Last Words: A Word of Abandonment
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Abandoned. With no Rescuer in sight. What happens next in the unfolding drama of the crucifixion of our Lord is a mystery. Let's watch it unfold...
It is noon.
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Last Words: A Word of Family Affection
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Dear woman, behold your son...behold your mother. (John 19:26)
Jesus has a special love for His own. As we've already seen with His forgiving and saving attitude in the midst of excruciating agony, His concern was not with His own suffering. Rather His attention was next drawn to His precious loved ones at the foot of His cross, His mother and His beloved disciple John.
What agony Jesus must have seen on Mary's face.
Read MoreLast Words: A Word of Salvation
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Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. Luke 23:43
Jesus seems to have a special love for lost people. I love the stories He tells in Luke 15. The first is the beloved story of the shepherd who has a hundred sheep but leaves the ninety-nine to look for the one that is lost. Then when he finds his lost one, he calls in his neighbors and friends to rejoice with him.
Read MoreLast Words: A Word of Forgiveness
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Christ’s first saying from the Cross ushers us into our basic need as fallen humanity. Listen in and reflect on the amazing love and grace of our forgiving Lord …
Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet, once said,To err is human; to forgive, divine.
So true...but we humans more readily echo what someone else has said,
To err is human, but to get even? THAT is divine.
We struggle so, with forgiving our offenders! Perhaps that's why we are amazed and awestruck to realize that Jesus' first words from the Cross were ones of forgiveness.
Read MoreLast Words: Hearing the Words of Christ
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The last words of a dying person are significant. They are so final and so revealing of what is uppermost in a person's mind as he is leaving this earth to face his Maker.
I have been with several dying persons just shortly before their deaths. My grandmother died an untimely death. She had been hospitalized after a heart attack, but wasn’t expected to die. But she did die, just before being released. I had visited her from out of town just days before.
Read MoreAsh Wednesday -- Dust to Dust but Glory to Glory!
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From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday has taken on a new meaning for me in recent years, since my 91 year old mom passed away early in November 2015. There was something that arrested me right in my tracks the day of my mom's funeral. I was undone by deep sobs of realization. And the depth of it had been helped along by the incense and the reverence afforded the treatment of my dear mama's frail little body being put to rest (or so they say).
But it wasn't the finality of it all. It had already been final when she had breathed her last, days before.
No! It was the Sacredness that came crashing through!
Read MoreAttachment: The Secret of Detachment
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Detachment, Relinquishment ... Letting go! No matter how you say it, it is hard but beautiful. And it is needed...needed, that is, in order to grow in the spiritual life. In fact, Jesuit Richard Rohr, says, "All great spirituality is about letting go." (Everything Belongs) Our Lord Jesus was the One truly spiritual Person on this earth. And He was detached in a healthy way. He was detached because He was attached to Another ... to His Heavenly Father. All through the gospels, especially the gospel of John, we see and hear this truth clearly.
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He HIMSELF: An Amazing Double Emphasis
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… for He Himself has said,
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”
… As you may recall, Himself is my word for 2024.
He Himself! Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and Son of Man.
He Himself has been and will continue to be the Focus, the Emphasis of my life, because He IS my LIFE….
A God Song: Wrapped Up in You (guest post by John Loyd)
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Love songs often sound like songs we could sing to God or even songs God could sing to us. Our human expressions of earthly love are shadows of a perfect love relationship we all inherently crave, but will never find in this world. Such a pervasive longing is evidence that a there is Someone who truly has loved us to the end.
Read MoreMorning Meditation: LOVE when you feel unloved!
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Have you had a rough day? week? month? year? Do you feel abandoned? alone? Reflect on the loving, indwelling Christ and the fullness of His love for you. Slow down and hear HIM in your soul:
Read MoreI love you, even if no one else does!
Romance: Loving Jesus in Song
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… When my husband John and I were seniors at the University of Arizona, the Carpenters were at the top of the music charts. We embraced them as “our group” who sang “our songs” as we were "a-courting." Their mellow sound and rich melodies fed our romantic feelings toward each other and toward life in general.
… We have come to realize only an Almighty God could fulfill those unrealistic expectations….
