Just sharing.

[beensetfree]

Walking the Passion Week with Christ – Part Two



The final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is recorded in Scripture, so here’s the final week, the Passion Week of Jesus Christ.
Friday Morning
After having been up all night, Jesus stood in front of the Sanhedrin while one false witness after another lied about Him, but Jesus remained silent through it all, so Caiaphas the High Priest angrily asked Him, are “you the Christ, the Son of God?” to which Jesus said, “You have said so.” After that, the high priest tore his clothes, and one by one, they came up to Jesus and hurled insults at Him, spit in His face, slapped Him, and struck Him several times.

“Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him” (Matt 26:65-67).

The Jews condemned Jesus at an illegal trial in the middle of the night. They used false witnesses to testify against Him, and they accused Jesus of being God, which by the way, He is, however they really didn’t understand that this was the very reason Jesus came to be born into human flesh. He came to live a sinless life of perfection, then fall into the hands of the religious leaders, suffer from the scourging by the Romans, and die in agony on the cross. But that was not the end of Jesus as everyone had thought because three days later, Jesus would be raised to life, and it would change the world forever.

Friday Afternoon
There was nothing good about this Friday at all, at least for Jesus or His followers. As they watched Jesus hang on the cross in agony for hours, 3 hours of darkness overcame the land. Then, around 3pm, just when the Jews were killing the Passover lambs, Jesus yield His spirit to the Father. Then there was a faint rumble…then boom, a great earthquake, and suddenly some of the saints of old came out of their graves, many in Jerusalem seeing them. When the Roman centurion saw all that had happened, he fell on his knees, realizing that this Man truly was the Son of God!

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 26:51-54).

It is no coincidence that the very time Jesus died on the cross, around 3pm, was the very time the Passover lambs were being sacrificed, but no sacrifice would match that of Jesus! He died once and for all who would trust in Him. Apparently, the Roman centurion came to believe. When he witnessed all of the supernatural events, like the three hours of darkness, the mighty earthquake, and reports of the dead being raised, he and those with him were suddenly convinced that Jesus was the Son of God. The Romans had done hundreds and hundreds of executions by the cross, but never had anything like this happened before…or since.


Sunday Morning
As the two women came to anoint the dead body of Jesus, they must have wondered how they were going to get into the tomb to anoint His body since they couldn’t move the stone from where Jesus was laid. Then, there was a great earthquake and when the two women arrived, they noticed that the stone had been rolled away and an angel of God and he announced that Jesus wasn’t there…He was risen!
“But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matt 28:5-6).

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and since Jesus only took upon Himself our sins, and was sinless Himself, then there was no way death could hold Him. The Apostle Peter declared, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). The saints being raised after the great earthquake may be God’s way of telling us that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has broken the curse of sin and has now made eternal life possible for all who trust in Him. Now, not even death can separate us from Him (Rom 8:38-39). Jesus said God is the God of the living and not the dead (Luke 20:38).

Sunday Evening
All the disciples, except for Thomas, were hiding out behind locked doors, perhaps thinking that they’d be next. Many of them looked as if Jesus’ death had dashed all their hopes. Now they were sitting there with the windows closed and the doors locked… hiding from the Jews, but suddenly…Jesus appears out of nowhere!
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:19-20).


Jesus had been speaking to His disciples about going up to Jerusalem to suffer, and die, and then being raised on the third day, but they just couldn’t understand it or at least, they couldn’t accept it, and they were even afraid to ask Him about it. They had heard Him talk about these things, but they were afraid to ask Him about it (Mark 9:32), so really, they wouldn’t have understood all of this until after Jesus had been raised from the dead. By then, they understood, and they made sure everyone else understood it too. They went out into all the world and preached the gospel (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), and they’re still doing that through their gospels and their letters in the New Testament. They still have good news for everyone: He is risen! And because He lives, we can live too…with Him…forever!

 

[beensetfree]

Grace and Peace and Thanksgiving!

________________

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge.

