You KNOW its high time for a self-eval when some conversations between yourself & your three year old Starlet go like this…
“Mama, this looks like you!”
…upon finding an old work ID card of my Grampa’s in my wallet. I mean I know that at times, in the morning, before a cup, or five, of coffee, when I’m sporting my glasses, I’m not at my finest… but come ON!!! Cut mama some slack now!
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Self Evaluation Needed argument #2….
“Mommmeeeeeee…. you have a prickly chin like Daddy’s!”
Awesome. Totally freakin’ awesome. Thankyouverymuch, sweet child. Your day shall come. Electrologist appointment? Check.
He was uneasy. He had been since noon.
It wasn’t the deaths that troubled him. The centurion was no stranger to finality. Over the years, he’d grown callous to the screams of the crucified. He’d mastered the art of numbing his heart. But this crucifixion plagued him.
He was curious at the attention given to the flat-footed peasant. He smiled as he read the sign that wold go on the cross. The condemned looked anything but a king. His face was lumpy & bruised. “What could he have done?”
For just a moment he [the crucified] looked at the centurion- for a second the Roman looked into the purest eyes he’d ever seen. He didn’t know what the look meant, but the look made him swallow & his stomach feel empty.
But most of all, he was perplexed by the darkness. He didn’t know what to do with the black sky in the mid-afternoon…. One minute the sun, the next the darkness. One minute the heat, the next a chilly breeze. Even the priests were silenced.
A roar sliced the silence. “It is finished.” It wasn’t a yell. It wasn’t a scream. It was a roar…a lion’s roar.
The ground was shaking, gently at first, now violently.
The centurion’s convictions began to flow together like rivers. “This was no carpenter,” he spoke under his breath.”This was no peasant. This was no normal man.”
He stood & looked around at the rocks that had fallen & the sky that had blackened. He turned & stared at the soldiers as they stared at Jesus with frozen faces. He turned and watched as the eyes of Jesus lifted & looked toward home. He listened as the parched lips parted & the swollen tongue spoke for the last time.
“Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.”
“Surely, this man was the Son of God.”
(Excerpt from Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado.)
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In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Brought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
(Lyrics from NewsBoys “In Christ Alone”, but my favorite version is from Rebecca St. James if you can find it on Rhapsody or something.)
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“Then He opened their minds so they could understand… This is what is written: The Christ will suffer & rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance & forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name…” Luke 24:45-47
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me & I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him & honor him. With long life I will satisfy him & show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16
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I could write on & on with favorite comforting verses & songs, for in my heart, no day is greater than today. I hope you keep your hearts cross-centered today & everyday. Happy Ressurection Day!
