The Motivator

"For the joy that was set before Him endured the cross." (Heb. 12:2)

There was one hope, one great desire that motivated Christ through countless ages to push forward toward the cross. It was expressed in a myriad of daydreams...

I will get to prepare the best food for them and then I will have dinner with them. "I will give to eat from the tree of life." ( Rev. 3:7); "I will give to eat of the hidden manna." (Rev. 2:17) "I...will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. 2:7)

I will get to spend time just sitting and talking with them. 

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." (Rev.) 3: 21

I will serenade them.

"The Lord...will joy over thee with singing."(Zeph. 3:17)

I will give them special gifts. 

"I will give...him a white stone, and in that stone a new name written." (Rev. 2:17) "I will give him the morning star." (Rev. 2:28)

I will get to give them a great new outfit. 

"He that overcometh...shall be clothed in white." (Rev. 3:5)

I will marry them to me and be with them forever. 

"As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." (Isa. 62:5) "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given e be with me where I am." (John 17:24)

To sum it up, being with me was the great motivator. Does the thought of being with Him motivate me?

The Abundance of the Heart

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matthew 12:34)
It was the pinnacle of all missionary journeys; to the disciples the triumphal entry was the moment they had waited for. Their Master was finally hailed as the King of Israel. But after eons of restraint Christ let out a soul cry that gave evidence to His greatest desire. "And when He was come near He beheld the city and wept over it." (Luke 19:41) 

The abundance that poured out from His heart were words expressing sorrow over the destruction of the city that would reject Him. His pent up anguish was not over His trial and condemnation, neither was it about the disciple's great disappointment. He cried for the unpenitent and lost of Jerusalem. The abundance of his heart wept for all those who hate and reject Him. Amazing!

The Decision

"And it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem". (Luke 9:51)

The man who in the critical moment overcomes his fears and plunges himself into danger is often called a hero. Jesus was not that kind of hero. Adrenaline did not persuade His judgement. For days He traveled from Galilee through Samaria and finally to Jerusalem. During that death march toward Calvary He made thousands of decisions. Each dusty step was a decision. A decision toward infamy. A decision to surrender Himself into the hands of Satan. A decision to do His Father's will. 
Step by step for 68 miles, Jesus, my hero, decided to rescue me.

The Chronic Burden

"The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8) This is a fact. It was not a completed act at Earth's foundation, yet it was still a fact. Jesus, fully omniscient, actually knew all the details of His sacrifice. He knew that He would be sold for the price of a slave. He knew the words He would say and the words that would be said to Him. He knew He would be bruised and beaten more than any other person.

In every perfect event of eternity past Christ held the knowledge of His great sacrifice. At Earth's creation, while the angels were singing, laughing and winging into jubilant flight somewhere in the back of Jesus' mind He could have been thinking, "This is the place where it will all happen." Yet He did not complain or even mar the universes happiness by sharing what He knew. "He walked the winepress alone"(Isa. 63:3), from eternity. What a weight to chronically carry in His heart for an ungrateful wretch like me.

The Great Sacrifice

"On account of the superstitious veneration in which animals were held by the Egyptians, the Hebrews were not permitted, during their bondage to present the sacrificial offerings. Thus their minds were not directed by this service to the great sacrifice, and their faith was a weakened." PP 334 

If faith is weakened by neglecting to contemplate the great sacrifice, then it stands to reason that faith must be strengthened by it's contemplation. 

Cover Me

When the darkness shrouds all light...
Cover me.
When I fall and loose my way...
Lord, cover me.
I'm so easily led astray.
I can't trust the way I go.
I need you to guide me and
Lord, cover me.

When I win some small battle...
Cover me.
When I bring down my Goliaths...
Lord, cover me.
My heart's proud and takes the credit
For all the things You do.
Please humble my spirit and
Lord, cover me.

When the judgment is set...
Cover me.
When the books are opened...
Lord, cover me.
Do not see my sinful ways,
Look to Jesus Christ instead;
Take His blood, His righteousness and
Lord, cover me.

Based on Daniel 7:11

Walking on Shadows

“Rosi, por favor, camina,” she said.  The sun lit the NYC street like a movie screen as my mother tried to get me to go forward.  I would not. I could not!  Her fingers squeezed my hand a little bit tighter and she repeated, “Camina”  But I could not walk.  And I could not tell her why.  This is a very distant memory. It may be prior to my gaining intelligible language, because I remember that I could not express my fear.  I could not say I was scared of my shadow.  The menacingly dark figure mimicked me. It licked at my feet. I tried to run away, but I could not escape it.  All the while my mother kept holding my hand.  She did not rescue me, she did not kill the threat, and she did not let me go.

I do not remember how that episode ended, but I know that it was repeated often.  It has become a family joke that I was afraid of my own shadow.  But I do remember that years later, when I did have speech, my mother explained that I did not have to fear.  She taught me the sun made the shadow.  She showed me everything had a shadow; she had one too.  She told me about Peter Pan and that a shadow can be like a friend. She taught me to play with it by making rabbit, dog and swan shadow puppets.  She taught me to sing, “When ever I feel afraid I hold my head erect, and whistle a happy tune, and no one will suspect I’m afraid.” In my first fearful “shadow memory” my mother did not let me go. In later such moments  she did not let me run away either. What she did do was show me how to deal with my fears. She changed my fearful failure into a victory.

Now in the middle of my life I find myself once again walking in the shadow.  I see other shadows looming in my periphery and my instinct is to retreat. But I learned to walk on shadows with my mother. And now my Heavenly Father is holding my hand.  He promises to walk through these valleys with me.  He provides hope. He has taught me what others have felt while in this valley of shadows.  I have seen His presence overwhelm the valley with darkness.  He has staked His reputation on the fact that He will bring great victory and light out from the shadows, and I trust Him.  I choose to walk close to the darkness,  for He abides there too.  “And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:21

Shirley M. Warner
1932-2011

It would be a much more difficult thing to walk in this valley if my mother had not taught me to challenge my fears.  If she had not showed me the truth about shadows I would have been left lingering in true darkness; and for that and a myriad other things I am grateful.  I am also grateful for other mothers who have left a legacy of true grit. Mothers who saw the light and the dark in life and went forward. Mothers who taught us to dance through life with strength and wit. Mothers who showed us how to hold God's hand. Mothers who have crossed  the valley of the shadow with bravery, fortitude and grace.

*This is a tribute to my mother, as well as to my mother-in-law, Shirley Warner