VIDEO Man Of Sorrows

Jul 5, 2013

Hillsong Live Album Glorious Ruins, 2013, Name of Song: Man of sorrows

VERSE 1
Man of sorrows Lamb of God
By His own betrayed
The sin of man and wrath of God
Has been on Jesus laid

VERSE 2
Silent as He stood accused
Beaten mocked and scorned
Bowing to the Father’s will
He wore a crown of thorns

VERSE 3
Oh the nails that tore His flesh
The sword that pierced His side
The tree that bore the innocent
Our Saviour crucified

CHORUS
Oh that rugged cross my salvation
Where Your love poured out over me
Now my soul cries out Hallelujah
Praise and honour unto Thee

VERSE 4
Sent of heaven God’s own Son
To purchase and redeem
And reconcile the very ones
Who nailed Him to that tree

BRIDGE
Now my debt is paid
It is paid in full
By the precious blood
That my Jesus spilled

Now the curse of sin
Has no hold on me
Whom the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed

VERSE 5
See the stone is rolled away
Behold the empty tomb
Hallelujah God be praised
He’s risen from the grave

http://www.heavenvisit.com

The Sting of Betrayal

“Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.’” John 13:21

Most of us are familiar with the events in the upper room, where we see Jesus washing the dusty feet of His followers and preparing them for the drama that was about to unfold in the final stage of His earthly ministry. When Jesus—“troubled in spirit”—predicted that one of them would betray Him, it’s no wonder that the disciples “stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant” (John 13:22). Weren’t they all fully committed to Jesus? For three years they had been in this thing together. Little did they know that there was a traitor in their midst.

Betrayal often comes from those we would least suspect. And—here’s a news flash—the person you might least suspect could even be you. The seeds of betrayal are sown in the unseen world of our hearts. And while the seeds may be unnoticed for a time, left unchecked they will inevitably begin to pop up to the surface of our lives in tragic ways.

Some of us have already betrayed Jesus at the heart-level. Often it is a slow, subtle shift from being fully devoted to Him, to following the seductive lure of personal pleasure or gain. Hearts dedicated to cash and comfort are quick to bail when Jesus calls us to sacrifice and suffer for Him. But, whether the betrayal is “big” or seemingly small, it is always in the face of His love. That’s what makes it so wrong, so brazen. When we lose the wonder of His amazing love for us, when we fail to look at His nail-scarred hands, when we start taking His daily provision for granted, we run the risk of cultivating a compromised heart.

And when we betray Jesus, it also shows how stubborn we can be. Clearly, Judas had already made up his mind, or perhaps the love that Jesus extended to him in the upper room—washing his feet and honoring him with a distinguished seat at the table—might have made him think twice. It’s a reminder that when we have decided that we want to sin—that the wrong in our lives serves some purpose that is more important than anything else—we have the capacity to insulate our choice from any outside influence that would cause us to change. We go to church and essentially say to God, “I don’t care what You or anyone else says today. I don’t plan on changing. I don’t care what my spouse says, what my friends say. I don’t care what it means to my job, to my family, or even to Your reputation.” The resolve to sin is an engine that is powerful enough to drive us past even the deepest love of Christ all the way to betrayal. Sin is often an in-His-face, stubborn enterprise.

It’s what happened to Judas and, if we’re not careful, it can happen to us. But if we carefully cultivate a heart that responds to Jesus’ amazing love, we can find ourselves in the group of followers who will stay true to the end!

So, whose crowd are you in—the 11 who followed Jesus regardless, or the one who wanted life his way regardless? Think about it!

YOUR JOURNEY…

– In your opinion, what heart issues may have led Judas to eventually betray his friendship with Jesus? Can you identify with any of those issues?
– You may not be tempted to turn Jesus over to the authorities as Judas did, but in what ways do we betray Jesus in terms of our friendship and devotion to Him?
– What issues in your heart might threaten to derail your commitment to Christ? If you’re not sure, ask Him to reveal those areas to you—just as He revealed the reality of Judas’ imminent betrayal—and then pray that He will break down any stubbornness that might keep you from responding to His love.
– How can you avoid cultivating seeds of compromise in your heart?

What Does It Mean to Be “Born Again”?

