Salvation

 

Easter Sunday!  I am sure the day was filled with donning our finest for Easter services and Easter egg hunts for the little ones (or big ones)!  I remember filling eggs for Easter egg hunts when the children were younger.  When we blended our family, I was going to ensure all four children would have a wonderful time.  I purchased the plastic eggs, filled them with goodies and my husband and I hid them throughout the yard.  The next morning, with baskets in hand, the children went to find the eggs.  Much to my dismay, the experience ended in tears with the ‘fastest’ getting the most eggs and the others disappointed. 

Only one year of that taught me that each year after that, we would ‘color code’ the hunt.  Each child had their own color, and the same number of eggs to find, which proved to be much easier to manage.  Yet, there was always one who could not find that last egg, or even worst, I missed filling an egg and someone received an empty egg!  There is nothing worse than opening something, expecting to find a gift inside and it is empty.  What a disappointment!  Maybe it is a Christmas present with nothing inside.  Or a birthday envelope with no ‘gift.’  When we expect to see something and it is not there, sadness creeps in.

Let us follow the women who followed Jesus to the cross, and to the tomb.  These women, led by Mary Magdalene, were there when they crucified Jesus.  They took the walk to Jesus’ death.  They prepared the spices for the proper burial, honored the Sabaoth, and waited until Sunday to go to the tomb.  Then they saw the empty tomb.  They were expecting something to be inside, their Lord should have been inside.  Yet, the tomb was empty!   Soon the angel appeared to share the good news of Jesus rising from the dead.

On that incredibly special morning, the emptiness of the tomb was the world’s greatest gift.  The walk to Golgotha was our gift from Jesus.  The cross was our gift from Jesus.  The tomb was our gift from Jesus.  The gift Jesus gave to all of us, by taking on our sins, dying on the cross and most importantly, rising from the dead, was the best empty gift ever!  Through his resurrection, we have received true salvation.  Our place in heaven is waiting for us.  We will never have to feel empty again, for we are filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ gift to us.

Easter Sunday is the day of our salvation.  When Jesus rose from the dead and left the tomb empty, He showed the world how the devil can be defeated.  Each day may we give thanks to Jesus for our salvation and the home he has lovingly prepared for us - our eternal home. 

Dearest Savior, thank you for the many gifts you have given to us through Holy Week, especially the gift of the empty tomb!  May we remember and give thanks to you every day for your gift of salvation and the day we will see you in paradise.  Amen!

Jubilation

 

The rain started as little droplets from the sky.  Nothing big, just a drop here and there.  I watched as they came down thinking, “Just a spritz for the ground.”  Within minutes, it was as if the heavens opened and released all the water from the clouds at once.  It was not just raining, it was pouring, and the water moved from a spritz to a downpour.  How quickly things can change in an instant!

I likened this event to our sinful lives.  Just a couple ‘little’ sins, a harmless lie, or a thought my Lord certainly would not approve of.  Yet, they are little – just a spritz of sin.  Everyone has them!  Nothing to really concern ourselves with, we just continue with our lives with a smile on our face.  Then, within minutes, the sins downpour.  The lies move from ‘little’ to boulder size.  The thoughts turn into inappropriate actions.  What seemed like manageable sins turned into a guilt-ridden life.  The weight of sin overcomes us, and our emotions turn from carefree to prisoned by guilt.

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week – a time when, as Christians, we experience an intense emotional rollercoaster.  During Lent, our focus has been on words such as reflection, simple life, repentance, forgiveness, and now we move to Jubilation (at least to start the week).  Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem.  Shouts of “Hosanna” rang through the air.  People laid palm branches and coats down on his path.  For Jesus’ disciples, I imagine them saying to themselves, “Finally, the adoration he deserves.”

As we are all aware, the jubilation of that day quickly turns to a downpour of horrific events.  Jesus rides into Jerusalem that day knowing he was riding to his death.  Although he had shared that with his disciples, I am sure on this day, that was the farthest thing from their minds.  Reveling in the outpouring of love for Jesus, the day took on a festive and joyous tone.  It is a wonderful celebration, even for us.

Although today is a joyous and jubilant day, one to be excited and happy about, it is hard to not look forward in guilt and pain.  Jesus took that ride into Jerusalem for me and the downpour of my sin.   He took that ride for me so my guilt would turn to joy.  He took that ride for me because he loves me.  So today is a day of joy and jubilation.  Today is a day to know we have a Lord that loves us so much that he is willing to take a ride to his death.  Today is a day of hope, grace, and mercy.

