True Royalty

 True Royalty

Soldiers’ scourged
forty stripes -
minus one.
Shredded skin
torn from him.

Reed in hand

just able to stand
in purple clad
before a crowd
gone mad. 

A thorny crown

thrust on his brow
to cause him pain
and mock his claim
“Hail! King of the Jews!”

Soldiers’ scow

as they  bow.
cruel parody
too blind to see
True Royalty.

Chin on chest

arms outstretched
“It is finished,”
falls
from parched lips.

The blameless

convicted
crucified
pierced his side
buried him.

And then…

The third day
He rose again!
Death conquered!
Sin overcome!

Sacrifice
to Savior.
Rebel to
Redeemer.
Hail! Christ the King!

While writing this poem, I learned something I have never known and it reminded me that nothing is coincidence with God and that everything in the Word has meaning.

Did you know that when the Roman soldiers wove the crown of thorns and forced it on Jesus’ head that their intent was perhaps a malicious parody of the civic crown worn by the emperor? The civic crown was a garland of oak leaves plaited to form a crown. If you think about it, I am sure you can think of at least one movie where you saw a Roman emperor wearing this leafy coronet. It was a military decoration presented by soldiers to those who had saved lives of Roman citizens. The citizen saved must admit that they were saved by this person. No one else could be a witness. The civic crown was regarded as the second highest military honor and had become an imperial insignia since Augustus, who in his time was hailed as “Savior of the World”. The irony. . .

Do you ever wonder what happened to that crown of thorns? I know what the internet claims happened over Roman history and maybe it is true, I don’t know. What I am asking is in the moments right after the Crucifixion, as they lowered the Savior’s body from the cross, what do you think happened to the thorny crown? The soldiers divided his clothes, casting lots for his seamless coat.  Did one of them keep the crown as well? Maybe the soldier who pierced his side picked it up in awe. Perhaps Pontius Pilate ordered it to be brought to him as a reminder of the Messiah. Or maybe Mary, the mother of Jesus, with tear-stained face, gingerly removed the thorny crown from the Savior’s head and clutched the crown to her breast as her son was carried away, ignoring the barbs biting into her own flesh. Did a disciple remove it and then hurl it away in anger, as far as he could from the scene of sorrow and sacrifice? Or did the beloved disciple, John, carry it with him and eventually leave it in the hands of the church at Mt. Zion? I can’t help but wonder . . . what happened to the crown stained with the blood of the Holy One?
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My Lord, my Redeemer, my King I bow to You in humble adoration and with repentant spirit; Your unworthy servant. The thought that You loved me, even before I was born, even before the earth was born, is unfathomable.  I thank You with all that is within me for Your willing sacrifice and can not wait until the day I see You face to face as I bow before Your throne. Thanks to You, our bridge to heaven, that future day is not a wish or a dream, but a reality.  Thank You Jesus! ~ Amen

Teaching Me To Trust

To the Lord, my God, I give my all;

the hopes and despairs and foolish cares I

cling to, with certain hope of help I have

in a heavenly Father I have never seen

with earthly eyes, and yet faith teaches

true sight through the Holy Spirit within me.

With lowered head, my request I raise to

replace my defiant doubts with childlike trust

and steadfast confidence in the

benevolent, compassionate Creator.

The Lord will surely supply our needs, for

before I ask, the Almighty knows all

the petitions and wishes I would pray as I

lift needs, both mine and those others have,

to a just and loving Father who can not

fail. The blessings are simply yet to be seen.

  

                                                                             04/14/2014 Susan Bunn Tarrant

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Right now, I don't have the time to participate in the National Poetry Writing Month challenge like I did last year. A poem a day is more than I can accomplish at the moment. But, I have been pulling up their website to see what some of their poetry prompts have been. One recently was a new concept to me and obviously, I really liked the idea! It was called a "golden shovel". In this form of poetry the writer takes either a short poem, line of a poem or quote and lines it up vertically on the right side of the page and then creates a new poem with these words creating the end of each line. If you read the last words of each line of the above poem, you will find a quote I love by one of my favorites, Ralph Waldo Emerson. :-)

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Merciful Heavenly Father, One of the things that amazes me most is how You are ever-present in each and every one of our lives. You know the needs and desires of every person that calls on You. Before they call Your name, You are there. Without a doubt, I know that You will meet my needs and the needs of each person I love and care about. For that, I thank You in advance. I know the blessings from Your throne flow daily and will continue to do so for those who love You, Lord. Forgive me for my impatience with unanswered prayer requests. Your timing is perfect, even if we don't see it at the present time. With all my heart, I trust in You, for no one loves me with such an immense love as You. 

