"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
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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"
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Last two verses of the song In Christ Alone
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i struggle with what to write because i want these entries to be encouraging and funny. It's good when they are but i think i need to be real even in my sorrow. The past several weeks have been tough. Sometimes i struggle to see the LORD'S goodness and i struggle to see any justice in this life.I Corinthians 15:58 say our labour in the LORD is not in vain but sometimes it feels like it is in vain. And 1 Corinthians 16:14 exhorts us to be courageous people, to "be strong" and to "do everything in love" but sometimes feels like love is being overcome by evil. At such times my heart feels heavy and i long for JESUS to come back soon--to take up the case for the widow and for the orphan, to be the champion for the weak, and to bind up the broken hearted.
Africa, America, Asia...it doesn't really matter where. People everywhere are broken and hurting and searching for hope.
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The words of this song remind me of our hope, that Christ is victorious and that satan is a shmuck. That we belong to Christ and that this freedom that we now have costs us everything. And What does it mean that to live is Christ and to die is gain? And what does it mean that "we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that HIS life may be revealed in our mortal body" (2 Cor 4:11) ? What does this daily death look like? And why doesn't it always feel so victorious or glorious?? Death of our selfish flesh yes but death of our wills and dreams as well? I don't understand.
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Please do pray that we the church will come to know how high and how wide and how deep is the love of Christ. And, that from this understanding we will respond to a hurting, broken world. That we will long for the wholeness and healing that only seems possible through death.Somehow we, the church, are supposed to lead the way in brokeness...the kind of brokeness that stems from a contrite heart and humble spirit. Perhaps so that we we can welcome the broken people of the world who have not yet met the healer of their hearts...the LIVING HOPE who requires death so that HE might bring life.
