Holy Week- The day after

I purposefully didn’t post yesterday because anything I would have said would have been dark, heavy and possibly too much.  Nothing we can ever imagine or do would properly convey the agony Jesus suffered on that day.  Facing separation from His Father (even if temporarily) and bearing the weight of the world’s sins on his shoulders, it brings tears to my eyes to even type that.

Which brings us to today.  The day after.  Christ’s beaten, bruised body laid in a tomb.

Can you imagine what his mother was feeling?  what his disciples were going through?  what the people who had witnessed his miracles and mercy firsthand were pondering?

Did they have doubt?  Were they confused?  Were they beside themselves with grief over losing one who meant so much?

We know the end of the story…the good news.  Tomorrow, we will celebrate the glorious resurrection that was part of God’s plan all along.

But today, allow yourself to sympathize with what the people must have felt.

I know that I have felt doubt in my life.  Wondered where God was in a particular situation.

I know that I have been confused and wondered how something in my life could really be part of God’s plan.

I know that I have grieved, many times, over losing someone important to me and not understanding why.

My guess is that you have too.

Thank God that we are not stuck in the day after.  Thank God that this story does not end here.  Thank God for tomorrow!

Holy Week- Maundy Thursday

This was such a special night.  A night when Jesus provided his disciples (present and future) with beautiful promises for those that choose to serve Him.

The Lord gave them a new command that night (and it still holds true for us today).

A new command I give you.  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  John 13:34-35

I struggle sometimes in my friendships with other believers (other disciples of Jesus). We can really be hard on each other. Amen?

As Christian women we certainly don’t set the best of examples for others when we publically debate over theology, judge one another for our actions without being aware of someone’s complete situation, put our “best” face forward instead of being stripped bare before others as was demonstrated on this Holy Thursday so many years ago.

I write this, not in a spirit of condemnation because I too am guilty of this, but in a spirit of desire: desiring to follow after the command that Jesus left the night before He carried our sins to the cross.

Jesus kept talking that night and would repeat His words about loving one another.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends….This is my command: Love each other.  John 15: 12-13, 17

A great way to lay down our life, our flesh for our friends is to crucify the need to be right.

The need to have the last word.  The need to be vindicated.  The need to be acknowledged.

Today, I am asking my God to bring to my remembrance times that I have not put loving my friends, my sisters in Christ ahead of my own wants, desires and needs.

Wash me, Lord, of selfish ambition, pride, haughtiness, sinful anger.  Let me see others through your merciful and tender eyes. Help me be the friend you want me to be, demonstrating your love to everyone I come in contact with.  Give me the courage to say I am sorry when I miss the mark and the tenacity to carry on.  Through your strength Jesus, only through your strength.  Wash me, Lord.  Thank you for being the example of what true relationships should look like.  I am in awe of your glory. ~Amen.

If anything I have written or said on this site has caused any of you to stumble, hurt you or affected you negatively in any way I take this time to humbly ask for your forgiveness.  Let us spur one another on toward doing good and abiding in Jesus and his sacrificial love for us.

Holy Week- Day One

This week I have committed myself to really diving in to the days and hours leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus.  Easter is my favorite holiday- I love celebrating the resurrection and all that it means for those of us that have accepted Christ as our Savior and all it can mean for those yet to be saved.

We attended a Seder event put on by Jews for Jesus at our church last week.  I was awestruck by the symbolism that points back to Christ.  I love learning about traditions and Biblical history.  But, the thing that stuck with me the most after attending that event was my youngest son, turning to his dad and I in the car after the ceremony, and saying “Mama, how can Jews NOT believe in Jesus?”  I was asking myself the same thing.

Only by knowing Jesus can you truly pass-over from death to eternal life.

Then there are all the lessons we can learn from how Jesus conducted himself during this week in His life. (I will be diving into that later this week)

But, today, the day after Palm Sunday (the day of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem) I want to see Him that way…just for today.  Before the world started accusing Him and plotting His death, before He accepted the weight of my sins and bore them on Calvary…I just want to, I need to remember that He is my King, The King and that this deep, sad, story has a happy ending.

I hope that you will join me this week as we uncover the true ugliness of what was done to our Savior, on our behalf.  Stick with me through the injustice, the pain and the bitterness- because we know how this story ends.

And that is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday.

What does Holy Week mean to you?  I would love to know.

I’m being bossy but go read this!

I don’t recall a book I have ever read that touched me this much or had this much of an impact on my life. For my review of The Shack, click here. And do yourself a favor, READ IT!!

It’s just my disease

Yesterday was a comedy of errors. Most days are for me but my kiddos are home on school break and as Matt so succinctly and sarcastically put it “I’d forgotten how fun it is to hang out with you, Mom”. But, even when life gets a little crazy there are things to learn and lessons God is teaching us. I wanted to share those with you today.

