Cups are used for Drinking

“But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” Is53.5

It is not gratitude for this gift which will honor it best but appropriating the grace it offers. We can never repay Christ for His supreme sacrifice, nor does He require it. He asks only that we transfer our trust from personal works to His own. In other words, the best way to honor a person who has given you a gift is to use it. In this instance, Christ himself is the gift. Use Christ to come to the Father. Use Christ in your prayers. Use Christ for life and peace. Why else would He call Himself the bread of life, the spring of everlasting water, if He did not intend for us to eat and drink Him.
We may feel in ourselves a desire to show our gratitude to God for this indescribable gift. The psalmist asks, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?“ We do well to follow him in his answer. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” When your host puts a cup of refreshment in your hand, the best way to honor Him, is to drink from that cup. 3/31/07 ts

Cups are used for Drinking

“But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” Is53.5

It is not gratitude for this gift which will honor it best but appropriating the grace it offers. We can never repay Christ for His supreme sacrifice, nor does He require it. He asks only that we transfer our trust from personal works to His own. In other words, the best way to honor a person who has given you a gift is to use it. In this instance, Christ himself is the gift. Use Christ to come to the Father. Use Christ in your prayers. Use Christ for life and peace. Why else would He call Himself the bread of life, the spring of everlasting water, if He did not intend for us to eat and drink Him.
We may feel in ourselves a desire to show our gratitude to God for this indescribable gift. The psalmist asks, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?“ We do well to follow him in his answer. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” When your host puts a cup of refreshment in your hand, the best way to honor Him, is to drink from that cup. 3/31/07 ts

Sitting in the Dentist Chair

Sitting in the Dentist Chair
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” Is53.4 EVS

It seems strange that Jesus offers us an abundant and fruitful life yet He was Himself well acquainted with grief, even named Man of Sorrows. This prophecy explains at least some of the reason. It was our griefs and our sorrows that He carried. The shortest verse in Scripture tells us simply, ’Jesus wept.’ His tears fall for us. Like any good parent, all God has ever desired for people so beautifully made in His image, is that we be gloriously happy, living in the light of His blessings. Why would He not be disappointed when we have not? We have each, in our own way, chosen the devils candy. And what does He do? He enters our world of rotting teeth and has inexplicably figured a way some how, to sit in the dentist chair for us. All we seem to see is a very serious and sorrowful man. Yet we are told that it was His joy to take our place and He waits with delight as each of us find our place in Him. The extreme sorrow that Jesus expressed here will only intensify the inexpressible joy He will know with us there. I hear it often whispered in my heart, “My son, you are not yet as happy as I intend for you to be.“ 3/30/07 ts

Sitting in the Dentist Chair

Sitting in the Dentist Chair
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” Is53.4 EVS

It seems strange that Jesus offers us an abundant and fruitful life yet He was Himself well acquainted with grief, even named Man of Sorrows. This prophecy explains at least some of the reason. It was our griefs and our sorrows that He carried. The shortest verse in Scripture tells us simply, ’Jesus wept.’ His tears fall for us. Like any good parent, all God has ever desired for people so beautifully made in His image, is that we be gloriously happy, living in the light of His blessings. Why would He not be disappointed when we have not? We have each, in our own way, chosen the devils candy. And what does He do? He enters our world of rotting teeth and has inexplicably figured a way some how, to sit in the dentist chair for us. All we seem to see is a very serious and sorrowful man. Yet we are told that it was His joy to take our place and He waits with delight as each of us find our place in Him. The extreme sorrow that Jesus expressed here will only intensify the inexpressible joy He will know with us there. I hear it often whispered in my heart, “My son, you are not yet as happy as I intend for you to be.“ 3/30/07 ts

He was furnished that we might be finished.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2Co5.21

There is a subtle contrast in these words which describes two profound events. The first is that a man who was perfectly right with God was ‘made’ not right with Him and the second is that people not right ‘become’ right with Him. Christ is ’made,’ we ’become.’ What happened to Christ was but for a moment, what happens to us is for all time. His was an act, ours an alteration. He was declared our substitute to experience our judgment, so that we could be declared saints, set apart to experience His love. He is the rock thrown into the pond of humanity and we the ripples of transformation. The first Adam altered the world by his act of disobedience. The obedience of the second Adam has altered it no less. ‘Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.’ He was furnished that we might be finished. 3/29/07 ts