From Darkness to Rejoicing

A few thoughts regarding the Cross for this precious Easter: There is so much activity around this Holiday. Many rushing about to find the right Easter basket and goodies to add to it. Then, of course, the right dress or suit and tie. For me, it is another opportunity to rejoice in what our Saviour has done for us. I can't help but be amazed when I consider the utter darkness that surrounded the crucifixion, even to the crying out, "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?" Jesus took every mentionable and unmentionable sin, suffering and sickness upon himself. While hanging there, he even refused a drink that would have not only quenched a bit of his thirst, but also dulled his pain for a moment. He accepted the full extent of darkness for our sake. In my line of work I see people all day long. Many have their necks adorned with a chain of one kind or another and on that chain, a cross. Men and women, boys and girls. I see many types of crosses from diamond studded to wooden. What stands out most to me is that some of the crosses hold a replica of the body of Christ and some do not. There are three specific crosses that come to mind. The one that bore our Lord Jesus and the ones on either side of him that bore the two thieves. Those thieves were experiencing their own darkness at that time. They knew it was the end for them and they knew why. They were indeed guilty. Unbeknown to them, the one hanging between the two was the one that at that very moment was bearing their guilt and shame right along with them even though he himself was guilty of nothing. What a deep, dark hole of fear, pain and separation was before them. The inner agony must have been unbearable. Then, a last flicker of hope and faith arose in the heart of the one thief and from his lips he spoke, "Please remember me when you come into your Kingdom." Jesus replied, "This day you will be with me in Paradise." Only at that time did the Lord admit to thirst as he proclaimed, "It is Finished" and gave up his Spirit to the Father. Through the excruciating pain he was suffering, the rush of emotion that must have gone through this thief! To know that his sin was forgiven, his guilt removed. Eternal life was his. To be absent from the body is to be present with Christ. The thief was with Christ that very day. Three days later Jesus did exactly what he said he would. He rose from the dead victorious over death and the grave. All of this to fulfill his purpose. No more guilt, shame or separation. The plan was complete to reunite us with the Father and give us the gift of eternal life. The Cross I wear is empty. Jesus is no longer suffering on the cross nor is he in the grave. He is Risen as He said! He is Risen Indeed! Because of that Cross, occupied then empty, we have gone from Darkness to Rejoicing. HAPPY EASTER TO YOU AND YOURS! "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Building Tabernacles

As some of you already know, I am quite fond of pink trees. It has become quite a tradition for me to announce the sighting of my first one to anyone who will listen. Of course, whomever is with me at that moment, if it happens while they are driving (sorry Honey) would think we were about to hit something with the car. I literally scream, "LOOK! THERE IT IS! THE FIRST ONE!" Well, it happened. I spotted my first one. I proceeded to call and make my proud proclaimation to my daughter who in turn announced that she had spotted one three hours earlier. I determined it mattered not which one of us made our discovery before the other. What mattered was, that they really existed and that meant only one thing. Spring has Sprung! I don't care what the calendar says, to me they are a sign of Spring to arrive once more. You might be wondering what Building Tabernacles has to do with Spring. Let me explain what I have been thinking. The pink tree in itself points to the real target, that of the wonderful, warm, colorful, newness of life brought on by the Season of Spring! Spring means the beginning of spending time outside, children laughing, lawnmowers running, birds singing, picnics, fishing, boating, etc., etc. It is the SEASON I am looking for. Then I began to think of the time Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain. He was transfigured before their eyes and Moses and Elijah showed up as well. They witnessed His glory and two men who according to their standards, were no longer among the living. Wow! Talk about an exclamation, "LOOK!" And then came the idea, "Let's build three tabernacles. One for you, Jesus and one for Moses and one for Elijah." "This is great!" ( A bit of a paraphrase here.) Then came the cloud that enveloped them and God spoke, "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" As there are so many amazing things that the Season of Spring encompasses, it is really Spring that we focus on. Everything else is a result of it. We may try to capture all the activities, aromas and sounds but they are only passing. The wonderful thing we can count on in this world is that Spring itself will return. Sometimes we can "build tabernacles" when it comes to our walk with the Lord. He does something incredible in our midst, like the transfiguration and we want to stay right there. I believe it is our human nature. He thrills us and we enjoy it so much that we fix our eyes on the amazing situation. We want to soak it up and keep it close to us and in our hearts and never lose it. We become comfortable with it and it may even become an object of worship without our even realizing. God is saying, "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" We can't hang on to the results of Spring. The flowers fade, the leaves eventually die and all turns gray and we focus on those things and lose the life that is in the other seasons because we want it to be like Spring all the time. We can't build a tabernacle to the great things we see God doing or we will never move on to the next step of what he wants to do. "Present interpretation and fresh revelation are always needed for life with a living God." (a quote from a book I once read) The pillar moved; the cloud moved. Let us always be ready to move. A tabernacle sounds permanent. Again, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." and move on to the next "season" he has for us. Let us exclaim loudly, "LOOK! There HE is!" And, as we are so doing, let's enjoy this earthly Season of Spring to the fullest!

