A Respite for You Part 3

Read Part 1 here and read part 2 here.

Time seemed to be able to wait no longer. Joseph sought to make things as comfortable as possible for his laboring wife. The desire of all ages was about to become a reality rapped in the garb of tiny infancy.

As Mary looked into the perfect face of her little boy she felt a thrill of wonder surge through her whole being! Holding the baby close her mind could not fully grasp the wonder of the moment.  In her arms lay the Redeemer of the World.

All Heaven is filled with indescribable Joy. The Earth Lost by the fall will now be redeemed, The Savior Has been born! Earnestly the Angels search for any in Israel who are longing for the Promised Redeemer! Their hearts are bursting with great joy, yet where are they in Israel with whom they may share The Greatest News of all times? Tearfully they almost turn away for they have found non who are looking for the Savior.  How can such joy be suppressed? Is there truly non who can share the joy of Heaven? But wait, Oh wait! From yonder distant meadow they hear a most welcome strain. Bending low their ears they catch the voices of a few eager countrymen.   Yes, O Joy, they were talking of the coming Savior. It was the Prophecies they had on their lips! Huddled close around their dimly burning fire their faces were aglow with expectation.  Far into the darkness of night they had been keeping faithful watch over their venerable sheep.

Suddenly a bright and glorious light shone over the plains of Bethlehem, illuminating the sheep and Shepherds with radiant light. In fear the shepherds looked to one another trembling.  What could this be?  They had not long to wonder for a sweet and melodious voice wafted over the meadow, “Fear not,” said the angel, “for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

Heaven could contain their joy no longer!  Bursting out with raptured joy an innumerable company of Angels filled the valleys with rich and beautiful music, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!

Born to be a blessing Christ lived His whole life to bless others.  Day by day thousands sought His presence to receive healing, life and compassion. He turned none away but bestowed upon them all their greatest need. Multitudes hung on the Words of life that He freely spoke to the weary souls all around Him. For three and a half years he ministered selflessly to the needs of humanity.  Each hour the consummation of His life drew steadily closer.  

When the hour had finally come the Son of God and commander of Heaven bent His weary steps toward a lonely mountain garden. The weight of the sins of all time seemed to crush out the very life of the life giver. Soon He would face all the torture of body that could be inflicted upon humanity, but would this guiltless man make it to His execution? The terrible penalty of transgression was about to prematurely end the life of its innocent victim. “Father, If it be possible let this cup pass from me!” The cry rent the still night air in chilling tones. Angels veiled their faces unable to bear the scene any longer. Nature seemed to weep over its Author. All the terrors of Hell were blasting upon the head the world’s Redeemer. “Yet not my will, but Thine be done.” Came the final submission. The Son of God would pay the debt with His own precious blood.

O sacred head, now wounded,

With grief and shame weighed down,

Now scornfully surrounded

With thorns, Thine only crown:

O sacred head, what glory,

What bliss till now was Thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to all thee mine

What thou, my Lord, has suffered

Was all for sinners' gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression,

But Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior!

'Tis I deserve thy place;

Look on me with thy favor,

Vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow

To thank thee, dearest friend,

For this thy dying sorrow,

Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever;

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love for thee.

This represents a very small glimpse into the touching story of Redemption. The Lord of Glory has not only given up His life as a ransom but has risen again from the dead and desires to spend eternity with those who chose His matchless love. It is Christ’s desire that we would be dwellers in that land where all is joy and peace and bliss. Where there is no pain, no sorrow, no stress, and no fear. Where love is as common as the flowers and the air is filled with joyous song. There sunshine will be eternal and joy and peace will be everlasting treasures. God cannot imagine eternity without you! To reject is to pierce the heart of infinite love yet again and make Him long for you all the more. To accept is to fill Heaven with indescribable joy and interest for your success in this journey. God has made it impossible for you to be lost if you choose His plan of Salvation day by day and firmly resist the Devil and all his snares through the strength that God offers. Just as Christ endured trials and temptations and fought the devil at every turn so we must also endure the wrath of this cruelest of beings. But we will not meet this foe alone. Angels of God will be sent to give us aid.

Will you choose the love and ways of God? Will you choose to accept His plan of Salvation? Will you resist the Devil through God’s strength?

A Respite for You Part 2

...With grief, indescribable grief, God must now cast out this object of his love to be forever banished from His presence... Read Part 1 here.

Awe, there it was, a planet that they would call Earth. Now it was dark and empty, but soon it would be full of glory beyond compare. There, God the Father and God the Son would soon make man, an altogether new kind of creation. Within six days the workmanship was complete and stood forth in exceeding beauty, a treasure all of its own.  

