The Way of Calvary ~ Christian Poetry

Deceitful the way
They captured You:
By a friend betrayed,
Bound and taken away.

Fearful the way
They deserted You:
As accusers tread,
All Your followers fled.

Shameful the way
They taunted You:
All their jeering heard,
Yet You spoke not a word.

Painful the way
They tortured You:
While Your flesh was torn,
Soldiers mocked to scorn.

Awful the way
They crucified You:
Hammered nails were heard,
On a cross undeserved.

Boastful the way
They buried You:
Guarded day and night,
With the tomb sealed tight.

Joyful the way
They discovered You:
“He is risen,” confessed;
By hundreds, witnessed.

Tearful the way
They gazed up at You:
Into clouds, did ascend,
But You’ll come back again.

Wonderful the way
We’re saved by You:
From our sins, set free,
Because of Calvary.

****

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭4-5‬ NASB)

Sue Nash/2015
Photo is of the cross at our church

For similar posts, see Easter

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Hope On ~ Easter Awaits

Daffodils in Spring ~ my grandmother planted these

Exceeding sorrow filled their hearts,
They couldn’t bear to see Him part.

But although He was crucified,
It wasn’t the end of His life.

Though death separated three days,
  To His followers Christ would say,

‘Hope on, Easter awaits.’

Just as the disciples did after the crucifixion of Christ, have you ever faced times when you thought things were hopeless?  You’ve prayed.  You’ve held on, but things only seem to get worse.  Then, something else happens, causing your hope to crash into despair.

When Jesus died, His followers wrongly concluded that all was lost.  Their King was gone; their hopes dashed.  They couldn’t see the promise for the tears.  Anguish distorted their anticipation of resurrection.

The pain of hopelessness does that.  It shreds any possibility of victory.  Through the lies of the enemy, it brutally annihilates trust.

Yet, our Savior, after enduring cruel battering by His captors and dying a death undeserved, knew that death would not hinder His resurrection.  What seemed hopeless to the disciples was merely a lack of understanding on their part.

Resurrection was set in motion the moment Christ breathed His last.

We would do well to remember that.  Although the breakthroughs seem impossible, their fulfillment is only awaiting their ripe Easter morn.  Suddenly, what God has promised will burst on the scene.

The thing desired, born anew in God’s perfect timing.

Hope on, fellow believers.  Easter awaits.

****

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12
NKJV

Words and photo by Sue Nash © 2014

To see my previous posts about Easter, follow the link.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold ~ Of Life

Threshold of possibilities

Chester loves waiting at the threshold of our front door, for the possibilities it affords:

A chance to bark at something, the ability to warm himself on sunny days or the possibility that someone will take him for a walk. 

Threshold of opportunities

I like walking across the threshold of a church door, because of the opportunities it brings:

A chance to fellowship with other believers, an avenue to show my love for God through worship and an opportunity to grow in my relationship with Him.

Threshold of life ~ this stone enclosure reminded me of the empty tomb

Jesus rejoiced crossing back over the threshold of the grave, by rising from the dead, knowing the accessibility to life it would offer us:

A chance for a brand new life through a restored relationship with God, the privilege of a Spirit-filled life through unrestricted admittance to His presence and the accessibility of eternal life through accepting Christ’s sacrifice for our sins.

Through Jesus, we can cross over the threshold from death to life.

****

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
John 5:24

For other challenges, see Weekly Photo Challenge

See other responses to this challenge at The Daily Post

Words and photos by Sue Nash/ © 2014

Beauty From Lifeless Wood ~ Christ’s Resurrection Power

Crepe myrtle in my back yard

Beauty sprouts from wood
Life erupting
Resembling the cross

Crepe myrtles breathe life into summer in a way few other flowering shrubs or trees do.  Their colorful blossoms appear suddenly and linger long, even in the driest of conditions.

What I have always found interesting is how dead they look all winter.  Where I live, pruning is best done in February, leaving myrtles looking pitifully bare and scraggly most of their dormant season.  Only when the spring warms them do they sprout their leaves and send out buds in preparation for their showy display all summer.  The flowering branches seem to erupt out of lifeless wood.  Even the trunk comes alive with color.

As such, the process of their beauty springing forth from dormancy reminds me of the cross.  Its wood held the dying body of Christ, but was the conduit for ushering Him back to life.  The glory of His resurrection was not possible without the life-ending narrative on a wooden cross.  Life that gloriously erupted from the tomb was first crucified on dry, splintering wood.

This brings hope to anyone discouraged.

Crepe myrtle sampler

Life’s problems can overwhelm to the point of despair, shattering all hope.  At our lowest, it can seem that the promises of God have lain dormant for so long that they are like lifeless impossibilities.

However, God is always right there to breathe resurrection life back into any situation, no matter how desperate.  We who are in Christ have the same Spirit dwelling in us that raised Him from the dead.   His presence is always near and His power available.  Even though we cannot presume to understand God’s ways, we can always depend upon the trustworthiness of His promises.  Something new can emerge from the most dismal of circumstances.

Are you tempted to give up hope?   Each time you lose heart, remember the glory of new life seen in myrtles and the resemblance of the cross.  Glorious, resurrection beauty can spring forth from what seems impossible.

Sue Nash/2013

Beauty Amid Ruin ~ Satan’s Attempts to Destroy

Photo from my Little Gem Magnolia tree

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness
Isaiah 61:3

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about God’s gradual work of perfecting us into His beautiful image, a process which will not be completely finished until we reach heaven.  In my photos from Progression to Beauty, I illustrated this sanctification process by showing the gradual opening of a Magnolia flower to its marvelous beauty.  What I intentionally withheld was a picture of what happens to that same flower a few days later.

The beauty of a magnolia flower seems ruined

As God is working this sanctification in us, Satan is right along side trying to destroy anything beautiful in our lives.  His mission is one of opposition to God; hence, he is always on the lookout for anything good that he can attempt to ruin.  He cleverly deceives many into thinking that their is no hope of recovering any beauty amid the ruined circumstances life often brings.  Creation itself groans under the curse of sin’s ruin.

Some of you may feel that way.  You may think that because of past sins, or failed attempts to serve God that your life is beyond repair.  Convinced that you have gone too far, you think that your life can never again be restored to beauty. 

Yet, amid the very ruin itself are the seeds of new life.

Next years seed pod

God knew in advance that Satan would attempt to thwart His creation.  As a result, He provided the way back to beauty by sending Jesus to die in place of our sin.  You might ask, though, how is the cross a thing of beauty?

When Christ died on the cross, the enemy thought that he had won, but buried inside the tomb was the Seed of resurrection, simply awaiting His designated time to come forth.  With victorious glory, Jesus arose, giving hope to all that God’s intended beauty can indeed be restored.  Nobody has strayed too far that His love cannot reach.  No attempts by Satan can destroy God’s promised work of beauty in our lives.  God can bring back to life to any ruined one.  It is our choice whether or not we will accept what He has already done on our behalf to restore that beautiful new life. 

Are you tempted, like I sometimes am, to lose hope that God will restore to beauty someone or something that seems ruined beyond repair?

Let us together remember that God can and will bring forth beauty from ashes.  He is in the beauty business!

For other similar posts, see From His Heart

For Every Calvary

Happy Easter to all as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord!
Sue