Sue O’Donnell. 14.02.21
“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10 v 31)
We should do this to offer our thanks
For all the Lord Jesus does for us,
Especially at the †atoning for our sinfulness.
Christ Jesus is the world’s Redeemer.
He is too, our Saviour, our Healer,
Longing to share His holiness with us.
Therefore He absolves our sinfulness,
In accordance with the mercy of our Father.
For Jesus, is not merely acting in a godly manner,
He is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
His ability to love us back into holiness
Is the true love which conquers all difficulty.
Jesus is the living Bread come down from heaven.
He is a fountain of love able to satisfy our every need.
That is why we hunger and thirst for Him,
So He can begin to exert holy love’s influence upon us.
‘I am the way to live’ Jesus tells us, showing us how.
He is rest for the weary, overburdened, harassed soul.
He is sovereign in authority over all circumstances,
All the choppy, life threatening waters that would drown us.
“ ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you’.” (Isaiah 43 v 1, 2)
If we are drowning He rescues us, reminding us
To keep our eyes fixed on Him completely.
How necessary if we want to walk on water.
His perfect holiness becomes our trust and dependency.
For He is the Prince of our Peace releasing us
From sin and satan, from death and annhilation.
Jesus is crowned a King, the Messiah lives for our glory.
The triumphant human story is written in His blood shed for us.
The †of forgiveness is a gateway to eternity,
All thanks to the merciful love of the Trinity.
The Lord Jesus, the living and abiding Word of God,
Makes this known to us by sending His Spirit as promised.
The Spirit is the Paraclete standing ready to counsel us.
He spells out the wisdom and truth the Lord Jesus lives by.
Jesus’ power and authority is recognised by demons.
Jesus is a Healer, able to destroy these demons,
To the extent that He sees satan fall like lightning from heaven.
He hears our prayers, carries these to heaven,
Where He sits at the right hand side of our Father,
Spending time interceding for those on earth,
Who would later become His saints in heaven.
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6 v 20)
This Man who wept at the death of Lazarus His friend,
Will put an end to our sadness and sorrow.
He leads us home to heaven, the place of continuous blessing.
In the meantime, the Lord Jesus gifts us a foretaste
Of this bliss, found in joy, peace and hope.
Jesus is our hope, which is priceless,
In spite of being sold to the enemy cheaply,
Thirty pieces of silver, the price put on His life.
He buys us back from satan, ransomed by His blood.
The Paschal Lamb is led to the slaughter.
He is the victim laid on the altar,
An all sufficient sacrifice offered by Himself as High Priest.
He is the soul and spirit who cries in the wilderness of our sinfulness.
Wounded on our behalf, Jesus carries our weakness,
To make us strong in Him because we belong to Him.
Jesus is our Father’s graced favour, He is our Saviour,
The One to redeem the world, restoring us to the family status.
He makes us brothers and sisters who belong.
We become His good works in progress.
“ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ says the LORD, ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me’.” (Jeremiah 29 v 11, 12, 13 NLT)
This is the task of the Lord Jesus, daily
And He is ever about completing the Father’s will for us.
Holiness is His means, method and mind’s purpose.
Hanging on a tree, cursed by many, He dies,
Only to rise again to invite us into a new and eternal life.
He is able to cure our diseases, grant spiritual sight,
By opening the eyes of the blind, and releases us
From our captivity to sin and satan, our down fall.
We hear the Lord Jesus’ call to arms,
Realising we are in the midst of an ongoing spiritual battle.
But all praise, all thanks, all glory ever, ever be,
By the Holy Spirit impressing Jesus’ holy love upon us,
We become partakers in Christ Jesus’ salvation.
Also in His sanctification, consecration and veneration
Become ours to proclaim, as we name Jesus ‘Lord’.
He saves even the seemingly totally lost,
Those who might despair like the thief on the adjoining cross.
Jesus wants to say to each of us who love Him,
That one day we will be with Him in Paradise.
Yes, He has paid the highest price for us with His life.
“ ‘...He said ‘It is finished’. And bowing His head He gave up His Spirit.” (John 19 v 30)
This sacrifice is invaluable to us beyond description.
All we can do in return is offer our worship.
The One who can turn water into wine, enjoying a wedding party,
Is the One to make us happy as we become holy.
He surrendered His life for us willingly.