A tree had been placed on Earth in order to allow mankind to choose whom they would serve - either their Creator and benefactor or the adversary now called Satan.  Adam and Eve had been amply instruction in regard to the tree and the deceiver, but oh how subtle this villain worked until at last he had caused the man and his beautiful wife to partake of the forbidden fruit.

Satan triumphed, but as the news of man's fall spread through heaven. Every harp was hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow. It was a painful realization to think that man was lost, and the world that God created was to be filled with mortals doomed to misery, sickness, and death, and there was no way of escape for the offender.

An expression of sympathy and sorrow came upon the countenance of the Creator. Was the world so recently created now lost to His tender care? The angels waited in intense anxiety as a council was held to determine the destiny of the guilty pair. When the Creator came forth he made known to all the expectant host of heaven that a way of escape had been made for lost man.

At first, the angels could not rejoice, for their commander concealed nothing from them, but opened to them the plan of salvation in all its hues. He told them how He would stand between the wrath of his Father and guilty man, how he would bear the iniquity and scorn, and how but few would receive him. Nearly all would hate and reject him but for the joy of those few who would chose His love and ways, the sacrifice would be worth all the agony.

Then joy, inexpressible joy, filled heaven. Touching their harps the angels sung a note higher than they had ever yet sung and raised their voices in praise and adoration for the great mercy and condescension of God in yielding up his dearly Beloved to die for a race of rebels.

Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred. The Creator would not leave the desperate couple in their sad estate. Commissioning Angels to carry the glad tidings to Earth, He instructed them to inspire hope to the disparaging man and his wife. “Go,” He told them, “tell them of my love, tell them of the plan that I have laid for their restoration, carry them through time and let them see my goodness.”  

With ruptured wonder, the angels laid clearly before Adam and Eve the exceeding love of God in yielding up the life of His precious son to die for their wretched state. They told of the future agony and torture that the Son of God would bear in laying down His life an offering for many. They sought to reveal the scenes of His life, being born as a baby, living as a man, His final trial, and ultimate death. They portray how He would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and accounted with grief.  

In deep remorse and anguish Adam and Eve pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the source of all their joy; rather let it descend upon them and their children. The plan of Salvation had already been laid and now it was only for them to accept it and keep it continually in their view. To Adam was given the task of slaying an innocent lamb and offering its life as a sacrifice. This was a most painful ceremony for Earth’s first man. He had never before witnessed death and as his hand was raised to slay the innocent victim, he trembled at the thought that his sin must shed the blood of the innocent Lamb of God.

With the first pains of childbearing, Eve clung to the hope that this, her baby, would be the promised Redeemer. The time that had passed between their expulsion from Eden and this moment had felt like a small eternity. Grief at every turn had marked the path that they had trod and how they longed to see the face of their Creator and dear friend once more. Little did Eve comprehend that 4 thousand long years were to pass before the Savior was to be born. These years would be marked by thousands of dear mothers who wished that their baby would be the one who would Ransom the nations. It would be impossible for me to describe to you the longing that was present through this time for that promised one. In every Sacrifice, they witnessed His death and clung to the hope that He would soon appear and forever eradicate sorrow and death.

Just in sync with the prophetic schedule, an angel was sent to give glad tidings to a virgin from the small town of Nazareth. The sweet news that the angel brought to Mary that day is a message that thrilled the heart of those who were still expectantly longing for the Promised One. “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.”

When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son; not into the families of the rich and highly honored, but to meet the temptations of the poor and despised. It was of this class that Jesus family was made up. Rude and foreboding would be his earthly surroundings and in abject poverty and misunderstanding would he live out His days. In harmony with this was the long and weary trek to Bethlehem. Especially for the mother of Jesus was this a tedious endeavor and mile after mile the very pregnant woman rode on the back of a crude animal. Though their outward surroundings were unfavorable angels did not leave their side, but traveled the many miles with Joseph and Mary.

At last the city was in sight. Just a few more steps now. Soon their tired feet would be able to recover. Oh, how good it would be to finally rest. Upon reaching Bethlehem they commenced the task of seeking shelter for the night. Up and down the streets they trod but all the inns were apparently full with travelers who had made their way before. Non realized that this common young lady in the dress of the poorer classes was soon to deliver the Redeemer of the world.  It seemed as if there was no place to lay their weary heads for the night.