Today, let us celebrate!  Just as the downpour of rain turns into sun and rainbows, let us send up our own hosannas to the one that takes our downpour of sin and guilt and turns it to freedom and hope.  Together, from Psalm 118:24, let us shout, “This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  May everyone have a blessed Holy Week!

Dearest Jesus, your love and grace is seen today as we remember your ride into Jerusalem.  Let us take this moment to shout our hosannas to you, the great I AM!  May we revel in this day of hope and help us to shout our joy of thanksgiving to you.  Amen!

Forgiveness

 

It would be difficult to walk on this Lenten journey without highlighting the word forgiveness.   Last week, our focus was on repentance, our ability to spend time reflecting on the things we have done wrong, our sins, and asking for forgiveness.  Why is asking for forgiveness so important? 

When we focus on our sins, all we have done wrong, it can bring us to a very dark place.  Our sinful nature drives us to despair, knowing that we will never be able to live up to God’s expectations.  As I write this, I think about the few hours I have been awake, and I already see the sins I have committed.  Living in that darkness can feel as if we are the small rock underneath a huge mountain. 

Yet, there is such good news waiting for us in the arms of Jesus.  In Jesus’ kingdom our reflection and repentance gain us forgiveness.  This forgiveness does not come from just anyone, it comes from the ONLY person who can truly forgive us, Jesus.  By his suffering and shame, we have life and hope.  We do not live in the darkness; we live in the light of the cross.  Our forgiveness becomes the light by which we can get up and live every day.

How grateful we should be to our Lord!  Just as Jesus forgives us our terrible sins, he asks us to forgive those who wrong us.  Sometimes this can be a very tall order from God!  When someone hurts me the last thing, I want to do is forgive them.  Nope, I am going to spend some time with that hurt, engage in a bit of self-pity and even a bit of bitterness to those around me.  Especially if they did not even ASK for forgiveness.  Why would I want to do that?

Here is the hard truth my friends.  Jesus asks us to.  Colossians 3:13 shares, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  Now that is a tall order!  Notice what Paul is asking us to do.  He is not saying “If someone asks for forgiveness, THEN you should forgive them.”  He asks us to forgive as soon as we have a grievance.  No pity party just pure forgiveness.  Jesus does not hesitate with us; we should not hesitate with others.

The act of forgiveness can be so cleansing.  When we receive Jesus’ forgiveness, we get to crawl out from under the mountain and stand in the light on top of the mountain.  We can breathe again, knowing we have been forgiven by the one who takes away our sins.  Jesus is asking us to do the same for others.  I have held grudges.  I have had resentment.  I have hesitated to forgive because I was too hurt.  I remember the day I decided to forgive someone who deeply hurt me, not because the person asked for forgiveness, but because Jesus asked me to forgive.  I moved from under to the top of the mountain.  My heart was full of Jesus.  Do not hold on to the hurt.  Jesus does not want that for us.  He wants us to live in His light.  Take those hurts and let them go.  Say with me, “I forgive” and feel the light of Jesus.

Dearest Jesus, I thank you for forgiving me all my sins.  That list is long and still you never hesitate to wash away my sins.  May I do as you ask, to forgive those who have wronged me.  Help me to see the light of forgiveness, my own sins and those of others.  Help me to bask in your warmth every day of my life.  Amen!

Repentance

 

As we march through our Lenten season, exploring words that have a resounding impact on our Lenten focus, we come upon Repentance.  Repentance:  sincere regret or remorse.   Repentance is a word that is used often during Lent as we reflect, in a simple way, over our sinful nature.  There is not a day that goes by when we do not sin.  Large or small, consciously, or unconsciously, we sin.  It is sad to think that we cannot move through one day without having a sinful thought or action.  Yet, we need to glorify and give thanks that we have a Savior who acted on our behalf and listens to our repentance.  Repentance takes actions. 

Repentance takes the action of reflection for us to review our thoughts and activities to see where we went wrong.  A couple of weeks ago, I focused on the importance of reflection, especially during Lent.  Reflection should encompass where we went wrong, reliving the moments of our days, helping us to see our sins for what they are – the darker side of our being.  Reflecting on our sins should occur not only in the moment of the sin, but daily.  Our ability to see where our focus turned away from God and on ourselves helps us to repent and understand the importance of Jesus’ walk to Calvary.

