Northwoods Table Talk

Holy Saturday - Devotions in Exile The Seventh Word of Christ from the Cross     Commit Our Lives To God – 7 th Word Luke 23:46  And when Jesus cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit."  And having said this, He breathed His last .  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)           Jesus resigns Himself into the hands of His Father before breathing His last breath. How often do we struggle against doing just that? This is not simply talking about commending ourselves to God as we face death. Do we trust God in the cares and concerns of our daily lives?           What is it that causes us to refuse to leave our lives and our future in the hands of our Heavenly Father? He has promised to take care of us and supply for all our needs, but we fight that. We are afraid of the future.           Do you fully and completely trust

Holy (Good) Friday - Devotions in Exile The Sixth Word of Christ from the Cross               True   God – 6 th Word John 19:30  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"  And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit .  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)            Jesus was true man, He was suffering on that cross, did He know what was going on? If you have any doubts, read these words from his lips again. He knew that all was finished (all was accomplished, or completed is what the Greek word Τετέλεσται – Tetelestai – means). God’s plan was completed! These words from Him show that although He was rue man, He was also true God. He knew the plan of salvation, and the role His death had to play in that.           In speaking this “word” (one Greek word is translated, ‘it is finished’) just prior to His death, He shows that the plan was complet

Holy (Maundy) Thursday - Devotions in Exile The Fifth Word of Christ from the Cross                True   Man John 19:28  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst."   (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)                     Who is this “man” on the cross? Yes, that is exactly what these words declare to us, that it was truly a man on the cross. Jesus is a man with physical needs and requirements just like ours. This had to be true! Jesus had to be a man. He had to have the same flesh as we have. For Christ's death on the cross to have the power to save mankind, Christ had to be, true man.  Jesus had to be tempted in every way like we are, for His sacrificial death to have true power to save us. In order for Jesus to be tempted in every way, He had to be true man.   He had to have the

Palmarum Wednesday - Devotions in Exile   The Fourth Word of Christ from the Cross             Forsaken For Our Sake Matthew 27:46   And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?"   that is "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)             How many fathers would leave their only child – the child they love – in the middle of train tracks and unable to move, with a train coming? None would! Yet, that is exactly what God did. God the Father knew what was coming, indeed, you might say that He tied up His only begotten Son so that He might not even move Himself out of the way of the train that was coming. You remember how Jesus had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Lk. 22:42) I

Palmarum Tuesday - Devotions in Exile   The Third Word of Christ from the Cross              Brothers and Sisters - To Edify Each Other John 19:26-27   When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"           Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!"           And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)               As Jesus looked down from the cross, He saw the woman who gave birth to Him and one of His disciples, and at this time, despite His own suffering, He thinks of His mother and her lonely state and suffering, not of Himself.           John, the disciple whom John called the “disciple Jesus loved,” is given to her – and she to him. From that point on takes her into his own home.   Mary and John, from

Palmarum Monday -  Devotions in Exile The Second Word of Christ from the Cross             Knowledge of Eternal Glory is Ours Luke 23:39-43   Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us."             But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?   And indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deed; but this Man has done nothing wrong."   Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom."           And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise." (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)           One of the criminals crucified on a cross next to Jesus wants Jesus to save Himself and both the criminals hanging there. His words were

Palm Sunday Devotions in Exile The First Word of Christ from the Cross           Forgiveness is Ours Luke 23:33 - 34   And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.   Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) These words of Christ from the cross of Calvary are important to us as Christians, for they show us two things.           First these words point out to us our need for forgiveness. Christ was not simply speaking about forgiving those who had nailed Him to the tree… He was not simply asking to forgive all those there who were complicit in the act… By His Divinity, He was speaking about you and me.           Too often you have heard people explain away their sinful actions by claiming, "The