Easter Devotional ~"Christ the Lord is risen, our Joy that hath no end."

“Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”          

 Revelation 1:18

'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.'

Song of Solomon 2:10-12

Now let the heavens be joyful!

Let earth the song begin!

Let the round world keep triumph,

And all that is therein!

Let all things seen and unseen,

Their notes of gladness blend,

For Christ the Lord is risen,

Our Joy that hath no end.

 John of Damascus A.D. 760

     "The time of the singing of birds is come,"--the time when nature calls aloud to us and bids us awaken out of the deadness of personal grief, and rejoice in the new manifestation of His beauty that God is making to the world.  "Behold, I am alive for evermore, and the dead live to Me."  Was not this the secret saying which the new verdure was writing all over the hills, and which the young pattering leaves and singing-birds were repeating in music?  It must be well to have ears to hear and a heart that could respond with a little flutter of returning joy and thankfulness.

 ANNIE KEARY

 (1825-1879)

The Lord of all, Himself through all diffused,

Sustains and is the life of all that lives.

Nature is but a name for an effect,

Whose cause is God…

One spirit, His

Who wore the platted thorns with bleeding brows,

Rules universal nature. Not a flower

But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,

Of His unrivall'd pencil.  He inspires

Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues,

And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes,

In grains as countless as the seaside sands,

The forms with which He sprinkles all the earth.

Happy who walks with Him! whom what he finds

Of flavour or of scent in fruit or flower,

Or what he views of beautiful or grand

In nature, from the broad majestic oak

To the green blade that twinkles in the sun,

Prompts with remembrance of a present God.

His presence, Who made all so fair, perceived,

Makes all still fairer.  As with Him no scene

Is dreary, so with Him all seasons please.

WILLIAM COWPER

The Task

Good Friday Devotional ~Oh, sad hearts and suffering! Look to the cross of Christ.

He is despised and rejected by men,

​​A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…

 ​ ​​Surely He has borne our griefs

​​And carried away our sorrows…

​​ ​​But He was wounded for our transgressions,

​​He was crushed for our iniquities;

​​The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,

​​And by His stripes we are healed.

ISAIAH 53: 3,4,5

O, Jesus, You know our deepest trials,

You bore the grief of our fallen world.

Your Body was pierced, Your heart full of sorrow;

Our sins fell upon You, so we can be restored.

I am a wind-blown reed, weakened and bruised;

You'll not break me, nor quench my flickering flame.

You were crushed and wounded to make me new;

Jesus, my heart overflows for Your Cross of grace.

C.A. Taylor

Oh, sad hearts and suffering!  Anxious and weary ones!  Look to the cross of Christ.  There hung your King!  The King of sorrowing souls, and more, the King of Sorrows.  Ay, pain and grief, tyranny and desertion, death and hell—He has faced them one and all, and tried their strength, and taught them His, and conquered them right royally.  And since He hung upon that torturing cross, sorrow is divine, godlike, as joy itself.  All that mans fallen nature dreads and despises, God honoured on the cross, and took unto Himself, and blest and consecrated forever. And now blessed are the poor, if they are poor in heart as well as purse; for Jesus was poor, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are the hungry, if they hunger for righteousness as well as food; for Jesus hungered, and they shall be filled.  Blessed are those who mourn, if they mourn not only for their sorrows, but for their sins; for Jesus mourned for our sins, and on the cross He was made sin for us, who knew no sin; and they shall be comforted.  Blessed are those who are ashamed of themselves, and hate themselves, and humble themselves before God, for on the cross Jesus humbled Himself; and they shall be exalted.  Blessed are the forsaken and despised; did not all men forsake Jesus in His hour of need?  And why not thee, too, thou poor deserted one?  No.  Every one that is perfect must be as his Master.

CHARLES KINGSLEY

Continually at every heart He is knocking, asking to be taken in as the supreme object of love.  "Will you have Me," He says to the believer, "to be yours?  Will you follow Me into suffering and loneliness and ask for no reward but My smile of approval and My word of praise?  Will you be content with pleasing Me, and Me only? May I have My way with you in all things?  Will you accept Me for your heavenly Bridegroom and leave all others to cleave only unto Me?"

H.W. SMITH

God is Enough