1 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV

________________

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:5-7 ESV

________________

Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;

what I have vowed I will pay. "Salvation belongs to the Lord!"

Jonah 2:8-10 ESV

________________

God, Whose grace is all sufficient, be glorified!

Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“Thou art from everlasting.”

Psalm 93:2

Christ is Everlasting . Of him we may sing with David, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” Rejoice, believer, in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Jesus always was. The Babe born in Bethlehem was united to the Word, which was in the beginning, by whom all things were made. The title by which Christ revealed himself to John in Patmos was, “Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” If he were not God from everlasting, we could not so devoutly love him; we could not feel that he had any share in the eternal love which is the fountain of all covenant blessings; but since he was from all eternity with the Father, we trace the stream of divine love to himself equally with his Father and the blessed Spirit.

As our Lord always was, so also he is for evermore. Jesus is not dead; “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” Resort to him in all your times of need, for he is waiting to bless you still. Moreover, Jesus our Lord ever shall be. If God should spare your life to fulfil your full day of threescore years and ten, you will find that his cleansing fountain is still opened, and his precious blood has not lost its power; you shall find that the Priest who filled the healing fount with his own blood, lives to purge you from all iniquity.

When only your last battle remains to be fought, you shall find that the hand of your conquering Captain has not grown feeble — the living Saviour shall cheer the dying saint. When you enter heaven you shall find him there bearing the dew of his youth; and through eternity the Lord Jesus shall still remain the perennial spring of joy, and life, and glory to his people. Living waters may you draw from this sacred well! Jesus always was, he always is, he always shall be. He is eternal in all his attributes, in all his offices, in all his might, and willingness to bless, comfort, guard, and crown his chosen people.

 

[beensetfree]

The Beautiful, Terrible Cross

When The Lord of the Rings came out, I refused to watch it. I had never read the books, but I was familiar with the story enough to know that much of it was dark and full of evil – enough for me to stiff arm the entire trilogy. I’ve always been very impressionable, which has resulted in also being unable to stomach a lot of dramatic literature and movies that have been put out, whether old or new.

Well, eventually, about six years after the LOTR movies came out, Shaun talked me into watching them. They’re three hours long of course, so it took a total of three evenings (spread out over a few weeks) to watch all three. At the end of the first movie, I was livid. For years I told Shaun I wouldn’t watch because I knew I’d have nightmares and be psychologically damaged to the point of no return. But he assured me that though evil was presented as a very real thing, it didn’t win. Still, the first movie did end in a way that lead me to believe evil would conquer, and by the closing scene, I was sure I had married nothing but a war hungry white male who thrived on blood and guts and evil and horror, and no matter what he promised, all three movies would end in catastrophe!
You told me evil would be defeated, I said with teeth clenched.
In spite of my horrible gut feelings, I watched the other two. Mostly because I said I would, and because I figured if the movies didn’t deliver, divorce was always an option.

I kid!
As you know, the story, though filled with much evil, ends well. Evil is indeed conquered, and most importantly, nobody gets swallowed up by ringwraiths or gigantic famished spiders, except me in my nightmares.

All’s well that ends well.

After watching LOTR, you’d think I’d be able to stomach The Passion of the Christ. But alas, I’ve never seen it. I just can’t. Besides my convictions about not making graven images is the fact that the Cross is horrible. It’s bloody, terrible, gruesome, and unjust. I can’t find words to describe the cruelest creation of man. Why would I want to watch an acting out of the wicked ordeal? By God’s grace, I am not a hard-hearted person toward what happened to Jesus on the Cross. It hurts me deeply, and it hurts me even more deeply to know I am one of the sinners who put Him there.

True, He is Risen! Perhaps I should be able to stomach the crucifixion because I know that evil loses. Love wins. Jesus wins. And because Jesus wins, I win. Death loses and is forever conquered for those who put their trust in the One who died for our sins. In short, the true story has a beautiful end that is in such contrast to the horrors of the Cross that it’s mind boggling. There is nothing more beautiful than someone laying down their life for another. Not begrudgingly. But willingly.

