By Dr. Frank Crane

I am Yesterday.  I am gone from you forever.

I am the last of a long procession of days, streaming behind you, away from you, pouring into mist and obscurity, and at last into the ocean of oblivion.

Each of us has our burden, of triumph, of defeat, of laughter, of bitterness;  we bear our load from you into forgetfulness;  yet as we go we each leave something in your subconsciousness.

We fill your soul’s cellar.

I depart from you, yet I am ever with you.

Once I was called Tomorrow and was virgin pure; then I became your spouse and was named Today; now I am Yesterday and carry upon me the eternal stain of your embrace.

I am one of the leaves of a growing book.  There are many pages before me.  Some day you shall turn us all over and read us and know what you are.

I am pale, for I have no hope.  Only memories.  I am rich for I have wisdom.

I bore you a child and left him with you.  His name is Experience…..

YESTERDAY By Dr. Frank Crane

 

 

When He burst on the scene, Jesus came proclaiming truth.  He comes to us today doing the very same thing and meeting us where we are at – PROCLAIMING TRUTH.  What does that mean?  What truth is He proclaiming?

Well, it means that He has something urgent tell us and that we should not put it off until we have time.  Time to hear what He has to say.  The funny thing about time for Jesus is that He has all eternity to tell us His news that is so urgent and cannot wait.  So what does He do?  He comes to us.  He loves us so much that He comes to us to let us know that He has something to tell us.

So what is this truth that Jesus is proclaiming?  Well, to tell you the truth, it is simple.  This truth that He is making known is that He is truth.  Consider this; at Jesus’ hearing, Pilate finds no guilt in Jesus.  He is standing there before Pilate.  Pilate, who fears being rejected by the Jews and being put at odds with authorities, gives in to the masses.  Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent but he had Jesus crucified anyway.  Why?  He had a weak self-image.  He took the truth that he knows and buried it deep within himself.  He has Truth standing right in front of him and He is about to sentence the Truth to death.  

The reasons for the crucifixion, of which there were four, were (1)to fulfill prophecy (2)it was Jewish tradition to stone a person to death but they thought the nature of the crimes serious enough to warrant a more disgraceful death (3)it was Roman rule to crucify those accused of treason or insurrection.  Then fourth, it was a truth to be made:  at this precise moment, the moment of His death for Jesus to proclaim His deity to the world.  The question ‘what is truth?’ is not just a question for Pontus Pilate.  It is a question for each and everyone of us.   We as Christians are to know, live and proclaim God’s truth.  Pilate explained tradition and gave the people a choice of who to release, Jesus or Barabbas,  they chose Barabbas.   He is a representation of us.  If they had chosen Jesus it would be a type of redemption for them.  Jesus represents eternal life.

John 3:19 explains it in a different manner.  “This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world but man loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”  In this case Jesus is Light.  Just as truth uncovers a lie the presence of light snuffs out darkness.

The question arises, ‘do I truly understand WHO I AM in CHRIST’?  If we are all children of God and Jesus is Truth then it stands to reason that our core value is truth and out of that truth comes love.  Now we ask ourselves ‘do I drift or strive’ as a child of God.  In ‘drift’ I mean floating over and in ‘strive’ I mean to be like.  Do I drift toward the world and its offerings or do I strive to be like Jesus?  In either case both actions have one common denominator – fear.  As a Christian, I have to BATTLE my FEARS to LIVE in TRUTH.  A cold simple truth is that fear paralyzes.  I am sure you are familiar with the quip ‘the paralysis of analysis’.  Getting over our fears we see that every blessing God has promised will be fulfilled.

C S Lewis said “We live in the shadows of reality.”  We, as Pilate did, might one day say ‘If only I believed Jesus.’

What comes to mind when you think about the word ‘life’?

The resurrected life of Jesus is the gateway to a new life. Faith
in the fact and believing that Jesus rose from the dead is the core
of the Christian faith. When we are born we learn to live an ordinary
life. Then when we accept Jesus invitation “Come” we become students,
His students, and start to learn all about the Good News of Jesus, what
the Bible says about the Christian life and much, much more. Then when we find others who believe in Jesus Christ also, we become brothers.  So the continuum is ORDINARY – STUDENTS – BROTHERS.  This is what Jesus says about life:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16).

So life hear on earth is linked with eternal life and the only way to get it is to work for it.  But what is that work?  To believe in Jesus Christ and that is all we have to do.  Everything else will naturally flow out of that work.  To believe in Jesus Christ!  At the tomb of Jesus, when the disciples ran to the tomb only to see it empty – John saw and believed.  God provides evidence for all steps of believing.

One of those steps is being washed by the blood of Jesus.  We need Jesus’ blood for our salvation.  Faith in the resurrection leads to a new life for all who choose to believe.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to Christianity and it is upon this event that the whole of Christianity rests.

Christ always came first to the poor in spirit.  There are many that think they have to clean up their act and sin so that Jesus can have a place to reside.  Take a look at the life of Jesus.  He did not have a pillow to lay His head on at night.  For that matter, He was born in a manger – dirty and odiferous with farm animals inside.  So if you think that your heart is to dirty for Jesus to see or live in, well He has seen and lived in worse.  Do not wait to take care of your sin before coming to JESUS.  See, you cannot take care of your sin.  ONLY God can do that and He already did.  He will meet you where you are at and take it from there.

Belief in Jesus’ bodily resurrection leads to a new relationship that nothing can stop or hinder.  Now because of that belief in the risen body Jesus Christ, He brings us peace.  Peace is what He gives us.  So this begs the question ‘what am I holding from the Lord’?  What do I think is so bad that I do not want Him to see?  That is a form of unbelief in the awesome power of Jesus.  He deals with our unbelief.  He gave the apostles a mission – the forgiveness of sin.  It is not an absolution but a task of obedience.  Doubt is not bad but it can hinder growth.  Stop doubting and BELIEVE.