Stand in Awe

I love to memorize Scripture. I began doing it as a new Christian. We used to have Scripture quoting "contests" during Sunday morning services. It was a wonderful way to get the Word in our hearts and lift our Faith level. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God", Romans 10:17. Recently I memorized Hebrews 12:28 and 29, "Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and AWE, for our God is a comsuming fire." Everything around us can be shaken, life can be turned upside down literaly as we know, but the Kingdom we belong to which is not of this world, can never be. It is solid and unmoveable because the King is solid and unmoveable. "He is the same yesterday, today and forever" Hebrews 13:8. I woke up singing, "I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you." Let us fix our eyes on Jesus today and not on our circumstances and let him AWE us as we watch what he does in our lives and in behalf of those we love. What a wonderful, AWESOME God we serve!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to my beautiful Daughter Kim, "The Ungourmet" who is also having a Bloggy Birthday, I began blogging a year ago this month. I don't blog as often as a lot of my Bloggy Friends. However, I love having the opportunity to share the things that inspire. My plan this year is to post more often to hopefully encourge and "spur" others on in their relationship with the Lord and those whose lives they touch from day to day. Life puts us all in the same Bloggy Boat so to speak and as the saying goes on a little greeting card I have, "Life is just so Daily" so I believe we need to encourage one another daily as we wait for the return of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My passion remains the same as it reads in "about me".

Blessings to all my Friends who have left comments over the past year. You have certainly blessed me. I love visiting each of your blogs and learning from each of you.

Love, joy and peace be yours this day!

After the Storm

Have you ever noticed how clean and crisp the air feels and smells after a rain storm? It is so refreshing! You just close your eyes and breathe it in. It even has a way of "lifting your spirit" so to speak. For a day or two you feel happy; you're smiling and you sense the same from those around you. In like manner, the storms of life have an impact on our inner being. Recently, one of those storms hit my life out of the blue. I was blind sided. I knew there was an incomprehensible tension I had been experiencing for some time but couldn't put my finger on it. In one moment a very close relative exploded in anger and expressed that they could not deal with my "drama queen" actions any longer and were going home, cutting short a visit that had been intended to last a bit longer. I was crushed at first and burst into tears. I had no idea what was happening. Well, having learned through many years of walking with the Lord that everything happens for the good and being open to growth, I did the only thing I could and cried out to God and said, "What in the world is happening here?" Now, I will digress a little bit. Years ago, I asked the Lord to help me be like Mary, the mother of Jesus. When she was told by the angel what was to happen to her regarding pregnancy, carrying the Savior of the world, etc., she "pondered all these things in her heart". I have the tendency to get excited and blurt out everything the Lord shows me and THAT'S A LOT OF BLURTING! I had made some progress in the "pondering in my heart" part. The part I wasn't doing so well with was harnessing the need to process my thoughts out loud. I had not realized how much I did this until this particular "storm" hit. By processing out loud this way, in other words, expressing what I needed to get done for the day; what was broken and needed fixing; how tired I was; how I had to go to work that day; needed to walk the dog; forgot to call so and so; didn't get the dishes done; needed to help so and so do this or that; had to cook dinner; forgot an item at the store; wish I had more time to..., etc., you get the picture, I was creating an atmosphere of constant turmoil. Wow! I really did not realize what an impact I was having with something that had become shear habit and the pressure I was unwittingly putting on others to deliver me from my "dilema" which was really no "dilema" at all. God is so gracious to give Wisdom if you ask him and you "count it all joy when you encounter trials of many kinds". The Book of James teaches us this and says all these trials will give us patience and "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (Chapter 1 verse 4) My desire is to continually grow in the Lord and mature and have his nature expressed through my life as I walk in relationship with Him. His Word says that he promises to perfect that which concerns us. So, back to my recent storm. All is well, the clouds lifted, restoration reigned, smiles returned. There will be many visits to come. And I am learning that as I ponder things in my heart more and reason together with the Lord regarding my days activities, peace is able to rule in greater proportion in my heart and home. The air is fresh again and the Son is Shining! My resolution for 2010 is to be a "peacemaker" in and out of my home. It brings added meaning to the Scripture that says. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue". "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you my Lord."