He could have called ten thousand angels. With one spoken word or even thought, Jesus could have summoned the powers of Heaven to rescue Him from the predicament of an unjust crucifixion. But He willingly stayed put, praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
I find it difficult to pray for someone who has merely offended me with their words. How difficult it must have been to pray for an entire crowd who mocked, spit upon, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, whipped, and eventually killed by asphyxiation. All while knowing that in return, God would turn His back and place the sins of the world on Him.

How crushing. How astonishing. How simultaneously ugly and beautiful. It remains a mystery how anyone could or would bear such a weight, and all out of the goodness of His heart and love for others who have hurt, wronged, and sinned against Him.
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t love people to that level. Perhaps my children. I’d like to think I’d lay down my life for them if an occasion called for it. But that’s just not the same as being utterly innocent and yet willing to endure the worst form of death known to mankind and dying in the place of those who deserve it. Never has there been an act equally selfless to Jesus’ death on the Cross.

So no. I don’t want to watch The Passion of the Christ. I have the gift of empathy. I do well with the sight of blood if the blood is not coming from someone I love. But one glance at blood coming from a loved one and I become as pale as Wonder bread, possessed of the same amount of goodness, which is basically none. I’m useless. I can’t do it. But what I can do is read the account of the crucifixion. I don’t particularly enjoy the word pictures. They conjure up guilty feelings, gruesome images, empathy that hurts my heart. The trick is to keep reading, because while the terrible cross is a true story, so is the Resurrection.

Jesus suffered and died. But Jesus also lives, and because He lives, death has been conquered.
As I hurry and type this up so I can get back to my Mom who is suffering greatly with Parkinson’s and other complications this week, that means a lot. Death – especially slow death – is horrible. It’s grueling to watch. It’s painful to endure. It’s unnatural. We hang on to life even though we suffer pain and sickness and heartache, because our very being cries out for life everlasting. We must endure a physical death as a result of the Fall, and admittedly, that is terrible.

But we have also been presented with a Way to enjoy life everlasting. Jesus is that Way. Through Him, we can live forever. Through Him, we are no longer called an enemy, but a friend of God. Through Him and the power of the Resurrection, this world doesn’t have to be our only hope, and admittedly, that is beautiful.
The Cross, though terrible, is also beautiful. It ends well for Christ, because He gets all the glory due Him. It ends well for those who repent and put their trust in Him because evil doesn’t win and death gets conquered.


Indeed … all’s well that ends well.

Now off to check on Mom, who I know wants nothing more than to begin life everlasting with Jesus. “I’m so tired. I’ve been in constant pain for almost six years. I can’t do this anymore.” Those are the words she says to me through tears, while I sit by feeling mostly helpless and useless. But both of us know that though she walks through the valley of the shadow of death, she need not fear evil, for He is with her. Please pray that goodness and mercy will follow her the rest of the days of her life, and that she will rest in two facts:
She will dwell in the house of the Lord forever … and all’s well that ends well.

 

[beensetfree]

Teaching Kids about Easter



I spent weeks prepping my three-year-old son for Easter. He was our first, and I was determined to raise him grounded in the Word of God, on a foundation of Scripture that would hopefully uphold his own faith one day. In the meantime, his grandparents would shower him with candy and bunnies. But we parents had a responsibility. “What is Easter all about?” I’d ask him. “Jesus is alive!” he’d exclaim back to me, on cue. Over and over we’d practice, while I read him books on the resurrection and told him how much Jesus loved him.

A three-year-old can only understand so much about Jesus’s life and death. But we adults recognize our sin and lostness without a savior. Even those who don’t believe in God see the darkness, pain, and violence so prevalent in the world at large and in our own relationships. Christians know that sin, our inner propensity toward self-interest, alienates us from the joy God desires for us. God’s mercy and love shine through most vividly in Jesus, the Son of God made man. God became one of us, showed us the essence of true life, then laid himself down—a sacrifice in our place to pay the price sin demanded.