Jesus has the power to take up His life in all love.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit, a life led in the Spirit,
The Spirit is stronger by far than death.
Jesus re-claimed His life eternally,
Inviting us into His company by our becoming holy,
That we thrive in the unity of the loving Trinity.
The darkness that shrouds the world is done away with.
The Lord Jesus is the true Light already shining,
Combining mercy with love to be our spiritual awakening.
He died to vivify humanity and destroy death finally.
Buried for three days, having gone down into Hades
To release the captives, later He ascends to heaven.
This is Jesus’ life history, a mystery and a marvel,
Calling forth our adoration in amazement
And our worship put to love’s practical action.
“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (John 21 v 25)
This is our decision to live in Him if we are to reach our destination.
Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.
But we need have no fear nor anxiety.
He loves us so entirely, ever living to God’s glory,
Brings the blessing of spiritual healing, our joy.
Jesus, our hope and our peace in the release of our sins’ captivity,
He takes away our every burden of fret and worry.
For Jesus is the peace re-established between God and us.
Ever let us venerate the majesty of this holy love,
Bowing down low before the †, offering Jesus as our worship.
Our Brother is our Saviour, God’s Son, the King of Glory.
This is the true story of how the Lord God Almighty,
Came to rescue His family, sending His Son to us.
The One we call ‘Christ Jesus’ because He is
Our Father’s most marvellous rescue plan for man,
Enlightening and enlisting us by the Holy Spirit,
To all things trustworthy, true, of nobility, being worthy.
Christ Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension,
All is mystery and a marvel.
Let us daily rejoice to worship most gratefully, warmly.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8 v 38, 39)
“Praise the LORD, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people of the earth. For He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’S faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 117 v 1, 2 NLT)
Dearest Father, Your faithful loving and most merciful kindness has been shown to us in the life and death You gift us in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. We thank and glorify You.
All Your work is a mystery and a marvel. Out of love for us, with love for us, the Lord Jesus teaches us to become holy. His Spirit calls us to as life of purity and will accomplish this. Here is the marvel.
Thank You for the proclamation of Your Word of life in the sacred Scriptures and in the example of Christ Jesus, Your living Word. Thank You for the celebration of the sacraments. Here is the mystery.
Thank You too for prayer, the point of access to every holy grace and favour. May prayer help us to develop a sure and sound humility, that we submit willingly and wholeheartedly to all Your authority as shown us by
Christ Jesus, in the Spirit.
May we never neglect to pray. “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle.” (Jeremiah 10 v 23 NLT)
The Lord Jesus as holy love manifest, Your living, abiding Word of wisdom and truth, our Saviour Redeemer Healer, richly, profoundly blesses life for us by hope, peace and joy, Father of mercies.
Gratefully I thank and praise You, Lord God, for all Jesus is, the true meaning in everything, and all that He does in His variety of roles, especially that of sending the Holy Spirit to us.
Thank You that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray, leading our thoughts, counselling us, drawing us into an ever deeper understanding and therefore stronger friendship with our Saviour Brother.
We would not know Jesus as the Light of the world, the living Bread come down from heaven to become our Saviour, the cornerstone of our faith, if it were not for the Holy Spirit and the Holy Eucharist.
The Holy Spirit helps us to learn to love selflessly, by showing us how You, Eternal Father, first loved us through Your Son, full of grace and truth. May we be readily teachable.
For then we dare to come to the banqueting table to receive the Sacramental Mystery of the Eternal Covenant. We are forgiven our sinfulness, cleansed and being sanctified. There can be no greater grace nor favour.
Continuously we stand in need of this holy communion, our blessed union with the loving, faithful, committed care of the Holy Trinity, our life in fullness now and our hope of eternity.
We must keep praying to live worthily. “May God grant me to speak as He would wish and conceive thoughts worthy of the gifts I have received,” (Wisdom 7 v 15 TNJB) especially that of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Giver of Life.
I ask that all come to faith in the salvation You have promised, Lord God, as won for us at the † of our Brother, and that we all “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3 v 18 NLT)
May then there be “All glory to Him, both now and forever” (Cont) ascribed as to the unity of love and mercy within the Trinity. This remains a Mystery and a Marvel, being entirely unmerited and undeserved, but
a reality. Amen.
Images by Artist Christine Garwood
http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/
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