Train Ride

  As Life Is Like A Journey On A Train 

“At birth we board the train and meet our parents, and we believe they will always travel by our side.

However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone….but, not quite.

As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant;  i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life.

Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Some will move to another car for a while and come back. Others will go so unnoticed we don’t realize they left their seats!

This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hurts, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers…requiring that we give the best of ourselves because we are all on this ride together.

The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way – love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are, including our seat if necessary.

It’s important because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty — we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life without us.

I wish you a joyful journey for the coming years on your train of life. Reap success, give lots of love and be happy.

More importantly, be thankful for the journey!

Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train!”     ~ Author Unknown ~

This article  made me think of those songs concerning life and railroad.: Life is like a Mountain railway”, “Life’s Railway to Heaven.”   The words of the chorus for “Life’s Railway to Heaven are:
“You will often find obstructions,
Look for storms and wind and rain;
On a hill, or curve, or trestle
They will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus,
Never falter, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.”

Jesus is our conductor and His Word, the Bible, our guide.  With His help, we will arrive safely at our Heavenly destination.

 

 

 

 

DEATH EXPLAINED

This article has been around and sent to me by way of Facebook.  Perhaps, you missed it.  I liked it so much that I want to repeat it in my devotional.

“DEATH, WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT…
A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die.  Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know…”  “You don’t know?  You’re a Christian Man, and don’t know what’s on the other side?”
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog?  He’s never been in this room before.  He didn’t know what was inside.  He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.  I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing…I know my Master is there and that is enough.”                                   Selected

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul said about death that he was ready “READY TO DEPART.”
What a beautiful picture of leaving this world.  It is the word for loosening the ropes of a tent in order to begin a new journey.  It can also be the word for loosening the mooring ropes of a ship.  It is setting sail to cross the waters of death to arrive in the haven of eternity.
So, for the Christian, death is laying aside the shackles in order to be free.  Death is striking camp to take up residence in the heavenly places.  Death is casting off the ropes which bind us to this world to set sail on the voyage which ends in the presence of God.

The early followers of Jesus didn’t understand about His approaching death and they questioned Him about it.  To their troubled hearts and to ours, Jesus said, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 14 and the first three verses:
“Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me for in My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you shall be also.”

 

 

Resurrection and Return

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?    I never noticed this….   John 20:6-7   (Peter) “He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.”  The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.  

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.   She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.  She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.  The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in.   Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side. 

Was that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!   

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.   When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.   The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.   Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.   The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, ‘I’m done’. 

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because………..   The folded napkin meant, ‘I’m coming back!’

JESUS IS COMING BACK…He came forth from the grave and promised, “BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU CAN LIVE ALSO.” Jesus is alive and is coming back to claim His own. 

JESUS DIED FOR YOU

I have watched the Passion Play at Lake Wales and Wauchula, Florida and attended the Hoy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida.   Also, like many of you, watched the movie, by Mel Gibson concerning “The Passion of Christ.”   In all of these, the crucifixion of Jesus was horrible. There were times, I wanted to tell them to “stop,” the scenes were too graphic to watch. Such pain and suffering ought not to be shown. It is too disturbing.

So, paint me a lovely picture of Jesus. Jesus strong physically, tanned, strength of character ebbing from His countenance, a handsome man. But, is this the picture of Jesus that we and the world must see to be saved? Absolutely not…

We must see the picture of Jesus suffering, dying, and finishing all that is necessary for the salvation of mankind. SEE HIM, with His back ripped opened by the scourging tool, the whip that they beat Jesus with. SEE HIM with His clothes matted to His flesh by His blood. SEE HIM whose head is bleeding where a crown of thorns have dug into His brow. SEE HIM with spit running down His face where they have spit upon Him. SEE HIM with His check red and swollen from where they have slapped Him. SEE HIM nailed to a cross with His body writhing with pain.

SEE HIM dying for you, and then ask yourself, “Is it nothing to me, all we who pass by.”

This is God expressing His love for all mankind. This is His Son, dying for sinful man, the sinless for the sinful, the Godly for the ungodly. Remember, God so loved that He gave…” How can we refuse such love?   Jesus words from the Cross were: “It is finished.”

“It is Finished”

“The sculptor laid his tools aside; unfinished though he was, he died. The artist, with his work, undone, laid down his brush at set of sun. The writer, with his tale half told, no longer to his life could hold. The farmer put away his plough, sod still unturned; he’s resting now.

God’s Son alone, triumphant died, for “It is finished” Jesus cried. The price is paid, the battle won, the work of great salvation done. Because He finished all for me, complete in Him I know I’ll be.”

Hebrews 12: 2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

MAY YOU SEE HIM DYING FOR YOU.

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

One of the most beloved hymns is “The Old Rugged Cross.”

“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suff’ring and shame; And I love that old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, Has a wondrous attraction for me; For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see; For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, Its shame and reproach gladly bear; Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away, Where His glory forever I’ll share.

CHORUS: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ‘Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.”

Our hearts break at the price Jesus paid to atone for our sins, but our hearts also rejoice that “There Was One Who Was Willing” to go to that cross, and that on that cross “Jesus Paid It All” for you and for me. Yes, “He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away..”    Selected from writings by Al Maxey

“Not the nails but His wondrous love for me
Kept my Lord on the cross of Calvary.
Oh what power could hold Him there?
All my sin and shame to bear.
Not the nails, but His wondrous love for me.”