The Via Dolorosa

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Heb. 2:9

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. James 5:10

S uffering - is one word that we all want to hide from. None of us want to suffer. Comfort is what we want. But it is through suffering that we each come into this world. It is through suffering that our redemption was made possible. It is through suffering (mostly) that we draw close to God. It is because of suffering that many of the greatest, well-known hymns were composed.

We all have suffering on earth. There is pain and heartaches. There is loss and grief. It brings suffering and there is no way away from it. But when we have God we are given His strength by which we are able to bear it all.

Some of us have more pain and suffering that others. Some have more trials and heartaches.

When I think of Christ; His life was a life of suffering. But His life brought to us through that suffering; our being able to see God and to commune with Him. It has enabled us to bear our suffering in His strength. To suffer for His sake. The cross was the absolute extent of suffering, huniliation, and open shame. Yet He bore all tha agony so that He could save us from sin.

And I see that it is in suffering that we see the heart of God. It is when we suffer that His great, unselfish love is shown in a way that we never saw it before.

I have never suffered per say. At least when I look at what others have suffered, I cannot say I have suffered. No, I have not had great suffering. Thus far hath the Lord spared me. I don't know what the future holds, and in my heart I do not want to suffer. That is natural, no one wants to suffer.

When I look at Christ, I realize how weak I am. And I pray that, "God will not make the burden lighter, but the back stronger." I pray for strength for each day. To take each day one at a time. And if He sees fit that I suffer, I pray only for the strength to bear it and stand firm in the faith and strong in the calling with which He hath called us.

Christ walked the way of suffering before us. He never will give us anything that He has not born before us, He knows each step of the way, and He knows what we can bear. He will guide us each over the briar-filled, stony path, safely to our longed-for haven of rest, in Him. But rest is always sweeter when we are tired. Rest is sweeter after the battle. Rest is sweeter after suffering. I pray that whatever God calls us to, that we will stand strong and true even in the midst of suffering. For it is in the heat of the battle that Christ walks among us giving strength to press on. It is after suffering that we are thankful for His rest.

He walked on this earth and He suffered, having walked the way before us, He gives strength in our suffering. And knowing that He was walked the path before me, I know He knows each step of the way and I can put my hand in His hand and He will lead me on to the desired haven of rest.

Written December 22, 2006

Satisfied in Him

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11

O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Ps. 90:4

H ave you ever wanted real satisfaction in your life? Have you ever felt unhappy with the way your life was/is going?

I felt that way. There was a deep longing in my heart for something better than what I had. I wanted fulfillment, I wanted to be satisfied, to have a peace in my life. I think each of us wants that; not? But most of the time we try to fill that empty space in our lives with what we think will give us fulfillment, what we think will make us happy and satisfied. We are searching in our own strength to find something. Something,... we know we want something, but most often we don't know what that 'something' is. So we try filling the void with what we think we want. But all these efforts are futile for us because true satisfaction is not found in things. It is found in true and complete surrender to Jesus Christ; body and soul.

Only then do we find what we are looking for, only then do we find joy, real joy, true joy. Joy that flows from our innermost being. A joy that comes from being truely fulfilled and satisfied in Jesus Christ. And that flows from Christ Himself into us when we have made Him the King of our lives. Only then.

Friends, if we do not have this we are lost. If we do not seek God and His will in complete surrender. Our lives will be wasted. Totally wasted. Is that what we want? Or do we seek for something better, something lasting, something fulfilling, something satisfying, something joy giving?

If that is what you want, if that is what you seek. You will be blessed because if you seek it with a whole heart and cry unto the Lord; you will find.

God is working in your life, drawing you to Himself (you would not be reading this if He wasn't). Will you respond with complete surrender to His will? If you will, you will find all that, and more that He has planned for you. A life of satisfaction in Him. The only way to find true lasting satisfaction.

Christ sought me and I cried unto Him and He found me and brought me back unto Him to this satisfaction. You can have it too; He seeks you. Will you cry to Him? He will give you all you can imagine and more! His promises are sure, and they are for you too. I know because He did the same for me and He says that He will do the same for you.

