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The Agony of the Cross Part III

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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”6

According to a report by medical doctor Mark Eastman, the suffering Jesus experienced on the cross is almost unbearable just to think about it.

For instance, prior to Jesus’ trial he was flogged by the Roman guards. “This process typically involved a whip with numerous leather thongs, 18-24 inches long, with bits of metal, bone or glass embedded in the leather…. Scourging was an extreme form of punishment. The skin on the victim’s back was usually shredded, thus exposing the underlying muscle and skeletal structures. Severe blood loss and dehydration were the rule. Many victims died from such scourging.

“After the scourging of Jesus, the Roman soldiers beat Him a second time with their hands and with a reed. Then they put on him a ‘crown of thorns.’”7

Then came the crucifixion. “It is arguably the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term ‘excruciating.’ It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of criminals.”8

Even though Pilate, the Roman Governor, said, “I find no fault in this man,” he gave in to the jealous crowd and allowed Jesus to be crucified. With his arms stretched out Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross. “The nails, which were generally about 7-9 inches long, were placed between the bones of the forearm (the radius and ulna) and the small bones of the hands (the carpal bones),” permanently destroying the largest nerve in the hand “called the median nerve…. In addition to severe burning pain the destruction of this nerve causes permanent paralysis of the hand.”9

“The positioning of the feet is probably the most critical part of the mechanics of crucifixion. First the knees were flexed about 45 degrees and the feet were flexed (bent downward) an additional 45 degrees until they were parallel to the vertical pole. An iron nail about 7-9 inches long was driven through the feet between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones. In this position the nail would sever the dorsal pedal artery of the foot, but the resulting bleeding would be insufficient to cause death.

“The resulting position on the cross sets up a horrific sequence of events which result in a slow, painful death. Having been pinned to the cross, the victim now has an impossible position to maintain….

“The result is that within a few minutes of being placed on the cross, the shoulders will become dislocated. Minutes later the elbows and wrists become dislocated…. As time goes on, the victim is less and less able to bear weight on the legs, causing further dislocation of the arms and further raising of the chest wall, making breathing more and more difficult. The result of this process is a series of catastrophic physiological effects”10

Eventually, the heart begins to fail, the lungs collapse, and the victim suffocates. He dies a slow, unbelievably excruciating death.

And all of this Jesus did for you and me gladly and willingly because he loves us with an everlasting love. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and mine so we could be totally forgiven and given the gift of eternal life with him in Heaven forever. The good news is that Jesus, after three days, rose from the dead assuring us that we who believe in him will also rise from physical death to be alive forever with God.

If you’ve never thanked Jesus for dying on the cruel cross in your place, why not do this right now and ask him to come into your heart and life as personal Lord and Savior and accept his full and free forgiveness.

NOTE: For further help, click on the Know God button below for a copy of “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian,” or click on www.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again I thank You for giving Your life as a ransom price for my sins. And because You gave your life for me please help me live my life for You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

6. John 3:16 (NIV).

7. Page 10, Personal Update, “The Agony of Love,” by Mark Eastman, M.D.,

Used by permission.

8. Ibid, Page 11.

9. Ibid, Page 11.

10. Ibid, Page 12. Web site of Mark Eastman, M.D. http://www.MarsHill.org.

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The Agony of the Cross Part II

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“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”3

In yesterday’s Daily Encounter we told the story about the Argyle (prisoner) who, in a Japanese prison camp, gave his life to save that of his fellow comrades.

Surely there is no greater love than what this prisoner displayed. His was the supreme sacrifice. Knowing that he wasn’t guilty, he gave his life to save the lives of his fellow prisoners. Even Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”4

And yet, Jesus did display an even greater love. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ [Jesus] died for us.”5

So why did Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Great Creator of the universe, lay aside his external robes of deity to be clothed in a garment of human flesh, and left the glory of Heaven to come to earth as a man to die for lost mankind?

He did it because of his incredible love for us, to pay the penalty for and consequences of our sin, which is spiritual death. Spiritual death is not the cessation of life. It is eternal separation from God, the author of all love and life. Jesus died for us because it breaks the heart of God to lose us forever in an unthinkable eternity that God calls hell.

And when we consider the excruciation suffering caused by crucifixion—the agony of which Jesus went through for us—we can appreciate so much more the magnitude of God’s love for us. (Be sure to see tomorrow’s Daily Encounter for a medic’s description of the brutality of Roman crucifixions.)

