Tag: Jesus

Easter

by Nicky Wood

In the midst of a quiet olive grove that night

Was the one who came to be the Light

Of a world fallen into impenetrable darkness

Destined for destruction forever

The One alone with only His prayer

His blood

His tears

His friends had fallen into slumber

He kneeled alone as His soul was overwhelmed by unthinkable sorrow

Facing His Father

Pleading for this cup to pass

The cup of God’s wrath for all mankind

To be laid upon the Lamb

To tear His flesh apart

Nails that will forever leave eternal scars

The horror of the ones He loved

Laughing

While they’re torturing Him

Yet

He knew

It wouldn’t just be at the foot of the cross

That His heart would rip apart…

Thousands of years to come

His heart would still be laid bare

For you and I

Would we even care?

That night in Gethsemane

The universe waited with bated breath

Upon the Creator to surrender

To sacrifice

To suffer

Betrayed

Battered

Bruised

He gave His body, His life, His love

In absolute agony.

You know the story

But it’s not just a story

It is the only story

That really matters today

And will still matter

As long as there is day and night, summer and winter, life and death

As long as the human race breathes, builds and believes.

You have a choice…

See the Man of sorrows

Kneeling between the trees

Surrendering his Life

For you

Or…

Look away

Choose not to see Him there

Blood sweat soaking into the grass

Choose to look the other way

And you will see Judas approaching

Meeting your eyes

A devious smile spread across his face

You have sold your soul

For thirty shekels

And your sin

Will swallow you up whole

The last tree you will ever see

The one your body will be hung up for all to see…

Which will it be?

 

 

Paradise lost

by Nicky Wood

If God is faithful, why does He allow all the pain and suffering that is consuming this world?

A valid question – to find a glimpse of the answer, will take you back to the beginning of Creation.

In the beginning, man was literally made for paradise. A perfect world. A perfect plan and a perfect creation. No hate, no pain, no disaster or famine or hunger or war. This was God’s plan for you and me.

God made us from love, because He is love, and love was made alive when Adam and Eve walked the earth, so God could manifest His love to them personally. The earth was created for us, out of His eternal love. But love is not just one dimensional, and in God’s omnipotent plan, he desired a relational love – he desired Adam’s love in return.

Yet love can never be forced or required or expected, so the only way to complete the picture was for God to give man a free will. A choice to love or not. If I didn’t have a choice, if I was forced to love you, it would and could never be called love at all.

Eve made the wrong choice. Chose the wrong tree. In an instant Satan received power over this world because of her choice. And forever man would have to choose between good and evil. Whether you choose to believe in God or not does not take away from this Truth. The reality that Adam and Eve were banished from paradise and paradise turned into the hard reality of life on earth as it is now. Our enemy was given control of this world. And the choices people make are not all godly.

So God gave us an opportunity to choose again. We can have paradise again. God decided that it’s not the end. After life on earth man can spend an eternity in Heaven with Him and no man will ever be able to change that because of the one thing that the One man, Jesus, did on the cross.

My intentions are not to oversimplify all the problems of this world, and I know that not everything is a matter of choices. As I mentioned in my first post – time and chance happens to all.

Yet the key here is this:

Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Whatever happens to you in this world, if you love Him, God will work everything out for the good.

That includes all things that might seem wrong or a mess to you or the things in your life that are there because of your own mistakes or weaknesses. God is able to work all of it out for your good. That is how much He loves you.

God’s heart is for you to know the extent of His love for you, the extent of a love and faithfulness that knows no end. That has no boundaries and that can never be extinguished or diminished. A love that is more than likely impossible for a human mind to comprehend in its life time.

He is a God that is faithful, even if we are faithless. (2 Timothy 2:13)

 

 

Life is unfair but God is faithful

by Nicky Wood

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NLT):

“I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessary wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by time and chance, by being in the right place at the right time.”

The wisest man who ever lived on this planet, Solomon, wrote these words. In essence what he is proclaiming, is that life on earth is in a word – unfair.

If life was fair, the fastest athlete would win the race. The strongest fighter would win the fight. If you are good at what you do, you would always make money and if you are learned, you would be favoured. But no. This is not always the case as we all know. The fastest runner could fall and twist his ankle just before the finish line…the strongest fighter could make a minute judgement error and lose the fight in a millisecond. The brilliant mind could be the beggar on the street corner because nobody afforded him a chance in life. The most educated employee could be overlooked for that important role because he or she was not favoured by management.

Why? Because time and chance happened to them all. And while we live on this sphere spinning around the sun, our lives of course are governed by these elements that we cannot control.

But yet… there is One who made time and who holds chance in His hands – His name is I am. Rock of Ages, the Living God, the Holy one, Abba Father. Our God. The Creator who made you.

If you have a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus, your time is written in the Book of Life and all chance encounters that happen to you are shaped by His almighty hand that controls the universe.

Solomon is right – life is unfair – but we have a faithful God. A God who can use all your moments and all the chances given to you, who can shape them all for your good.

Maybe you received some bad news today. Maybe the doctor gave you an unexpected medical report. Maybe someone you love passed away unexpectedly. Maybe your parents or your children told you something that broke your heart. And the one thought you had was how unfair life is.

Maybe you are asking: If God is faithful, why am I still sick?

If God is faithful, why did my child die?

If God is faithful, why am I depressed? Why was I abused? Why do I feel so hopeless? Why did my marriage fail? Why am I struggling financially?

The questions are endless.

I do believe that the answers are there though…the question is; do we want to know the One who holds all the answers?

If you were to have a true understanding of how faithful He is, I believe your heart will be open to search. And the answers that have been eluding you all your life – will fall into place like pieces of a puzzle. You might not know the complete picture this puzzle is forming, but you will start to see it coming together and realize how beautiful it will be.

I want to point you to the Faithful One. I want you to know just how much He cares for you, no matter what you have done in your past or what you will do in the future. I hope and pray that you will take this journey with me.

God Bless

Nicole