In a barn, Joseph and Mary were finally directed to rest for the night. As Joseph opened the door, an almost unbearable smell came blasting upon them.  It was easy to see that keeping up with the manure was an unmanageable chore and had gotten far behind. The many animals of the travelers crowded close to one another. To fit just one more beast may be more than this small enclosure could contain. An unpleasant place it was, especially for the birth of a baby. But angels stood close to encourage the weary spirits.

A Respite for You

As I happened to travel through the crowded cities and rural areas of this world I found everywhere people who were discouraged, lonely and miserable.  Peace and joy seemed to be rarer than gold. The darkness of despair hung like thick black clouds over many homes and entire villages. Bleeding hearts, broken homes, crushed love, shattered dreams, wounded pride, and deep remorse seemed to be as thorns on the fair path of many a life.  Whether rich or desperately poor this terrible disease seemed to affect them all. Laughter was common but behind the laughing eyes there lay an abyss of emptiness in nearly all hearts. Almost wholly hidden by the dainty flowers of pleasure yawned a terrible precipice of grief full of jagged rocks not at once discernible but surely there and ready to do its deadly work. Some seemed to be blinded by these things and had so long lived with them that they thought it was the truest happiness. Thousands were rushing on towards an agonized death without an ounce of understanding to their fate. My heart broke to think of their pain.

“Oh,” began a cry to sound to the many frantic ones, “you can have eternal sunshine, joy and peace can be your lasting treasures. Only come and I will show you the way.” Some were unmindful of the voice for they thought it was only one of the many reachless echoes from the distant mountains. Others looked up with hope but soon the clouds would roll back across their sky, or seeing another dainty flower to pursue they all lost the sound of the sweet words. A few stopped to catch the lovely sounds of such good news and to you who wish for those sweet words to be true I write. I have penned this story in hopes of bringing you from these perplexing scenes to a respite of joy.  

Permit me to take you away in your imagination to a land where all is joy and peace and bliss. There is no pain, no sorrow, no stress, and no fear. Love is as common there as the flowers which grow in rich luster on every corner and pour their rich perfume continually into the air. It is a place where the clouds of discouragement and misapprehension never roll across the sky, in fact, darkness of every kind has been permanently banished from that happy land.  The air is not only permeated with the perfume of flowers but also lifts, upon its gentle wings, the sweet and melodious songs of exquisitely beautiful birds. The notes that are poured from their tiny breasts are such as mortals cannot describe but surpass in loveliness anything we have yet heard. The inhabitants of that land are happy, content and lovely in every way. They are so different from the people around us that to give an accurate contrast would take more words than this document could contain.  All these things are but a few of the matchless wonders of that place. To name them all would be impossible.

I wish to tell you the touching story of how that place became what it is. It has not always been the way that was just portrayed but has gone through much drama and strife. In each scene of this tale is witnessed deep love and tenderness above what we can fathom.  

The story all begins long ago in a place much like the one I have just described.  It was a place of perfect peace and love, a place of joy and of wonder. All the inhabitants lived in perfect harmony and unrivaled love.  But one discordant note began to mysteriously sound in the celestial harmony and that one note swelled until the harmony was marred and almost wholly destroyed.  

Lucifer, that one discordant note, was enamored by his own beauty and became jealous that none, besides himself, should receive loyalty or homage. As time went on He became bold in His desire for exaltation and began sowing the tragic seeds of dissatisfaction among his companions.  Just as ridiculous as it is for us to think of a house rebelling against the carpenter who built it, so it was for Lucifer to rebel against the one who had brought him into existence and given him life and happiness.But this being of exalted state did not fully understand with whom he had to do.  Every act of creation, even the creation of his own being was an expression of infinite love. True love springs forth spontaneously and it is impossible to force its existence. This the Author of love comprehended to its very depths.  

In yearning pity for Lucifer and his followers, the compassionate Creator sought to draw them back from the abyss of ruin into which they were about to plunge. With such efforts as infinite love and wisdom only could devise, He made a way by which these rebels could be brought back into favor with God.  But Lucifer would not be a partaker of these things. Instead, he turned from his only means of happiness and chose to war against peace and joy from that time forth.  

With grief, indescribable grief, God must now cast out this object of his love to be forever banished from His presence.  He would allow Lucifer and his sympathizers to carry out their form of government and let them prove to all whose ways were best. He knew He ran a risk of losing more of His precious subjects but this risk Love was willing to make.  It was with pain that God banished Lucifer and his cohorts from bliss but from this pain, God turned to bestow love more abundantly.
Continued in "A Respite for You" part 2.