Repentance also takes the action of feeling remorse or regret, leading to humility.  I am certain there have been times when we have boasted about our wrong doings.  Maybe we were proud of how we poorly treated someone.  Perhaps we justified our wrongdoing with a good ‘they deserved it.’  I know there have been times when I have acted in this manner.  I look back upon those times in disgust.  It is not the way God wants me to live my life.  Our goal should always be to come to Jesus with our sins and a heart of humility, filled with remorse for what we have done.  Only then can we understand the true action of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

Repentance also takes the action of change.  We can reflect on our sins.  We can have a heart filled with humility.  God also wants us to ‘turn from our wicked ways.’  That means spending time putting into action ways that we will not act or think in that same sinful manner.  Being perfect in that light will never happen.  Remember, we have a sinful nature.  Yet, turning away from what brought upon our sin and working towards the path God wants us on means we need to change.  This can sometimes be the most challenging part of repentance.  It can also be the most rewarding.  If we can change a part of our sinful nature, as we reflect with our humility heart, we can see the goodness of God as he helps us on that journey.

Our Lord wants us to repent, to reflect, to humble ourselves in front of Him, to ask for forgiveness and to change from our wicked ways. This means we need to act and DO something.  No, we will not be perfect in this mission, but our goal for trying and realizing when we fall short, is where forgiveness and healing begins.

Dearest Jesus, we ask for your help in opening our eyes to where we have gone wrong.  May we repent to you, the true perfect one, and understand that forgiveness can only come through you.  May our life be filled with your goodness and mercy as we strive to be the people you want us to be.  Amen!

Simple Life, Simple Faith

 

Simple – defined as “plain, basic, uncomplicated in form, nature or design”.  How often have we heard grandparents and great-grandparents share, “I wish we could go back to the simple life?”  To be honest, there are days when I say that myself.  Days when life wasn’t as complicated.  With constant technology and constant information streaming, we can find ourselves distracted from a simple life and brought into a life of chaos and frustration.

Our lives can be filled with places to go, people to see, and things to do which have replaced simple with complicated, difficult, confused, and tricky.  We may find ourselves thinking, “How do we navigate our time to ensure all the kids get to their practices/events on time?” or “I know it’s the weekend, but I need to respond to that work email or get that project done!”  In our attempt to ensure we have as much as we can get, the idea of a simple life seems to have evaded us.

During the forty days of Lent, the word ‘simple’ can be a word one reflects upon.  Our verse for today can help us to do that.  One of our goals during Lent is to focus not on ourselves, but on Jesus and the journey He took to the cross on our behalf, His children.  Living a simple life can encourage us to live with what we have, to be content.  It doesn’t mean that we can’t have wants or desires, but we don’t make those things the ‘center of our universe’ and give up a focus on God or family.  This is so much easier said than done.  Yet, especially during Lent, it is our opportunity to slow things down and realize that we can live with what we have instead of over-extending ourselves.

The word simple can also reflect our faith.  Once again, this can be an area where we over-complicate things.  To be honest, it is the intent behind this blog that I started almost nine years ago.  The goal is to share with others, and remind me along the way, that God doesn’t want us to complicate His love for us or the salvation we have in Him.  He chose us as His children, to love unconditionally.  It is that simple.  Many times, it is difficult for us to comprehend this type of love as we are unable to ‘see’ it here on Earth.  That is the beauty of God! 

Our need for Jesus far outweighs anything else we may need.  Our need for forgiveness, salvation, hope, faith and love is much stronger than the need for a new pair of shoes or the house we can’t afford.  When Jesus becomes our focus, our reflection, our guide and our hope, life is simplified.  It can be hard to believe that.  Yet, there is one way that this becomes very real – when we dive deeper into God’s word.  When our time together with Jesus is found in His words and His actions, we realize that a simple faith and a simple life can be the most rewarding.

As we continue our Lenten journey, may we step back and reflect on a simple life and simple faith.  May we take time away from the chaos and better understand the path Jesus has for us.  May we sit in prayer and reflect on where we can simplify our lives and enjoy the moments of simple faith.

Heavenly Father, our lives can become full of things, full of thoughts, and full of actions.  We often do not take the time to simply be in union with you.  Help us to reflect on moments where we can live a more simplified life and realize that all you ask from us is to have simple faith!  Amen!

Reflection

 

As we enter these forty days of Lent, I contemplated what our focus should be.  How do we navigate these forty days as we walk with Jesus to the events of Easter?  I decided to select a word each week, hoping we will be able to focus our attention during this time of Lent.  The first one will be the word reflection.  The dictionary definition provides us with ‘serious thought or consideration, meditation.’  It is this thought and consideration that we will be focusing on.