John 3:1-16

In today’s passage, the Lord instructs Nicodemus that no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless he is first “born again.” Jesus gave the term a spiritual meaning that may be familiar to us today, but Nicodemus didn’t understand. “How can a man be born when he is old?” he asked. “He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (John 3:4).

Though he was a Pharisee and a teacher, Nicodemus found it hard to grasp what Jesus was describing. And I suspect many people—including believers as well as unbelievers—don’t truly comprehend the concept any better today. So let’s take the time to understand this important idea.

“Born again” is an apt description of what it means to trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our lives are not changed when we enter into a relationship with Christ; rather, our old lives are effectively ended, and we are completely reborn in the Spirit.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense to say that we are “born again.” It means that we are no longer who we once were in sin. Rather, we are a new creation that exists to glorify God (2 Cor. 5:17).

Does your life in Christ reflect the glory of God, or are you still clinging to your old ways of living? It is important to understand that the Lord does not simply want to change you; instead, He wants to remake you—there’s a big difference. As you pray today, ask for the courage to surrender to God and to live a life that proclaims your old self has died. He desires to make you new!

Jesus and the Study of Scripture

“And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15)

In the midst of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, “Jesus went up into the temple, and taught” (John 7:14), and the unique caliber of His teaching (literally “indoctrinating”) caused the Jewish scholars there to “marvel.”

Their question on this occasion was how an uneducated man, who had never been taught by the scribes and rabbis, could have acquired such a remarkable understanding of the Holy Scriptures. He had never had formal training in the Word; yet, when He taught, “he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29).

His answer to their question was amazing: “My doctrine [or ‘teaching’] is not mine, but his that sent me” (John 7:16).

There are two factors at work here. First of all, His working knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures was encyclopedic, acquired in the same way any other student of the Word can acquire it—by diligent and prayerful personal study thereof. He had done this all His life from the time He was a small boy. Remember how He had “asked questions” of the astonished doctors in the temple, and then how He was “subject unto” His parents, and how He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:46; 51-52). In all of this, He is a perfect human example to us as we also seek to learn the Scriptures and to grow in wisdom and in favor with God.

But beyond His human understanding of the Word, of course, was His own innate divine wisdom and authority. He was eternal God, as well as perfect man. Thus He not only has authenticated the former Scriptures and given us an example in their study and use, but has also conveyed perfectly to us, through His holy apostles and prophets, the Scriptures of the New Covenant as well. HMM

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.—Jeremiah 17:7.

THUS will I live and walk from day to day,
Contented, trustful, satisfied, and still,
What life so shielded, or what life so free,
As that within the centre of Thy will!
JANE WOODFALL.

FOLLOW Christ in the denial of all the wills of self, and then all is put away that separates you from God; the heaven-born new creature will come to life in you, which alone knows and enjoys the things of God, and has his daily food of gladness in that manifold BLESSED, and BLESSED, which Christ preached on the mount. WILLIAM LAW.

Divine tranquillity grows from the life of God in the soul, which is the same as the life of pure love, Why should a soul be otherwise than tranquil, which seeks for nothing but what comes in the providence of God; and which, forgetful of self, has nothing to do but to love? It has an innate conviction, strong as the everlasting foundations, that, if there is a God above us, all is well, all must be well. THOMAS C. UPHAM.

Let us put on the armour of light

Let us put on the armour of light.Romans 13:12.

Put … on the lord Jesus Christ. — That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. — The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. — I will go in the strength of the LORD God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children Light. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them. All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Awake thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly.

Romans 13:14. Philippians 3:8,9. Romans 3:22. Isaiah 61:10. Psalm 71:16. Ephesians 5:8, 11, 13-15.

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, and in this place will I give peace. Haggai 2:9

The house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. — The glory of the LORD … filled the LORD’s house.

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake of the temple of his body. — That which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. —The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth. —God … hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. — The Prince of Peace. — He is our peace. — The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Chronicles 22:5. 2 Chronicles 7:2. John 2:19,21. 2 Corinthians 3:10. John 1:14. Hebrews 1:1,2. Luke 2:14. Isaiah 9:6. Ephesians 2:14. Philippians 4:7.