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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Download/Upload (11/17/11)
There is a young man who stands tall and distant, and who claims that computer programmers are a race apart. He is a computer programmer. I suppose the same may be said for the specialist in any profession or calling. And so each group develops it’s own mystique, it’s own language, and just as the Lord God confused the languages – and thereby the community – in Nimrod’s day, outsiders are today confused by the specialty speech of the select few.

Computereze is just like that. There are a whole host of terms and rules; words, phrases and short forms designed, I am sure, to keep the uninitiated OUT!

Christianity can be like that, too. We have our divisions and specialties, the ministries by which we categorize ourselves. And we have the special words as well.

Take prayer, for instance. As a fellow citizen not so long ago remarked, “God designed it to be so easy we can do it with our eyes shut!” And so it is when we visit with our Father, whether with thanks or a request, in tears or delight. It is a pleasure to discuss my friends, my family, with my Father: to ask Him to clarify my misunderstandings and take away my fears as Habakkuk did. But do not label me an intercessor. That title carries a burden of human responsibility I do not feel that I can lift. That is my understanding of the word as I hear the requirements of an army of intercessors seeking recruits.

In attempting to visualize the unfamiliar wording of Computereze I find a picture forms from my familiar world.

There is a translation of the Scriptures in which the burnt offering is called an ‘ascending sacrifice.’ The whole concept of the offering is changed from a required action to the “odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” (Phil. 4:18)

An old spiritual encourages me to bring the loads that I carry to the foot of a cross, and there to ‘lay my burden down.’ I have discovered that in truly laying a burden down it becomes, in effect, a ‘burnt offering’ and the resultant thankfulness and praise become the ascending sacrifice acceptable to God.

(Is there written on my heart the message, “Thank you. Your requests clothed in praise have been received”?)

There is a superscription on the cross. It says, “This is the King of the Jews.” It is difficult to look at the figure of the King hung below the title. He has been abused, beaten, ‘marred more than any man.’ But his eyes – his eyes draw me in. His words, “Father, forgive them …” repeat themselves with every burden laid at the foot of the cross. For every beseeching cry, “Lord, remember me,” he replies, “Today you will be with me.”

Such love poured down, in such a cleansing stream. It has the power to open blind eyes to the words of Scripture, the bread, life-giving water, that as we read we ‘eat and drink’ the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

At the foot of the cross we stand at the throne of the King. Our burnt offering becomes an ascending sacrifice, and we receive in return an outpouring, a download, of mercy, grace and glory too great to contain. It must be shared.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/03/11
This was a different but interesting read. I'm not entirely sure that the topic was pivotal to the story line. I liked your message. My husband is a computer geek and I often ask him what does blank mean? This part made me giggle.
Linda Goergen
12/03/11
I too had to laugh at the computer "language"...my son is a computer programmer and he will often spout out terms I can't understand! I love the way you wrote a wonderful devotional around the topic...what a wonderful thought, getting a download of mercy and grace! Enjoyed this!
Lillian Rhoades 
12/08/11
There is a great deal of excellent information here, but in my opinion the topic of the week is not the central theme or focus; although I see wonderful morsels of metaphors, especially in the final paragraph. It's and its are common errors. In this piece, I think you meant the latter. Also, I often make the mistake of thinking that a word that implies many has to be plural, but... "There is a host..."

In the Start Well and Satisfying Conclusion category, I felt somewhat of a disconnect between your opening sentence and the conclusion, but I could be wrong.:-)

Your devotional has many encouraging thoughts for the reader, and that's always appropriate!
C D Swanson 
12/11/11
I truly enjoyed this well written piece. It was creative and filled with a powerful message. Thanks. God Bless you~