   Forgiveness

    For by grace, I have been saved.
    Oh, why then do I feel enslaved?
    Resentment still seethes in my soul.
    God, my feelings I can't control.
    I wish this bitterness, I could shake.
    Vengeance is not mine to take.
    Evil for evil is a mistake!

    As I kneel, I raise my heart.
    Savior, mend the broken parts.

    Heal the weeping wounds within.
    Ease the anger. Cleanse my sin.

    Failure to forgive confines,
    Our Lord's Spirit, it undermines.
by Releasing those who once hurt me,
    God's grace is given to set ME free!
    Advise me how to truly receive
    Victory over sins that grieve,
as Ever to Christ's example, I cleave.

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I have a confession to make. I really, really have a hard time forgiving. Even if it is a “minor” offense, I replay the situation again and again in my head: How could they do/say that? What I said and shouldn't have. What I didn't say that I should have. What I WILL say if the situation presents itself. I wear it out by going over and over it repeatedly, stirring my anger, keeping the wound fresh - which wears me out emotionally and spiritually. Even days later, the mere thoughts of whatever indiscretion will get me riled up again. And if I do this over a minor offense, you can just imagine if the wrongdoing was something major. The hurt, anger and resentment boils inside for a very long, long time. . .

I hold grudges too – forever and eternity! Thing is, I realize that by doing this, I am allowing that person and situation to still have control over me. I am a prisoner and yet, I am the one creating the chains. Most likely, the offender has forgotten and moved on while I am still stewing.  

I know I am supposed to forgive. To not forgive is in direct disobedience to God. And with time, I eventually say I have forgiven someone, but don’t dare expect me to forget. Our culture pushes us to have that attitude. Forgive but don’t forget, that way they can’t hurt you again, right? Learn from our mistakes and the mistakes others have made toward us. So the attitude is, I forgive you and (toward a friend or family member) I still love you; but I won’t trust you…

The Bible states, in more than one place, that if we forgive then the heavenly Father will also forgive us. Did you catch that? His forgiveness is not automatic. It is conditional to our forgiving others. IF we forgive, THEN… Now, the thought occurred to me the other day, what if God forgave me the way I tend to forgive – never forgetting? How truly awful would that be for Him to replay my transgressions in His mind and not trust me?

I thank our merciful Lord that He does not forgive in the same manner that I do. That He does not hold on to my wrongdoings and dwell on them, letting them replay in His mind like a broken record. God’s Word teaches that He throws our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12) That is what we are supposed to do. That is how we are supposed to forgive.

I didn't say forgiving would be easy. I know of horrible crimes committed against myself and others that we never dreamed we could forgive, and couldn't have without the Lord’s help. We couldn't let it go on our own. We had to ask God to help us forgive. A person of great inspiration to me is Corrie Ten Boom. What a wonderful Christian example! What horrible things she lived through and witnessed in the Nazi concentration camp she was in. Read the link below to see how one day she came face to face with a former prison guard who asked her forgiveness and how she handled it:

http://www.familylifeeducation.org/gilliland/procgroup/CorrieTenBoom.htm

I cannot imagine how hard that must have been for her, but I love her realization: “Forgiveness is not an emotion... Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”

Corrie prayed for God’s help and immediately He was there. And you know what? Our Father is willing to meet us in our difficult places and to do the same thing – help us to forgive those who have hurt us. It doesn't always happen in an instant or overnight. Sometimes it simply takes time. Instead of repeatedly replaying the event, we must repeatedly pray for the Lord’s help.

For the one true, perfect example of forgiveness, look to the Savior. Jesus Christ forgave not only those who had beaten, mocked and rejected Him the day of His crucifixion; He asked the Father to forgive them as well. On that day, our Redeemer looked ahead to you and me and forgave our sins too. He already knew we would make mistakes and yet He loved us and forgave us then – and now. Look to Him. Cling to His example and pray the Lord teach us to truly learn to forgive as He forgave us – completely.

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 KJV
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Merciful Father, it is my heart's desire to please You, but I am imperfect. I let my emotions get the best of me. Anger, pride, resentment and bitterness over former injustices sometimes chain me to the past. Only with Your help can I truly let go of the hurt and also release the ones who have caused the hurt as well. I know that I can only have Your forgiveness and true peace when I learn to let go and forgive with my whole heart. Teach me, Father, to forgive as Christ forgave. Help me to become the person we both want me to be. In Jesus name I ask. ~ Amen