Some questions about me

There are a few posts going around FB which are basically questions you answer about yourself! Well I thought I would post some about my Christian life :)

BEGINNINGS

1. Have you always been a Christian? NO
2. When did you become a Christian? 10th December 1990 at about 21:00
3. Where were you when you became a Christian? Rue du Bemel, Woluwe Saint Pierre - which was my atheist employers' house
4. Did you go to church? Yes - The International Baptist Church in Wezembeek-Oppem 
5. What influenced you to search the Christian faith? I read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and saw that going to church didn't make you a Christian - it was faith in Jesus Christ which saved you! Of course the Holy Spirit first of all ;)
6. Have you been baptised? I was christened as a baby and I was fully immersed as an adult believer on 27th January 1991 in the International Baptist Church 
7. Was there ever any other religion you may have considered? What? Yes - Buddhism - a trip to Thailand put pay to that!
8. Would you ever consider converting to another religion now? NO

BIBLE, LITERATURE, HYMNS etc

9. What is your favourite Scripture verse? There are so many, but at the moment it has to be Matthew 6: 19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
10. Who is your favourite Bible character (other than Jesus ;) )? Why? The apostle Paul (who has had so much grief from people saying he's a misogynist - people who have never read anything by the rabbis of his day) the man was resolute and immoveable and did actually respect women. Peter is also another favourite because he also put his mouth into gear before his brain - like me :o
11. Which book of the Bible is your favourite? The one book I have found much comfort and rest in, is Isaiah, although I do like the rest of the Bible! I also love Daniel and Revelation
12. Which book of the Bible has surprised you the most?
There are 2 which I didn't think I would like - Leviticus and Job - I thought I would find them difficult, but I didn't!
13. What is your favourite  book (besides the Bible ;) )? The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom - it's an autobiography
14. Who is your favourite author(s)? - Corrie ten Boom, CH Spurgeon and AW Tozer
15. Are you reading a Christian book at the moment? No, but I plan to read Heaven and Hell by Prof Edward Donnelly, soon!
16. Which Christian poem, you wrote, is your favourite? I wrote one about Jairus' daughter and I think that is one I really got into when writing it!

PRESENT

17. What is your doctrinal position? I am an amillennial reformed evangelical Christian, but I do believe that everybody who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will be in glory one day and we will all worship Him together as one!
18. Is there anything amazing (other than conversion) which has happened during your Christian life? Where do I begin? - so many amazing things, prayers answered, lessons learned, growth, times of coldness, but also times of phenomenal warmth. One day I was sorting my sons' vests out and only thought - They need more vests, but we can't afford them. I didn't tell anybody, not even my husband and then 2 days later a neighbour knocked on the door with a bag full of vests and pants! Not just physical things - being able to truly forgive people, having peace in my heart about certain situations etc!
19. Do you pray? Yes, but not as often as I should! 
20. Do you read the Bible - Yes, but as above - not as often as I should!

A driving lesson for all

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn. She was screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection with him. As she was still in mid-rant she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit the car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell. 

After a couple of hours a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cursing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker and the chrome plated Christian fish symbol on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car!"

Author Unknown

As Christians we should be living for Jesus and behaving like Him or else people will never believe we are His! 

Greatest Love Letter

Easter 2014 poem

The One who wore the crown of thorns

Upon his blood stained brow.

Wore those thorns so that we

Could wear a crown of glory now.

The One who had nail pierced hands

And had agony in His soul

Bore those wounds so that we

In Spirit, could be made whole

The One who bore the darkest sky

Dark as the blackest night

Took our sins upon Himself

So we could live in light

The One who hung all alone

On that vile, accursed cross

Hung in love and tenderness

So we wouldn't suffer loss

The One who bowed His weary head

And gave up His soul that day

Lifts up the heads of everyone

Who will follow in His way

The One who lay dead in the tomb

Rose up in victory

So that those who come and follow Him

Live for eternity!

© Carolyn Davison 5th April 2014

What Jesus did for His people

• He was abandoned - so that God would never abandon His people
• He was friendless - so that He could become a greater friend to His people
• He was stripped naked - so that His people could be clothed in the Robe of Righteousness and Garment of Salvation
• He had a crown of thorns on His head - so that His people could be a crown of glory and royal diadem in the hand of His Father
• He had holes in His hands and feet - so that His people could be made whole
• He was surrounded by darkness - so that His people could be penetrated by the light of his glory
• His life was drained from His body - so that His people could have new life in Him and never die, spiritually
• He was thirsty - so that we would never have to thirst [spiritually] again
• He took our sins upon Himself - so that we could be forgiven
• He rose again (hallelujah) - so that one day His people will rise with Him and go to glory

AMAZING LOVE, AMAZING GRACE, AMAZING SACRIFICE!

