jesus – Page 24

When our anchor becomes sight

Posted on September 2, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We sang Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor at church yesterday. I love the marine references in the Bible, and as I sang I thought about anchors.

I lived by the water growing up and most of my adult life, mainly the ocean. Some years were spent on a lake. I loved it.

The ocean has moods, a personality, mystery, and power. Who doesn’t love a day at the beach? Even better, who doesn’t love a day ON the water? When we got a chance, we got on a boat. After a while, we had a boat. LOL, back in the day, a bunch of teenagers zooming around the bay on a 20 foot Boston Whaler wasn’t unusual.

We grew up knowing how to use our knees to ride the waves, could look at the rocks to spot the state of the tide, knew how to anchor, dock or throttle up to reach plane. We kept a weather eye on the clouds, watched the whitecaps, and had a grand time.

Despite having such familiarity with the water, and were so comfortable on it, we knew its dangers. On Narragansett Bay there was a navigational hazard called “boiler awash”.

It is a shallow patch of water near Hope Island near Prudence Island. A Navy tug sank there and its boiler, being tall, presented a hazard to the keels of boats passing over it. To make the shallow water issue worse, its boilers came to just under the surface of the water at low tide. It was a hazard all right. We always gave it a wide berth.

As an adult, I lived on a sailing yacht for two years and we sailed from Maine to Florida, crossed the Gulf Stream, and went on to the central Bahamas. We returned with the weather following the same route. Our route took us on almost every coastal river, sound, bay, and canal along the entire eastern seaboard as well as the Atlantic ocean waters off it.

Because we lived on the boat and were no longer teenagers messing around near shore, we well knew the hazards. Our VHF radio was full of calls from mariners in distress, the squawk of the marine weather station, and calls from the Coast Guard to alert to hazards (container awash, drifting and disabled boat, etc). Sailing in New England meant having intimate knowledge of reefs, shoals and rocks, and sailing in Florida meant having intimate knowledge of drunken fools, wannabe mariners and rich guy weekend warriors. In between, we learned to respect the fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, and all the others trying to make a living.

We quickly acclimated to the water living and became respectful of the hazards. When you are underway, you are always on guard, even if it’s familiar water. Always, every second. Because any second, anything could happen, and since your boat was both your home and your transportation as well as your life, well, if it required being vigilant, that is what you did.

That is why, when the anchor was set and the engine turned off, you breathed a special sigh of relief. Oh, anything could still happen, but the ratcheting down of the vigilance was considerable. As long as the anchor held, you were all set. We just had to trust that it would hold.

I remember feeling a wonderful sense of relief when the day’s run was ended and we anchored. The engine turned off and all we could hear were the sounds of the birds and the waves. We were still, secure, and finished for the day.

When we’d traveled a thousand nautical miles were under our keel over the dark and murky waters, wondering ‘what’s down there?’ when we got to The Bahamas, the waters were clear to the bottom! We could SEE the anchor! We could determine if it was set or not, It was such a comfort after all those miles of trusting but not seeing the anchor, now to SEE it with our eyes. Our faith had become sight.

Our anchor 20 feet below, we could see it even at night! EPrata photo

In Bible days there were only three ways to travel. You got there by walking, riding an animal, or boat. Paul traveled a lot and because of that, he was on a boat a lot. He used many marine references in his letters, examples that the people of the era would know well and understand immediately. Here are a few examples Paul and the other Apostles used:

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)

…tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14)

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds (Jude 1:12)

holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, (1 Timothy 1:19)

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

The interesting thing about that last one is that the drifting away in the Greek literally means from God’s anchor.

Strong’s explains, to “drift away from,”pararrhyéō, only occurs in Hebrews 2:1 where it refers to going spiritually adrift – “sinning by slipping away (from God’s anchor)”. It means to “lapse” into spiritual defeat, describing how we slowly move away from our moorings in Christ.”

Friends, stay moored to Christ. He is our anchor. One day, ourfaith will become sight and we will see Him as He is.

