My broken heart I bring you Lord

Contrite from my defeat

I long to feel Your love restored

I fall before your feet

I felt the warmth that mercy brings

Your love my sin did hide

You paid the price, as angels sing

“By faith, you’re justified”

And clothed now in your righteousness

Of which I ne’er deserved

My all I give, how could I less

No part of me reserved

I long to see Your face today

To seek You with my heart

Your Glory lights my darkened way

That I shall ne’er depart.

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/broken-and-contrite-heart-ronald-barba.html

In this world, we search for hope, strength, a place to find peace, and knowledge.  That search leads many in different directions from seeking recognition at work or the community.  We drive ourselves to look better, work harder and always seek the reward of being recognized.  Some go forth to seek it in mere pleasures.  Some seek relief in alcohol and drugs to drown out the feelings of inadequacy or that something is missing.  Yet, it was such a search for truth and meaning that led Nicodemus to Christ to ask further questions.  The following is that story.

John 3:

¹There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

²The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

⁴Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

⁵Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

⁸The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

⁹Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

¹¹Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

¹²If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

¹³And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

¹⁵That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

There is only one way to fill that empty void and to find the only thing that  brings true hope and peace which is to be spiritually alive so that you may have communion with God.  He came to give His life so that you might be born spiritually and forever after know that sweet communion with God.  Sin brought spiritual death into the world; but Christ brought life.  So the question is Are you walking around spiritually alive or spiritually dead? 

Hebrews 10

¹FOR SINCE the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come–instead of fully expressing those things–it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars].

²For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had ^[a]once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin.

³But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for],

⁴Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.

⁵Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];

⁶In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight.

⁷Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God–[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.^(A)

⁸When He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings–all of which are offered according to the Law–

⁹He then went on to say, Behold, [here] I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order [as a means of expiating sin] so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter) order.^(B)

¹⁰And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).

¹¹Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away–

¹²Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.^(C)

¹⁴For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.

¹⁵And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]. For having said,

¹⁶This is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding),

¹⁷He then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more.^(D)

¹⁸Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus,

²⁰By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh,

²¹And since we have [such] a great and wonderful and noble Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,

²²Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by ^[b]that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.

²³So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the ^[c]hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.

²⁴And let us consider and give ^[d]attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,

²⁵Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

²⁶For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward].

²⁷[There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God].^(E)

²⁸Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.^(F)

²⁹How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?^(G)

Galatians 3

¹O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

²This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

³Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

⁴Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

⁵He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

⁶Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

⁷Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

⁸And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

⁹So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

¹⁰For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

¹¹But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

¹²And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

¹³Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

¹⁴That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁵Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

¹⁶Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

¹⁷And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

¹⁸For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

¹⁹Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

²⁰Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

²¹Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

²²But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

²³But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

²⁴Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

²⁵But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

²⁶For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

²⁹And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Acts 6: 

⁸And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

⁹Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

¹⁰And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

¹¹Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

¹²And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

¹³And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:

¹⁴For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

¹⁵And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel

So often in this world we question “Why God did you allow such devastation?”  “Why should this person suffer and die?”  This a question brought so to the forefront of our minds as many have tried over the past three years to wonder why was Caylee Anthony’s death and why was she thrown into the woods wrapped in garbage bags?  This story of a little three year old riveted through the hearts of so many.  There are many such stories that happen every day and they all leave us to wonder, “why?”

The story of Stephen is just such a story.  Here was this young man full of faith and power proclaiming the name of Jesus.  His face like that of an angel.   Yet he was brought before the council.  With the boldness given him by Christ, he answered their questions with a sermon.  He told them of the story of the children of Israel from the beginning, briefly, succinctly.   He began with proclaiming who God was…Acts 7  ²And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

He continued through the sermon detailing how God had led His people through so many times  of storms; yet, God was in control.   (Read all of Acts 7) 

Then he rebuked them for their evil deeds and their failure to recognize the Messiah who had come, just like the way they had treated evilly the prophets of old who foretold of Christ.  They had chosen to worship idols instead. 

Acts 7:

⁴⁸Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

⁴⁹Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Hath not my hand made all these things?

⁵¹Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

⁵²Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

⁵³Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

 

Then suddenly the crowd turned on him, this young preacher of Christ.  ⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

 

So what was the response of God to Stephen at that moment? 

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

⁵⁶And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

The crowds response was then to stone Stephen.

⁵⁷Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

⁵⁸And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen

What was Stephen’s last words as he died? 

calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Was not God on His throne that day?   What could possibly be His purpose? The beginning of Acts 8 gives us that clue.  

¹And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

How often in the following days and even his later days would he close his eyes and see this young preacher as he died pleading for his killers.  This was the first step of an awakening that would not be complete until the he confronts Christ on the road to Damascus.  Acts 9: 

¹And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

²And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

³And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

⁴And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

⁵And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

⁶And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

⁷And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

⁸And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

¹⁰And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

¹¹And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

¹²And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

¹³Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

¹⁴And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

¹⁵But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

¹⁶For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

¹⁷And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

So when Stephen died God was on His throne.  Only He knew that this would be a step in the road to Saul’s conversion to Christ and all the letters that Paul would write and all that Paul would do to the spread the Gospel of Christ.  Today when we look at the tragedies of life.  God is on His Throne.  As for Caylee, she is in God’s arms of love; just as Stephen was.  We may not understand; but we can trust the God who does.