January 27, 2014 … The Wondrous Cross

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 27

Devotional Song: Go to this link  – Please take a few minutes to see a video of Fernando Ortega singing the old hymn … When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, reminding us of the glorious bridge which Jesus formed to take us from death unto life.
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 Highlight Passage #1 – NKJV: Hebrews 12: 2 [NKJV] … [Do we really realize what Christ did to save us?] …  
2 … looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verses 1-4 … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Romans 5: 8 … [NKJV] … [The wondrous cross!! ... For me!!!] …  
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Reference Passage #2: 2nd Corinthians 1: 9-10 … [NKJV] … [Do we get it! We trust in Christ; and He did the rest on the cross.] …  
9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, …

Reference Passage #3: Galatians 6: 14 … [NKJV] … [And the cross is the only thing to which we must boast.] …  
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread reminded me of a reality that I’m afraid I all too often minimize in dealing with the trivial urgencies of life. And the guilt of my callousness is captured in the first verse of the old 18th century hymn to which I link anyone willing to take the time to view the video of Fernando Ortega singing, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Here’re the lyrics to that first verse …  

When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride. [Isaac Watts – 1707]

And my devotional also reminded me of that tried-n-true illustration of the cross being a bridge from death unto life when anyone is willing to repent of their sins and walk, IN FAITH, across the chasm of death which only can be bridged to life when we accept the wondrous work that Christ completed on the cross.

So, join me in taking in the reality of that wondrous cross today and pray with me a prayer of thanks for Christ providing our bridge from death unto life through faith in His wondrous work of grace on the cross.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I sing that great Isaac Watts hymn with a heart of thankfulness for what You, dear Jesus, did for me and anyone who comes to the cross for Your saving grace. O, the wondrous cross!! … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.