The Gift of Easter
Wee ones always enjoy a fun Easter Egg Hunt around Easter-time. When my girls were little, we had hunts inside when we had bad weather and outside in nature where it really is so much fun when weather allowed. At church or at a park, we always were on the lookout for children whose baskets were empty and “guided” them toward unfound eggs. But we always had the question of “What do Easter Egg hunts really have to do wtih the meaning of Easter?” Our simple response was that searching for and finding the eggs celebrated the need for a Savior which is the greatest gift of God Our Father. And what happens to eggs? Eggs in the nest hatch and new life is born!” Christians around the world celebrate God’s ultimate gift to the world in Jesus Christ. God knows that we humans need a gracious Savior, so God Himself came to us as Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Christ, the King of Kings, gave his earthly life for us and this is our salvation. Through His gift we have forgiveness of sins and Eternal life. Praise be to God!!! The season of Lent is for our focus on repenting our sins and asking forgiveness. It is an opportunity for us to reflect of the lives we live and recognition of areas in our lives that we can find a closer walk with Christ and in His teachings. There are numerous prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus Christ, the coming of our Messiah. Isaiah, the prophet, writes in Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And so, in this Holy Week, we reflect of the miraculous birth of our Savior, His teachings, our sins, and the HOPE we have in His sacrifice for our Eternal life withGod the Father. Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! Easter blessings to...
Read MoreHuman Rebooting
Much like a computer, there are times when we humans could use a complete rebooting. Following the 18 month long campaigns to elect a new President of the United States and the ugliness and divisiveness that has prevailed, I have found myself in need of a complete reboot. I feel I need to start fresh, to re-center myself. I want all the mess to fall away and to engage a new day filled with love, patience, kindness and mutual respect. So, where’s the Escape button?? Instead of searching the keyboard, my plan for the big reboot is first to pray to God for His guidance. He never steers me wrong. He immediately knows who’s calling and He is always there, never too busy. So, He reminds me that in the scriptures I find my answers… “Follow me,” Jesus said. What? “Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” Luke 18:22 Ah, there it is. “Heavily burdened” and then, “rest.” I need an emotional rest and I bet you may as well. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “And now these three remain. Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13: 13 That’s it…hit that spiritual button and its, indeed, a new day!! A day of renewal, fresh and full of decency, humility, love, and hope for ALL. Praise God from Whom ALL blessings come!...
Read MoreBeing Filled
There are days when we might feel hollow… empty. We’ve been drained to where we feel we have nothing left. Have you ever felt that way? Yet, because we are earthen vessels crafted by the Almighty Creator of us all, we just need to call on the One who can fill us again…and sometimes He fills us to overflowing. Could it be that this overflowing is because we weren’t completely empty? Though, we surely can get to the point where we feel empty, bare, dry to the bone. If we could somehow look down into our own vessel, we would be reminded that during Creation and our forming, God placed the soul that resides within us and never leaves us until we pass on into Eternity. The soul is a pretty busy part of us earthen vessels. It communicates with our Father as is His intention. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit, it prays for us when we are at our absolute lowest and seem to have no words. It illuminates our vessel with such joy, love and, at the same time, softly nurtures us as we feel sorrow. When I contemplate the state of us as these earthen vessels, I’m reminded of Henri Nouwen and his writing about the Cup of Life in his book, “Can You Drink the Cup?” Jesus asked his disciples that question before the Last Supper because He knew the road ahead of them. Christ held His cup that God had given Him…and it surely had the bitter taste of persecution, betrayal and suffering. It also possessed the greatest joy of His life being sacrificed for the salvation of mankind. Knowing all, Christ drank His cup offering us the great gift of Eternal life. Jesus has told us in John 7:38 “Whosoever believes in me shall have rivers of water flowing within him.” That is the living water that quenches our thirst and sustains our lives forever. So at our lowest points, when we feel that emptiness, we can recall God’s promises to us that He is always with us and that we are His. Body, soul and spirit. Galatians 3:23-6:18 “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me, break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” Thanks be to...
Read MoreApproaching Easter…The Garment
There is a song about Christ’s death that says something like this, “they should have been my hands, where the nails were; they should have been my feet, where the nails were; it should have been my side…for it’s for me my Lord died.” Yes, those nails should have pierced my hands, my feet and the sword should have been plunged into my side, not His. My sins, my salvation…His pain, His Grace. I guess most of us have all thought about this. God so loved us that He gave His own Son to take our nails, our sword, our pain, our death so that we might live…so that we would be forgiven. Now, you’ve got the picture, don’t you? I see it as a gray looking, windy day on Golgotha. Up on a hill, stood three crosses…two of them with thieves…we might even say they “deserved” THEIR crosses. But, the third one. That third cross…that one was yours and mine. Ours, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how the Crown of Thorns adorned his head? The blood ran down His forehead, His head hanging slightly…I wish I could have wiped his brow for Him. The nails piercing His hands and feet. It hurts to really think what that must have felt like. I’ve wondered why those nails didn’t just rip right on through His hands with the weight of His body. Yet, I’ve thought about how trim His body looked in drawings…after all, He never indulged Himself and He did keep a busy schedule! Then, there’s the garment. Simply a loin cloth, barely hanging around His hips. Hanging. I see it dirty and bloody after walking His final walk from Gethsemane to Golgotha, carrying our cross, being knocked to the ground by the jabbing and jeering soldiers, beaten and whipped. Our Lord carrying our load, bearing our pain, stripped for our forgiveness. I must admit, I would have wanted to yell and scream at the soldiers and the crowd for persecuting him. Instead, He asked, “Father, forgive them.” What a Lord! It’s odd, isn’t it, how sometimes certain things can puzzle us? That garment bothers me. Not really fit for a King. Our King. I would have liked to have washed it for him. Instead, He washed ME. Clean. Completely clean. I would have liked to have made Him something more suitable, more honorable, more King-like. Instead, He prepared a Table for me…and you, too. I would have liked to have given him a drink of water…he had to be thirsty. Instead, He offered me His blood, shed for me…His body, broken for me, so that I might NEVER thirst again. I would have wanted to stand up for Him. Instead, He hung for me. The bread and the wine. Remembrance. Covenant. Grace. Love. Drink. Taste the tears, the pain, the humiliation, the loneliness and, then taste the Joy of forgiveness. The cross? Yours and mine. The sacrifice? His, for sure. The garment? The label reads, “Especially for Jesus, Designed by the Father.” Praise God from Whom all blessings flow....
Read MoreWhat's Your Passion?
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