Rachel's Tears - Rachel's Joy

Rachel's Tears
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Jeremiah 31:15
Thus says the LORD:
“ A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”

"Just looking at my heart crying about the pain." ~Rachel Joy Scott


Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!

"Please find me a lake, so I may drown in my waters of sorrow." ~ Rachel Joy Scott
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Rachel's Joy
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Psalm 126:5
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

"I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me." ~ Rachel Joy Scott

Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

"Create in me the church, so that wherever I go I will find sanctuary."  ~ Rachel Joy Scott

John 16:20
Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

I lost all my friends at school. Now that I have begun to walk my talk, they make fun of me. I don't even know what I have done. I don't really have to say anything, and they turn me away.
~ Rachel Joy Scott

Luke 6:21
Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.

"I have a purpose,
I have a dream,
I have a future,
so it seems."
~ Rachel Joy Scott
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THIRTEEN TEARS FOR HER CHILDREN
Rachel along with her sister Leah, was a matriarch of the 13 tribes of Israel. Rachel died in child birth while bearing her second son Benjamin. Rachel's lamentation for her children, children of Israel, has been heard down through the ages.  Her 13 tears will forever be remembered.
Beloved, like Rachel, through the sorrow, you shall reap joy, and you shall laugh.

~Chris
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On April 20, 1999 Rachel Joy Scott lost her life along with 12 others, in the Columbine shooting. This post is dedicated to the memory of  Rachel Joy Scott and the 13 tears she shed for Columbine, as recorded in her journal.

Jesus come into my life,
Lord come into my heart.
   cause you are the one,
Who will fill the void inside,
   You are the One,
Who will give eternal life,
   You are the One,
Who will give undying love,
   You are the One,
Who is in heaven above.
~ Rachel Joy Scott

Peace and the righteous kiss

When peace was born to us
Isaiah 9:6 (OT)
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Job 22:21-22 (OT)
Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.

Proverbs 16:7 (OT)
When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.






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He was chastised for our peace
The deceitful kiss - When strife and envy meet
Proverbs 27:6 (OT)
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Isaiah 53:5 (OT)
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.

Luke 22:48 (NT)
But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

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The holy kiss - When mercy and truth meet
Psalm 85:10 (OT)
Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.

2 Corinthians 13:12 (NT)
Greet one another with a holy kiss...

Luke 7:45 (NT)
You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.

Romans 13:13 (NT)
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

Matthew 5:6 (NT)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Isaiah 26:2 (OT)
Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

~WALK AS IN THE DAY
Let us walk the narrow way, properly with eyes open, as in the day, that the nations may follow Him in truth. Hunger and thirst for righteousness and be filled. To those who He has hard won through His merciful grace, receive the kiss of peace. A peace not as the world gives (John 14:27), so let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Beloved, submit to His love and be at peace with him. Receive His holy kiss, the kiss of righteousness and peace.
~Chris

Forgiveness, Sacrifice, Justice

Romans 12:19
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

2 Corinthians 2:10
Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,...

1 John 4:9
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.


EVEN WHEN IT HURTS

Forgiveness is a two way street. Do it even when you feel an injustice has been done. Do it even when you must sacrifice for the injustice. Do it even when he's your only begotten son. Do it because He did it for us all, that we might live through Him.... Oh, and in case you missed it beloved... Forgiveness is there for OUR OWN sake.

~ Chris

From the river of His pleasures

A sober minded people, set apart for us

Numbers 6:2-4 (OT)
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink;


Amos 2:11-13 (OT)
I raised up some of your sons as prophets, And some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel?” Says the LORD. “ But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, ‘ Do not prophesy!’ “Behold, I am weighed down by you, As a cart full of sheaves is weighed down....

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Jesus, our Nazirite, who we caused to take a strong and bitter drink
Matthew 2:23 (NT)
“He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Luke 22:17-19 (NT)
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

Proverbs 31:4-6 (OT)
Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.

Psalm 69:21 (OT)
They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

John 18:10-12 (NT)
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”

Psalm 51:6-8 (OT)
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice

John 19:29-30 (NT)

Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”

1 Corinthians 11:26 (NT)
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

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the wine of confusion or of peace
Proverbs 4:17 (OT)
For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

1 Corinthians 10:21 (NT)
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

Psalm 60:3 (OT)
You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.

1 Peter 5:8 (NT)
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Corinthians 14:32-34 (NT)
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

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Who we are in Christ

1 Peter 2:9 (NT)
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Psalm 135:4 (OT)
For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

Psalm 36:8 (OT)
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

~SOBRIETY OF MIND AND SOUL~

Beloved, you are called to be different. A peculiar people. Jesus, our Nazirite, drank from the cup meant for us, so that we could taste freedom instead of death. If you grasp that truth, you will no longer be under the bondage of evil. Say yes to Jesus, and live life to the fullness of all God desires in you.... come and drink from the river of His pleasures.

~Chris

What meanest thou, O sleeper ?

Luke 11:30
For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

Jonah 1:3-6
But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

Jonas 1:11
And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

Mark 4:1
And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.

Mark 4:35-40
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

Luke 11:32-33
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light...

Luke 11:35
Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.

"The evidence of faith is rest" -- David Wilkerson (Author of "The Cross and the Switchblade")
~THE WITNESS~
The story is of a prophet in a boat running from his witness to sinners and also of our savior in a boat because His witness to sinners was magnificently vast. Both could sleep soundly, even as the boat they were in faced certain disaster. Both had a faith that could calm the very sea. Both carried the light of the Holy Spirit. One had His light under a basket to keep a nation in darkness, and the other had His light on a lamp stand to bring the nations into the light.
What about us? Are we truly agents of the light or heaven forbid, of the darkness? Beloved, don't we realize that this great tempest we are now in, is here because of our disobedience in our witness of Him? Wake up; throw off the basket which covers our witness for Christ. Only then, will the sea become calm again. In the end, Jonah ("Dove" in Hebrew), allowed the light of the Holy Spirit to shine and a nation was saved. Being lead by the Holy Spirit in our daily witness of Jesus Christ is our leap into the deep of a great light. That light is truly the hope for our nation and the world.
~Chris

So, we are left asking, why would a person filled with the Holy Spirit choose to leave a nation in darkness ? Perhaps it is because Jonah was a prophet, who understood what the Ninevites meant to the future of Israel. He was looking for God to utterly destroy the Ninevites.... to save Israel. Ninevah, a city so large it took 3 days to walk across it, was the capitol of Assyria. The Assyrians would be responsible for the slaughter, deportation and scattering of the 10 tribes of northern Israel. Jonah must have baulked at the very idea that God could have compassion on such people. But who can know the mind of God ? Jesus came saying love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you. In truth, Israel’s calamity was brought on by her own rebellion... but even in that, God would later use the scattering of His beloved people to spread the gospel of Christ to all the world.

2 Samuel 22:17
He reached down from heaven
and took hold of me;
He pulled me out of deep waters.

The Lords Home

Isaiah 66:1-2
Thus says the LORD,
"Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
"For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD
"But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Luke 9:58
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

1 Peter 2:4-6
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."

~ THE HEART OF GOD ~
It's been said that home is where the heart is. His love for us is so deep, He gave his only Son that we might have salvation through Him. Today's footprint is to read Isaiah 66:1-2 again. "To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."... upon such a one will the Spirit of the Lord rest. May His Spirit rest upon His people forever more.
~Chris