Then, Easter morning—Resurrection Day—flipped every human thought on its head. Death has been defeated, and Jesus lives, victorious over evil. “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. . . loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. . .” (Rev. 1:5). The resurrection changed the world and should be changing you and me every day.

It changed his friends. “I have seen the Lord!” Mary Magdalene proclaimed to the disciples (John 20:18). Her joyous exclamation reverberates through history. Even today, Christians exchange Easter morning greetings: “Christ is risen.” “He is risen indeed!” We sing songs proclaiming “Alleluia!” with sanctuaries robed in white and gold. We celebrate Hope.

Parents, it’s never too early to share that hope with your children. When I went to wake my toddler up that Easter morning years ago, I patted his back and cheerfully said, “What’s today?”
He rubbed his eyes, then brightened, and chirped, “Easter!” “Yes,” I clapped. “So what does that mean?” He jumped to his feet and bounced on the bed.
“CANDY!”
(Yes, facepalm.)
He’s 20 years old now, and, yes, he did eventually learn the true meaning of Easter. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

 

[beensetfree]

He Is A Gracious Provider Thanksgiving and Rejoicing In His Provision! “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:1-3 NIV ________________ “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:1-3 NIV ________________ Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“O that I knew where I might find him!”

Job 23:3

In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father's face. His first prayer is not “O that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!” nor even “O that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave, and my property once more brought from the hand of the spoiler!” but the first and uppermost cry is, “O that I knew where I might find Him , who is my God! that I might come even to his seat!”

God's children run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. “He that hath made his refuge God,” might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him. Job's desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation. The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial throne, just as a traveller turns from his empty skin bottle, and betakes himself with all speed to the well. He bids farewell to earth-born hopes, and cries, “O that I knew where I might find my God!”

Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth's hives, where we find no honey, but many sharp stings, we rejoice in him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. In every trouble we should first seek to realize God's presence with us. Only let us enjoy his smile, and we can bear our daily cross with a willing heart for his dear sake.

 

[beensetfree]

Don’t Be Controlled by Emotions



“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down” (Prov. 14:1).
I’ve been counseling hurting, confused wives for years, and have found emotional motivation to be a major issue in marriages.

Because our brains are wired differently, women are far more attuned to emotions and feelings than men are. Normally this is an advantage. It benefits them as mothers, as friends, and even in the workplace.
But sometimes the powerful pull that emotions have on women can cause problems in a marriage. They let their fears and feelings have too much control over their behavior. They may read and hear what the Bible says they should do, but they struggle to obey because those truths conflict with the internal guidance of their emotions.
And it’s not just women. Men let their feelings get the best of them, too.
Think back to the Garden of Eden. God forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Because they didn’t cling to the truth God had commanded.


Satan convinced them God’s words were untrue.
Eve heard the soothing, self-exalting words of the devil and saw the beauty of the fruit. She desired it. Adam did, too. Both Adam and Eve trusted their feelings more than God’s instruction.
They made a terrible mistake. The result brought destruction to their lives, marriage, and the lives of their children and descendants. That’s a high price to pay for following your feelings!

Many of the people locked away in prison are there because they did what they felt like doing rather than following the law. And many people in destructive marriages today are living in misery, too. Not because there’s no way out, but because they refuse to take action contrary to their feelings.
Don’t get me wrong. God designed us to experience emotions. Feelings are good and helpful. But they are unreliable. They’re a bad source of permanent direction.
When we allow our feelings to dictate the way we behave, we live on a roller coaster of ups and downs. We live in a constant state of insecurity and confusion.
Ask yourself the following questions:

Have I ever let my feelings keep me from forgiving my spouse?
Have I ever let my feelings keep me from serving my spouse or showing love?
Have I ever said something deliberately hurtful to my spouse because of my feelings?
Have I ever let the emotions of anger, resentment, or bitterness cause me to take revenge on my spouse or harm my marriage?

Feelings are a necessary part of being a human, and they are God-given. But don’t let them keep you from doing the right thing in your marriage.
Feelings make a great caboose, but a terrible engine. Make God’s Word the engine to motivate your actions now, and you will find that proper feelings will follow.