To be concluded …

Suggested prayer: Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again I thank You for Your incredible love gift to the world in giving Your Son, Jesus the Christ, to die on the cross in my place to save me from the dreadful consequences of my sin. And, Lord Jesus, again I thank You for giving Your life to pay the penalty for my sins so I can be freely forgiven and receive Your gift of eternal life. Help me to live a life in never-ending gratitude to You for all You have done for me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

3. Romans 5:7-8 (NIV).

4. John 15:13 (NIV)

5. Romans 5:7-8 (NIV).

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The Agony of the Cross Part I

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“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”1

He was in a work detail on the railroad. The day’s work had ended and the tools had been counted. When the party was about to be dismissed, the Japanese guard declared that a shovel was missing. He insisted that someone had stolen it to sell it to the Thais. He strode up and down the front of the men ranting and denouncing them for their wickedness, their stupidity and most unforgivable ingratitude to the Emperor.

“Screaming in broken English he demanded that the guilty one step forward to take his punishment. No one moved. The guard’s rage reached new heights of violence. ‘All die, all die,’ he shrieked!

“To show that he meant what he said he pulled back the bolt, put the rifle to his shoulder, and looked down the sights ready to fire at the first man he saw at the end of them.

“At that moment the Argyle stepped forward and stood stiffly to attention and said calmly, ‘I did it.’

“The guard unleashed all his whipped up hatred. He kicked the hapless prisoner and beat him with his fists and still the Argyle (prisoner) stood rigidly at attention. The blood was streaming down his face but he made no sound. The guard seized his rifle by the barrel and lifted it high over his head and with a final howl brought the butt down on the skull of the Argyle who sank limply to the ground and did not move. Although it was perfectly evident that he was dead, the guard continued to beat him and stopped only when exhausted.

“The men of the work detail picked up their comrade’s body, shouldered their tools and marched back to camp. When the tools were counted again at the guardhouse, no shovel was missing.2

To be continued …

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how true it is that we live in a world of injustice, evil, and cruelty. Please help me to so live that my life will be a channel of Your love and, even if only in a small way, help make my world a better place in which to live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 15:13 (NIV).

2. Taken from The Bridge Over the River Kwai as read by David Stoop.

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Living in a Boomerang World

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“When you ask [pray], you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”1 “God is near to all who call on him; to all who call on him in truth.”2

There’s an old joke about the Australian aborigine who was given a brand new boomerang for his birthday. Unfortunately he couldn’t throw his old one away—it kept coming back.

Life’s kind of like that. Have you ever tried to throw away an old bad habit … or a self-defeating addiction?

Someone said that the best way to break a bad habit is to drop it. Sure would be great if it were that easy. It isn’t. However, if we don’t break the habit or addiction, it will have a way of breaking us.

So how do we break a bad habit and/or a self-defeating addiction?

First, we need to admit that we have a problem and that it has us beaten. The only person God or anyone else can ever help is the one who admits, “I have a problem. I need help”—and genuinely means it and is prepared to do something about it. Bad habits and addictions rarely, if ever, leave us without a battle.

Second, we need to avoid playing the blame-game at all costs and accept full responsibility for our actions and our recovery.

Third, we need to realize that bad habits and especially addictions are a means to medicate some inner problem or pain that we have never faced, dealt with and resolved. Bad habits and addictions are almost always the “fruit of a deeper root.”

Fourth, we need to seek qualified help, be it a support/recovery group and/or that of a qualified counselor/therapist. We need this support in order to keep us accountable and to help us stop acting out our addiction and thereby medicating (deadening) the pain. To heal it we need to feel it. Medicating it stops us from facing and resolving it.

Fifth, we need to pray the right prayer. Many people beg God to deliver them from their destructive symptoms but never think to realize that they need to pray that God will confront them with the reality of the cause/s that drives them to act out in destructive habits and/or addictions. It is only as we face and confront the truth—the real cause/s—behind our destructive habits that we have any chance of recovery.

As Dr. Cecil Osborne used to day, “When we are hiding a deeper sin or fault we tend to confess a lesser one all the more vigorously.” That is; instead of confessing the cause/causes of our behavior we get obsessed with and confess only the symptom. This tends to reinforce the addiction rather than overcome it because “whatever the mind dwells on, the body acts on.”

When we pray for truth and genuinely mean it, God always answers. Once we see the truth (cause) of our problem, we usually know what we need to do about resolving it. As God’s Word says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, no matter what problems I struggle with, please help me to see the real cause/s behind them and, with Your help, accept full responsibility for dealing with them. Also, please lead me to the help I need to overcome. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

NOTE: For helpful recovery and counseling resources go to http://tinyurl.com/85cel

1. James 4:3 (NIV).
2. Psalm 145:18 (NIV).

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Correcting One’s Course

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“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”1

The following story has been around on the email for a while but it isn’t true. It does make for a good parable however. “Once upon a time” there was a radio conversation between two ships off the coast of Neverland.

