FINISHED
Today’s Reading: John 19
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
The view from the Garden Tomb area toward what many believe to be Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, where Jesus was crucified. You can see in the rock formation what looks to be a skull.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: John 19:30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
For readers who’ve been with me since we began, you know that we’ve completed the first three books of the Bible and that we are about to start Numbers. We’ve read of hundreds of animal sacrifices (they were used for food as well) and now these three words, “It is finished.” We could view again the video posted here some days ago which showed that, after Jesus’ death, God no longer accepted the animal sacrifices presented in the Temple (click here to view). Jesus proclaimed from the Cross that His Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world was complete. In Chapter 19 alone, there are 20 references listed in my Thomas Nelson Study Bible which indicate fulfilled prophecy by Jesus as He hung on the Cross. No wonder that soon after His death, thousands of Jews would believe in Jesus as the final Sacrifice for sin. Jesus’ task in His suffering and death for sin was “finished,” but His triumph was not. As He told His disciples, after three days He would rise again. The victory celebration of His resurrection continues to this day. Amen! Amen!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your “amazing grace,” as the hymn says, “that saved a wretch like me.” I sing that most beloved hymn now as I pray. Because of the fact that You finished Your Sacrifice, I know that I can add nothing to that Sacrifice by my own efforts. I simply accept that fact. Help me to share the finished work of the Cross with someone today. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
In the early days of exercising the call of God to be a Pastor, I rejoiced in the growth of the congregation. Rather than counting attendance at the services, I would count the precious people who partook of the remembrance elements of the Body and Blood of Jesus. The reason the Apostle quoted Jesus saying, “This do in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), was because, “It is finished.” As I will shortly read Numbers, I keep this fact constantly in mind. Hallelujah!
Yours because “It is finished,”
David
Thank you all for your prayers for my husband, Joseph. The surgery was postponed to today. Please pray that the Lord will guide the surgeon’s hands and that all will go well. Please pray also for complete recovery. May God be glorified in this storm that we are facing, as a family. He is our Rock in whom we trust!
Have a blessed day.
Praying for Joseph, you and your family today, Luisa. Fear not. His blessings be upon you. Amen.
Praying Luisa. May our Lord be close to you all in this situation, ministering to each family member. Amen
Amen…I pray the hands of the surgeon be guided by our Saviour . May God’s will be done.
Lord Jesus I pray for Your intervention for Joseph, that nothing be done that should not be done; I pray You guide the surgeon’s hands; give them wisdom beyond their understanding in all they do. Amen, thank You Jesus. And I pray for Peace of mind and heart for Luisa as she trusts you in this, Amen!
Agreeing with you in prayer for Joseph.
NOVEMBER
THE BREWING OF SOMA
John Greenfield Whittier
1807-1892
“The fagots blazed, the caldron’s
smoke
Up through the green wood curled;
“Bring honey from the hollow oak,
Brink milky sap,” the brewers spoke,
In the childhood of the world.
And brewed they well or brewed they ill,
The priests thrust in their rods,
First tasted, and then drank their fill,
And shouted, with one voice and will,
“Behold, the drink of the gods!”
They drank, and lo! in heart and brain
A new, glad life began;
They grew of hair grew young again,
The sick man laughed away his pain,
The cripple leaped and ran.
“Drink, mortals, what the gods have sent,
Forget you long annoy.”
So sang the priests, From tent to tent
The Soma’s sacred madness went,
A storm of drunken joy.
Then knew each rapt inebriate
A winged and glorious birth,
Soared upward, with strange joy elate,
Beat, with dazed head, Varuna’s gate,
And sobered, sank to earth.
The land with Soma’s praises rang;
On Gihon’s banks of shade
Its hymns the dusky maidens sang;
In joy of life or mortal pang
All men to Soma prayed.
The morning twilight of the race
Sends down these matin psalms;
And still with wondering eyes we trace
The simple prayers to Soma’s grace,
That verdic verse embalms.
As in the child-world’s early year,
Each after age has striven
By music, incense, vigils drear,
And trance, to bring the skies more near,
Or life men up to heaven!
Some fever of the blood and brain,
Some self-exalting spell,
The scourger’s keen delight of pain,
the Dervish dance, the Orphic strain,
The wild-haired Bacchant’s yell, –
The desert’s hair-grown hermit sunk
The saner brute below;
The naked Santon, haschish-drunk,
The cloister madness of the monk,
The fakir’s torture show!
And yet the past comes round again,
And new doth old fulfill;
In sensual transports wild as vain
We brew in many a Christian fane
The heathen Soma still!
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
And noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
Thy beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the hearts of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be numb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!”
Fairest Lord Jesus, thank You for coming for us. Thank You for giving Your life for us. We commit our families to You, Lord, and ask that Your will is done in their lives. In Jesus’s name, amen
Amen, Rob
Amen, Rob.
Yes, Amen, Rob
Amen Rob.
Amen, continued prayers for Joseph, Also please pray for me as I am having trouble with my high blood pressure again. Thank you saints and God bless you.
Lord Jesus, I lift Ger up to You for complete healing, for the High Blood pressure return to “Normal” In You Mighty Name I pray, Amen!!
Amen to your prayer Irene.
Amen to the prayers for the special needs of our bloggers. May Jesus bless and keep you all