Verse of the Day 1/26

Through the Bible - Isaiah 11-13, Mark 4:1-20

 

Good morning,

This past Sunday our Pastor Bob mentioned that one of his favorite authors and theologians was John Stott who had been recognized as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.  Earlier this week I read the following quote from John Stott.

"Every time we look a the cross Christ seems to say to us, 'I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.' Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. "  - John Stott

For today's verse we'll go to Galatians 6 for the Apostle Paul's view of the cross.  It was far more than jewelry to be hung around the neck.

 

Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.   NKJV

John Stott's heart and devotion were shown in his writings and in his life.  The lives of John Stott and others back to the Apostle Paul, as we see here in Galatians,  showed that they were continually looking to the cross where Christ is elevated and the inflated view of ourselves is deflated.

 

Fanny Crosby captured the message and put it to words in her hymn "Near the Cross".

 

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Refrain

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

 

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Refrain

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o'er me.

Refrain

Near the cross I'll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

 

May that be the condition of our heart, hoping, trusting ever in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross and in nothing that this world has to offer.

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Gal 6:11-15 - Glory only in the Cross

11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!

12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
NKJV