 

[beensetfree]

Children - God's Blessing Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5 NKJV __________________ Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. Proverbs 17:6 KJV __________________ He gives the barren woman a home, so that she becomes a happy mother. Praise the LORD! Psalm 113:9 NLT __________________ And said to me, "Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.' Genesis 48:4 NKJV __________________ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:14-16 NIV __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

[beensetfree]

“The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.”

Proverbs 30:26

Conscious of their own natural defencelessness, the conies resort to burrows in the rocks, and are secure from their enemies. My heart, be willing to gather a lesson from these feeble folk. Thou art as weak and as exposed to peril as the timid cony, be as wise to seek a shelter. My best security is within the munitions of an immutable Jehovah, where his unalterable promises stand like giant walls of rock. It will be well with thee, my heart, if thou canst always hide thyself in the bulwarks of his glorious attributes, all of which are guarantees of safety for those who put their trust in him.

Blessed be the name of the Lord, I have so done, and have found myself like David in Adullam, safe from the cruelty of my enemy; I have not now to find out the blessedness of the man who puts his trust in the Lord, for long ago, when Satan and my sins pursued me, I fled to the cleft of the rock Christ Jesus, and in his riven side I found a delightful resting-place. My heart, run to him anew tonight, whatever thy present grief may be; Jesus feels for thee; Jesus consoles thee; Jesus will help thee. No monarch in his impregnable fortress is more secure than the cony in his rocky burrow. The master of ten thousand chariots is not one whit better protected than the little dweller in the mountain's cleft.

In Jesus the weak are strong, and the defenceless safe; they could not be more strong if they were giants, or more safe if they were in heaven. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of heaven. More they cannot need, and need not wish. The conies cannot build a castle, but they avail themselves of what is there already: I cannot make myself a refuge, but Jesus has provided it, his Father has given it, his Spirit has revealed it, and lo, again to-night I enter it, and am safe from every foe.

 

[beensetfree]

A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Praises and Thanksgiving to the Lord of Glory! “Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You And praise Your glorious name. 1 Chronicles 29: 10b-13 NIV ________________ “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might!" Daniel 2:20-23 NIV ________________ Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.”

John 12:2

He is to be envied. It was well to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and commune. There are times for each purpose, and each is comely in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear his words, to mark his acts, and receive his smiles, was such a favour as must have made Lazarus as happy as the angels. When it has been our happy lot to feast with our Beloved in his banqueting-hall, we would not have given half a sigh for all the kingdoms of the world, if so much breath could have bought them.

He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed. We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by his life we live — can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember him at his table, where he deigns to feast with his brethren? Oh, this is cruel! It behoves us to repent, and do as he has bidden us, for his least wish should be law to us.

To have lived without constant intercourse with one of whom the Jews said, “Behold how he loved him,” would have been disgraceful to Lazarus, is it excusable in us whom Jesus has loved with an everlasting love? To have been cold to him who wept over his lifeless corpse, would have argued great brutishness in Lazarus. What does it argue in us over whom the Saviour has not only wept, but bled? Come, brethren, who read this portion, let us return unto our heavenly Bridegroom, and ask for his Spirit that we may be on terms of closer intimacy with him, and henceforth sit at the table with him.

 

[beensetfree]

Don’t Do, Don’t Desire
J


The Ten Words include twelve negative commands. Most of the verbs that are negated are unique:

1) Thou shalt not have (lo’ yihyeh-leka; literally, “there shalt not be to thee”) other gods.
2) Thou shalt not prostrate (lo’-tishtachweh) to them (i.e., images).
3) Thou shalt not serve them (lo’ ta’avdem; again, images).
4) Thou shalt not bear (lo’ tissa’) the name of Yahweh lightly.

