Pam Padgett ... spiritual gift of helps
When I first heard the second verse of the hymn "Beneath the cross of Jesus", God opened my eyes to something in the Old Testament I had never understood before.
Beneath the cross of Jesus
1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty Rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.
2. Oh, safe and happy shelter!
Oh, refuge tried and sweet!
Oh, trysting place where heaven’s love
And heaven’s justice meet .
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So is my Savior by the cross
A ladder up to heaven.
I saw Jesus, the Word, as the ladder we take up to heaven.
Jesus saith unto him, I (the Word) am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by ME. (John 14:6)
Every time God reveals a Word to us and we do that Word, we climb closer to heaven. The Word of God is a ladder to heaven, and the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ, the Word, as we do that Word. The Word is the next step on the ladder.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
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In Genesis 28 we are told of Isaac sending his son Jacob to Padanaram to take a wife from the daughters of Laban, the brother of Jacob's mother Rebekah. While on his journey, God gave Jacob a dream ...
10-17 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
(Angels are sent by God to help His people and also to deliver messages from God. Up and down that heavenly ladder.. with Jesus standing at top directing them)
And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
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I had never before understood what Jacob was being shown by the ladder in this dream. But as I considered the words in the second verse of this hymn ...
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So is my Savior by the cross
A ladder up to heaven.
... my eyes were opened to see that the ladder in the dream provided the way to heaven, just as Jesus provides the way for us to heaven, to God and eternal life, by paying for our sins with His blood. Jesus, the Word, is the ladder that we take to move into heaven while we live on this earth.
Without Jesus, we have no way to be acceptable to God. Nothing we might ever do can pay for our sins. We could never be justified before God without the blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:22 ... without shedding of blood is no remission.
Jesus paid for all of our sins with His blood. And through belief in what Jesus has done, we are accepted by God as HIS children.
And as HIS children, God cares for us, provides for us, and is always with us by His Spirit which HE has given to us.
We have all the promises God has given to HIS children, for Jesus made the way to God for us by the cross.
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Hymn: Beneath the cross of Jesus
(Click forward arrow > to play music:)
1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty Rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.
2. Oh, safe and happy shelter!
Oh, refuge tried and sweet!
Oh, trysting place where heaven’s love
And heaven’s justice meet *.
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So is my Savior by the cross
A ladder up to heaven.
3. There lies beneath its shadow,
But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide;
And there between us stands the cross,
Two arms outstretched to save,
Like a watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.
4. Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One,
Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love,
And my own worthlessness.
5. I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His WORD;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.
(Click pause symbol, " ... at beginning of hymn, to stop music)
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