Bonnie J Martin

cross

The Cross

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My brother gave me a rugged, splintered miniature replica of a cross years ago. It was the closest thing that I have ever imagined the cross of Jesus looking like. I am sad to say it finally fell apart. I wish I still had that cross.

Pictures of various crosses show up in my camera lens from time to time. All a reminder of that day so long ago. That day which the innocent Lamb was sacrificed. The Perfect Sacrifice. Sacrificed for all sin. Behold the cross.

Some are rugged, others are simple, others are used as prominent pieces to display. All remind of what put Jesus on His cross. My sin.

A friend asked what our favorite part of the Easter story is. I didn’t answer but have since given it some thought. It is difficult to say “favorite” with this. Because it is messy. It is hard. It is ugly. But yet wonderfully beautiful. It is my Jesus, taking the penalty I deserve. He lifted all of the wrath of God off me and placed it on Himself. He clothed me in robes of righteousness that I can’t deserve or earn. He redeemed me. He took my sin and confronted hell on my behalf. So my “favorite?” The fact that my sin did that to Him? That the wretched condition of me required His perfect sacrifice. His body and blood given to cover my sin. Wrapped and dissolved and resolved my sin in His robe of righteousness. And invites me to abide in Him. That He allows me, even invites me eagerly, to come to the foot of His cross and be washed in His blood and He then is willing to abide in me is my favorite!

For years, I have been opposed to using a cross as decor or adornment. It just felt trite. I couldn’t bring myself to use the horrible, ugly thing that hung my Savior in His bloody state for His death as fashion accessory or wall hanging or part of my landscaping. Those that are used as adornment are clean and shiny, which is completely contradictory to the cross I think of that belonged to Jesus.

He received the beating I deserve.

He endured in my place.

He gave His life, willingly, so I could live.

This year, as I read “It Is Finished” by Charles Martin, I started seeing my stance a little differently. I have always looked to the cross of Christ as a reminder of Him and what He did for me. Every time I see a cross I remember His sacrifice. Knowing each day, every moment, brings new opportunities to find myself back at the foot of His Cross.

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38 (NASB)

And what about mine? My sufferings cannot compare to the cross Jesus endured on my behalf. But when I take and wear prominently my cross, speaking for all to see, not for some exaggerated spectacle of attention, but instead, representing my cross for Him. Taking any sufferings, rejection, ridicule, disrespect, anything, knowing my temporary afflictions will no longer exist once I see Him face to face. Pointing always to His cross as the moment hell’s fury was extinguished for me. I will take my cross and follow Him.

I will accept it. I will display it. I will wear it. I will own it. It is mine. I will take it and follow Him.

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32 (NASB)

Do you have a cross? Do you wear it? Is it a load you bear that keeps you frozen in anguish at times? Do you find yourself confused about situations and uncertain as to how to handle them? Are you mistreated? Does your stance on life bring ridicule from others? Are you teased? Are eyes rolled when you speak? Are you rejected?

Pick it up. Carry it to the foot of His cross. Look on His affliction. Consider your sin that placed Him on that cross. Consider that sin that caused Him to be forsaken by His Father. Consider Him, who never sinned, going to hell for those sinners that will look to Him for redemption. Consider looking to Him for salvation.

And then imagine each drop of blood washing multitudes clean of sin. Purified. Made righteous through the blood from the body of Christ.

And accept it. Accept His finished work on the cross as He continues to work in you.

Holy Presence

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Charles Martin said it in “It Is Finished.” On Day 9, at the end of his prayer. “Please take me to Him.”

Yes, please. No other place I would rather be. But wait. I am not ready. I need to take a shower. I need to brush my teeth. Let me put on clean clothes. I need to dust my shoes off. No, I need to be barefoot before my Creator. Holy Ground. But wait, again! My feet are rough. And those words I spoke yesterday are still fresh on my tongue and are not honoring to the Most High. Let’s not even consider the thoughts I allow to run rampant through my heart, unguarded.

He sees it all. Was there in the moment of those spoken words. Resides in the core of that heart and knows the thoughts that bombard it. No amount of showering can scrub the filth off me.

Even then, He desires my presence.

Am I willing to be in His presence?