Though our journey is tense, and long, imagine the sweet relief we will feel when we get there! When all storms are over, and there are no more hidden reefs. The empty clouds deceive us no more, and our friends and family’s spiritual shipwrecks (so hard to watch!) are but a distant memory gentle Christ wipes from our mind. The sweetness and rest awaiting us beside the glassy sea is unimaginably wondrous. Rest in that assurance 🙂

Here is “Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor” performed by Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, Keith & Kristyn Getty-

abide, encouragement, vine

Can we abide apart from Christ?

Posted on August 28, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

We’ve been having the usual summer storms- thunder, lightning, rain, and wind. In some of these, people were without power. Many tree limbs came down.

There was a branch in my yard that came down. It was a biggish limb, torn right off from a large tree in the back yard. I’d planned to take a photo of it to illustrate the verse, but the yard was cleaned up before I came home from work. So I found this branch in the pasture instead.

Look at it. The limb is dead, that kind of dead, rusty brown that pine trees turn when they are good and dead. It is no longer connected to the tree. That limb can stay on the ground there as long as it wants but it will never do anything except lay there and get dead-er. It will not grow longer. It will not spring pine needles, It will not bear pine cones. It will not house birds. It will not shade worms. It will only lie there, dead.

It is apart from the tree.

Do not be apart from the vine. Jesus is the vine, providing life-flowing sustenance, strength, power. We can do nothing apart from Jesus. In Him is our only salvation, our only way toward holiness, our only blessing. Stay connected to the Vine. Let prayer, obedience, the Word of God rule your life. Abide in Him. If you do, you will flourish.

theology

Emotions Jesus never displayed

Posted on July 15, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Everyone is a victim these days. ‘Someone did this to me,’ or ‘Someone did that to me’. People use victimhood as a reason or cover for their poor actions. You would not believe how many Youtube police action videos where the person stopped for traffic violations uses PTSD as a reason they were speeding/weaving/eluding.

If someone is easily offended or had something minor happen to them, again the victimhood comes out. ‘You would not believe who cut in front of me at the grocery store!’ “I can’t get over that text she sent me!’ They milk their pity to anyone who would listen. I know people like that. I’m sure you do too.

Even if someone had a violent crime done to them or a legitimate complaint, some people tend to milk it and point to their emotional or physical wounds for far too long after or use it as a justification for things they shouldn’t.

You know who never pitied Himself? Jesus. We cannot imagine Him saying anything like, ‘When I was in the desert 40 days, all alone, that ole devil harassed me to no end! It was so aggravating!’

He never complained about the thousands of people who only followed Him for the freebies but quit Him when the freebies dried up.

He never pouted to the disciples that ‘After all I did for Judas, he betrayed me!’

I recently wrote about emotions that Jesus experienced. As the God-Man, He felt and displayed emotions. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), is the shortest verse in the Bible but packs a punch. For example, in that scene, He is looking at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He wept visibly.

Our Lord’s weeping reveals the humanity of the Saviour. He has entered into all of our experiences and knows how we feel. In fact, being the perfect God-Man, Jesus experienced these things in a deeper way than we do. His tears also assure us of His sympathy; He is indeed “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary.

Today we look at emotions Jesus never displayed.

Jesus was empathetic toward others, ministering to the physical and spiritual pain they experienced.

Jesus suffered more than any person born on this earth then or now. His suffering on the cross was monumental and incomprehensible, yet He ministered to His own mother by ensuring she had a place to live and would be taken care of by John.

But none of Jesus’ emotions were never sinful. Evoking pity from others is a self-centered act, designed to bring attention and favor upon one’s self. Jesus is our model. He only sought the good and uplifting of the frail sheep. He sympathized with us in our weakness, ministered to physical and spiritual needs.

Self-pity is oft-putting. Sure, we can mourn for a bit, we can grieve for the wrong done to us, briefly. But don’t camp on it. And certainly don’t make it a lifestyle or a constant topic of conversation.

