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“And
behold, there was a great
earthquake; for an
angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and
came
and rolled back the stone
from the door, and sat on
it”
(Matthew 28:2 NKJV)
The Stone
When they took Jesus from
the cross,
They laid Him in a tomb.
Now the Sabbath had ended,
The day dawned, filled
with gloom.
The women’s hearts were
heavy
At what had taken place.
Deep pain was in their
hearts,
You could see it on each
face.
These women, some of His
friends,
Were sadly walking to His
grave.
It was hard not to weep;
It was hard to be brave,
This one last service they
could do
For the One they had
loved,
Spices for His body,
For the gentle fallen
Dove.
Heavy on their minds
Was the stone at the door.
How would they gain
entrance
To do Him service just
once more?
Roman soldiers were on
guard;
How would they get past?
A seal was ordered by
Pilot
To hold His body fast.
But on they trod, facing
the stone
In grief, following their
hearts.
At least they’d do their
best;
They would try to do their
part.
Now they’ve arrived at the
tomb—
Should they laugh or
should they cry?
The stone was rolled away
By an angel from on high!
What a wondrous sight they
beheld,
As the message was
proclaimed,
“He’s not, He has risen!”
Victory and triumph had
replaced His shame.
The stone that had worried
them
Was set beside the tomb’s
door
And an angel sat on it
To prove death was
conquered forever more!
What is your stone? What
is hampering your
progress?
What is blocking your pathway? There are no stones
that are larger than God! NONE! The women hugged
their broken hearts to their bosoms, and their
emotional upheaval blinded
them to the words of
Jesus that He would arise
from the grave.
Thomas got all the bad
press as a doubter, but
the
truth was they all
doubted. They all looked
at the stone
and couldn’t see the empty tomb. But the stone had been
moved! And an angel sat on it! Like the conqueror after
a war, the angel had his foot on the neck of the
enemy—the stone. The stone
represented the death
of the Messiah – Satan’s
goal; but the angel sat on
the
offensive rock while the
Rock of Ages arose to
conquer death, hell and
the grave!
Satan tries to keep us
burdened with our own
stones,
grief and doubts so that
we aren’t able to bear one
another’s burdens. Ours
plus theirs is just too
much to
bear. “Casting all your
care upon Him, for He
cares for
you” (1 Peter 5:7). Casting all our care “on Him” does
more than just relieve us of the burden; it frees us to
bear one another’s
burdens. Paul wrote to the
Philippians (4:6) “Be
careful for nothing” or
“Don’t
be anxious about
anything.” In our state of
anxiety,
we are unable to care for
others. “Let each of you
look
out not only for his own interests, but also for the
interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 NKJV).
“Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill
the law of
Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NKJV). Is it any wonder that
our enemy wants us to be
so burdened with our own
stones that we take the
attitude that “I am doing
well to bear my own. Don’t give me yours.” To
“bear one another’s
burdens” is fulfilling the
law of
Christ! This verse doesn’t
give us license to burden
another with something
that we can take care of
ourselves. We are told
that “each one shall bear
his own load (burden)
(Galatians 6:5).
No, those are not
contradictory verses. Two
different
Greek words were used in
the expressions. For each
to
bear his own mean a normal load a donkey could carry,
while bear one another’s burdens referred to a load
that would break a
donkey’s back. God doesn’t
desire
that we be whiners,
refusing to take
responsibility for
what He has put in our
hands to take care of. But
neither does He want us to
try to carry a load that
will break us down.
What then shall we do? We
can do this: Move
every stone we can handle
alone (with God’s help,
of course) that is
blocking our path; but
when the
stone is too big for us,
let another help us lift
it and
then we can both sit on
it! Our helper shares in
our victory, because they have shared our burden
and helped us overcome it.
Don’t let the stone stay
on the door that leads to
your
victory. Roll it away if
you can. If it’s too much
for
you, allow another to help like the angel helped the
women who came to Jesus’
tomb. God knows if
your stone is just a sand
rock that you can easily
chip away or granite which
requires His hammer
to break. When the stone
is removed, sit on it!
The door to victory has
been opened and no
man can shut it. Roll the
stone over the door
of defeat and leave your
doubts behind the
darkened door, locked up
behind you.
Picture yourself, the
victor, sitting on the
stone that
Satan thought would cause
you to stumble, your foot
on his neck. Satan has no
secret stones. God sees
every one and has already made provision for their
removal. Keep wending your way toward the goal,
just as the women trudged to the tomb not knowing
how they would manage. The
stone looming before
them didn’t keep them from going with every
intention of carrying out
their mission.
When you are troubled with
fear and doubt, remember
the angel sitting on the stone proclaiming victory—
“He’s not here. He has
risen!” If you feel there
is a stone
blocking your way, just keep going. Continue to fulfill
your mission, because when
you get to the stone, you
will find that God already has an angel to roll it
away. Just climb up there with him and sit on it
with your foot on Satan’s
neck!
To unbelievers, the
Precious Stone that was
made head
of the corner is a
“stumbling stone and rock
of offense”
(1 Peter 2:8). But the day
will come when that Stone
will
fall on them with no remedy, while the living foundation
Corner Stone will stand
forever.
The Rock of Ages will
remove your stone. He
might
even use a visible “angel” (from the body of Christ)
whom you will see sitting on it. Cling to the Stone
that will stand forever as
a sure anchor. “Behold I
lay in Zion a Chief
cornerstone, precious, and
he
who believes on Him will by no means be put
to shame” (1 Peter 2:6 NKJV).
Don’t stumble over the
stone hindering you, sit
on it!
Delores Adams
Copyrighted. All rights
reserved.
July 13, 2003
Alice's Legacy
Remembering Alice
The
"Handkerchief" has been
anointed and prayed over
by
several believers who care
about you and want to help
you realize your full potential in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
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