Author: Stanley Simpson

When He Was on the Cross – Entry #2 of 7

This entry covers the following two lines in the song:

But I’ll prove someday just why I say
I’m of a special kind

Many people seem to focus their life on proving something as opposed to accepting who they are. Sometimes we have a hard time accepting who we are and spend way too much time thinking about being like other people. Some people are going to be very intellectual, some are going to have a lot of common sense, some are going to be scientists, some are going to be farmers, some are going to be wealthy financially and some are going to be wealthy in other areas of their lives. We can either dream about being someone we are never going to be or we can accept who we are and be the person God wanted us to be. What do we really have to prove? We have a relatively short life on this earth and then, assuming we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we will have eternity in heaven. There is nothing wrong with dreaming and maybe admiring others, but our focus should be on being the person God really wants us to be. He wants our heart, not our accomplishments.

When God created us, we were created as unique individuals and each of us has a purpose. We may understand that purpose early in life or we may gain understanding later in life; but it is all in God’s timing. The purpose in our life comes from who God created us to be and it resides deep in our heart and soul. We have a tendency to assess/judge people based on appearance and perhaps actions, but we do not know their heart nor God’s purpose/mission for them. People we categorize as bad sometimes do good things and people we categorize as good sometimes do bad things. Judging others is something we should never do since we do not know the inner works of their heart or the reason behind why God put them on this earth.

What we should know is that we were put here for a unique purpose and that by accepting him, we become his children. If we know Christ as our Savior, we are rewarded with the gift of eternal life; He alone can grant us this gift. Christ loves everyone and wants them to be His people; but many do not return His love and therefore will never feel what it is like to belong to him. The bible tells us we are chosen out of this world once we accept Christ. I do believe Christ has a broken heart for all of those who do not return his love and his offer of eternal life.

Even though we can’t grant the gift of eternal life to anyone, we can certainly tell them about how to become part of God’s family. We all have the responsibility to deliver this message so that everyone we meet as the opportunity to understand what it means to be a Child of God. We are set apart with God once we have accepted Christ and we want to make sure everyone we meet has that opportunity. Another powerful objective we have in our lives is to show love to others and make them feel wanted and needed while on this earth. I read a daily devotion from Max Lucado and here is a story that shows how making someone special can change a life.

“I once shared a class with a girl who got engaged. I don’t remember much about the class except the hour was early and the teacher was dull. I don’t even remember the girl’s name. I do remember that she didn’t stand out in the crowd. She was shy and not very confident. One day, however, her hair changed, her outfit changed, and even her voice changed. She spoke with confidence. What made the difference? Simple. A young man she loved looked her squarely in the eye and said, “Come and spend forever with me.” He proposed to her. His love for her convinced her she was worth loving.”

No matter what others may think, those who have accepted Christ truly are of a Special Kind. We are not perfect and we will make a lot of mistakes, but we know where we will spend eternity.

When He Was on the Cross – Entry #1 of 7

The song this first series of Blogs will analyze is a song written by Mike Payne and Ronnie Hinson in 1983.   A link to the song as sung by the Florida Boys is at the bottom of this entry.

 

When He was on the Cross

I’m not on an ego trip
I’m nothing on my own
I made mistakes and often slip
Just common flesh and bones
But I’ll prove someday just why I say
I’m of a special kind
For when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
A look of love was on his face
Thorns were on his head
The blood was on his scarlet robe
And stained a crimson red
Though his eyes were on the crowd that day
He looked ahead in time
For when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
He knew me, yet he loved me
He whose glory makes the heavens shine
So unworthy of such mercy
Yet when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.
Yet when he was on the cross
I was on his mind.

We often read and hear about Christ on the cross, how he suffered, how he reached out to the criminals beside him, and how he died on that cross. All of this is true and I know there is more to the story, but I wanted to review some of other surrounding aspects of this event as written in this song.

I’m not on an ego trip, I’m nothing on my own

Wow, think about the culture of today; it often seems as if we live in an “all about me” and “right now” world. So many people live in the moment, want to know “what’s in it for me”, and forget the big picture and how others are part of everything they do. Many articles are published today about people who don’t want to earn their way in a career, they don’t want to do their time, they want to start at the top. Many people are focused on starting with the big house and the new car since that is what many of their friends have or strive to have as quickly as possible. The faith of so many people is in themselves and that they alone are in control of their destiny.

There seems to be way too much focus on “what I did and what I have” as opposed to who helped get them there and how they would have failed without those who supported them. The songwriter states that he/she is not striving for the spotlight, to promote themselves as the best, or to promote an “all about me world”. He/she knows they are nothing without help from others. These people surely want to be successful in all parts of their life, but they are not seeking press and platitudes since they know the journey from who they are to who they will become is not solely in their hands. We all need help to get to the end of our life’s journey. There is nothing wrong with success, the issue is any self pride or ego associated with that success, and the lack of acknowledging that you could not have done it alone.

I made mistakes, often slip, just common flesh and bones.

These are the humble people who admit their mistakes and weaknesses; they know they are just human beings and were never meant to be perfect. It is more important to acknowledge who we really are than it is to pretend we are someone we are not. We need to realize we don’t know all of the answers; we probably don’t even know all of the questions. We must pick ourselves up after every failure and start marching forward again along with those who are there to be part of our journey. Every failure and every stumble brings new knowledge and perhaps more support as our journey continues.

When He Was on the Cross Sung by the Florida Boys