I learned this lesson in reverse when I lived on a sailboat for 2 years. We sailed from Maine to Florida, crossed the Gulf Stream, and continued down to the Tropics. Then came back up. We thought ourselves pretty good sailors, navigating without incident and arriving at Georgetown Bahamas. But you know what? Along the way we saw people in smaller boats doing the same thing. We saw a grandmother rowing! Then we saw a a couple in their kayaks! So, we dispensed with the smugness and private boasting, because firstly, people were accomplishing the same thing as us except in a more challenging way, and secondly, we are all enjoying the same sunset.

So in reverse-reverse, if I decide to pity myself, I know there are people out there who have experienced things that are worse, more chronic, more evil. Who am I to try and garner pity? My wounds feel bad to me, but are much lighter than others’. Let me minister to them.

Jesus Himself endured all, for us. Let me hand my wounds over to Him and go on with life with joy. Then I am better able to help others. I pray you are able to do the same.

encouragement, Uncategorized

Fathers and their effect

Posted on June 16, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

My father died in 2014. He was 81. He had never said “I love you” to his daughter.

Now he never will.

It’s a truth that doesn’t get any easier the older one gets. It’s actually harder to get used to the longer one drifts in time away from his death date, not easier.

He was a hard working man. He was a gifted raconteur. He was a wealthy man. He was a lot of things. But a father? Not so much. His ignoring of his kids as they grew, his intermittent but frequent abandonment of them as adults, his final, legal disownment of them as he aged all were stunning betrayals in the lives of three children, with untold consequences.

Every daughter can tell a different story about her father. Some stories are good, some are bad. Some are neutral. Some are bitter and some are sweet. Fathers, dear reader, have an effect.

There is a short film called The Father Effect. It is good.

The producer of this movie lost his own father to suicide when he was a boy. As he stated in the movie’s Mission page, the resulting film is his attempt

to educate, equip, & encourage men to be the dads God created them to be

Many of the people with whom I am connected through media and in real life have great parents who they honor and feel blessed to have grown up under. Others have disappointing stories they share, either freely or privately. Whatever the case with you, you know fathers have an effect on you for life. I worry for the fatherless who don’t have the solace of Jesus. For those among you who have had a less than blessed childhood, but are now safely home under Jesus’ wings, you know you have a REAL father. Jesus will love you forever, never abandon you, and is in fact, perfect. What a blessing this is. He is not only as Prophet, Priest, and King, but friend, brother, and Father.

The Father Effect movie also has an EncouragingDads project.

The Encouraging Dads Project was an idea that came out of John’s experience in making The Father Effect Movie. As John talked to dads from all walks of life, he heard heartbreaking stories about how dads feel beat up, discouraged, and frustrated with their lives as dads. John was moved to do something to help encourage and inspire dads and The Encouraging Dads Project was born.

Take some time to encourage your Dad. Encourage a dad. Encourage a man who was a dad to you. Encouragement is free, and only takes a few moments. Send a letter, make a phone call, send a text, make a date to take him out for coffee. Tell him how special he is to you.

Dads, do the same for your daughters. If some time has gone by since you talked to her, take a moment to let her know how much she means to you, how proud of her you are, that you love her. My dad in all probability never confessed and repented and probably died outside of Christ. It was a sudden hit in a car crash. Boom. Gone.

He and I will not meet again, and I’m sorrowful for that. Eternity will go on and I will be loved perfectly by many fathers, and THE Father. I will forget the former troubling things, including Dad. He will remember everything, forever. If there is sorrow over your relationship with your dad, if you are on opposite sides of the salvation fence, let that fact weigh on you, and as the men in The Father Effect say, forgive.

Caption: “Our purpose in making this film is to create an awareness in fathers about the significant impact their words and actions have on their children and to help them become better fathers.”

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29).

encouragement, Uncategorized

The truth about grace

Posted on June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Grace is a concept. But it’s not just a concept. Grace is a gift, but it’s not just a gift. Grace is a force. Think about how powerful grace is. Think about its power as it exists in Jesus, as it is delivered to the saints, its common state as it covers the world, and its special state as it enlivens the saints to do our work.

