SEE JESUS

I was thrilled by the large statue of Jesus that was evident during the recent Olympics.

Max Lucado writes this concerning that statue in Brazil.

“The Christ the Redeemer statue. The figure stands guard over the city, one hundred and twenty-five feet tall with an arm span of nearly a hundred feet. More than a thousand tons of reinforced steel. The head alone measures ten feet from chin to scalp. Perched a mile and a half above sea level on Corcovado Mountain, the elevated Jesus is always visible. Especially to those who are looking for it. Since I was often lost, I was often looking. As a sailor seeks land, I searched for the statue, peering between the phone lines and rooftops for the familiar Face. Find Him and find my bearings.”

That is exactly what God wants us to do, see Jesus. He shows us Himself in His Son.  Jesus said, “When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father, for the Father and I are one.” The Bible is all about God in Jesus. The Old Testament is the anticipation of the coming Messiah, Jesus. The Gospels, first four books of the New Testament, is the realization that this Messiah, Jesus, has come.

The 14^th chapter of the Gospel of John is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. The disciples are confused concerning Jesus talk about leaving them. They just didn’t get it that He was going back to the Father, God, and they would follow. But, Thomas is honest enough to ask, “Where are you going and how can we know the way?” One of the most difficult things for us to say is “I don’t know.” Yet, it is so necessary to admit lack of knowledge when you don’t really know. Jesus tells the disciples, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Philip gets in on the conversation asking, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

I thought about the chorus that we sing: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

The Bible is our book to show us God through Jesus. Jesus takes us to His Father and our Father. The purpose of Jesus is to offer God’s grace to us through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Follow Jesus, He will lead you to the Father.

SET YOUR SIGHTS ON JESUS.

 

AMAZING GRACE

When I hear or sing the song, “Amazing Grace”, I think of Aunt Maggie.  She  was a blind, black lady living alone in a cabin up in the hills about five miles from Johnson Bible College, now Johnson University, Tennessee. We students would hike over to her house to see how she was doing.  We would take her gifts such as candy, cookies and fruit.  As we approached the cabin, she would be standing in the doorway, laughing and yelling out, “I could hear you comin’ half a mile away.”  She would shake our hand with her scrawny hand and usher us into her house. She had no electricity, no refrigeration, and no ice box.  She cooked over an open fireplace, which also provided heat.  We tried to help her by cleaning out her spring, cutting fire wood, and picking blackberries on the nearby hillside.

But, what she wanted most was for us to sit down around her and sing. She loved to hear the college student’s sing.  She would join in, clapping her hands and tapping her feet, even sometimes singing a solo.  Here she was, rejected at birth. Her mother literally threw her away.  She was found in a fence corner and someone cared for her.  She was condemned to a life of poverty,  Although she had little else throughout her life time, Aunt Maggie had a song in her heart. Her song was “Amazing Grace.”  We had to sing it every time that we were there.

She died and was buried in an unmarked grave.  The college students and others who knew her would not have it that way.  They took up a collection and bought a marker for that grave.  It read:  “Aunt Maggie Widener 1870 – 1951” and inscribed at the bottom were the words:  “I…was blind but now I see.”

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

See in Jesus, God’s amazing grace, who sent Jesus to suffer and die for us.  Oh how He loved you and me.
May our eyes be opened to His love.
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when were dead in transgressions.  It is by grace you have been saved.” 

Love Him, who loved you so.

WIN THE RACE

Rio de Janeiro summer Olympic games are exciting.  Joann and I have spent a lot of time watching.  We are amazed by the talent and strength of the athletics.  At what a cost.  These men and women have beat their bodies into submission.  They have disciplined themselves to be physically and mentally fit to participate in the games. Their dream and ambition is to win. They have paid a heavy price to be able to stand on the platform to receive a medal. What a sacrifice of body, mind and time to WIN.

A great illustration of this is from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.  Mamo Waldi of Ethiopia had won the 26 mile, 385 yard race.  As the last few thousand spectators began preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles through the gate entering the stadium.  The attention turned to that gate.  A sole figure, wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the stadium.  He name was John Steven Aquari.  He was the last man to finish the marathon in 1968. His leg was bandaged, bloody.  He had taken a bad fall early in the race. Now, it was all he could do to limp his way around the track. The crowd stood and applauded as he completed that last lap.
When he finally crossed the finish line, one man dared ask the question all were wondering. “You are badly inured.  Why didn’t you quit?  Why didn’t you give up?”  Aquari, with quiet dignity said, “My country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish.”

Listen to the Apostle Paul as is written in I Corinthians 9: 24-27: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that  after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Every runner expects to win. So, they train, discipline themselves in order to obtain this medal.  All for a prize that perishes or is soon forgotten.  THIS IS NOT OUR RACE.  We as Christians seek for that eternal crown.  Our every effort is to WIN IN THE END.  We want to hear our Heavenly Father say, “Well done, enter into the joy of your Lord.”

We run for God’s approval.  We are already winners for Jesus paid our price in His sacrifice on Calvary.  Our task is just to continue faithfully following Jesus,   He will take us HOME.  Keep on running the race of  life for eternal life.

THE $215 CASKET

Convicted murderer, Richard Liggett, died of cancer and was buried on prison grounds in a $ 215 dollar casket last March. The casket was of his own design, one of many he had already made for other convicts who had died in prison.  Last June, Ruth Graham was laid to rest in a casket costing exactly $ 215 dollars and made by Richard Liggett.
Their funerals certainly must have been different.  The prison chaplain conducted the service for Mr. Liggett and a sparse number of people attended.  Mrs. Graham’s funeral was nationally televised and attended by three former Presidents of the United States.
Their lives were different. In one violent act, Mr. Liggett took a human life and spent thirty years in repentance and punishment for it.  Mrs. Graham spent her entire life celebrating and encouraging others in the life of Christ.

One great thing binds Richard Liggett and Ruth Graham together, more than a $215 dollar coffin.  No matter who we are or what we have done, our entrance into heaven is based upon one thing, as explained in John 11: 25-27:  “I am the resurrection and the life,”  Jesus told His friend Martha. “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  “Yes, Lord,” Martha replied.  “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
(This was written by Captain Jim McGee of the Salvation Army)

     I wanted to share this story with you because it shows how impossible it is for us to judge the soul of another human being.  We look on the outward appearance.  In our eyes, there is no comparison between Ruth Graham and Richard Liggett.  But, God looks on the inside of a person. I would say, of course, Ruth Graham should go to heaven.  But, I am not too sure about Richard Liggett.

Isn’t it good and wonderful that I do not make this determination for any human being?  God alone judges the soul of a person. He judges by motives, intents, desires and inner struggles of the person.  He knows their heart.   Please, leave eternal judgment up to God.

We claim the promise of eternal life with God by loving Him. If we love Him, we will obey Him and if we obey Him, we have His word that He will take us Home to be with Him.  TRUST HIS WORD.