I Am Thine, O Lord 2/1-7/21

01-07 February 2021 – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies 

Theme: Draw Me Nearer [Inspired on Feb. 3^rd at 3:00 a.m.]

 Song: I Am Thine, O Lord

I am Thine, O Lord

I have heard Thy voice,

And it told Thy love to me;

But I long to rise in the arms of faith

And be closer drawn to Thee. Chorus:

Draw me near-er, near-er, blessed Lord,

To the cross where Thou hast died;

Draw me near-er, near-er,

   near-er blessed Lord,

To Thy precious bleeding side. [Fanny Jane Crosby]

 Dorothy: This early morning when I arose, the chorus came to my heart to sing, “Draw me nearer to the cross where Jesus had died.” So the question arose, “Why God chose the cross that Jesus had to hang on the tree?” Why the cross was called, “The Tree?” and why the tree was “a curse?”  

It is found in Galatians 3:13 KJV: “. . . for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” NCV: . . . It is written in the Scriptures, “Anyone whose body is displayed (shown) on a tree is curse.”  Why was it cursed? Let’s look at Genesis 3:17, KJV. 

“And unto Adam he (God) said, Because thou (you) hast hearkened (listen) unto the voice of thy (your) wife. And hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee (you), saying, Thou (you) shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy (your) sake; in sorrow shalt thou (you) eat of it all the days of thy (your) life.”

In the Garden of Eden, ‘The tree’ was cursed because of Adam’s sin which he ate of the fruit from a tree.  So the tree that was cursed, need to be redeemed and Jesus, the second Adam, took that curse to the cross with Him. That explained why Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.”  

Christ hang on a curse tree. That’s why God chose the “cross.”  So Christ could redeemed us from the curse which means Christ has bought us back through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is so enlightening to see why the Scripture quoted, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.”

This devotion came from watching one Jewish Rabbi on TBN when he explained why God chose the Cross that Jesus had to die. Because in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, the tree was cursed to begin with and the cross was from a tree.  This was a mind blowing thought that the Scripture from Galatians 3:13 became clear of its meaning. Oh how rich is God’s Word and how blessed to learn from Him. Thank You, Father!

May God bless you!

Dorothy