Valentines Day -- Loving and Being Loved
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Several years ago on Valentines Day, I ran to Kroger to pick up a few things. As I got out of my car in the parking lot and walked across the lot to enter the store, I saw a man leaving, carrying a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers! For some reason, it moved me to tears. Here was a middle-aged, short, stocky guy ... not romantic looking or attractive in any way. And yet, I realized he was incredibly blessed because he LOVES someone.
Maybe she's a wife, a sweetheart, a daughter, a mother ... no matter, he has SOMEONE to love.
Read MoreI Know I Am LOVED by the KING . . .
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I’ve been sick for a month … viral infections turning into pneumonia, that just doesn’t want to give up. So I was again on livestream this morning with our church service.
Well, the Lord hugged my heart with a song I had forgotten. And the song has a precious lyric I had forgotten . . . It was just what I needed today.
Maybe you need it too . . .
Read MoreThe Father HIMSELF: His Love
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Do you know in the depths of your being that God your Father loves you and even likes you? Or do you feel like He just tolerates, puts up with you?
Does negative self-talk dog your steps? Are these your thoughts and maybe even words out of your mouth:
Read MoreSIMPLICITY IN CHRIST -- HE IS the Christian LIFE
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Christianity is a PERSON, not a procedure; the LORD, not a list! Not church attendance, not Christ-like qualities, not good works, not the Christian "to-do list" (which may vary depending on the group and "camp" you are in)...
Not evangelism, not mission trips, not a quality "quiet time," not Scripture memorization or Bible study...
Not spiritual disciplines, not prayer, not fasting, not obedience, not miracle-working faith...
Read MoreSIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: the Armor of God
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But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
The simplicity that is in Christ, my word for the year, has grabbed hold of me deeply.
As I was preparing a lesson on Spiritual Warfare for our ladies’ Bible class, I was arrested by my word and verse again.
Of course, HE is the key to spiritual warfare, and setting my mind simply on HIM is the answer to every battle I face in this life. After all, HE is the One who has already won the war (Hebrews 2:14-15)!
Read MoreSIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: "Be Thou My Vision"
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For years this hymn has been my go to song…from the time I was “in the convent” back in the late 1960’s to this very day no matter my Christian context. And recently it has been my morning song as I awaken the dawn walking in my area — even as the darkness is departing and my neighborhood owl is singing out the final hoo-hoo of his “day.”
And so I sing…even aloud…despite the high school young people passing me by on their way to the bus stop, wondering about this weird, white haired woman softly singing. I love the focus. I love the plaintive melody. I love my indwelling God who draws me toward thoughts of HIM Alone. And I love the story behind the song…
Read MoreSIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: Morning Thoughts for Battles You Face Today
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But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ.
May you rejoice in this gift of another day to experience the sufficiency of Christ who lives in you today … right now.
And let’s face it … there will be battles today in this fallen world. Christ has won the war. But while we are here on earth, we will face opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil (who uses the world and the flesh to lie to us and lure our dependence away from our loving Father God).
So here are a few thoughts and scriptures that may help as we face our today:
Read MoreEpiphany! Shining Light or Drama Queen?
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… we are like the star that led the Magi to Christ … or we can be. We can, in our very person, be the light that points another to the King. You and I have the King of Kings living within us. But as always it is our choice whether we allow the King to live through us and manifest His presence to seeking hearts who are walking in darkness all around us.
Author Tim Chester, in his lovely Advent devotional on Philippians 2 The One True Gift, caught my attention when he pointed out from Scripture one way that God says we can shine like stars …
Read MoreReceiving God's WORD for my Year
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Here we are again, friends. Another year has past, and for many it’s a time for the infamous “New Year’s Resolutions.” But several years ago I turned away from that initially hopeful, but later, dreaded “setting yourself up for failure,” tradition to a new thing altogether.
Resolutions are no temptation to me anymore. I’ve given up trying to change myself by my own self-effort. The indwelling Christ is my “Game-changer” and my “Life-changer.” And a few years ago, He brought a lovely “new thing” to my attention … the idea of a word for my year.
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