5) Thou shalt not kill (lo’ tirtzach).
6) Thou shalt not commit adultery (lo’ tin’aph).
7) Thou shalt not steal (lo’ tignav).
8) Thou shalt not bear (lo’-ta’aneh) false witness.
Two of the negative verbs, though, are used twice:
9) Thous shalt not make (lo’ ta’aseh-leka) for yourself an image.
10) On the seventh day, thou shalt not do (lo’-ta’aseh) any work.
11) Thou shalt not covet (lo’ tachmod) the house of your neighbor.
12) Thou shalt not covet (lo’-tachmod) the wife of your neighbor.
This is interesting. Many of the prohibited actions are, we might say, obviously immoral (killing, adultery, stealing, lying). Others are clearly evil in the sight of the God of Israel (having other gods, prostrating to and serving images, bearing His name thoughtlessly).
The two verbs that are negative twice, though, are either typically positive or at least neutral. ‘asah – doing or making – is something Yahweh Himself does (cf. the Fourth Word, Exodus 20:11). chamad simply means “desire” (cf. Genesis 2:9; Psalm 19:10), and can describe right desires as well as sinful ones.

At least we can say this: What is most divine about man – our ability to make and do – is under the dominion of God. God intrudes even on this Godlike power, telling us what we cannot make and when we cannot make it. And what is most intimate to us – the impulses and movements of our souls – are also under His authority. He tells us what we ought not desire, and what we ought.
For men and women, there is no region of autonomy, no God-free zone of absolute freedom. Inside and out, in doing and not-doing, we are His.

 

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Give Him Praise & Thanksgiving! Praise and Thanksgiving! Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children. “The Lord was ready to save me; Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.” Isaiah 38:17-20 NKJV ________________ “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation." ________________ Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“The power of his resurrection.”

Philippians 3:10

The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship with him as such — communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a risen life — seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious.

The doctrine is the basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more lovely than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ rose from the dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the consolation which it is possible for you to extract from this well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I beseech you, rest not contented even there. Though you cannot, like the disciples, see him visibly, yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the eye of faith; and though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not “touch” him, yet may you be privileged to converse with him, and to know that he is risen, you yourselves being risen in him to newness of life.

To know a crucified Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize that he has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new creature through his own newness of life, this is a noble style of experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both “know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Why should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

 

[beensetfree]

Pastor: How to Feed Your Flock Every Day



Pastor, what if there was a way to triple the number of people in your church who:

1. Read the Bible each morning
2. Pray daily for the church and its mission
3. Remember and apply what they hear during your sermons

Interested? I thought so.
There is a way. It’s a method as old as the church itself, recorded in Acts 2:46:
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.”
The early believers didn’t rely on a once-a-week sermon. They gathered daily in the temple courts to sit under the apostles’ teaching. As a result, the church exploded.
Now, thanks to modern technology, you can teach your people every day – and at the same time reinforce the message you deliver on Sunday. Try this strategy:

1. Cut your sermon length by ten minutes. Hold back a few points.
2. Take those extra points you didn’t preach and fashion them into series of devotions that build on your sermon.
3. Deliver the devotions each morning via technology (email, text, app and social).
4. BOOM! You’ve fed your flock daily.

I could sense you were excited – until I said that word: “technology.” I know – you’re a preacher, not a programmer.
Fortunately, there are inexpensive tools that can automate this process. Just hire a techie for 2-3 hours to create templates and automated workflows. Once everything is set up you can focus on content – not code.
So where to start? You should name your devotional series. Just for grins, let’s call it TIME WITH GOD.
Next, you need to start a blog. That’s where your devotions will be accessed and stored.

1. If your church has a web site, chances are there’s a blog built into it. Ask your web administrator how to activate it.
2. If your church does not have a web site or blog you can set up a free one at com.
3. Title your blog TIME WITH GOD.
4. Learn how to post to the blog – both text and photos.
5. Learn how to schedule a release date and time.
6. Create a couple of practice devotions. Share them with friends to make sure they connect.

Once you have your blog in place, it’s time to start gathering e-mail addresses from the congregation.