You see, I have this issue. I am not worthy to be in the presence of the King of Kings. And I am not good enough. No amount of good from me is good enough for Him. I can’t do anything to clean up my act enough to earn the honor of His presence. Nothing I do will ever be sufficient, except one thing.

Lay it all down. Look to the Cross of Christ and know that He takes all my not-good-enough and destroys it. Obliterates it. Complete annihilation of sin. I can’t do it. He can and will and does. His goodness is sufficient in my place. His action perfects the position I have before the Most High. My presence in His presence.

I am willing.

Claiming the Cross completed my conversion. Ushered me from death to life. Dead to sin and living in the grace and mercy of Christ.

I echo the prayer of Martin. “Please take me to Him.”

50/50 Shot

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I don’t know why, when created-being serpent was formed, he was allowed to wreak havoc in Eden. He didn’t get to choose the forbidden for us. He didn’t have a say in the choice that was made. He made an offer and we chose. He lied. He spoke against the very thing the Creator had warned against.

Heart racing, knowing the situation was going against the very thing we were told to avoid. Don’t do it. It will not have the consequences you expect. The consequences will be harsh. You will have to live with them for the rest of your life. One wrong choice will bring a lifetime of heartache. Blood rushing through her ears as she reached up from all the beauty and goodness God had placed in and around her and she touched darkness. She felt it and saw it and smelled it and tasted it, hearing the lies and ignoring the cry of God.

God saw it happening. He had given her free-reign to go and do whatever her heart desired. Run free. Uninhibited. No fear. No hiding. The ability to choose whatever was pleasing to her. And in that moment she chose to turn away from God. In that moment, she died to the lavishing love of her Creator.

Afraid and naked, hiding in the trees from the One who sees and knows everything, heart still racing, the consequences begin. Separation from Creator. Attempting to hide shame from the very One who told you not to do it.

We chose the forbidden over the best. Decided to take the offering, believing the lies from someone other than the One who has always provided the best options, extravagant abundance, unending grace, ceaseless mercy.

With all the love that has and will ever exist, God, looked and created and breathed life into us, into you, into me, into Adam and Eve, and decided to let us decide. Free-will. The choice to choose. Desiring relationship, perfect fellowship, dwelling in perfect harmony, united, He desired us. Wanted us to choose Him.

He offered Adam and Eve the perfect home. He lavished them with luxury. They had everything furnished for them. No striving. No struggles. No disease. No tight joints. No skin conditions. The perfect temp all the time. The most comfortable place ever.

But they thought He was holding something back from them. And He was. Death and separation. He held back the hurting and disease. He kept them from struggles. Until they wanted more than His perfect provision.

And they chose the dangling fruit touted to give wisdom. Despite their perfect position as benefactors of the Most High, they chose the path leading to strife and struggle.

Two choices. You have a 50/50 shot. Go right or go left. Go up or go down. Choose good or bad. Want the perfect temp or burning hot? Choose eternal peace or eternal turmoil. Choose fellowship or division. Choose oneness or separation. Grace or enmity. Mercy or justice.

And our choice now is no different than Eve’s. No different than Adam’s. Choose the low road where the slithering serpent slips into darkness and entices us to follow with promises of pleasure and prosperity that will lead to ruin.

Or, instead, choose the Way. He brings peace. Fellowship. Freedom. Grace. Mercy. Sanctification. Salvation. Eternal life, not eternal death. Atonement from the dividing, separating choices we make. Still desiring perfect fellowship with His creation, He gave the solution to the separation. He bridged the gap and gave a Way back from the fall.

But it is our choice. He won’t force us to choose Jesus. He lovingly holds out His hand and offers to pull us up out of the mud and muck. He offers cleansing better than any exfoliator on the market. Robes whiter than your grandmother’s sheets. He offers the fellowship that we turn away from in sin. He covers our sin with the blood of Jesus. Placing on Him every sin that has ever and will ever be confessed.

Our choice.

Celebrate the Resurrection

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Friday evening before the sun set, Joseph took the body of Jesus and placed that body in a tomb. He placed a large stone in front of it.

Guards stood by that sealed tomb to make sure no one stole that body. Futile job!

Then the Sabbath rest.