My Big Brother

Hello Friends! As you have noticed, I haven't blogged for a season. I think I was going through a "Blogger Wilderness". I have been trying to decide just why I blog and if it is necessary. I have thought about whether or not to change the nature of my blog. Should it be more personal, etc. There are so many blogs in Bloggerville... would I be missed? Well, I've decided the important thing is that at some point the things I say encourage someone or even inspire them to write a new blog post. As Believers, we are part of one another and any "word" we might speak to benefit someone is of value. I believe the enemy of our souls would want to silence as many of us as he can. However, we need to "let His praises ring". The Scriptures say that if we won't praise His name the very rocks of the ground will praise Him. He WILL be praised! I could write a lot more about praise, however, I would like to share a beautiful revelation our Jesus gave me the other day. I was driving to work and I began to think of my big brother. His birthday is in a few days. My thoughts went back to a time that as a young girl, my brother invited me to go with him and his friends to the movies. Going to the movies on a Friday night was a common practice for me and my brother and sister. All our friends went as well. Most of the time I went with my big sister or was dropped off at the theater by someone. I think I was 11 or 12 years old at the time I went with my brother. I was so proud of him and was honored that he would take me with him. It was important to me that he be proud of me. There was another time when I was a young adult of 19 that he spoke out in front of his own fiance and said, "Doesn't my little sister have pretty eyes?" It just made me beam inside. Now, as the rest of us, my big brother was not and is not perfect. There were times we fought and times he treated me badly and said unkind things to me. I could list them here but I choose to remember things like the big smile on his face when our family watched him graduate from boot camp and when he came home from Viet Nam looking so grown up and handsome. That's the way it is with love. First Corinthians 13:5 says "...love keeps no record of wrongs." There came a time in my life I began to care more about what someone else thought of me. Now to the revelation. During my drive, I did begin to think of a lot of the negative things that happened when I was young. Then the Lord lovingly invaded my thinking with His thoughts. The ideal big brother, in my eyes and some of this I had with my big brother, is one who will put his arm around you and protect you. He would stand up for you no matter what. He would fight for you. He would teach you by his words and his example. (My brother did teach me to stop throwing a baseball "like a girl".) He would listen to your problems and not judge you. He would counsel you for your good. He would forgive you. The list goes on and on. Sound like anyone? Yes, Jesus is the perfect Big Brother. This is yet another aspect of our Lord being ALL in ALL!!!! He will never hurt you... never leave you... always be there... always forgive... always believe in you! John 1:12 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." NIV Jesus is the only begotten Son and we have become His brothers and sisters. I am extremely proud of my Big Brother and my earthly big brother likes to know... I think he is pretty cool as well. "Happy Veteran's Day, Big Brother!"

The Rose and the Cross

"You lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a Rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall and thought of me above all." Those words to the popular song "Above All" sparked significant meaning to me this past Sunday during Worship. Each day I look out my door and in my small yard is a very large metal cross. In front of the cross is a very small red rose bush. The story behind the cross began a couple of years ago when a young man named Daniel was killed in a car accident. The loss was great to the family and they wanted to memorialize Daniel by placing a cross at the scene of the accident. This particular cross came from the top of an old church building that was being torn down. It turned out that the family decided to reject this particular cross because of the sharp, jagged edges and protrusions around the screws that held it together at the base. That cross was replaced by a smoother, safer memorial. My husband and I were asked if we would like to have the former cross and I suppose just because it was a cross, we said, "Yes" and found what we considered a proper spot for it. You see, that young man was our nephew. For my recent birthday, my daughter gave me the small rose bush and it seemed a good thing to adorn the plain metal cross with the beautiful little rose. That is what led to the following inspirational thoughts. I Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." That particular metal cross was rejected because of the potential to cause harm to those who might take hold of it. How many people reject the cross because to them it would cause pain. It would, in their thinking, cause them to lose their life and the things of this world that they so enjoy. It might make them have to sacrifice themselves in some way... maybe go to a foreign country and become another Mother Teresa. Perhaps feeling that prick from the sharp edges bring conviction of their need for a Savior would make them run the other way. I think of ways I rejected the Cross of Jesus without even knowing it as I was growing up. One example was the time I scribbled over a note a Christian girl wrote in my yearbook about God. I was embarrassed for other friends to see it, even though I believed in God. A lot of the time that rejection can be intentional or because of a lack of understanding or revelation of the truth regarding the Cross. Even when we intentionally reject the Cross, its reality is not negated. The sharp edges and pain that it seems to cause are to bring us to the place of brokenness and repentance and confession. Then as we allow the Love of the Cross, Jesus, the one that was rejected, the Rose that was trampled for us, the edges become smooth and touchable. We embrace it. We come to love it back and want to sit at its feet and receive all it has for us because it was for us it was created.