Beautiful Feet

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

Isaiah 52:7

Be spiritually prepared to take the gospel anywhere! 

The gospel is good news and it does bring us peace. A peace which transcends every other peace - Peace with God, eternal peace with God!

The gospel brings salvation - it lifts us out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay of sin and sets our feet upon the Rock (the Lord Jesus Christ). 

Mountains can be difficult and dangerous to climb, they can be steep and make us tired - how beautiful then, the saint, who, through trials and difficulties can proclaim this gospel of good news from experience. How beautiful then, the saint, who, going through those trials and difficulties can proclaim "Your God reigns!" The saint who goes through the trials and difficulties with a song in his heart and praise on his lips is indeed beautiful! 

In the ancient days and also today, to proclaim the gospel outside of Jerusalem the evangelist must go over a mountain! To effectively proclaim the gospel we have to go through difficult times!

The gospel is good news which brings glad tidings of good things! What are these good things?

A restored relationship with out Heavenly Father
Eternal life through Jesus Christ

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

An advocate with the Father

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

New life

Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Forgiveness of sins

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

New outlook and future

Revelation 21 & 22

Peace, guidance and love

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

An eternal inheritance

Ephesians 1:11  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will...

New Lord and Master

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

New clothes  
 
Isaiah 61:10b For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness

New family

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.


Helper/Comforter

John 14:15-18 ^"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

Love verses Lust

I saw this as a post on Facebook - I think it' so true

The Bible?

Why do I read the Bible?

Life is full of all choices and decisions! How do we know which are the correct ones to make?

The Bible is a book first and foremost about God - it begins with God and ends with God and the bits in between are all to do with God's dealings with mankind!

The Bible is also like a manual - how we should live our lives to have a close relationship with God (after accepting Him)

If we add to the Bible or take away from it then it's like buying a microwave oven, looking at the instructions and adding bits from your fridge manual or taking bits away which you don't like! Will the appliance work properly if you do that? Of course not, so it is with Scripture. We work properly (how God intended for us to live) if we follow His word, after asking Him to come into our lives!

Bits of a couple of Psalms and Romans 8

Where shall I lift up my eyes?

Unto the hills which surround His people!

Where does my help come from?

From the Lord God omnipotent

Who reigns over all the earth.

Who will lead me like a shepherd?

The Lord God who feeds His flock

Who gathers the lambs with His arm

And gently leads those with young.

Who shall separate us from God's love?

Nothing or no one shall for

We are more than conquerors

With Christ as our Captain! 

Christmas Time - Christmas 2013 poem

Christmas is a time for giving.

A time for joy.

A time for living.

Christmas is a time for meeting.

A time for friendships.

A time for greeting.

Christmas is a time for emotion.

A time for remembrance.

A time for devotion.

Christmas is a time in history.

A time written down 

For eternity

Christmas is a time to see a boy.

A time of birth.

A time of joy.

Christmas is a time of our Father's giving.

A time of love.

A time of living.

Christmas is a time for praising,

Of angels' songs - 

Hallelujahs raising

Christmas is a time for thought

Of the Gift God gives

Which can't be bought.

Christmas is a time to receive

The gift of life

Only God can give.

Christmas is a time which leads

To a certain place

 Called Calvary.

If it wasn't for that time in history,

There would be no gifts,

No lit up tree,

No children singing

Christmas songs,

No Man who came 

To right our wrongs

Let us remember this Christmas time

That Jesus came

To make Him mine,

He lived a life

We could never live,

To offer a gift 

No one else could give. 

©  Carolyn Davison 29th November 2013

You can't choose...

You know the saying

You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family?

Well I was thinking today:

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (look up Ephesians 1), despite us being in a mess, sinful, disobedient, dead as doorposts spiritually, we wouldn't choose Him over our sin etc! 

Isn't that truly AMAZING...

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments were given for all men throughout the ages. They set God's standard. 

Exodus 20:

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Pop 'stars', footballers, film 'stars' are worshipped today as if they are gods

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image

Cars, posters of favourite film stars etc, shrines to them, shrines to relatives - same thing as graven images

⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, 

OMG (I hate it - in your face, on billboards, on the internet, in films, on Facebook profiles), people saying the name of Jesus as a cuss.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Shops opening on a Sunday (do they really need to open? Not really they have 6 (SIX) other days to make money.)