On the third day, Mary and Mary went early to the grave. They found that large stone rolled away and a frightening angel telling them to not be afraid. The guards were way beyond frightened.

That angel gave them news to share. Then and there those women became the very first missionaries of the gospel message. Good news was shared that the grave had been conquered and death was no more for the risen Savior.

Today we celebrate the risen Savior. Celebrations confined in social distancing shouldn’t be hidden and hoarded but shared. Celebrating our risen Savior should be shouted aloud. HE IS RISEN! He defeated the grave and is alive for me!

We may share this amazing, grace-filled, merciful moment in many ways.

I remember my grandmother coming to visit. Her visits always brought loads of candy. This is one thing I remember about childhood celebrations!

I remember sharing egg-hunts. As a young mother, I enjoyed sharing the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus with children as they waited for the eggs to be hidden.

I remember my children coming to show me how many eggs they had found.

I remember dressing up in clothes I really didn’t want to wear!

I remember food and fun and gatherings.

This year looks a little different. This year, let’s celebrate the risen Savior with fewer things that may take our eyes off Him.

This year, let’s celebrate the risen Savior because HE IS RISEN!

Who, on Friday, defeated sin. Who, on Friday, told that thief on another cross that he would be with Him in paradise that very day. Who, on Friday, stayed on that cross until it was finished. Who, on Friday, completed a job that only He could do. Who, on Friday, provided my redemption from sin.

Joyous, glorious Resurrection Day to you!

Before Thanksgiving consider the Cross

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This was posted originally five years ago.  I needed to hear it again.  Maybe you do too.

Guilty.  Beyond a reasonable doubt.  No other logical explanation.  The proof is smeared on the hands.  Look at them.  There are traces of red remaining.  Murderer.  That spike split skin and vessels and cartilage and tendons.  And not only once but three times.  Blood spewed from the impact of the hammer.  The hand holding the spike is splattered.  Skin and metal piercing the wood.  The eyes of the one being nailed to the very tree of death watched every move.  Knowing all too well the results of each hammer strike.  And whether you were the one with the hammer or just watching you are guilty of the blood spilling from the skin carrying that once Baby-Jesus.

You don’t want to think of Christmas on the Cross?  But that is why He came.  He came for that very moment and beyond.  He didn’t come so we could have big gaudy bows on extravagantly decorated trees.  His tree was not one you would have in your house for fear of that blood dripping red from that tree staining that freshly cleaned floor.  The red on your tree will come from cellophane wrapped packages not skin-wrapped God.

So go make preparations for your celebration tree.  Have no thought for the guilt-stains remaining on your hands.  Because when that final breath was taken on that blood-stained tree, He proclaimed it finished.  He closed the trial by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for all sin.  Those blood-stained hands are white-washed in mercy.

But before you go to make those preparations for that celebration tree, give thanks.  Before you partake in the blessing of the birth of that final sacrifice, thank God for the forgiveness of sin and the washing clean of those blood-stained hands.  Thank God for the knowledge of salvation and the miracle of eternal life.  And if you don’t have that knowledge of salvation then you don’t have the miracle of eternal life.

So let me tell you about that salvation.  That blood-stained cross held all that is needed for forgiveness.  Each and every human, except that One God-man, is guilty of sin.  Each one bears the marks of rebellion toward the Creator.  Each one has the freedom to choose obedience or disobedience.  But to know obedience means to know the One who created.  To know Him is to love Him.  But there is only one path to knowing Him.  Believing in that Sacrificial Lamb who took on all sin so that you and I can be pardoned of our sin; that is the one and only way to know God.  Jesus paid the price for our freedom from the chains of sin.  And if you know Him, you want to know Him more.  He fills you with His Holy Spirit so that you have His guidance.  He has a whole book devoted to Him.  He tore the veil so that you and I can approach His throne of grace directly in our prayers.

Do you know Him today?  Have you chosen that One offering freedom from sin?  Do you live fully aware of the sacrifice that pardoned you?  If you know Him and have accepted His offering of grace, you have much to be thankful for.  If you haven’t, skip Thanksgiving and run to Easter and then come back and rejoice.  You will have much to be thankful for and the best Christmas of your life!