Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Daze 10: How Do You Know What to Believe?

There's so much new news everyday about COVID-19! So many differing opinions on this virus, spreading like wildfire! So how do you determine which words to listen to and hang on to? If I listen to all the "experts" and "research", my mind is boggled. If I listen to my heart, I hear the words, "It is well with my soul." That's where I am grounded.

So how do you know what words to believe? That's the choice we all must make, where you will be grounded and on whose words you will hang on to. On Monday during Holy week, Jesus knew He had to clear the temple and speak truth to the people and the Pharisees. The Pharisees rejected Jesus' words. The people hung on His words. Here's the story, some with rhyme, some with narrative.



Hanging on Jesus’ Words: Whose Words Do You Hang On?
Monday: Clearing the Temple

The day after Jesus entered Jerusalem,
Going to the temple was His aim.
He knew it was time to confront
            Those who were an affront
To His Father’s Name.

With a whip of cords He drove out 
           Those selling cattle, sheep and doves.
Overturning money changers’ tables,
Scattering coins and hearts,
All their precious loves.

He told those selling and buying,
            “Get these out of here!
How dare you turn my Father’s house
Into a market!!
            Have you no fear?

He boldly reminded them
What was written in their own law,
                       “My house will be called a place of prayer.”
            But you made it a den of robbers.
                        A place without godly awe.

After this the blind and lame
Who believed Him and hung on His Words
Came to Him and He healed them.
            With compassion and love,
                        Even those that just touched His hem.

Confronting the Jewish leaders was a Non-stop Job

By now, the chief priests and teachers of the Law,
            Those who never stopped questioning His authority,
                        Were indignant because
Even the kids in the temple area were shouting,
            Hosanna to the son of David!
                        Even they knew (or should have).
Then Jesus reminded them again from their own law –
This too they knew (or should have)--
                        “From the lips of children and infants
You have ordained praise.”

Then they tried demanding a miraculous sign
            To prove His authority to do all this…..in the temple.
Jesus only said,
                        “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in 3 days.”
           They didn’t know this was yet another prophecy
                        That Jesus spoke about His own body,
                        His resurrection power that would raise Him from the dead.

Even more indignant and offended, the Jews
Continued questioning His authority
            And told Him proudly,

                        “It’s taken us 46 years to build this temple, and
                        You think You can rebuild it all in 3 days?”

From this point on, these Jewish leaders began looking
For a definite way to kill Him,
            For they feared Him,
                        Because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.
But they could not find a way to kill Him because

                             ALL the People Hung on Jesus’ Words.
Then Jesus left them and went out of the city to spend the night in Bethany.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, His disciples
            Recalled what He had said,
            Believed what the Scripture said about Him,
            Believed the words that Jesus had spoken,
            Hung on His Words.

So whose words do you hang on?
            A friend’s? A loved one’s? Your own?
            How do those words change your life?
            How do those words compare with those of Jesus?

Choose this day, whose words you will hang on.
            As for me, I will hang my heart on the words of Jesus.

Mt. 21:12-17, Mark 11:12-19, Luke 19:45-48 and John 2:13-25; Ephesians 1:19-21
 
Hanging My Heart on the Words of Jesus
Hanging my heart on the words of Jesus,
            I can do nothing less.
He hung on the cross for me,
            When my life was such a mess.

If He hung all His heart for me,
            Up on the blood stained cross,
What ere betides me now I find,
            Is never meant for loss.


So I’ll hang my heart on Jesus’ words,
Through all my days of strife.
He hung His coming here for me,
            To forgive and grant new life.




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