Here is an excerpt about grace from a sermon from John MacArthur called, Strength Perfected in Weakness, looking at this verse: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In speaking of the linchpin part of the passage, ‘my grace is sufficient for you’, MacArthur said,

But grace is not just an inert sort of concept; it is a force, it is a power. It is a power that transforms us. It is a power that awakens us from sleep. It is a power that gives us life in the midst of death. It is a power that is dynamic enough to transform us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son. It is the power that saves us. It is the power that keeps us, the power that enables us, the power that sanctifies us, and the power that one day will glorify us. You have to look at grace as a force, a divine force that God pours out into the lives of His people at all points to grant them all that they need to be all that He desires.

Grace is a gift.
Grace is a state.
and…
Grace is a POWER.

theology

In the presence of God with great joy?

Posted on May 5, 2024May 6, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. (Jude 1:24).

How will we be presented? We shall be presented blameless.

Matthew Henry commentary, Now, our faults fill us with fears, doubts, and sorrows; but the Redeemer has undertaken for his people, that they shall be presented faultless. Where there is no sin, there will be no sorrow; where there is the perfection of holiness, there will be the perfection of joy.

We will not only experience great joy when we are finally glorified and presented to God, but also God will have great joy-

Then shall our hearts know a joy beyond what earth can afford; then shall God also rejoice over us, and the joy of our compassionate Saviour be completed. (MHenry)

We read in Hebrews 12:2a that Jesus is the “originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross”. And what is His joy? To receive a Bride to Himself given by the Father.

Isn’t it astonishing to think the God on high will be joyous over us? Not that we have any internal merit to warrant His joy, but that He redeemed us through His Son, kept us from stumbling, persevered us to the end, and now has a blameless humanity with which to present His Son. His joy is joy for His Son through us.

God promises to present His people to Himself blameless and joyful. Left to ourselves none of us is blameless. Only those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb will be made to stand blameless on the day of judgment. Though Adam and Eve lost the joy of living in the presence of God when they sinned, Christ has taken away the guilt of our sin and removed the fear of judgment. We will rejoice in that day because we stand clothed in His righteousness and will have been fully set free from sin. Additionally, God personally rejoices to bring us to Himself in glory. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “for the joy that was set before Him” Jesus died to bring us to glory. (12:2). ~HB Charles, Jr. “Blessing and Praise: Benedictions and Doxologies in Scripture” Study Guide

“Robe of Righteousness” by Lars Justinen

encouragement, Uncategorized

An encouragement on fixing our eyes on Jesus

Posted on April 30, 2024May 5, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

If you want to look like Jesus, look at Jesus.

I focused on the phrase “fix your eyes upon Jesus” from Hebrews 12:2. I looked up the word “fix” and the Strong’s says

872 aphoráō (from 575 /apó, “away from” and 3708 /horáō, “see”) – properly, “looking away from all else, to fix one’s gaze upon” (Abbott-Smith).

How helpful. I should not glance, not peek, not glimpse, but FIX my GAZE upon him, looking away from all else and steadily drinking in all that He is.

Looking away from all else…what does that mean? It means not being attached to the things of this world. Your country, your job, your family, your spouse, your car, your ‘stuff’, your health, is not more important than Jesus. He is the source and the giver of those things. Fix your eyes on Him.

We need to spend more time with Jesus to look more like Him. Moses only got to see God’s ‘back’ and His face after being with God was so bright it had to be veiled. We have the privilege of looking at Jesus’ “face” as it were, through His word. I want my face to be shining, to have my being conformed to Him, to have my mind transformed. But it won’t happen unless I read the Bible. I must look away from all other distractions and FIX my GAZE on Jesus. A Bible skim won’t even do.

We become like what we behold.

theology

What does “Dayspring” mean?

Posted on April 11, 2024April 13, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

During a Christmas season you might sing the old hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The hymn is thought to have originated in the 1100s! The 1861 translation of this ancient hymn from the Latin contains the verse about a Dayspring.

