"The Crucifixion"

  "So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could see it. 

 Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, "Change it from 'The King of the Jews' to 'He said, I am King of the Jews.'" 

 Pilate replied, "No, what I have written, I have written." 

 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, "Rather than tearing it apart, let's throw dice for it." This fulfilled the Scripture that says, "They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing." So that is what they did.

 Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother and his mother's sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." And he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home." (John 19:17-27 NLT) 

 "Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." (THE SONG OF SOLOMON 3:7-11 KJV)

 What a weird but wonderful day I had yesterday. My number one thing I had to do, was to meet with the salesman to at the Toyota dealership, to write up the contract for my new truck; a truck that was not going to be there until the 17th. Wow, and behold, the first that I'm told was that the truck was going to be delivered last night, and I might be able to receive it today. 

 I went into the dealership with a payment price in mind, one that I felt I could manage and that I could, hopefully afford; being that I live by sales generated, that is totally up to God! The salesman brought me, a Ben Franklin Scale, which I am very familiar with. One side had the minimum purchase monthly payment, the other had the grandaddy monthly payment. 

 As he presented the document, he kept steering towards the minimum side, as if this was a pretty good place to start, but I saw the amount on the grandaddy side was less than I had in mind, so I kept pointing to that side, saying, "Is this the total monthly payment?" He said yes, but then went back to the other side; so, I figure he misunderstood my question, so I asked again, "I this the total monthly payment cost, with everything you have listed?"  

 He said, "Yes, that's everything that you can add it your purchase price." I smiled, and said, "That is less of a payment then I planned on paying, so let's go with that side!" I felt good about that, because I made his day delightful and bright! You have got to understand, most of the car salesmen don't make much selling cars, only the one's with, well established clients, have the ability to live off selling cars.    

 I have got to say, God makes things happen, when they don't appear they will happen! The second big thing was a Termite treat I had to do, which was set for 11am, but I had to move it to 2pm. When I had done the inspection, it was June, and they had a van I wanted to have purchased for my wife. Setting out to go there, I had figured the van had already been sold; but there it was, still sitting there in the yard, getting dirty. 

 Many more things kept happening, as they all blended together, to make a day of high pressure, a day of delight! Now I am driving my trade-in, feeling as though I am driving a truck that is borrowed, and I am afraid to get it scratched. I called my insurance broker, but he reassured me that I was covered for whatever I might be driving, so that took a heavy weight off my shoulders. 

 Speaking of heavy weights: Did Jesus carry the whole cross, or just the top crossbeam member? Was the sign already on the top, or was it placed up there after He was lifted up? If it was up there already, I can't imagine that they placed to crossbeam on over it; so, He had to be bearing the entire cross. Just saying... 

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14 KJV)