And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
  Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
  He bled and died to take away my sin.

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this interesting violin arrangement as you read.  And EVERYONE please be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We continue our gaze at the cross where God put His greatness on display through the willing sacrifice of His Son. We saved the first half of the stanza for today because it expressly talks about thinking about the cross.  We want to help you love God with all your mind.  That’s part of why Resonant 7 exists.  May God enable you to ponder His cross in a way that inspires your praise today.  Let’s think about this.

When I Think

We are thinking about the cross.  Now let us be careful not to make the cross itself the object of our worship.  For it but is a symbol of God’s love for us and must not become the focal point of our adoration.  That place belongs to Jesus alone, because of what He did for us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 ESV 

But we should think about this.  This is such a foundational truth that we can be guilty of taking it for granted.  Instead we should reflect on Jesus’ work routinely and let it shape and reshape our love and our life.

Maybe you have a cross somewhere nearby, or an image saved on your phone that is meaningful to you.  Do not worship it, but look at it and allow God to fill your heart with gratitude for what Jesus did for you on the cross.  Take a few moments now and do that.  You can use the image below if you do not have another one handy.

God, His Son Not Sparing

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 ESV 

I am a father of four boys.  It is hard for me to imagine sending my son to pay the penalty of someone else’s wrong.  Even if that person was remarkable and their life was otherwise an incredible influence on others it just seems like there is no way I would do that.  Let alone if the person was a trouble maker, liar, thief, rebellious, foul, wretched and mean.  But that is exactly what our Father did.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8

Think of that moment in history when Jesus climbed that hill to Calvary carrying His cross.  In that moment you and I were still sinners.  We had not sinned yet, but we were doomed to do so as children of Adam.  Even still the Father did not spare Jesus the pain of the cross, but sent Him there to die for us.

Though He was God, Jesus was also man.  He endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, but it was still agonizing.  He was not spared that misery.  Think on that for a moment, and then thank Him for His obedience and sacrifice.

Almost Unfathomable

I know it is true because I have felt the effects of it in my own life, and seen it in the lives of others.  I have witnessed transformation of countenance and character.  I have watched as sorrow over sin was turned into joy for justification.  I have beheld miraculous healing and been overwhelmed by grace.

Still, I scarce can it in.

I can barely fathom the greatness of grace displayed in Jesus and His cross.  Barely, but I do believe.  And even that gift is but another expression of His greatness, to bridge the chasm that my waywardness and yours had created, and reinforced.

We really should think about this more often.

So how about you?   Can you “take it in”?  Is it easy?  If so, maybe you need to step back a bit and look at the cross again.  The humility to say “I can barely wrap my mind around this” is an experience of grace in and of itself.  Ask the Holy Spirit to take you to the brink and your understanding and reveal anew the marvel of the cross which puts God’s greatness on display.

Marvelous Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but today to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Everyone enjoy this podcast and everyone the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Image Attributions
And When I Think – https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-mood-cross-windows-reflect-1245788/
Sent Him to Die – https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-cross-faith-crucifixion-3476251/
Scarce Can Take It In – https://pixabay.com/photos/thinking-thinking-work-man-face-272677/

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
   And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
   And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this interesting violin arrangement as you read.  And Subscribers and Free Members be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

The greatness of God is always on display around us, but we seldom take the time to appreciate it.  I pray today’s blog helps you create a few minutes to cultivate a greater awareness of the greatness of our God.  That’s why Resonant 7 exists.  May He give your the perspective you need to see, hear and feel His power on display all around you today.  Let’s think about this.

When I Look Down

I had the opportunity to drive to the top of Pike’s Peak with my oldest son two years ago.  Some of those switchbacks would put the fear of God in just about any honest soul.  As we stood out near the edge at a couple of the stops on the way down it was truly breath-taking.  My heart filled with praise.  Lofty mountain grandeur indeed.  It was a sight to behold!