Ship One: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Ship Two: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Ship One: This is the Captain of a navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Ship Two: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Ship One: This is an AIRCRAFT CARRIER and we are accompanied by numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change YOUR course 15 degrees north, that’s one five degrees north, or counter measures will be taken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Ship Two: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me not to be carried away with my own importance, never blame others for my problems, and always be open to correction and guidance. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV).

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The Persecuted Church Part 2

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Faarook, a former Muslim whom I wrote about yesterday and whose life was threatened because he became a Christian, emailed me to let me know he has received employment with a permit to live and work in a Western country. Praise God for this answered prayer.

“Blessed be the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.”1

In this age of ever-increasing terrorism, those of us who live in the free world need to recall what happened to ancient Rome—the superpower nation that ruled the then known world for 800 years. Timothy George in Christianity Today writes how, in the year 410, the city of Rome “was besieged and pillaged by an army of 40,000 ‘barbarians’ led by the Osama bin Laden of late antiquity, a wily warrior named Alaric. One can still see the effects of this cataclysmic event when walking through the ruins of the Roman Forum today.”2

“Before then, Roman coins bore the legend Invicta Roma Aeterna: eternal, unconquerable Rome. In many ways, Rome was like America prior to 9/11, the world’s only superpower. But in 410, Rome’s military power could not prevent its walls being breached, its women raped, and its sacred precincts burned and sacked.“When Jerome heard about the fall of Rome in faraway Bethlehem, he … sat stupefied in total silence for three days. ‘Rome was besieged,’ Jerome wrote to a friend. ‘The city to which the whole world fell has fallen. If Rome can perish, what can be safe?’”

A few short years later, “As Augustine lay dying in 430, a new wave of terror swept across the Mediterranean world. The Vandals, led by a ferocious warrior named Genseric, surrounded Hippo—bringing torture, violence, and disarray to its churches and its people. As Augustine chanted the psalms on his deathbed, he might have come across this verse in Psalm 31:21: ‘Blessed be the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.’”3

Most of us in the West know little, if anything, about being persecuted as are many Christians in today’s world. At most, Christians have been criticized while multiplied thousands, if not millions, in other lands are being raped, their homes and villages pillaged, and are being murdered and slaughtered for their faith in Christ.

As with the ancient Romans we in the U.S. tend to think such persecution couldn’t happen here. However, unless we realize our dependence on God, September 11, 2001, may just be the beginning of what is to come in the days and years ahead. Radical Muslims are determined to conquer and/or kill all non-Muslims—especially Christians, Jews and Americans.

So what can we do, not only in the U.S., but also throughout the free world? First, we who claim to be Christians need to be sure of our own faith and commitment to God and be ever thankful for our freedom and incredible blessings. Second, we need to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. Third,we also need to pray for their persecutors and the terrorists that they will pray to the God of Heaven to reveal to them the truth. Fourth, we need to support valid organizations that are ministering to the persecuted church. [See footnote.4]

Fifth, we need to pray for the leaders of the free world that they will also pray to God that they will see the truth of the world situation and act with great courage, wisdom, and integrity. And sixth, above all, you and I need to stand firm lest we fall.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, especially in this day and age of increasing terrorism around the world, help me to stand firm in my faith and trust in You, and please send a great spiritual awakening to my country so that our leaders will turn to and depend on You for guidance, protection, wisdom in knowing how to deal with terrorists. And help protect the persecuted Church no matter where it is. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 31:21.

2. Timothy George, “Theology for an Age of Terror,” Christianity Today, September 2006, Vol. 50, No. 9, Page 78. Online at http://tinyurl.com/pn4r8.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today.

3. Ibid.

4. NOTE: Organizations that minister to the persecuted Church. Open Doors at www.odusa.org/ and The Voice of the Martyrs at www.persecution.net/. These organizations were recommended by Dan Wooding of Assist News Service at www.assistnews.net.

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The Persecuted Church Part I

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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”1

Several months ago Faarooq (name changed), a Daily Encounter subscriber wrote to me saying, “I converted from I’lam to Christianity 10 years ago and had to be very secretive about it until I managed to flee my homeland and came to France.

“Now at the age of 32 I have gone public about my Christian faith and started a debate on the net with my parents discussing the teachings of I’lam which Mohammed claimed were God’s words. But now I am getting death threats.

