THE POND BY THE WOOD

I hiked to the pond early Friday morn,
through rain and mist and woods forlorn;
for the winter had torn limbs here and there,
and a heaviness clung in the air.
 
I stood on the bank by the meadow bleak,
with my head hung low, down and weak;
for what have I done to deserve this love
from such a Savior above?
 
Circles spun on the water’s face
when raindrops fell softly to their place,
and clouds swirled free in the pool’s dark depths
when winds encircled off Heaven’s steps.
 
Then there on the water, the sun came shining!
His words of love to me reminding;
pledging gladness through oaks as the sky turned blue,
encouraging wonder in all things new!
 
What grace shines upon the pond by the wood!
What joy restored and understood!
I know Jesus loves me with all His heart,
and from me, never will He depart.
 
 
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3

THE POND BY THE WOOD

Fallen branches and debris from winter’s harshness clutter the woodland floor. It's not pretty in the woods. There isn't any greenery on the branches of slowly-waking maple and beech trees. But, last years ferns, still green, lay matted to the ground and green moss clings to rocks and trees. We know spring is coming as we trek to the pond on a gnarly path.

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

Isaiah 53:1-3

As we stand beside the pond by the wood, we contemplate that the Man of Sorrows, Jesus, took upon Himself our sorrows for our sin debt. The Man acquainted with grief knew our grief. Only the innocent blood that was sacrificed by God's Anointed could pay the price for our eternal redemption. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could solve our sin problem.

And, when we get to Heaven, give us glorified bodies. GLORIFIED. What is another wonderful thing about Heaven? Being glorified!

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:30

Can sinful people like us understand being glorified? We can try, by the power of the Holy Spirit. To be glorified is to be sin-free. Adam and Eve lived sin-free before they sinned and were exiled from the Garden of Eden. In their sinless state, they had no shame. They didn't sin. They walked and talked with God. For how long, we don't know. We can deduce that there will be no sin or shame in Heaven. Sinless is being made holy, and that's why it's quite difficult for any of us sinners to understand glorification. But our Lord's Word declares this promise of being glorified in Heaven.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53

Paul writes in the first book to the Corinthians that through faith in Jesus, who is the second Adam, we will bear the image of the second Adam, the Heavenly Man, Jesus. We who believe (the brethren) will be raised sinless, or glorified. We will gain everlasting life, which is immortality. We will not be subject to death or decay or dishonesty, or bribery, or whatever, which all are corruption. The corruptible things of the world will perish and not enter Heaven. The second Adam and His Word are very powerful.

And holy.

After the construction of the tabernacle in the book of Exodus, the glory of the LORD filled the area.

For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Exodus 40:38

Behind the temple veil was the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could enter once a year. Aaron's sons tried entering the courtyard but because their approach was not authorized, they were destroyed. Yes, God is powerful and His Word binding. He had given the command and He wouldn't be just if He didn't follow through with what He commanded. Then, when Jesus died on the cross for us, the temple veil was torn in two. The sacrifice Jesus willingly made on the cross took away all sin once and for all. Amazing grace and eventual glorification are offered to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 

Isaiah 53:4-5

But, after death on a brutal cross, Jesus didn't stay dead.

After Jesus was buried, then came the third day. Joy comes with Easter's dawn! He was risen from the dead! He is alive today!

As the sun breaks away clouds of darkness, we feel sin's ugliness dissipate from us. As the sun beams to the woodland floor to restore the greens shoots that will come up with April rains and more sunshine, we stretch our roots and bask in the nourishing son-shine. Spring returns, in the woods and our souls. Only Jesus can restore the human soul. What joy comes from restoration of the soul! Thank you, Jesus!

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

And... if you're thinking no way can a Creator who created the first Adam OUT OF DIRT IN THE GROUND possibly reconnect EVERYONE'S DNA that ultimately decayed into the soil across generations, think again. Yes, Jesus is THAT powerful, too, as I'm sure, dear reader, you know.

So, we of faith are just passing through this world on our way to citizenship in Heaven, and gonna be having that glorified body, too.

FOR THE JOY: CHRISTIAN POEMS ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER  -update

My latest update is I made the subtitle more specific. Also, I put the book's trim size back to 9x6 to match my Unto Us: A Christmas Poetry Book. I had wanted to write an Easter poetry book to be a sister book to the Christmas book, and Unto Us is 9x6. Also, like the Christmas book, I'm changing the font size to 14 point. For eyes that are struggling with small print, like me, large print books are okay, I say.

FOCUS ON PRAYER

Please pray for our Christian pastors everywhere, and closest to you. Many things rise up in attack against faithful, Bible-teaching ministers. Many attacks are under the guise of 'religion', just as in the days of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The devil still lurks about, tricky as ever. A reason the Lord tarries, in my opinion, is to provide more time for people to have opportunity to become saved, to become sure of a citizenship in Heaven. Jesus is the Narrow Way that leads to life. Broad is the way that leads to destruction which means many are on that way of death. Get on the narrow way. Remember pastors and pray for their endurance and encouragement during these taxing times of witness.

IN CLOSING

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2

When the glorified body is revealed, it will be perfectly outfitted and suited for eternity, like Jesus, in Heaven.