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It's Personal
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It's Personal by Phil This Sunday we celebrate the apex of the Christian year - Resurrection Sunday, also known as Easter! Most of the year we strive to remember that "it's not about me." We are not the center of our universe, God is, and everything revolves around Him. The message of this season is the exact opposite - "it's all about me." God's love for us is so great, even if you or I were the only person in need, Jesus would have still died on that cross. The crucifixion is the ultimate story of the 99 sheep. The Good Shepherd will go to great lengths, even death, to rescue one lost sheep. The difference is, all 100 have sinned and wandered from the flock at one time or another. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23 As we celebrate this Holy Week, I like to reflect on the many people mentioned in the Biblical account. Let's see how you and I relate to the main characters in the unfolding drama. The Palm Sunday crowd - worshiping Jesus and proclaiming him King, only to side with the world and turn on him a short time later. Yeah, I've done that. Judas - who let his own agenda outweigh God's plan and timing. I've done that. The disciples asked to pray in the garden - eager to serve Jesus, yet grew tired in the effort and turned to their own comfort instead of sacrifice for him. I've done that. The disciples at Jesus' arrest - ready to stand boldly against the enemy, but when the situation got tough, ran away. Ouch, I've done that. The Roman soldier nailing Jesus to the cross - who knew that his actions caused Jesus pain, but kept doing it anyway. I've done that. The spectators at the crucifixion - who, even though Jesus had shown his love and commitment with his own life, asked for more proof. This reminds me of the lyric, "He gave His life, what more could He give..." And yet, I've done that. Peter - who, when surrounded by the worldly people, denied he even knew Jesus. I'm ashamed to say, I've done that, too. Thomas - who let his rational mind and need for scientific understanding keep him accepting the miraculous and unexplainable power of Jesus. I've done that. The women who went to anoint Jesus’ body at the tomb - who continued to go through the motions even though deep down their faith was too weak to accept Jesus as their true Messiah. Yeah, I've done that, too. I wonder if you see yourself in any of these characters. This is the perfect time to focus and meditate on God's love and mercy. Each one of us can say, "I am the reason Jesus had to leave the splendor of heaven to come to this rough and rocky world. His teachings help me recognize my need and His miracles give me proof and hope that He is able to fulfill every promise. My sins nailed Him to the cross. But those nails weren't what kept him on the cross. That was His love for me, because He looked at me; faults, failures and all; and said, 'you're worth it.'" Oh, what a Savior! When I was a wee lad of 19 (sorry, I'm still basking in the St. Patrick's Day ambiance), I wrote a choral piece on this theme. The message is very simple, and profoundly true... My savior died on a cross for me. He did it all for me, P.S. Sometime this week, take time to read Isaiah 53 in the NLT. The simple language really makes the message personal. You can read it here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2053&version=NLT Click Here to Check our Concert Schedule! Check us out on Facebook! - http://www.facebook.com/PhilandPamMorgan |
Phil & Pam Morgan
We're authors and musicians who loves to talk about faith & spirituality, arts & crafts, and music. Subscribe and join over 2,000+ newsletter readers every week!
Here we are at the third visit to our familiar passage. Last time we looked at an invisible character in our story, the homeowner. This time we’ll shift our attention to very visible but overlooked characters… Part Three - The Other Students When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to...
Welcome back to our exploration of a familiar scripture through four different sets of eyes. Today we are up to... Part Two - The Homeowner When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of...
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where the same story is retold from the viewpoint of different characters? Even though the facts are the same, you gain a little more knowledge and understanding by seeing it from more than one perspective. That's one way I like to read the Bible. I thought it might be fun this month to take a familiar Bible story (just five verses!) and view it through the eyes of four different characters. Let's go! When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days...