my life, God's way.: THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS!

day 53.

good friday service.

first of all, THANK YOU JESUS! Thank You for the cross Lord.
Waking up for service was good, cause I needed to prepare my mind and heart to worship God - I needed to calm my heart and focus on God. It hit me that when one goes to worship the Lord, we should have God on our minds - not just, oh, right, church, let's go, but that we really evaluate ourselves to focus on God. 100% eyes, ears, heart, mind, on God. When the choir got up to sing, parts of the film Passion of the Christ was played, and I'd have to say, i was tearing up and joyful. I just can't believe how great Jesus is, taking up everyone's sins, to bring us back to God - that we can finally have a close relationship with Him.
I learned that the most descriptive passage on Jesus's death is in the book of Mark. Mark 15:33-40;

The Death of Jesus
³³At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
³⁵When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
³⁶One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
³⁷With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
³⁸The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"
⁴⁰Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

Imagine being with Jesus at that moment. I'd be scared and I wouldn't know what I would do. But it's miraculous, because the death of Jesus was prophesied! When Jesus was saying "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is taken from Psalm 22, a psalm of David.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
⁸ "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

is it just not amazing? the prophesy of how we were to reject Jesus and crucify Him! It's just indescribable, and and and! in Hebrews 10:5,

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
⁷Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' " ⁸First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). ⁹Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

just, everything Jesus has done for us - it's just amazing. I wouldn't think I could sacrifice myself to save others, and Jesus was a sinless man! ahh! I'm just soo happy that I'm saved! and there are more passages on how Jesus saved us sinners too! Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2:4-10. IT'S JUST WOW, HOW CAN YOU NOT SAY THANK YOU TO GOD EVERYDAY?! I can't think of a reason not to praise Him! I just can't! By God's grace, I AM SAVED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! yee hoorah! :)

and the whole congregation sang Precious Cross. and yes indeed, a precious cross it is :)