This video makes me cry everytime I watch it. So beautiful...
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Hour Has Come For the Son of Man To Be Glorified
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to him.' Jesus answered, 'This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."
I read these words this morning and my heart just longed to hear Jesus' voice. Sometimes I forget how carefully spoken and so full of love his words are. I can read them or skim over them but for Jesus speaking, every word is filled with the intensity of pure love for the purpose of reaching my heart. I understood that this morning as I read his words, spoken after his triumphal entry and his praises still ringing in the air...
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified...
What is Jesus starting to talk about here? I imagine the way a parent gets somber and hushed when about to break some sad news to his child. Atleast that is the way I felt this morning listening to Jesus speak to me these words. As the words began to unfold about life coming from death, these child-like suspicions began rising up within me...I know what Jesus is about to say. Jesus doesn't ask to be saved though but rather says, "Father glorify your name." The Father answers from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." This is so beautiful...it is the voice of the Father giving up His Son in order to bring glory. Have you ever watched an old couple lost in loving conversation or a parent and child in a loving embrace? I have too and many times while looking on, I have this longing of wanting to be a part of that love and in the midst of it. I feel the same way reading the Father and the Son conversing aloud so that we can hear. It began to dawn on me as I read this that the Son was about to give up his life so that I could be a part of that love. This totally floored me and broke my heart this morning...
"'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' He said this to show..."
At this point in the reading, I jerked my face away from the page and began sobbing. My heart cried out in tears, "I know, I know, I know! I know why. It's because...because he is about to die..." Eventually I looked back at the page and read the words to confirm my feelings.
"He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."
Somehow knowing these words were coming ahead of time made it even harder to read. I am so thankful now that Christ has given his life and that he stands in heaven pleading and praying for me but to imagine hearing it right before it was about to happen left me in awe and disbelief. How could someone so beautiful and full of love give his life for me? How can it be that I am in the midst of such pure and beautiful love as there is between the Father and Son?
This is why I want to give my life for Christ and why the words of an old hymn say,
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.
"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to him.' Jesus answered, 'This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."
I read these words this morning and my heart just longed to hear Jesus' voice. Sometimes I forget how carefully spoken and so full of love his words are. I can read them or skim over them but for Jesus speaking, every word is filled with the intensity of pure love for the purpose of reaching my heart. I understood that this morning as I read his words, spoken after his triumphal entry and his praises still ringing in the air...
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified...
What is Jesus starting to talk about here? I imagine the way a parent gets somber and hushed when about to break some sad news to his child. Atleast that is the way I felt this morning listening to Jesus speak to me these words. As the words began to unfold about life coming from death, these child-like suspicions began rising up within me...I know what Jesus is about to say. Jesus doesn't ask to be saved though but rather says, "Father glorify your name." The Father answers from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." This is so beautiful...it is the voice of the Father giving up His Son in order to bring glory. Have you ever watched an old couple lost in loving conversation or a parent and child in a loving embrace? I have too and many times while looking on, I have this longing of wanting to be a part of that love and in the midst of it. I feel the same way reading the Father and the Son conversing aloud so that we can hear. It began to dawn on me as I read this that the Son was about to give up his life so that I could be a part of that love. This totally floored me and broke my heart this morning...
"'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' He said this to show..."
At this point in the reading, I jerked my face away from the page and began sobbing. My heart cried out in tears, "I know, I know, I know! I know why. It's because...because he is about to die..." Eventually I looked back at the page and read the words to confirm my feelings.
"He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."
Somehow knowing these words were coming ahead of time made it even harder to read. I am so thankful now that Christ has given his life and that he stands in heaven pleading and praying for me but to imagine hearing it right before it was about to happen left me in awe and disbelief. How could someone so beautiful and full of love give his life for me? How can it be that I am in the midst of such pure and beautiful love as there is between the Father and Son?
This is why I want to give my life for Christ and why the words of an old hymn say,
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.
"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Sunday, December 02, 2007
You Are The One I Want
So goes the refrain of a song I have been listening to called "Arithmetic" by Brooke Fraser. It resonates so deeply with my heart's cry in the midst of all the things that are trying to distract me. I think the first thing that really drew in to the song was the verse that goes...
I've been counting up all my wrongs
one sorry for each star
I'd apologize my way to You
if the heavens stretched that far
'Cause you are the one I want
You are the one I want.
So great are my wrongs toward the lover of my soul. The beautiful part though is when through forgiveness and God's grace, the stars in the sky change into an image of God's unending faithfulness and promises. Then instead of being overwhelmed by my inadequacy, I'm overwhelmed by the love of Christ and what he did for me. The last verse describes what I want my response to all this to be during my life.
When the years are showing on my face
and my my strongest days are gone.
When my heart and flesh depart this place
from a life that's sung your song.
You'll still be the one I want
You'll still be the one I want
I want to be old and look back and have had a life that has sung His song. I want it to have overwhelmed my life completely and swallowed it whole. Even today, there are distractions that pull on my heart but I feel the Spirit leading my heart as it cries, "I just want you, Jesus, just you. You are the one I want."
I've been counting up all my wrongs
one sorry for each star
I'd apologize my way to You
if the heavens stretched that far
'Cause you are the one I want
You are the one I want.
So great are my wrongs toward the lover of my soul. The beautiful part though is when through forgiveness and God's grace, the stars in the sky change into an image of God's unending faithfulness and promises. Then instead of being overwhelmed by my inadequacy, I'm overwhelmed by the love of Christ and what he did for me. The last verse describes what I want my response to all this to be during my life.
When the years are showing on my face
and my my strongest days are gone.
When my heart and flesh depart this place
from a life that's sung your song.
You'll still be the one I want
You'll still be the one I want
I want to be old and look back and have had a life that has sung His song. I want it to have overwhelmed my life completely and swallowed it whole. Even today, there are distractions that pull on my heart but I feel the Spirit leading my heart as it cries, "I just want you, Jesus, just you. You are the one I want."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)