THE EXCHANGE OF CALVARY
The Cross of Christ
is the inexhaustible exchange of Calvary.
All the evil that was due us was put So that all the good due Jesus could be
was put on Jesus given
to us.
He was punished for our sins So
that we could be forgiven.
He was wounded So
that we could be healed.
He was made sin with our So
that we could be made righteous
sinfulness
He died our death So
that we could have eternal life.
He became a curse for us So
that we could have the blessing that
was
due Him.
He became poor with our poverty So that we could be made rich
with His riches.
He endured our shame So
that we could receive His Glory.
He endured our rejection So that we don't have to be rejected
anymore. We are accepted the way
Jesus was accepted, as God's children.
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The rest of this post is part of the Finding Sanctuary series - read on if you are following!
Today is the final (almost) installment of the Finding Sanctuary series...one final activity to "seal" the work you and the Holy Spirit have been doing! But first, a short recap...
We have been traveling a road of dealing with issues, the stuff that makes life less abundant than God ever wanted for us...by now, you and myself have been walking a new path for a couple of weeks, there have been times when we have stumbled and fallen...but we have gotten back up...
To be honest, I haven't added more to my original weaving piece, but I will {and I will show it to you!}....you know how life sometimes gets in the way of the best laid plans...but, I needed to spend the energy on actually making the inner heart changes...{smiling} plus getting ready for our Passover/Resurrection celebrations and our church has started lay counselor training - of which I am a part of (of course)... and the tree with roots art piece will definitely come forth after Sunday's celebration - it dovetails perfectly in the course material at church!
But, the final activity has always been: a touchpoint of some sort...
What do I mean? To me, a touchpoint is something tangible, small,
an act,
an exchange,
and a promise
that anchors this point in time to your life...
You can see the item, remember the act, lay hold of the promise...as long as you want! And today is a perfect day - as we contemplate the cross of Jesus and all that was accomplished there. And my touchpoints always involve taking an object that represents my issue to the cross and nailing it there {the act} - either figuratively or even sometimes literally, i.e., nailing a piece of paper on which is written the issue to a piece of wood. But just as we never need to leave the cross empty in our hearts or empty handed, there is an exchange Jesus wants to do, so with this act, we want to "take something with us" after we have left the issue {the item} - something that reminds us of the exchange, something tangible...and then always. always. always. a promise from Scripture {the promise}...
Some ideas:
The item representing the issue The item representing the exchange The promise
a stone or small rock a paper heart (a "new" heart) Any
scripture
a twig - break it to represent the a silk leaf or a leaf that can be that
breaking of the power of preserved to represent the
the habit over you "new life" Lord
or
a piece of dark cloth - representing a piece of white cloth - a
the sin brought by this issue representing the righteousness friend
in your life of Jesus you are walking in has
given
a piece of black construction paper - a silk flower, or flower that can you
to represent a wound or trauma be preserved that represents that
that was the root of this issue... your heart healing in this area brings
hope
and
You can get the picture! comfort
For me, today, making this chalkboard image is my touchpoint....the butteflies can mean our sin being removed; or new life emerging in all the areas that we have dealt with...or both!
Now, the Lord has also impressed on me that since it takes 60+ days to form a new habit, that we need to keep up the effort...and the timing is perfect to move from the "Feast of Firstfruits" on Sunday to "Feast of Weeks" on Pentecost! So, I will post every Monday during these coming weeks - encouragement and thoughts to see you through...
Blessings on your Holy Weekend...
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