Roses!

New rose bush!

Roses Will Bloom Again

by Marsha Henry

I planted a little rose bush

I tended it with care

It's buds began to blossom

Their fragrance filled the air

But when winter came it withered,

The petals drooped and fell to the ground

My heart sank as it faded

But I'd forgotten who had made it

Chorus:

Roses will bloom again

Just wait and see

Don't mourn what might have been

Only God knows how and when that

Roses will bloom again.

The precious Rose of Sharon

Broken and bruised in cruel shame

Stained on the cross of Calvary

So that men might be saved

Oh, Satan cheered as he died

While Mary and the others cried

Then God raised him up from that sleep

And kept a promise only he could keep.

I See the Cross...

...as a place of love and forgiveness. As I kneel there again, Jesus comes and stands beside me with his hand on my shoulder, his tears mingling with mine. Love. Forgiveness.

Yesterday it happened again. The sudden insight, as though a lightbulb went on in my head. All these years, that's what has been happening. A vow made. A stronghold. Unforgiveness.

But as I knelt at the foot of the cross, confessed my sin and felt God's forgiveness, in an instant, it was gone. I was free! Happy! Loved! Forgiven!

And Jesus bent down, looked me in the eye and said, "Arise, my daughter, to walk in newness of life!"

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they (YOU) may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10