Meaningful Songs

The Bible is silent about the day before Jesus rose from the grave, but a couple of songwriters have put their thoughts on paper summing up exactly what Jesus did for you and me.

I Should Have Been Crucified

Gordon Jensen

I was guilty with nothing to say,
And they were coming to take me away.
But then a voice from heaven was heard, which said,
“Turn him loose, and take me instead!”

Chorus:
And I should have been crucified,
I should have suffered and died.
I should have hung on the cross in disgrace,
But Jesus, God’s Son, took my place.

Crown of thorns, the spear in His side,
And all the pain should have been mine.
Those rusty nails were meant for me,
But Jesus took them, and let me go free!

Jesus Paid It All

Elvina Hall

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him,
My robe, His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Have you walked the Romans Road?

The Romans Road is a group of Bible verses that show the way of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

The Bible says no one is innocent.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin.  We were born under the power of sin's control.

- Admit that you are a sinner.

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

We all have original sin from Adam, the first man.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; …

Sin has an ending.  It results in death.  We all face physical death, which is a result of sin.  But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity.

- Understand that you deserve death for your sin.

Romans 6:23  … but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Praise God that verse 23 doesn’t end with death. The verse continues BUT (God gives us a choice)

Salvation is a free gift from God to you!  You can't earn this gift, but you must reach out and receive it.

- Ask God to forgive you and save you.

Luke 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Repent means to think differently. We need to think differently about our sin and turn from it.

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus died for our sin, your sin and mine . He paid the price for all sin, when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross.

Romans 10:9 -10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10]  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

- If you know that God is knocking on your heart's door, ask Him to come into your heart.

Pray and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin and come into your life and save you. Repent and turn to Him.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Lessons from Esther: Standing firm

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? 4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. Esther 3:1-4

The tide is changing, sometimes the tide turns slowly and takes many hours, however if you travel to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia the tide quickly changes. Such is the “tide” of this chapter.

Mordecai was sitting at the gate and hears the news. Haman is promoted and he “is above all the others”. As soon as Haman appears all the servants bow and give him reverence. One of the meanings of reverence is “to worship.”

Mordecai “stood out” among the others because he would not bow or give reverence to Haman. Everyone was watching this display of noncompliance and questioned Mordecai. “Why are you not bowing down to show “respect” to Haman?” After much prodding Mordecai told the others he was Jewish. It appears that this is all he had to say. People around him obviously knew that Jews do not bow down and worship anyone but God.

The servants went to Haman to tell him what they had discovered. They were wondering if this would matter to Haman. Join me the next time to discover Haman’s reaction.

Lessons learned:

He was willing to stand alone.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 

I Corinthians 16:13

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

Mordecai did not follow the crowd.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Exodus 23:2

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  Romans 14:9

Mordecai remembered God’s word.

I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 

Psalm 119:16

He knew Who to obey

… We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16

He knew Who to worship

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Exodus 34:14

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Psalm 95:6

There may be a time when we are called to “stand alone” for Jesus. Will we be strong and follow Jesus or hide in the shadows? Christ will give us the ability to do right, but we need to start now!

Do others know what you believe by how you live?

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

I Peter 2:12

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. I Peter 4:16

Have a blessed day,
Donna