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Refreshment in Refuge
by Gina Burgess
Someone asked me the other day what I meant when I said that I was engraved in His palm.
I pointed to Isaiah 49:16 "See, I have enscribed you on the palms of My hands..." God said.
Engraving in the palm is so permanent. Once there, nothing can blot it out or remove it except it be cut out. Even if cut out, the hole is still there. "I will not forget you." "Who can undo what I do?" says the Lord of hosts.
My Bible opened to that verse and I was thinking about it, and God happened to be in a talkative mood.
"What else happened to my palms, Gina?" He asked in that Teacher voice. (Of course I am not hearing Him speak out loud, I just know His voice when He's talking to me in my head. It is different somehow.)
He stretched out His hands willingly to die for me. Those nails pierced His flesh and with me engraved there before I was ever born, the nails pierced me, too. That is as Paul said in 2 Tim 2:12-13... we died with Him and were raised with Him and even when we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself. We are one. Jesus stretched out His arms toward Thomas and there were the marks of the crucifixion, and He said, "Feel them Thomas, touch Me." He was really saying, "Believe Me."
It is almost too much to wrap the brain around. Jesus said in John 17:3, "And this is eternal life that they know You the one true God and they may know Jesus Christ whom You have sent." To know God in that intimate way is beyond faith. It is beyond the head knowledge. It is knowing and understanding with the heart as well as the head. It is being one with Him as Jesus also prayed for us to be.
Engraved in His palm. So close to Him, causing Him so much pain, yet He still sacrificed Himself, even though we were black with sin He made us white as snow.
Look up the word sacrifice. It is surrendering something considered of great value for something that is considered of greater value. He willingly came to earth knowing before hand what was to happen. He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem knowing what awaited Him there.
Engraved in His palm. One with Him.
How could I not honor Him? How could I not live my life for Him? He did so much and I so little. Yet, He looked past the shame, and was not ashamed. He looked past the cross to the joy beyond. Oh, glory. Praise His Holy Name. Amen.
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Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.
She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.
If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon
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