And you will find satisfaction.

Written December 13, 2006

True Friendship and Love

"Friendship should not be thought of as something we get, but as something we give." -Author Unknown

I n the last article I addressed what true love is vs. infatuation etc... Now I will address true friendship (without romance). The above quote is what the theme of this post is. We can definitely truely love someone as a friend and not have any romance. As I said before, love is a choice, a committment, a defering to others. Romance is something else and I won't deal with that here. :P

When we are friends with someone, are we seeking to encourage them, help them, and be there for them when they are going through difficulties? Or are we trying to get something out of them? Use them as a tool to satisfy our needs? Honestly, true satisfaction comes from helping others, not trying to get something out of them. Not satisfaction in 'feeling proud that you helped someone' but in giving of ourselves to others and not expecting anything back.

If we only want 'friends' so that we can have someone to hang around with, use for self and gaining for ourselves, then we have a very selfish motive. A true friend is a friend that gives and helps the other one, encouraging them in their walk with the Lord. We as Christians should want to have friends for the latter reason.

"That we be an example of the believers..." Giving, and giving, and giving, never expecting anything in return. That is true love, and true friendship. In the world people only stick around you when they think that they can get something out of you. Once they realize that you can't give them anything anymore, they forsake you. That is not true friendship. That is a "getting attitude" not a "giving attitude." That is why there is so much heartache. Because people only think of themselves and what they can get, instead of thinking of others and what they themselves can give. Do we have this attitude? I pray that we will each seek to see how much we can give to others, instead of trying to see how much we can get from others. Life is all about giving, not getting.

To many people think the world owes them something. But in reality everything in life, including life itself is given to them, and it is time we start giving. Giving as Christ gave. He is the best example of true love and friendship. Loving to the utmost in that "He laid down His life for His friends."

This is true love and true friendship.

Always remember, "Life is about giving, not getting."

Written November 30th, 2006

What is Love?

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

W hat is love? That is a question that is often asked by people and as I was lying in bed one morning I started thinking... "What is love? really?" I thought of the words of a certain young man that said, "Love is silly!!" after watching his sister fall into love with her soon-to-be-husband and seeing all that gooey romance. I was deep in thought for a while.

To me, love is a choice not a feeling. Yes there is often feelings where there is love, but not always love where there is feelings. There is not always love where there is romance and not always romance where there is love.

Love is a choice, a committment, a deferring to others. Love is not physical attraction with a person's talents, skills or personality.

If I based my love on feelings or basicly on how I happened to feel at the moment, I would not "love" very many people.

The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things." Many people think they love someone when in reality it may just be a passing feeling or infatuation. Not a deep lasting love which is based on far greater things than feelings.

Infatuation is not love. Infatuation is only a feeling and most often it does not last. To many people think that infatuation is love and it isn't. That is one of the reasons there is so much divorce today. They think that in infatuation is love and end up running into trouble.

True love is deep and lasting and based on committment. Love without committment, especially in a marriage relationship is not love and will not last. And if you are not committed, I think it is best to stay away from marriage. Feelings often come in romance and many people mistake that as love. But true love lasts even when the feelings arn't there and you are faced with trials and buffeted by storms. It is unconditional, it looks beyond the faults and sees the good in another person.

It is committment....without committment which is a conscious choice, "love" is not true love. You have to be committed.

True love lasts in adversity, true love is willing to sacrifice all that they have for the one they love. The greatest example to us of love is Christ's love.

I have read many a story of love so great that people put themselves in danger or even sacrificed their lives to save the life of the one they loved. It is touching. And that is what Christ did for us. He bore the utmost shame and cruelty and gave His life that we might be saved. That is love. Unspeakable love. The extent of undying love. Love that sacrificed all to save others. Love that forgave all even when no one was sorry. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us what real love is. And it does not say that love is a feeling.

Love is a choice.... a lasting one.

Written November 11, 2006