Reflection is on many people’s minds, especially as we walked through these past two years.  As many of us were forced home, without much outside interaction, giving us time to review our lives.

·        Were we fulfilled with our careers?

·        Was family time a priority, gathering our loved ones together for simple things like a family dinner?

·        Did we focus on our health?

·        Was ‘keeping up with our neighbors’ more important than ‘keeping our family together”?

As a result, people made changes in their lives.  Some people quit their jobs to pursue their passions.  Others made family a priority and focused on spending time together versus seeing how many activities could be jammed into 24 hours.  Others began bringing exercise and activity into their days, and a heightened sense of less processed foods and more home-grown foods.  Taking time for reflection can help us to see what is happening in our lives instead of continuing habits that may not be good for us.

Spending time in reflection, seeing ourselves and our lives in a mirror, can also give us much as we gain to have a closer relationship to Jesus.  When I reflect upon my life, things I have done and things I have not done, it certainly is not the life I would lift up to Jesus all too quickly.  Seeing myself, looking in the mirror, I see my sins, the actions and the thoughts that are not pleasing to my Lord.  Reflection also lets me see the times when my actions were good in Jesus’ eyes and provided help and assistance to those around me. 

During reflection, we can spend time reviewing our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings.  During this time, we can determine the changes we want to make in our lives to reflect our faith more boldly in Jesus.  What have we done, or thought or said that would be pleasing to God?  What have we done that deserves us offering an apology and repenting our sins?  Charging through our days without moments of reflection and simple faith does not provide us the opportunity to gain a closer relationship with Jesus.  When we reflect, we can see if our hearts are filled with the word of Jesus and our simple faith in the love He gives to us, giving us the ability to love others.  During this Lenten season, find time to build the habit of reflection into your day.  May that reflection lead us closer to Jesus, so on the day we meet Him face to face, our faith will be revealed.

Dearest Jesus, during this Lenten season, may I spend time in reflection.  Help me to see myself in the mirror and hold myself accountable to the person you want me to be.  Help me to make the changes necessary to live in simple faith of your love in my life.  Amen.

Suffering to Restoration

 

Suffering.  As the week continued from last Sunday, I found myself consistently adding to my prayer list.  There seems to be so much suffering.  There were Instances of health issues where doctors shared with people a difficult diagnosis.  Not the “You have a sinus infection” type of diagnosis, but much larger such as “You have cancer.”  I have heard those words and I know the impact they can have on your life.  As if the suffering one feels before the actual diagnosis is not enough, the journey ahead of surgery, radiation and chemo can produce even further suffering.

There were also people who lost loved ones, saying goodbye to family members from their life on earth as they passed onto eternal glory.  That pain can be so difficult, and the loss can seem to last forever.  The suffering moves from the one who has passed to those left behind. As people hold tight to memories of the past, it is hard to look to the future without our special loved one.

Lost dreams and anxiety also filled the air this week.  The suffering both situations’ hosts can build inside a person and lead to despair and depression.  Often, this type of suffering can be unseen by those that are around these folks, which can make it even more difficult to deal with.

Of course, there is the suffering of war.  As we watch battles rage, we are reminded that there are people suffering, losing their homes, their belongings, their health, and their lives.  It is hard to fathom why war continues to blaze on in a day and age when we are blessed with so much intellect and technology.  It may seem that peace should be within our grasp.  Yet every day we are reminded – whether here in the US or abroad – the difficulty in obtaining peace.

Suffering is deeper than hurt.  It hits us at the core and often feels as if it will never end.  These impactful words from Peter remind us to turn to our Heavenly Father.  It is in these words that we find our hope and promise of restoration.  Restoring means to be brought back to original condition.  The good news is that Peter shared God will give you MORE than restoration, He will make you strong, firm, and steadfast.

 You will not only be restored, but you will also be new and improved! 

Our time here on earth is truly short compared the eternity we will spend with Christ.  The suffering we may endure here will be replaced with God’s goodness. 

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21:5

As we pray for ourselves and those around us who are suffering, may we pray the words of Peter, asking God for His mercy and grace to shine upon us.  Let us bask in the light of His words and the hope that He brings to each of us as we live our earthly lives.  Then may the peace, which passes all understanding, provide us the simple faith to rest in God’s arms.

Dearest Father, you have called us to eternal glory in you.  Please take away the suffering and restore us!  May you make us strong, firm, and steadfast in YOU!  In your loving name we pray, Amen!