Manna in the Morning

Kelso Carter wrote an old Gospel Hymn entitled, “Standing On the Promises” which has blessed the hearts of many through the years. “Standing On the Promises” is more than a title to a song. It is the very heart of our faith. It is the only place we have to stand. Once, a song leader stopped a congregation in the middle of singing that song. He asked people in the audience to volunteer some of the promises on which they were standing. One said, “Lo, I am with you, always.” Another said, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Still another said, “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst.” Soon, a dozen promises had been quoted. When the singing resumed, there was a marked increase in enthusiasm. As we go about our day to day... let us remember that the best place in all the world for us to stand is “on the promises of God.”

Today is Good Friday. Friday is the day that Jesus was convicted as a common Criminal and sentenced to die... but Sunday’s coming! Friday is the day that the crowds cried crucify... that was Friday... but Sunday’s coming! Friday is the day that Jesus was flogged and mocked and spit upon... that was Friday... but Sunday is coming! Friday was the day that he was made to carry his cross to the hill of Golgotha... that was Friday, but Sunday’s coming! Friday was the day they nailed the nails in his hands and feet... that was Friday but Sunday’s coming! Friday was the day that Jesus breathed his last... that was Friday but Sunday’s coming! Friday was the day that the sun refused to shine at midday... that was Friday but Sunday’s coming! Friday was the day they put his lifeless body in a cold tomb and sealed it with a stone... that was Friday but Sunday’s coming! Today is the day we call Good Friday but Sunday is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! Hallelujah Christ is risen!!!

Tomorrow is Good Friday... the observance of the day when Jesus was put to death on a cruel cross. Think a moment about Christ. Suppose the cross had never happened. Suppose Jesus just lived to be an old man, drifted into senility and died in His sleep. Would there be any such thing as the Christian religion? You know the answer to that. It’s “No.” But history tells us that the cross was real... that Jesus died on that cross. In the forceful words of Bob Shannon: “Jesus took the cross and turned it into a hammer. He battered down the gates of Hell. He took the cross and turned it into a lever and moved the world. He took the cross and turned it into a bridge so that you and I might pass over from darkness to light and from death to life! That’s why Good Friday is so good. God was busily at work accomplishing our redemption through the blood of the perfect sacrifice... His Son!

We are in the middle of what is commonly called Holy Week. It’s the observance of the week of activities leading up to Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Many are offended by the doctrine of the cross. They feel it is an affront to the sensitivities of our 21st century sophistication. They feel it is an emblem of cruel death and suffering. They feel it is an uncomfortable reminder of blood and death. The interesting thing is that all of those opinions are actually true. The manner of Jesus’ death is an affront to human sensitivity. Jesus most certainly suffered and died in a very cruel manner. And, there is no escaping that at the heart of Christianity is blood and death— the blood of Jesus.... the death of Jesus. While that may sound harsh it is also designed to be a holy expression of the love of a Graceful God who gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Let us live this day with an awareness of God’s love that He expressed to us by the cross of Calvary.

Does someone owe you an apology? An explanation? A thank you? A second chance? What are you going to do about it? Will you be resentful? Will you talk to others about the problem? Will you determine to get even? Ever heard of the grizzly bear that stumbled into a camp where the campers had left their cookpot filled with steaming stew over the fire. The hungry bear grabs the hot pot and getting burned his only defense is to grab tighter... so the more he is burned. That’s how it is with our decision to hold grudges... in holding on to them we are the ones who get burned. Sometimes we describe those who bother us as “a pain in the neck.” But whose neck? Not theirs. We are the ones who are suffering. If you are out to settle a score you will never rest. So what’s the answer? Jesus provided the answer in His model prayer that He taught. He said pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Would you like some peace? Then let go of your grudges. Would you like the assurance that God has forgiven you... then you need to be forgiving to others... that’s being like Jesus! And that’s the way He wants us to live!

Leroy Lawson relates that a cheerless note comes down to us from the records of America’s Civil War. The Fifty-Fifth Massachusetts was encamped three miles from Charleston. On an expedition into the interior, it rescued and brought back to the camp about twelve hundred newly-freed slaves. A visiting Union officer was invited to address the freedmen, who shocked him by their haggard and forlorn appearance. He didn’t know what to say to them, so he invited them to give three cheers for their new freedom. He started the yell, but they said nothing. He tried again, and yet again, but they couldn’t respond. They had lived so long in slavery, the officer concluded, that they had forgotten how to cheer. As Christians we should never forget the price paid for our freedom. The precious blood of God’s Son paid our ransom and freed us from sin and eternal punishment. Surely this is a frequent reason to cheer! “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)