John 19:25-26
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!'”
It is not likely that you are familiar with the name, Elizabeth Clephane. She lived in a small town just south of Edinburgh, Scotland, and died in 1869 at the young age of 39.
As illness crept into her life, she expressed her love for the Lord in her writings. After her death, two of her poems were adapted into hymns. One was “The Ninety and Nine” and the other is our featured hymn for this week, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.” As you read the words and listen to the music, picture a young woman who was nearing the end of her life, yet had a confidence in where she would spend eternity.
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven’s love
and Heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch that
wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Savior’s cross to me,
a ladder up to heaven.There lies beneath its shadow
but on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave
that gapes both deep and wide
And there between us stands the cross
two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way
from that eternal grave.Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart
with tears two wonders I confess;
The wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by
to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.
To access Beneath the Cross of Jesus, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/beneaththecrossofjesus in your browser or click on the image below.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil