Mar.28.07: Light for the Day "Keep me Near The Cross" (<<)  (>>)

-- Psalms 51:10-13
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will turn back to You.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

-- Romans 8:1-2
1 Therefore, there is now No Condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has Set you Free from the Law of Sin and of Death.

Our old history ends with the Cross;
our new history begins with the Resurrection. -- W. Nee

He became what we are that He might make us what He is. -
- St. Athanasius, 295-373

"Keep me Near The Cross"

Keep me near the Cross, dear Lord, this is my earnest plea.
For it is the symbol of the life You sacrificed for me.
The sinful nature that I had kept us so far apart.
But You devised a special plan so You could change my heart.

You sacrificed Your only Son for a wretched sinner like me.
You gave me a gift I couldn't earn; by grace, You set me free.
The Cross is my reminder, Lord, of the love You have for me.
I now have life because Jesus died on the Cross at Calvary.

Keep me near the Cross, dear Lord, as a reminder just for me,
That before I accepted Jesus, I was blind and could not see.
I could not see the joy and peace that was missing from my heart.
Through Jesus, my eyes were opened and I made a brand new start.

When Jesus came into my heart, He changed me from within.
So keep me near the Cross, dear Lord, and help me turn from sin.
Lord, You never promised me a lifetime free of strife.
You knew the perils I would face throughout my earthly life.

Daily I face many trials, which I don't feel I need.
But Lord, You always know what's best, so I will trust Your lead.
The things that happen in my life, I face because You know,
That only in times of adversity can I truly learn and grow.

Keep me near the Cross, dear Lord, when I'm down and in despair.
I only have to call Your name and I know that You are there.
I know You will forgive me Lord, even when I sometimes slide.
Remind me of the Cross, dear Lord, and keep me near Your side.

Since Jesus came to earth as man in human form like me,
I know now how He suffered when He died upon that tree.
He felt the same things that I feel; rejection, hurt and pain,
Because He was a human when to this earth He came.

Lord, You could have saved Your Son from death upon that Cross.
But You let Him buy my pardon; yes, sweet Jesus paid my cost.
And just to prove Your love for me, You raised Him from the grave.
You gave Him victory over death and now my soul is saved.

By the sacrifice You freely gave, I know you wanted me,
To accept Your gift and dwell with You for all eternity.
Help me share the Cross, dear Lord, with those who are still lost,
So they, too, will know you as Savior because I shared the Cross.

-- Emily McAdams

-- Isaiah 45:22 + Turn to Me and be Saved, all you ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

-- Revelation 1:8 + "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "Who is and Who was and Who is to Come, the Almighty."

-- Hebrews 13:8 + Jesus Christ is the Same Yesterday and Today and Forever.

-- Psalms 34:18-19 + 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.

-- Matthew 5:8 + Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

-- Matthew 16:24 + Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."

-- 1 Corinthians 1:18 + For the Message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being Saved it is the Power of God.

-- Romans 6:23 + For the Wages of sin is death, But the Gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-- Romans 5:8 + But God Proves His Love for us in this: while we Still were sinners Christ Died for us.

-- Titus 2:14 + Jesus gave His Life to Free us from every kind of sin, To Cleanse us, and to Make us His very own people, Totally Committed to Doing what is Right.

-- Hebrews 12:1-2 + 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the Life of Faith, let us Strip Off every Weight that Slows us down, especially the Sin that so easily Hinders our Progress. And let us Run with Endurance the Race that God has set before us. ++ 2 Let us Fix our eyes on JESUS, The Author and Perfecter of our Faith, Who for the Joy set before Him Endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.

-- Hebrews 10:22-24 + 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

-- James 4:7-8 + 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

-- Ephesians 2:13, 17-19 + 13 But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 17 He came with the Good News of peace for you who were far away and for those who were near. 18 So Jewish and non-Jewish people can go to the Father in one Spirit. 19 That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family.

-- Romans 12:2 + And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

It is not experience of life but experience of the Cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of men. And so it also does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother, I can dare to be a sinner. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven. -- Charles Williams