For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!  Amos 4:13 ESV 

One of my favorite words is perspective.  Years ago as I prepared to head off to seminary a dear friend took me up a mountain to the foot of a large cross outside of Uniontown, Pennsylvania in the Allegheny Mountains.  He encouraged me to look over at the town, miles and miles away.  He then challenged me with the thought of how small a problem can become with different perspective.  You see, as you walk the streets of town a problem can seem enormous, but when you get a few thousand feet above it suddenly it becomes smaller.

The One who made the mountains also made me.  He knows what I am made of, and is familiar with my limitations.  If I am willing to get His perspective on anything it can inform my response.

What do you need a different perspective on today?  What situation right now has you overwhelmed by it’s magnitude? Are you willing to see it in light of the greatness of God?  Maybe getting a few thousand feet above it will change how you see it.  Take a moment to do that right now.

What Do You See?

So the mountaintop perspective can be very helpful.  But you can not live there.  It is too sparse.  You need to come down from it’s lofty grandeur and live in the place where your life flows freely.

You need to get down where you can see the brook in the valley.  Appreciate its refreshing nature.  Be calmed by the tranquil trickling of its water.  Find restoration in its life-giving flow.

What restores you?  I am referring particularly to your soul.  When your soul is weary and parched, what brings you refreshment?

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Psalm 23:2-3 ESV

I find restoration in being alone.  Part of it is the quiet.   Another is the solitude.  I think more clearly, and ultimately find myself, in my deepest places, more in tune with God there.  I see Him in other ways, places and times, but none quite like those quiet ones.

There are many paths to this place of rest renewal.  Do you know yours?  If not, ask God to help you identify your streams of living water.  If so, have you been there lately? Get there today even if only for a short time.

Feel the Gentle Breeze

There are a couple that really stand out to me.  Those sweltering days when there is no air moving and suddenly to of nowhere comes the relief of a little moving air.  Then there are those days when winter is still holding on but you hear a rustling of the wind and as it engulfed you the warmth and scent of spring seem to overwhelm you.

When have you noticed that gentle breeze?

The imagery of the wind here reminds me of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that ‘The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  The gentle breeze of the breath of God, the Holy Spirit.

I heard this illustration years ago.  You can not see the wind, but you see the effects of it.  You see the leaves swaying and the tress bending.  The same is true of the Spirit.  You see the impact He has, but can not trace His form.

And you can feel Him.  You may not be able to explain it with words, or even teach someone else how to identify it, but when the Holy Spirit is moving in your life, like the wind through the trees, you can not deny it.

Ask the Holy Spirit to blow through your life today.  When you do, be ready.  As you see the evidence of His moving, first identify it, then join Him in it.  Our Great God wants to put His glory on display in your life today.  Open your life to see and feel it.

Sensitive Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but occasionally to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Subscribers and Free Members enjoy this podcast and everyone the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 10.2 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

Psalm 96:12 Living Bible (TLB)

Praise him for the growing fields, for they display his greatness. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise.

I love the way this is paraphrased.  Fields displaying His greatness, trees rustling with praise.  Creation declaring His worthiness. When did you last just wander along in God’s handiwork? Recall it and make it a point to do so again soon.

    And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

Psalm 104:12 ESV 

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.

When was the last time you got quiet enough to just listen?  Chances are when you did you could probably hear the singing of some birds, and maybe some insects too.  What an ordinary reminder of the extraordinary creativity of our God.  Ask Him to help you learn to listen.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

Amos 4:13 ESV 

For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Few things in creation make me feel so small as the majestic mountains.  How kind of God to form some clay into them, other clay into us, while all of it displays His greatness.  Tell Him, “Thank You for making mountains and me!”  

  And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Psalm 23:2-3 ESV

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

The power in the previous line and the gentleness in this one juxtaposes two of God’s greatest qualities.  Creator God made it all. Shepherd God cares for it all. One and the same God, for you. Praise Him for the restorative properties of still waters and gentle breezes.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
   And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
   And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.