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, 

So often we hear about children murdering their parents (and vice versa). Being cheeky isn't honouring them, disrespecting them

¹³ “You shall not murder.

Murder comes in a variety of forms - to take someone's life by stabbing (etc) them. Murder can also include character - how many times have we seen in newspapers, the murder of someone's reputation only to see them commiting suicide because they have lost everything in life! Abortion, Euthanasia! Murder is taking the life of someone who is created in God's image.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

You only have to look at someone in lust and that is committing adultery. There are many dating sites which advocate no strings sex for married people etc

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

Stealing, like murder isn't necessarily something tangible - stealing could be coming back from your break deliberately late, but getting paid for it. Getting paid for something you havne't done. Stealing is taking anything which doesn't belong to you. Envelopes from work, that pen you haven't [deliberately] returned

¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Gossip is bearing false witness - this is so prevalent in our society, with the magazines spouting a load of dramatic sensationalisation rubbish about people! Don't like someone? Keep it to yourself because if you diss someone to others, you are tainting their judgement on the person and it more than likely isn't true what you think anyway - it's only YOUR perception!

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house 

Coveting leads to stealing, it leads to murder, it leads to adultery, it leads to gossip. Be happy with who you are and what you have! 


Looking at the ten commandments and how we break them every minute of every day - is it a surprise that God is angry with the world?

Why should He get involved when He has given us consciences which have these written in them? If God intervened in our lives we would soon get fed up of Him. He doesn't intervene in cases of wars, famine etc because they are the by-product of our disobedience and we have to live with the consequences. He HAS given us a way of peace, love, joy through Jesus Christ but so many reject Him - so God lets us do what we want as society falls into ruin because of our disobedience towards Him!
 

Jesus enduring the curse pronounced upon fallen Adam

The ground was cursed (Genesis 3:17)
The Son of God was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)

Man was cursed to eat his bread in sorrow (Genesis 3:17)
The Lord of Glory was so thoroughly acquainted with grief that He became the 'man of sorrows' (Isaiah 53:3)

The earth brought forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18)
The Lord Jesus Christ came forth from the judgement hall, wearing a crown of thorns (John 19:5)

Man was required to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow (Genesis 3:19)
The First Adam got His bread by the sweat of His face; but Christ, the Last Adam, got His bread, His soul's satisfaction, by the sweat of His heart (Luke 22:44)

Man must return to the dust of the earth (Genesis 3:19)
As Adam returned to the dust, so the dying Christ cried, "You have brought Me to the dust of death." (Psalm 22:15c)

A flaming sword barred the way to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24)
That sword of justice buried itself and was swallowed up in the Son of God (Zechariah 13:7)

Adam was separated from God in death (Genesis 2:16,17)
Christ the Last Adam was separated from God in death (Matthew 27:46)

In the film Mulan - Ping (Mulan) saved the young Captain's life, when he found out 'Ping' was really the young girl Mulan - her penalty would have been death, but because she had saved him he said - "Your debt has been repaid!"

This is the same with Christ - our debt has been paid by Him! We owe God our lives - the wages of sin is death. But through Christ's death we have eternal life. He gave what wasn't really meant to be given, to give us something which doesn't really belong to us (eternal life).  A debt can only be repaid by a debtor, but Christ became our Surety; He became our Debtor - He was rich enough to pay our debt for us!   

In the film Mulan - the debt could only be repaid by the Captain, no one else, whereas Christ has paid, with His life, the debt of those who come to believe and trust in Him. This is how Christians can say Christ is our Substitute, because He died (paid the price) we should have paid, but we couldn't afford it. Because every minute of every day our debt (sin) mounts up - it's impossible to clear it!

As humans we only see things in one dimensional terms - ie, what we can see now, what's in the physical realm, but being a Christian means we see things in 2D - we see the spiritual as well as the physical (and by spiritual, I don't mean some wishy washy emotional thing). 

The Garden vs The Gospel

I am reading a book called Discovering Christ in Genesis by Don Fortner and this morning was just mind blowing. Below are some of thing things gleaned from the book.

In the Garden of Eden there was one tree - the eating of the fruit brought death upon all men
In the Gospel there is one tree - the cross of Christ. All who eat of the fruit of that tree will live forever

In the Garden there was one man, Adam, he represented the human race before God, he fell therefore we have all fallen
In the Gospel there is one Man, Christ, the Second Adam, the Last Adam - He represents an elect race before God. By Him and in Him all God's elect live forever.