1. Sign up for a commercial e-mail service such as Constant Contact or MailChimp.
2. Ask your congregants to register using your e-mail service’s sign up tool. They can probably do it from their smartphones while they’re sitting in church.
3. Ask for sign ups every week, forever. Explain the strategy: “We believe strongly that every Christian should spend time with God every day. We distribute TIME WITH GOD each morning via e-mail, text and smartphone app. Please sign up to have TWG delivered 5 mornings a week.”

Next, set up your automations. Call the techie back in and put him to work.

1. You can pre-publish your devotions to your blog and schedule them to “drop” at 2 a.m. on the appropriate release day.
2. You can set your e-mail service to send out a message automatically when your blog post drops. Subscribers awaken to an e-mail or a text message. All they have to do is click on the link and “volia!” — they are redirected to the devotion on their computer or smart device.
3. Once you’ve pre-published your devotions, a social media manager such as Hootsuite will allows you to preschedule your daily devotion drop on Facebook, Instagram and a host of other platforms.
4. If your church has an app, there may be a way to automatically share the blog post to your app.

Now it’s time to build your first week of devotions on your blog. Here’s a possible schedule:

1. Monday: include a scripture reading, a brief devotion, and a guide to prayer. Also, if you record and post your sermons to the internet, include a link so people who might have missed your sermon can watch online.
2. Tuesday: a scripture reading, a brief devotion, prayer guide and action steps.
3. Wednesday: a scripture reading, a brief devotion, prayer guide. A family devotion or something to involve the kids.
4. Thursday: a scripture reading, a brief devotion, prayer guide and action steps.
5. Friday: scripture reading, and a summary of the week’s main points. Talk about what’s coming up at church next Sunday.
6. Saturday: Use this day for whatever you want: volunteer needs, a word of encouragement, etc.
7. Sunday: Day of rest. Don’t post.

Now, before you walk down this path, here are two things to consider…

1. If you’re a procrastinator, this is not for you. Writing and preparing devotions requires you to think ahead, plan ahead and work ahead. Ideally you should have a full week of devotional material queued up on the blog before you preach on Sunday. You don’t want to be writing Monday’s devotion Sunday evening.
2. You have to be committed. Once you open this communication channel you must maintain it. You can’t just flake out and decide not to feed your flock for a couple of days. People will anticipate their daily devotion and scripture reading – and that’s a good thing.

Yes, preparing daily devotions is a little more work, but since you’re drawing from existing sermon content it shouldn’t be too hard. You can keep it simple: a Bible reading, a one paragraph devotion and an item or two to pray for. Or you can go all in with photos, diagrams, ideas for family devotions, etc. It’s up to you.
Once you open this communication channel, you can use it for a variety of other purposes. Send out urgent prayer requests. Ask for volunteers. Publicize upcoming events and opportunities at the church. In short, these daily emails can become a platform that drives church involvement as well as personal spiritual growth.

Posting your devotions on social media is a great way to expose your church to seekers. They enable you to teach members who miss church on Sunday. And after a year you’ll have a library of 250+ daily devotions online – a library that grows with each passing month. In five years you’ll have more than a thousand published devotions accessible to anyone with a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Pastors are always telling their members to spend daily time with God – but how many actually equip their people to do so? Be the shepherd who feeds his flock daily and see what God does in their lives.

 

[beensetfree]

More Psalms of Thanksgiving I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. Great deliverance He gives to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore. ~ Psalm 18:1-6; 46-50 NKJV ________________ Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Get thee up into the high mountain.”

Isaiah 40:9

Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to climb the hill of the Lord, and see him face to face. We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. My soul thirsteth to drink deep of the cup which is reserved for those who reach the mountain's brow, and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem!

Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun; they eat dust like the serpent when they might taste the ambrosial meat of angels; they are content to wear the miner's garb when they might put on king's robes; tears mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof, and view the goodly land and Lebanon.

Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition! Cast away thy sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with thy chaste and pure love to Christ, thy soul's Husband. Make him the source, the centre, and the circumference of all thy soul's range of delight. What enchants thee into such folly as to remain in a pit when thou mayst sit on a throne? Live not in the lowlands of bondage now that mountain liberty is conferred upon thee. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things more sublime and heavenly. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God!