“You see, the Koran says that people like me who were M’slims and converted to Christianity are worse than those born Christians. Ex-M’slims who were born in the M’slim faith and left it have to be slaughtered like cattle as a sacrifice to Allah, while those born Christians are lost but they’ll give them a chance first to convert to I’lam before they kill them.

“My problem is that my visa is about to expire and I can’t renew it. Returning to my homeland will undoubtedly be a death sentence unless I convert back to I’lam. Do you have any advice as to what I can and/or should do?”

Sadly, my only advice to Faarooq was to see if he could obtain a visa to a Western country. I don’t know what happened to him because I haven’t heard from him since.

I wonder what I/we would do if the current of radical I’lam fanaticism should sweep across the country where I live? Would I remain faithful to the Lord or, to save my neck, would I convert to I’lam?

To be continued ….

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, today I pray for Faarooq and the multiplied thousands who also fear for their lives because they are Christians. Please keep them safe and give them the courage to be lights in a dark world … and grant that their persecutors when seeing Jesus in them, will want You for themselves. And please give me the courage always to be faithful to You no matter what my circumstances might turn out to be. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV).

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Listen to Your Heart

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“When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”1

Melody Beattie in her book, The Language of Letting Go, emphasizes the importance of contemplating what is on your mind first thing when you wake up in the morning? What is it in that half-asleep, half-awake place? Are you troubled about something? Is there some responsibility you have neglected and it is bothering you? Is it a goal you’ve wanted to start but have kept putting it off? Is it an unhealthy relationship you are in and you know you need to get out of? Is it a destructive habit or sin that you feel convicted about?

Very often what is on your mind at this time is coming from your inner self, your unconscious mind. It is revealing an issue you need to deal with. Listen to that “inner voice” and do what you know you need to do about it that is troubling you or motivating you. Don’t put it off. Take care of it each day.

It can help to have a pad and pen at your bedside and the first thing each morning write down what is on your mind as you awaken. This is often a matter one needs to pray about and then act on.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, as Your Word suggests, help me to learn to listen carefully to what my heart is saying and what You might be saying to my heart, and give me the wisdom and courage to act accordingly. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 4:4 (NIV).

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Encouragement Energizes

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“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”1

“A study was done by psychologist Dr. Henry H. Goddard, on energy levels in children. He used an instrument he called the ‘ergograph.’ How he ever got some children to stand still long enough to connect them to the machine is a mystery. But he did, and his findings are fascinating.

“He found that when tired children are given a word of praise or encouragement, the ergograph shows an immediate upward surge of new energy. When the children are criticized and discouraged, the ergograph shows their physical energy take a sudden nosedive.”2

I’m sure the same principle applies to teenagers and adults of any age. When we are genuinely thanked, praised, and encouraged, we definitely feel much better and energized. And when we are criticized or just feel bad, our energy level certainly falls and we are de-energized.

We all need to be encouraged daily … so let’s decide that we will first of all be encouragers ourselves, especially to those we love the most, to our friends, and also to strangers as opportunities arise.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to develop the gift of encouragement and use this gift liberally to all who come into my life who need a word of good cheer. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV).

2. From: Holwick’s Illustrations, http://www.holwick.com/. Cited on WITandWisdom by Richard Wimer. www.witandwisdom.org.

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Relationships

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“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his [Jesus] coming back again is drawing near.”1

I’m sure you’ve heard the old example of how to keep a fire burning in a fireplace. It’s about keeping the burning logs and coals stoked together. Coals that fall away from the body of the fire soon become cold and their fire goes out.

This is an excellent illustration of why those who claim to be believers in Jesus need to be actively involved in a good church. To keep on fire—that is, enthusiastic, regarding our faith we need fellowship and connection with fellow Christians.

Furthermore, we were created for relationships. Christianity is not only having a right relationship with God, but also with others. Healthy relationships are vital for healthy living and meaningful growth—physical, emotional, and spiritual. We may exist but cannot live meaningfully and healthily in isolation.

God himself is in relationship: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And one of the first things Jesus did at the commencement of his earthly ministry was to choose twelve “that they might be with him.”2

We need not only to “walk with Jesus” but also with each other. None of us can make it alone. We weren’t meant to. Likewise we need to belong to a fellowship filled with warm and loving Christians to help keep us “on fire” for God.

Note: Be sure to read the article, “What a Good Church Can Do for You” at http://tinyurl.com/bs9jf.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to stay connected to loving and supportive Christians so I can stay enthusiastic about my Christian faith and ‘on fire’ for You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT).

2. Mark 3:14.

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