Adam brought destruction and death upon his race
Jesus Christ has brought redemption and life to His race, God's elect

I began to ponder what I had read and this is what I can see more clearly now:

Man has failed to do what he was created to do (to have perfect communion with God) and only Christ can put that right (He restores the broken relationship we have with God)

Man was created to tend the garden not to till the ground, but because of the Fall, we all have to work by the sweat of our brows to live - I think that's why we resent doing work - we weren't created to slog our guts out!

Man was created to have communion with God, not with Satan.

A poem based on Psalm 1:1-4

Let us be blessed as men
Who love the law of God
Who praise and glorify His name
And rest upon His word

Let us be like the tree
Which drinks the waters deep
And meditate upon God's word
And all His statutes keep

Let us produce fruit
Which yields much heavenly good
'Tis manna to the hungry soul;
Divine and filling food 

From my poetry book - Pools of Living Water (ISBN: 978-0-9561573-1-7)

Women in the Bible

I've heard feminists say that the Bible is anti-women! Well they obviously haven't read it because:

Old Testament:

Sarah embraced motherhood at the age of 90
Naomi loved God with all her heart 
Ruth went back to Israel with Naomi despite being a pagan
Rahab hid the spies so that God's enemies wouldn't kill the Israelites
Hannah prayed for a child and was willing to give him back to the Lord in thankfulness
Abigail placated David after her husband stropped and threw a temper tantrum
Esther risked her life to save God's people from the wrath of Artaxerxes (the king)

New Testament:

Mary (the mother of Jesus) had a deeper faith than her cousin's husband
Elizabeth (Mary's cousin) embraced late motherhood

All the women Jesus had time for, to heal them, speak to them, save them:

Samaritan woman at the well
Woman with the issue of blood
Syro-phoenician woman
Jairus' daughter
Mary Magdalene
The widow of Nain
The widow in the temple with her mite (small amount of money)
Peter's mother in law was healed

I'm sure there must be more!

Paul (feminists would say is a misogynist - they obviously haven't read the rabbinical attitude towards women in those days) was gracious to women

Lydia, Julia, Synthyche, Euodia and many others he greeted in his epistles!

Unfortunately people believe anything they are told without examining the evidence!
 

A. W. Tozer quote

Christians don't tell lies - they just go to church and sing them!

True - how many times have I (and maybe you too) sung hymns like - all that thrills my soul is Jesus - and not really meant it?

Ye shall know them...

Matthew 7: 19, 20 - Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Christ said the above verse about discerning who true believers of His are. How shall we know those who claim to be Christians?

They proclaim Jesus as Lord and Saviour over their lives
They strive to live according to His ways
They love their neighbour
They love their enemies (that's a tough one)
They are forgiving
They are kind
They are filled with compassion
They strive to be filled with the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith,  meekness, temperance (self control) )
They are peacemakers
They have a heart for good and honest things
They strive to be conformed to Christ
Gossip grieves them
They build up and don't knock down
Edification is their way
They look to the hope of glory 
They look out for others and not for their own interests
They desire to know their own hearts

The Arms of Jesus

I emailed this to someone today and thought I would share it on here...

Woke up this morning thinking about the arms of Jesus and some things in the Bible which might not necessarily mention Christ's arms, but the imagery is there.

Deuteronomy 33:27a
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

When you hold a baby, the safest place to hold them is underneath them - you wouldn't grab a baby by the head or grasp their ankles and dangle them upside down, no, the hands go underneath, to offer security and protection. God's arms are always underneath His people offering protection and security. We cannot fall and we are given the assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us - in other words, He will never let us go.

Song of Solomon 6:2

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

Isaiah 40:11b
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom

When I'm in work I sometimes have to put lilies through the till and they are rather large flowers. The other week after reading SoS 6:2 I imagined Christ gathering us (His people) in His arms. Lilies are not like roses with big thorns so that Christ holds us gingerly, they are not weeds which Christ would pull at roughly, no lilies are delicate flowers, to be handled with care and gentleness and so Jesus gathers us in His arms, holding us close to His bosom (that's the best way to carry lilies, rather than by the bottom of their stems - in the crook of your arms, close to your heart). What a beautiful picture of Christ holding His people - holding YOU!

The other verse (is probably a bit more famous); - Christ called Himself the Good Shepherd and that He is! A lamb is such a small creature, helpless and needs protecting. The bosom is the place close to the heart - Christ carries His people close to His heart. Even the wayward lambs, the hyper-active lambs (that's me!), the shy lambs, the injured and hurting lambs - each one of us is carried close to Christ's heart. Can you imagine Him giving you a massive hug as you hurt, as you are stressed as you are poorly - feels those arms drawing you closer and closer to His heart.

