Tag: christ

Life Eternal

James HoganLeave a comment

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived,
enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life
in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

But when the kindess of God our Saviour appeared,
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.

-Titus 3:3-7

Ostrakinos

James HoganLeave a comment

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach
The gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release
To the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of
the LORD.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Wow. That must have simply amazing to be one of those there and hear those words from Jesus’ mouth, stating that prophecy had been fulfilled that very day and declaring Himself to be the prophesied Messiah, the Saviour of His people!! I read this passage recently and it just struck me quite strongly, how amazing a thing it was for the God of the universe to come down to this earth, to fallen ones like us. And one day, He shall come again! And this next time, He will come in all his power and might and it will be glorious!! And I feel quite humbled knowing that we have such a Saviour and such a Father and such a Mediator and such a God. And now that I have talked quite a bit, I feel like quoting some other passages that I’ve much enjoyed recently, but it would be a bit awkward to quote the whole book of Hebrews. Aw, you all don’t mind, right. Right?? Well, I will quote one of my favorite bits then:

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will
Make with them after those days,
says the LORD:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”

Amazing. And…

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And….

I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
This poor man cried,
And the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
Around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O look to Jesus! Look to Him and be saved!!

And…I may have been carried away a tad with all the quoting(Luke 4:14-21, Hebrews 10:11-17, Hebrews 12:1-2, Psalm 34:5-8). My bad.

But I couldn’t really help it.

Sometimes I feel like I should write more of my earthy feelings and sensual emotions…but I can’t keep from writing what is on my heart and in my soul!! In the balances of eternity…all else is but rubbish. Just let me leave you with one of my all-time favs…

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
GLORY OF THE LORD,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from
the LORD, the Spirit.

A glimmer, nay, a star

James HoganLeave a comment

And you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, in which you
formerly walked according to the
course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, of the
spirit that is now working in the sons
of disobedience. Among them we too
all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because
of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead
in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ(by grace you have
been saved), and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so
that in the ages to come He might show
the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
-Ephesians 2:1-7

I was going to end that sooner, but two things prevented me. Firstly, it’s just so beautiful I couldn’t find a good stopping place…and secondly, because the sentence itself didn’t stop. Oh Pauline sentences, how I love thee.

Seriously, such a gorgeous passage, is it not? And two of the most amazing and heart-stopping and enlivening and lovely and starkly beautiful words of all time…”But God.” And hope bursts into glorious bloom, life eternal. This passage is one of my favorites, so I don’t know why I’m trying to unnecessarily validate these verses with my pitiful words, but I just can’t help marveling at the amazingness of God’s most gracious love and compassion towards such desperately wicked men and women…oh what a joy that springs from my heart, abounding towards the God whose love abounds still more! And I think this passage may (subconsciously) be the pattern towards which all my gasps of poetry tend to slip into –

darkness, expanding and vicious and cold blackness and
the depths of deepest despair and when all is lost and
man is
lost in a storm of whirling shadows and
torn in pieces by the knife that was his own and
rotting in the grave so eagerly dug and
drinking the depths of the debt that is owed and
wavering in glazed reality and
on his knees in hopeless emptiness and
on his face in stark weariness and
letting go of the last that could be done and then
light.
Light forever.
Glorious Almighty God.
Light and love and God Himself,
the pinnacle of infinity that the universe strains to grasp.
Oh glorious Lord!
And overwhelmed in joy and overcome by love
and soaking in the blood of the Lamb that was slain,
she is
dancing in the spotless grace,
singing in the newborn praise,
seeing with adoring gaze,
feeling the more perfect rays,
and now she quivers and says,
Oh I love how can I not?
When by His blood I am bought?
He loved me first,
oh those glorious words,
He loves me!

…and that’s what happens when I let my mind stray and wander and ponder the incomprehensible fact that…the Almighty God of the Universe loved me. How else can I respond but by saying…’Oh I love how can I not?’ I love my Father so. Oh I love Him!!!! If my tears could but grace His feet, I would weep for being so close to Him…my Lord and my God, I love Him so!!!!

September 9th, 2010

James HoganLeave a comment

Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO
DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE ARE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE
SLAUGHTERED.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly
conquer through Him
who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other created
thing, will be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.

James HoganLeave a comment

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and
He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there
was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He
was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an
alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping,
she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the
hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the
perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said
to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort
of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And
he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the
other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them
both. So which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said,
“I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have
judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you
see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet,
but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You
gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss
My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet
with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many,
have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little,
loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves,
“Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman,
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
-Luke 8:36-50

I cannot say anything to add to the beauty of these words. But oh how these words have touched my heart! I ask myself, how much have I been forgiven? And the answer is clear. I have been forgiven…everything. Oh how great is my love for my Saviour!! If only I were in His presence and could kiss His feet. If only I could kneel and hug his feet to myself! Oh I would cry for love! I have sinned much. I have sinned completely. And I have been forgiven much. I have been forgiven completely. Oh the beauty! Oh I could weep!

James HoganLeave a comment

And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and He who sat
on it is called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He judges and wages
war. His eyes are a flame of fire,
and on His head are many diadems;
and He has a name written on Him
which no one knows except Himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The
Word of God. And the armies which
are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, were following Him
on white horses. From His mouth
comes a sharp sword, so that with it He
may strike down the nations, and He
will rule them with a rod of iron; and
He treads the wine press of the fierce
wrath of God, the Almighty. And on
His robe and on His thigh He has a
name written, “KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS.”

-Revelation 19:11-16

I was walking to the gym after work today and a storm was coming. As I walked, I was singing to myself a song from my church in Tampa, a song directly from the verses I quoted above…and as I got to the part, “His name is called The Word of God…”, at that very moment, lightning flashed down in every direction around me…and the thunder built to a glorious crescendo, punctuating the beauty of the storm. I stood struck with awe. And I was reminded(why do we forget!!) of the power and righteousness and mercy and perfection and glory and holiness and love and justice and compassion of the Almighty.

How great is the LORD!!!!