"Not this Man, but Barabbas!"

"Then they cired again saying, "Not this Man [Jesus], but Barabbas!" John 18:40

When we, who know the truth of who Jesus and what He has done on the cross, feel utmost disgust at the very thought of the Jews crying out to free Barabbas and imprision Jesus. As a child, my proud little heart was filled with fury at these people who despised the Savior and chose to do good to a robber instead. I often imagined myself travelling through time to knock some sense into their stubborn little heads. That was the proud me, speaking. Now, with a humble heart, I realize that many times in our lives, we too, have chosen Barabbas instead of Jesus. No,we don't release a robber to imprision a Savior. But we did choose something or someone else other than Jesus. Countless times! Every time we chose to sin rather than to obey! It was as if we were also screaming "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" When we chose to befriend the world and to fear their rejection, at the cost of the cross, our hearts would shout "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" When we choose to cheat, and lie, deliberately indulge in sins, both secret and open, we cry out, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!"
And those cries and deeds and sins have nailed our Savior to the cross. Should this not fill our hearts with sorrow and remorse? That we have often chosen Barabbas instead of Christ? But it should also fill our redeemed hearts with love and thankfulness for the Lord's sacrifice and forgivness. It should make us loathe sin--not just the great and awful ones, but each tiny little disobedience.
Let us therefore, watch and pray, lest we cry again "Not this Man, but Barabbas!"

He will preserve His saints...

Preserve (v) - 1) to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction (PROTECT) 2) To keep alive, intact, of free from decay: (MAINTAIN)

"He preserves the soul of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.:" Psalm 97:10b

A Christian's life contains many trials and temptations. We need them for our growth. In the course of these trials, however, we often find ourselves in a valley -- a dark alley which seems to be the lowest portion of our lives; a spiritual valley where agents of the dark lie in wait to beat up our souls. Sometimes, victory comes quickly and the Christian rises with triumph. Yet there are times when we feel a painful struggle. Temptations overlap, trials make us sore. They come, blow after blow, until we fall to our knees. Our hope begins to wane, and sometimes we feel faint and stop fighting. The sword is still in our hand, but our souls are too weary and tired to continue. We drop to our knees, nearly ready to give up the fight. But God keeps his promise. He will PRESERVE the soul of his ailing saints. We can NEVER say we are hopeless. At the darkest, and seemingly most hopeless time of our life, we must remember that God will preserve our souls. Either by giving us more grace to match our trials, or by sending providence to deliver us out of the dreadful situation. He will not stop preserving us. He will never let us fall to hopeless abandonment. Even when, in our foolishness we fall, He will help us up again. The process may be painful, but He will keep His promise. He will preserve the saints. What a joy!