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I have always imagined Christ with a gentle tone in His voice (obviously we don't know what He looks like or sounds like, but I'm talking about in my soul), His arms outstretched beckoning so gently, for us to come into His arms. The 'Come' isn't one of an angry parent telling a child off, it's someone calling in a meek and gentle way those of us who are weak, heavy laden, hurting, ill, suffering etc. Again when we go to Christ we rest close to His heart - as He calls 'Come!' His arms are open wide but when we do come to Him, He closes them around us and holds us with an everlasting grasp which cannot be opened again - Nothing shall seperate us from the love of God in Christ - Nothing shall open His arms so that we fall from His grasp!

John 19:18
Where they crucified him

Years ago (in the late 80s) someone gave me a card which said something like - I asked Jesus how much He loved me and He opened His arms and died (I can't remember it exactly). Those arms which hold us close, also hold the wounds of His love. For every chosen person, Jesus was willing to have His hands/arms nailed to that cursed cross. Those arms which hold us close, were once outstretched so that He could hold a chosen people in them again, knowing that His death availed for every single one of them. In Hebrews 12:2 it says:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why did He count it a joy? Because He knew that He was saving a people, He knew that once His work was complete, He could have His everlasting arms underneath His people, He could hold them in His arms, close to His bosom and He could love them, guide them, minister to them (through the Holy Spirit). He did it because of love - it has often been said - love held Him there, not the nails - that is so true. He endured mocking, scourging, being spat upon, having nails driven through His nerves, flesh, muscle, tendons - the pain, searing pain so that we could never endure the pain of hell, He even had His Father turn His back on Him - many people find this difficult to comprehend - how could God turn His back on God? Well He could because Jesus HAD to be our 100% complete Substitute - if God hadn't turned His back on Christ then we would be lost into a Christless eternity, because in our Christless, sinful state - God would turn His back on us. The depth of the love, pain and suffering to win a people for Himself is beyond our comprehension, but He has risen victorious - Christ is (to put it in the words of William Williams [Pantycelyn] ) Death of death (He has destroyed [eternal] death, it no longer lives in His people) and Hell's Destruction - for His people Hell is destroyed - we will never taste the foulness of it, we will never be cast into a Christless eternity because of those arms, spread out on the cross.

Acts 7:56

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God (this is a bit of license now, but I wonder if Jesus had His arms wide open, ready to receive Stephen into His presence - the Bible doesn't say, but I like to think of it that way. And notice that Jesus is standing to welcome Stephen into eternal rest - elsewhere in Scripture it says that Jesus is seated at God's right hand, but He longs to welcome His weary traveller home to His side - what a wonderful picture)!

The Cup, Nails, Darkness, Skull, Sitting and Watching

The Cup 
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39
Jesus drank the bitter cup to the last dregs and sometimes as partakers in the sufferings of Christ we too must go through bitter times we too must drink from the cup! Not just sip, but drink even the dregs.

The Nails
Then they crucified Him Matthew 27:35
By the hands of wicked men Christ was crucified! They hammered the nails into His hands - sometimes the Lord brings people into our lives who are like the nails - painful, they grieve us but we are partakers of His sufferings! As Christ suffered so do I!

The Darkness
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land Matthew 27:45
Christ was taken to a very dark place at Calvary - separation from His Father, but He waited! He could have easily come down from the cross, but He stayed in that dark place, waiting. When God takes us to dark places He allows that darkness, then we must sit and wait upon Him not try to free ourselves and jump this way and that. Our comfort must come from God alone, not from the world or our emotions.

The Skull
And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, Matthew 27:33
The skull is an empty place - no sight, no hearing, no thought, nothing at all - emptiness. We can go to the place of the skull - sometimes we have little understanding of God's purposes - we cannot see His ways, we cannot hear Him speak, but we wait! This is part of partaking in the sufferings of Christ.

Sitting and Watching Jesus
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads Matthew 27:39
Sitting down, they [the soldiers] kept watch over Him there Matthew 27:36
At Calvary some passed by, blasphemed Him and wagged their heads - they weren't interested in sitting and watching Jesus, they wanted to mock Him (v39) but in verse 36 the Roman soldiers sat down and kept watch over Him. Those who walked past didn't see who Jesus truly is, they weren't interested in Him, only mocking Him, but the ones who sat down and watched Jesus were the ones who came to the conclusion that He is the Son of God! Even as believers we have to watch Jesus, fix our eyes upon Him, to become like Him we have to observe Him through the Word (ie Scripture).