O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

Continue reading →

poetry, theology

Kay Cude Poetry: Invisible Made Visible

Posted on March 17, 2024 by elizabethprata

Kay Cude is a Texas Poet. Used with permission. right-click to open larger in new tab, or, read text below

INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD THE SON ARE DISPLAYED
“For SINCE THE CREATION of the world
HIS INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES, HIS
ETERNAL POWER and DIVINE NATURE,
have been clearly seen, BEING UNDERSTOOD
through what HAS BEEN MADE, so that they [mankind] are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

“HE [Christ] IS THE IMAGE of THE INVISIBLE GOD, THE FIRSTBORN of ALL CREATION. For by HIM ALL things were CREATED,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – ALL things have been CREATED through HIM and for HIM. HE is BEFORE ALL things, and IN HIM ALL things hold together. HE is also HEAD OF THE BODY, The Church; and HE IS THE BEGINNING, THE FIRSTBORN from THE DEAD, so that HE HIMSELF WILL COME
TO HAVE FIRST PLACE IN EVERYTHING.” Colossians 1:15-18

BY KAY CUDE:
“But now INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE Through broken sunlight gazed I still, through shadows dusky to the west; down paths I wandered towards the mill, to sit ‘neath bowers moss bedressed.

Pure diamonds glisten flowed the stream that feeds the wooden waterwheel; as gently tumble aerie dreams, so Waking Truth Christ’s call made real. Lush grows the grass on emerald vale, where spotted fawn and doe oft’ play; strolled I said bank and meadowed trail, and there for me God’s Love displayed.

His Love, first seen through golden wisps, then glorious bursts those Hallowed Beams; and o’er His Head a Dove persists, and by His Grace, my life redeemed… /end Kay Cude poem

ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the HAND OF THE LORD has done this, in WHOSE HAND is the LIFE of every living thing, and the BREATH of ALL mankind?” Job 12:7-10

encouragement, Uncategorized

Just a closer walk with Thee

Posted on February 15, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I like the Appalachian fiddle instrumental version of the old song Just a Closer Walk With Thee. Here are the lyrics, written by an anonymous or unknown author

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Refrain:
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

The only mention of anything sovereign is the word ‘kingdom’ in the last line.

I watched the TV series of Queen Elizabeth II, called The Crown. It’s an excellent series, well written, well acted, with sumptuous production values. It is Netflix’s most expensive series to date. They spent a lot of money replicating the surroundings of the kings and queens depicted, and nearly exactly replicated the events they lived through.

One thing that the first season’s series has firmly shown, is that while the crown is a successive institution, the people inhabiting it alternate. Yet the people inhabiting it are still distinct from the commoners. The Queen, her mother, her sister, her father, any of the sovereigns, are isolated. They live behind fences and high walls. When they appear in public they are again shielded. If they are walking, there is always a large distance between the rows of people and the Queen (or the King as it is now). They might walk past the people, but they do not walk with the people.

Jesus is our King. He is King of KINGS and Lord of LORDS! He is the highest of the high. Has any King ever invited the commoners to walk with Him? No! Did King Ahasuerus (Esther’s husband) invite people to walk with Him? No! He decreed that anyone entering his throne room without him having called them there would be put to death! Did King Herod go out and stroll around with Lydia and Timothy and James? No!

Jesus invites us to be His friend, He is our Father, our Brother, our Intercessor, our Priest, our Redeemer, and our Savior. Yet…walking with the King is unheard of!

We sing that song in a lively fashion when we hear it on the radio, because it’s familiar to us and it’s sweet. But think about the words, really think about them. We ask Jesus to walk closer to us And He will!

None of this is news to any of you. But it does us good to think about Him once in a while as the amazing Person He is, King, who does not isolate Himself behind fences and walls. In what other kingdom at any time or anywhere, does the King invite His people to walk with Him? The King who does not dismiss the commoners, but invites them to participate with Him in his sovereignty is to be praised in wonder and awe.