Passover Meditation # 15 for the Lenten Season 2012

~  ~  ~  The Door of the Cross ~  ~  ~

The one eating

of My+ Flesh

and drinking

of My+ Blood abides in ME+

and I+ in him.

John 6:56 Green’s Greek Interlinear

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Abides =

remaining UN-changing in a sphere or realm,

continuing...

Remaining in a fixed state,

stable ,

stays,

remains...

Continuously.

On-going.

In the present...

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If ...

you join The LORD JESUS at the table of His+ death

daily...

partaking of HIM+,

uniting with HIM+

in His+ sufferings

(persecutions or discipline),

an amazing thing occurs:

You live instead of die !

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Slowly, another amazing happens: You find yourself stable, fixed, not tossed to-and-fro with torments.
.
Your pet fears back away.
.
Your besetting sins find no energy to lure you.
.
The fog clears and you can hear His+ leading and feel His+ nearness.

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Solid in CHRIST JESUS, you will actually be abiding in a house made of ROCK+ … the Rock+ of Ages. And that home is continuously on-going, in the present, secure and lively.

Simultaneously, a third thing occurs: Amazingly enough, The LORD of the Universe is so near that HE+ begins to abide in YOU ! You yourself provide a home for HIM+.

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Is your home “secure” for HIM+ ?

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Can HE+ trust there is a place

for HIM+ with you ?

.

A place where HE+ can abide

...without sorrow...

for what HE+ sees you doing,

saying, thinking, reacting ?

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Is there Time in your home

to listen to HIM+

and His+ concerns ?

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Uncluttered Time 

to hear His+ heart?

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Is there quality Time

to have

heart-to-heart sessions

with HIM+ ?

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Is your home quiet enough to sit with HIM+ in stillness, at times, without the hustle-bustle of every day chores constantly in the forefront, demanding more than their fair share of attention, and keeping a constant stream of interruption going ?

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Is it free of un-necessary commitments, ballgames, entertainments and other social activities that are not worth the distraction they cause, distraction that leads away from YOU+ ?

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O LORD, make my heart your home.

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I’m sorry for the cluttered closets in my mind, the unclean rooms of my emotions, and the unruly atmosphere of constant activities abounding here.

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I’m sorry for yesterday’s meals lying about... the world still being savored in me... as well as the dirty laundry of incomplete repentances in my heart... my unkempt life, not ready for Your+ visitation.
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LORD JESUS, I want YOU+. I want YOU+ to come and find a home in my heart. Clean me up, LORD, and I will set my priorities according to YOUR+ will, this time. Thank YOU+ JESUS, my LORD.

HOME.... A call to Parents...

Parents, grand-parents, and care givers: teach your beloved little ones what HOME is... in Truth+.

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Do not allow your children to grow up with an illusionary picture about HOME. It will hurt them.

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HOME is not a house or belongings, a garden, a farm , nor land. HOME is not a town, a state , nor a country. HOME is not a community of familiar friends, shops, schools, or schedules, either.

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HOME is where your heart is welcomed. HOME consists of hearts that are open to you and where you are not afraid to have your heart open to others.

.

.

. . . .

.

.

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Why is this important?

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Living in comfort is NOT PROMISED by GOD'S Word. At any moment our comfortable level of living can change drastically. Has GOD failed us when that happens? NO. What is promised is that our souls will be kept and our hearts will be secure in JESUS (if we stay with HIM+, that is. ).

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Recently, we witnessed 4 families leave their homes... built by the labor of their own hands... and their farms and small businesses. They left machinery and harness shops, stocked full of leather goods. They left a shoe-making business and a book-binding business, as well as newly-planted orchard trees, grapevines, and a fruit cellar with shelves and shelves of canned goods for the winter.

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They left family and friends. They took their grown children and tiny ones alike along on a hundreds-of-miles bus trip to Central America to start anew. They took tents for preliminary shelters.

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They were following JESUS in this move outside of their native country in order to reach out in an evangelistic effort to give to the unsaved what JESUS had given to them.

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Yes, they will be able to do an outreach; early reports which filtered back said it had already begun, with good success.

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But they have done something else: they are teaching their young ones by word AND EXAMPLE that HOME is being with the family, within the Will of GOD.

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HOME, you see, is not a location. It is a state of the heart. Security comes from doing the will of The LORD.... not from walls and roofs and having a steady income.

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The little ones along are happy just being with Mother and Father and all the familiar faces of brothers and sisters. Walls mean nothing to them.

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The older ones not yet married are excited about being allowed to do something for GOD besides attend church meetings. Walls and floors and roofs constitute shackles for them, if that is all they have to look forward to.

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Mother and Father are happy because the joy of The LORD is resting upon them as they EMBRACE THE SACRIFICE to do the Will of The LORD. HE+ will not forsake them and they know it. They also know they must keep walking in HIS+ Will and not say "NO"... I don't want to give up my comforts, job, security, country, etc., etc., etc.

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And, they do not practice walking in FEAR. They simply build new walls, floors, and roofs as necessities for their families, but they do not call that HOME.

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They call HIM+ "HOME"

... because their hearts

are with HIM+.

.

.

. . . .

.

.

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Where ,

dear Christian friend,

is your HOME?

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In The Name of The FATHER, Who created thee; and HIS Beloved SON, JESUS CHRIST, Who saves thee; and the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, Who sanctifies thee. Amen

The Way of The Cross
Pascha Season 2009
Ash Wednesday
Year of Our LORD,
2.25.09

I must needs go home
by the Way of The Cross;
There’s no other way
but this.

I shall never get sight
of the Gates of Light,
If the Way of The Cross
I miss.

The Way of The Cross
leads home,
leads home.

The Way of The Cross
leads home…
leads home.

It is sweet to know
as I onward go…
The Way of the Cross
leads home.


This old hymn by Jessie Pounds tells us how to get home. As we begin Pascha Season [Passover or Lent] this year, home seems increasingly more important. Home is the place we are welcomed and wanted… where we are secure and our various needs are most abundantly and delightfully met. As adults, we try to make our homes that place of security for our children or spouses or extended family.

But in the long run, no earthly dwelling and no family circle can provide a “home” that meets ALL the needs of our hearts. Our hearts are ever-hungry to be filled. Our endless activities… in the Church or in the world’s arenas… only make us hungrier for the REAL. All the rest gets old. And we get tired, realizing we’ve been on a hamster wheel instead of the Path of Life.

But thankfully, that drives us to drink more deeply from the Well of Life Eternal. We hunger and thirst after Life and His+ Righteousness. Bless GOD! HE+ has provided the Way for us to get it. It is called the Way of The Cross.

There is no shortcut.

There is no alternate route.

There is no detour.

In HIS+ infinite wisdom, only the Way of The Cross will bring us home. All other routes will lead us astray.

During these occasional Paschal Meditations, let us set our sights on going home. In so doing, let us cease following other routes, sowing to the flesh or natural-minded man. Let us become Heavenly-minded… Heavenly-oriented… with our focus upon Home… the only place that matters.

Gracious Heavenly FATHER,
We thank THEE for sending us Thy Beloved SON+ to show us the Way home to THEE. We know there is no other way but HIS+.

We bless THEE+, LORD JESUS, for setting Thy+ Face towards Jerusalem. Help us in our weakness and frailty to do the same, so that we can get safely home. For Thy+ Name’s Sake, we ask this, O LORD, our Savior and Redeemer.

In the Name of The FATHER
Who created us;
Thy Blessed SON+
Who+ saves us;
and Thy HOLY SPIRIT,
Who sanctifies us.
Amen
+ + +