| January 10, 2006
Drawn By The Cross
I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
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Towering above New York Harbor is the Statue of Liberty. That stately lady, with freedom's torch held high, has beckoned millions of people who were choking from the stifling air of tyranny or oppression. They've been drawn to what that monument symbolizes—freedom.
Inscribed on Lady Liberty's pedestal are these words by Emma Lazarus from her poem "The New Colossus":
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse
of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door. |
A different monument towers over history, offering spiritual freedom to enslaved peoples everywhere. It's the cross where Jesus hung 2,000 years ago. At first the scene repels us. Then we see the sinless Son of God dying in our place for our sins. From the cross we hear the words "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34) and "It is finished!" (John 19:30). As we trust in Christ as our Savior, the heavy burden of guilt rolls from our sin-weary souls. We are free for all eternity.
Have you heard and responded to the invitation of the cross? —Dennis De Haan
Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and cannot save myself. I need You as my Savior. Thank You for dying in my place and rising again. I believe in You. Please set me free from my sin. I want to live with You in heaven someday. Amen.
Our greatest freedom is freedom from sin.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Does God Grade On A Curve?Last night after I left the board, DollyCali, you wrote:
"I am sorry that you have had the pain.." Believe me, on my Clinic visit yesterday the 6 tubes of blood drawn and the IV infusion of iron monthly; and yesterday, the Hepatitis B vaccine and the tine test, were totally painless for me - well, with the exception of the Hepatitis shot having to go into a muscle, and that was not much worse than a mosquito bite.
The peritoneal dialysis nurses love to handle me, chatting away as they do their handiwork, and we laugh and joke.
The same was true of the 11 months of wound care, handling with aplomb the surgeon scraping clean with a currette all the places on the legs (2 to 7) each visit, for a time digging deep to extract gangrene from 3 of them. I dubbed the original bad one The Black Hole of Calcutta..:))
I have been on insulin injections since 1975 - for 9 years (1986-1995) pioneered the insulin infusion pump in North Carolina, without *any* improvement in control, conferring at any time I desired with my Endocrinologist across the street from the hospital where I worked 15 years - and as a rule every day since 1995 must give myself 4-5 or more shots, based on the results of each test of the blood glucose.
Every physician and dentist I've had throughout life has remarked on my unusual ability to be extremely compliant, and to handle pain/setbacks. I see them as God's provision for my particular walk.
It allows me to face the unknown without fear or "woe is me," standing firm on His promise that He will never forsake us...I indeed trust Him to always be acting for my own good, and for His, and know He will equip me with strength should my own falter...
He always has been there through decades of adversity and outright hardship, and I rest in that...