at my hands and not see my Lord's hands.  His hands...His hands that have held mine as I was walking through a dark valley in my life; His hands that hold mine as I reach up to worship Him to praise Him for His sacrifice of love to me; those beautiful nail scarred hands that one day will take mine as I dance with my Bridegroom at the wedding feast of the Lamb of God.

The cross, the emblem of the enduring love of the Father, so loving us, so desiring to be One with us, wanting our love to return to Him, to hear us worship Him alone, to see our heart's desire for His presence.  I truly believe the ache in my heart is a reflection of the ache in the Father's heart for the fellowship and companionship of His children.  The ache knowing that the sacrifice He gave, His only Son so we could be cleansed by the blood sacrifice, the blood of Jesus, making us righteous and acceptable in His sight, so we could be in His presence.

The ache, the deep agony of the cross.  So painful yet the result being the joy of my salvation, the peace of my Lord and the intimacy of the Father's presence.  The love that will never fail, never cease, never end.  The surrounding of His arms around me, the satisfying of my soul....my spirit rejoices.

03-02-12