Born to Die

Jesus was born to die

Born to demonstrate God’s love

Born to accomplish God’s salvation plan

Born to show God’s Truth

Born to give us Life

Born to show The Way to God

The only Way to God

To the heart of God

To communion with God

To be in eternal fellowship with the Triune God

The only way to the Holy God

Is a pure and cleansed heart

A pure and cleansed heart that we cannot achieve

So Jesus was born for us

Born to die for us

To take on the punishment of our sins

To purify and to cleanse us

By dying on the cross for us

Now we can have true communion with God

With the One and Only

Holy

True

Pure

Perfect

God

For we are now also

Holy

True

Pure

And perfect like our Heavenly Father

Through the death of our Savior

Who was born a baby

In a manager

In a smelly feeding trough

A baby born

So He could show us

The Way

The Truth

Life Eternal

By Him dying for us on the cross

Jesus was born to die

To die on the cross

For you

For me

For any and every one who would believe

On this Christmas Day

Thank You, Jesus

For Your birth

For being

The Only Way

The Only Truth

The Only Life

Back to God

Thank you, Jesus

For your death

On the cross for us

Thank you, Jesus

That You were

Born to die

For us

Highway of Holiness

(Isaiah 40)

Every valley will be raised up

    

Every mountain and hill made low

The crooked will be made straight

The rough places plain

So that God can

Make straight in the desert

    

A highway for His handiwork

His glory will be revealed

Because He alone will accomplish it

Valleys are our unmet needs

Our deprivations

Our scarcity

Experiences and the lack thereof

That prevented us from growing into full maturity

Mountain and hills are our coping mechanisms

We needed them to deal with our unmet needs

We erected them for our protection

from our experiences of deprivation and of pain

Crooked paths are work-arounds

of these

Valleys

mountains and hills

Many times these work-arounds were sinful

As they looked to ourselves

Our own strength

Instead of

to God

Rough places are the boulders we erected

As we bumble about our emotional terrain

The residues and collateral damages

Of our coping

The best that we can muster

on our own strength

Our unconscious

Subconscious

Volitional choices

to cope with what were

Lacking

Hurtful

Painful

Neglectful

And even abusive

As a child

Young child

Even at infancy

God raises up our valleys

He meets our needs

Flourishes us with abundance of

His provisions

His blessings

His love

His full pleasure

God removes our mountains and hills

His fierce love levels them

His unconditional love melts them away

As we experience His full acceptance

His very own presence annuls our need for them

His forgiveness cleanses us of our work-arounds

sinful ways of coping

of ameliorating

of comforting

of ourselves

for ourselves

by ourselves

Jesus did this by extending his arms

On the cross

As He was nailed to the cross

When He shed His blood

For our sins

The Holy Spirit removes

The pebbles

rocks

and boulders

we have erected

By sweet whispers of His love

Gentle convictions of His truths

His tender mercies and blessings

Despite our sinful ways

His life within us gives us the strength to

Face our fears

Tackle our sins

Accept His gentle corrections

Imbibe His nurturance

Feed on His truths

So that

A level ground can be established

To make way for

A highway of holiness

His HOLINESS

Where God’s glory can be shown

In our lives

Where there were valleys of lack

Now flourish with His provisions

Where the mountains and hills once were

Are now leveled and are gone

The crooked paths have been straightened

Through His blood shed on the cross

The rough roads are now smooth

No residues left

No signs of collateral damage

He can now reign freely

Unencumbered

Having His Way

His Truth

His life

Demonstrated

In our lives

Through our lives

That His Will is now accomplished

In our lives

As it is in Heaven

Our lives become

The exemplification of

His truth

His mercy

His handiwork

God’s glory is now revealed

In us

Through us

The Waters of Meribah

The waters of Meribah

The place of testing for Moses

When the Israelites grumbled

Again

Against Moses and Aaron

for lack of water

This time at Meribah

Meribah of Kadesh

In the wilderness of Zin

The congregation chose not to trust in God’s faithfulness

Manna in the morning

Pillar of Cloud in the day time

Pillar of Fire at night

Or of God’s great power of deliverance

that led them out of Egypt

Once again they grumbled

against Moses and against Aaron

Why have you brought us out of Egypt

Why should we die here

It is no place for grain or figs

Or vines or pomegranates

And there is no water to drink

For us or our livestock

Moses and Aaron went to the Tent of Meeting

The glory of God appeared to them

and God instructed Moses to

bring his staff with him

and to

SPEAK

to the rock

before the congregation

Tell the rock to yield its water

Thus Moses will bring water out of the rock

For the assembly and their livestock to drink

God wanted Moses to show God’s power

By SPEAKING to the rock

For waters to come forth

How by speaking

would water come out of the rock

Moses took it upon himself that

By striking the rock

He might loosen it

So water can gush out

Like the last time at Raphidim

God told Moses to strike the rock

And water poured out for the Israelites

It worked the last time

Struck the rock

And water came out

God’s instruction to Moses was clear

Speak

to the rock

And water will pour out

Moses instead

Struck

the rock

Twice

Water gushed out

And sated the grumbling assembly

Moses though

Pays the price of not having believed

That God is able to

Bring water from the rock

Just by speaking to it

Moses

O Moses

Just like us

Did your faith and obedience become complacent

God has used you all these years

You can now do it on your own steam

It worked in the past

So do it again

You struck the rock

And water poured out

Same situation of

Israelites grumbling for water

Strike the rock

And water will pour out

Was faith in God now placed in your past glory

The glory of God

demonstrated through your obedience

in the past

Obedience to God was total

Now optional somehow

Same old

Same old

Same situation

Do the same thing

Repeat and be done with it

No longer panting after

the freshness of

God’s presence

God’s voice

God’s fresh instruction

The price of disobedience was huge

Moses

Like all the other leaders who left Egypt

With the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb

Would

Not

Enter

The Promised Land

May we learn from Moses

And not have to pay the price too

Of not being able to

Enter new spiritual landscapes of

Lushness

Fullness

Abundance

The fullness of

Our spiritual inheritance in Christ

By sitting on our laurels

Let us therefore

Pursue God

With all of

Our soul

Our mind

Our heart

Our strength

Holding nothing back

Forgetting the past

Straining toward the price set out before us

Each moment a fresh moment

Fresh opportunity

To hear God’s voice

So that we might

Believe

and

Obey

For without faith it is impossible to please God

and Faith without obedience is dead

May our faith always be fresh and

Our obedience complete