driving home from montgomery i couldn't get enough of these words:

my HOPE is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus name

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

When Darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood
supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.

When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne!

What powerful, rich words! It's amazing how quickly perspective can change when we recognize the object of our hope: Jesus. With my eyes fixed on Him life holds together, it makes sense, and I can walk forward in my purpose: to glorify Him!! He is reality and even when all around me is so unsure, so jumbled up, so unclear I find rest in knowing
there's no HOPE in these things but in HIM only!
No wonder it's frustrating trying to 'figure it out,' since there are no answers there!
HE is the answer, and HE will give us what we need, exactly what we need, when we need it.

6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you...10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 peter 5)

Heb 12:2Let 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.

I went to a wonderful service at church tonight where we participated in the passover seder meal (the same meal, the same foods, the same prayers that Jesus prayed on the last night with His disciples). There are volumes of symbolism from the service itself and then from the fact that Jesus would have led the disciples through it so reading the text of the last supper is even more powerful!

One thing that stood out:

We had to dip the unleavened bread in horseradish! Now it only takes a drop of that stuff to season a whole dish and we took that in our own mouth. Wow was it terrible. It was sour and burning and bitter all at the same time. You could hardly forget it. That was to remember the forefathers who were slaves, whose lives were very bitter under slavery.

Can we all agree about the bitterness that comes when we act like slaves? When we believe we are still under the law, condemned to slavery. (I can't/won't love this person. I'll never find joy, I don't believe I am righteous, I am worthless) I know I personally have tasted this and HATE it! Yet for some reason Father allows me to experience it- He allowed Israel to experience it and they were His chosen ones.

But that's not the end of the story...

In the midst of slavery He brings new life
(We dip the parsley in salt water becuase it reminds us of green spring time)
Is that not like Jesus to bring new life in the midst of sin and despair? Is he not the one that trades beauty for ashes? Is that not what happened after the cross in His resurrection? (And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give LIFE to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you Rom 8:11)

(We dip the bitter herbs in sweet Charoses(apples) to remind us that our fathers were able to withstand bitter slavery, because it was sweetened by the hope of freedom.)
In this bite of unleavened bread with a hint of bitterness but an overwhelming taste of sweetness, the sweet becomes even more precious because we know the disgusting taste of the bitter herbs- or should I say the slavery that sin brings. Sin brings death, but the goodness of the gospel powerfully and quickly eclipses that. (Though the sorrow may last for a night, his Joy comes in the morning) And in light of that the freedom we have in Christ is all the more sweet-

-As He reveals our need for Him, our bankruptcy before Him, our total dependence on Him...
His sweet freedom, His precious life in us accomplished a rest and confidence like never before. Each time sin happens and we turn to Him, He grows our roots deeper into His sufficiency instead of our own.

The next part is really neat. Now that we have been restored by the life of Christ what do we do:
(...we recline at the table...The first Pasover was celebrated by an enslaved people. the children of Israel were instructed to eat in haste, standing packed and ready to leave the bondage of Egypt. Today we all may recline to show we are at rest.)

Lord thank you for the rest you so freely give. We are no longer slaves having to fear for provision. Thank you for the rest that flows from your life in us- Thank you for your sweetness towards us. You truly are better than all the world has to offer. Even though we still experience slavery here in this body of flesh, thank you that you have conquered that- for your glory- we would not know how sweet you are, how huge you are if we didn't know what you had done on our behalf, if we did not see our despair.

WE have ALL we need for life and godliness in you Jesus. Bring me to total dependence on that!