We started out by going to get our teeth cleaned (regular six month appointment). Now, when I scheduled the appointment for 8:00 on a Monday morning I had forgotten it was on a break. So, the boys were not at all amused at having to get up and out of the house so early while all their Christmas gifts were beckoning for their attention.
This was my first cleaning since I am on blood thinners. Suffice it to say, in the interest of not grossing anyone out, that I felt like a vampire. My gums have started bleeding when I am brushing my teeth but the dentist just seemed to open the floodgates. ICK! And, in typical me fashion, I was laying there thinking “please don’t get any blood on my outfit I do not have time to go home and change”. Yes, I am a tad bit anal retentive LOL

Then we headed to the bank to put the boys Christmas money in their savings accounts. Then on to the pharmacy to pick up the very medicine that caused the red flood earlier in the morning.
Well, when we got back to the car I fumbled around in my purse for my keys- this is nothing new. They always fall to the bottom of the humongo (probably not a word) purses I like to carry. While I am hunting in the bottom of my purse, Matt says “mom- your keys are on the front seat”. “Noooooo”, I cried out. This happens to me often enough that I shouldn’t have been surprised (they refer to this as brain fog in the MS world) but I was. Matt lovingly (I wish you could feel the sarcasm dripping off that word as I type it) reminded me that the movie I had promised to take them to started it 40 minutes, as if I had forgotten. I placed several phone calls to people who weren’t home or weren’t anywhere near where I was.

While I was freaking out in my flesh, Jared was praying. I didn’t know this. As I mentioned I was freaking out. “Mom, I’ll be right back”, he said. I didn’t even look up from scrolling through the numbers on my cell phone as he crossed the street.

He came back in short order and said “everything’s ok”. God sent that policeman over there- he pointed across the parking lot- and he doesn’t have the tool in his car but he is radioing for another guy to come help us.

And don’t feel bad, Mom. It’s just your disease”.

Three minutes later here came the policeman that I wanted to hug who popped open my car with no problem and allowed us to make it to the movie- we didn’t even miss the previews.

“Don’t feel bad, mom. It’s just your disease”.

Jared was referring to MS but yesterday didn’t have as much to do with that as the disease of busyness and I can do it myselfitis that plagues so many of us. I am ashamed to say that my twelve year old thought to pray when I didn’t. And, God came through. As usual!

I pray that God will continue to work in my life to heal me from my diseases- the busyness of life that drives us to distraction, to being distracted from Him and the fierce independent streak that separates me from leaning on His everlasting arms when I should.

Walking in Obedience

I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me- Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them. Psalm 57:2
This verse is yet another promise from God that He has everything under control, is working my circumstances toward good and His glory and will complete the purpose He has me here for is His time. So, why in the world do I feel like I am floundering sometimes? Why do I feel like I must be missing my calling or not hearing God? How can what God is calling me to do be to not do much? That goes against – oh, yeah- it goes against my perfectionistic, overaccomplishing, driven, ambitious FLESH!!
Right now, sitting here, only allowed to drive locally, not able to handle the hectic schedule I was juggling prior to my hospitalization, I am at peace. My family is happier having me home when they arrive from school and work. I am helping our family save money just in the gas that I used driving from meeting to meeting and task to task. I am spending so much more time in the Word than I have in the past. I am walking in obedience to what God is asking me to do, even though it doesn’t make sense to my mind, my intellect, my flesh. It makes perfect sense to my soul and my heart- and I hold on to the promise of Psalm 57:2 that as I step out in obedience of what the Holy Spirit is convicting me to do (be still- stay still- stop going going going like the energizer bunny and be still!) the Lord will complete my purpose and this is where He wants me to be right now. I don’t need to understand it to obey Him. The place I am right now is called walking in obedience- walking by faith, not by sight and I am okay with that.

Stand and still Stand

No one promises a life free of pain and suffering to those that believe in God, and if they do they are not preaching from a Biblical perspective. Sometimes it is so difficult to understand why bad things happen to good people. Why does God allow yucky things in our lives? The book of James talks a lot about trials, temptations and suffering and one of my favorite verses about that is James 5:8- “Be patient and stand firm”…
Life hands us knock down punches sometimes, often unexpected. I have been dealt some of those myself, for sure. But, what I have seen what God has revealed to me is that not expecting the knock down punches is what the Devil counts on. As Christians, we should be expecting these attacks and should call them what they are- the enemy’s pathetic attempts to distract us from seeing the God things going on in our lives. I Peter 5:8 says “be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and then v 10 has the promise “and the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”.
Without the element of surprise, trials and difficult situations lose thier power over us, to break us down and weaken our faith. So, stand strong. Be alert and don’t be surprised. If the enemy is attacking you or your life it is simply because your relationship with Christ is making him nervous. That is not a bad thing, dear ones- not at all. If you have been knocked down, let Jesus help you get back up and restore your hurt and bruised self to the strong woman of God you know you can be.