THANKFUL HEART performed by Don Ives and written by Bob Hartman

THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS ✝️

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:15
Pastor Greg Laurie once told a true story about a couple visiting a jewelry store. As the jeweler showed them various cross necklaces, the woman commented, “I like these, but do you have any without this little man on them?”
It’s a funny story, but with an element of Truth:
That’s what so many people want today: A cross without Jesus. They want a cross without any offense . . . because The Cross shows us the depths of our sins. We don’t want to face what sin is in the sight of God–how deeply it offends Him and how it separates us from Him.
The Romans chose crucifixion because it was meant to be a slow, torturous death. It was designed not only to kill someone, but to utterly humiliate them as they died. Crucifixions outside Roman cities served as warnings to anyone who would dare oppose the rule of Rome.
God Himself said in Isaiah 53, that He was “Pleased to bruise Him”. He wasn’t pleased to torture His beloved Son. He was pleased with the outcome.
Jesus prayed in the garden that there be ANY OTHER WAY that the cup, the cup of OUR SIN, yours and mine, that He was facing could be removed. Do you think if there were any other way that God would have allowed His Son to suffer like this? If there had been any other way we could have been forgiven, God surely would have found it! But there was, and is, NO OTHER WAY. He had to settle our debt. Pay the price for our sin. At the Cross, Jesus purchased the salvation of the world.
The Apostle Paul describes it best:
“God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the Cross” – Colossians 2:13–15
Friend, if you were ever tempted to doubt God’s love for you, even for a moment, then take a long, hard look at the Cross of Calvary and the lonely figure hanging there. Nails did not hold Jesus to that Cross. HIS LOVE FOR YOU DID. ❤️

Thankful Heart

There is no way to begin
To tell you how I feel
There are no words to express
How you’ve become so real
Jesus you’ve given me
So much I can’t repay
I have no offering
I have a thankful heart
That you have given me
And it can only come from you
There is no way to begin
To tell you how I feel
There’s nothing more I can say
And no way to repay
Your warming touch
That melts my heart of stone
Your steadfast love
I’ll never be alone
I have a thankful heart
That you have given me
And it can only come from you
I have a thankful heart
Words don’t come easily
But I’m sure you can see
My thankful heart
Help me be a man of God
A man who’s after your own heart
Help me show my gratitude
And keep in me a thankful heart
I have a thankful heart
That you have given me
And it can only come from you

I have a thankful heart
Words don’t come easily
But I’m sure you can see
My thankful heart

Thankful heart…