“When wilt thou come unto me, Lord?
Oh come, my Lord most dear!
Come near, come nearer, nearer still,
I'm blest when thou art near.”

 

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How Hard Circumstances Can Tank Your Marriage




Hard circumstances and marriage have something in common. One hundred percent of marriages go through hard times. And hard circumstances can tank your marriage.
You may remember the story of how my fiancé dumped me months before the wedding. Imagine how that experience crushed me. It affected my trust barrier. It affected my self-esteem and my self-worth.

And it affected my relationship with my future husband.
He had it bad because for years. I was lost in a maze of deep-seated feelings of inadequacy, doubt and rejection. I felt like I was never enough.
I wanted to connect with him, but I was afraid. I thought if he really knew me, he might see that same thing my fiancé had seen in me.
I felt unworthy and unlovable.
When I’m in a hard circumstance, I want to focus on my circumstance.
Or worse, I put expectations on my husband. I view my interactions with him through my experiences.

We all do it. We’re human. I either end up thinking he’ll treat me the same way someone else treated me in the past or I expect he’ll be able to do things that will make me feel better about myself.
Neither is good.
I’ve learned I can respond to my circumstances in a way that’s not harmful to my marriage. No matter what the experience, we can learn to respond to it in a way that’s honoring to God.
We all enter marriage with a ton of emotional baggage, whether we want to or not. No one enters marriage with a clean slate.
When we view past experiences through our own lens instead of viewing it God’s way, we never fully recover from a bad event. Then past events impact current relationships.

Maybe you’re guilty of it, too.
In addition to knowing what it’s like to have my fiancé bail months before the wedding, I KNOW what it’s like to be in a difficult marriage and to lose a job and to have financial STRUGGLES. I know what it’s like to be in a car accident that almost destroys my family and leaves me to raise a child with a BRAIN injury.
I know what it’s like to have a hard relationship with my mother and to have daddy issues.
First let me say, some of you are in circumstances I’ve never even come close to experiencing, so I’d never presume to tell you what to think or how feel in those circumstances. I can’t speak to those exact circumstances because I haven’t lived them.

I do know when you’re already carrying around baggage and you add some more to it, it can become too heavy to carry.
When I focus on my circumstance, every aspect of my life is affected. And my husband usually gets the worst of me.
I can’t control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond to it.
In my own circumstances, I’ve come to realize I can learn to respond to them differently, in a more God-honoring way.

The way we view life is the way we do life
Unfortunately, you can’t go through life without disappointments and failures. But we can learn how to respond to them. It’s a matter of interpretation. Interpretation of circumstances is totally up to you.
How I view and respond to disappointments determines my ultimate happiness and success.
My guy didn’t want to marry me. As disappointing as it was, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Either I could consider myself a loser (because I sure felt like one) or I could to re-frame the disappointment and put it into some kind of perspective that would allow me to move forward. I could learn to interpret my experience in a way that wouldn’t harm my marriage.

Interpretation not only helps keep disappointment in perspective, but it also dictates recovery. We can put the experience into perspective in the big picture of our lives. Our whole life. Not one moment in time.
That’s the difference in those who survive and those who thrive.
I didn’t learn how to handle my circumstances until after they had damaged my marriage. Thankfully, not beyond repair.

Hard to believe, but that painful experience is now a memory and has no significance in my life. Of course at the time, I didn’t feel that way. Over time, I realized that experience is just one of many, many experiences in the overall scheme of my life, and it isn’t the experience I was going to let define me.
I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”–Jeremiah 29:11.
I’m not a victim of my circumstances. Neither are you.
What’s a new view you can take on your circumstances?

 

[beensetfree]

Psalms of Thanksgiving Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving! Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah Psalm 3:1-4 NKJV ________________ Psalm 21 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him— Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him. For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power. Psalm 21:1-7; 13 NKJV ________________ Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.