A Word on Wednesday: REMEMBER

re·mem·ber   [ri-mem-ber]  verb (used with object)1.  to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again: I'll try to remember the exact date. 2.  to retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of: Remember your appointment with the dentist. 3.  to have (something) come into the mind again: I just remembered that it's your birthday today. 4.  to bear (a person) in mind as deserving a gift, reward, or fee: The company always remembers us at Christmas. 5.  to give a tip, donation, or gift to: to remember the needy.

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If you are younger (under the age of 50, new new 40 :)...

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth...  Eccl 12:1 NIV

Or as the Message translation says:

Honor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young,    Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes,    Before your vision dims and the world blurs    And the winter years keep you close to the fire.

 In old age, your body no longer serves you so well.    Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.    The shades are pulled down on the world.    You can't come and go at will. Things grind to a halt.    The hum of the household fades away.    You are wakened now by bird-song.    Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past.    Even a stroll down the road has its terrors.    Your hair turns apple-blossom white,    Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body.    Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest,    While your friends make plans for your funeral.

 Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.    Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.    The body is put back in the same ground it came from.    The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it. Ecclesiastes 12:1-7  The Message

HOW are you remembering Him...honoring and enjoying Him today?

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No matter your age...

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:7-8

WHO are your remembering today?  What did their faith look like in their life?

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If you are over 50...

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;     yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works     and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:11-12

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, he will grow like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord, he will flourish in the courts of our God. he will still yield fruit in old age; he shall be full of sap and very green to declare the Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him! Psalm 92:12-15

WHAT deeds of the Lord do you remember and proclaim?

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...and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of ME."

Kingdom Academy

shepherdess and sheep

Do not be afraid, little flock, for the Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.  Luke 12:32

I look at the framed picture hanging on the wall in my bedroom. It's a classic painting of a shepherdess with her sheep.  And I remember my preschoolers 1998 and their moms.

I think of the privilege I have had to be that shepherdess pointing them to the Chief Shepherd, Who Himself also is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus is the Great Shepherd...and Guardian of their souls and mine!

So when it was my turn to lead teacher devotions that year, I knew I had to share about my preschoolers.  They had become my Kingdom Academy... not primarily because they learned so much spiritual truth through me, but because they taught their teacher (a.k.a. shepherdess) about the simplicity of devotion to Christ.

There were many ways they taught me.  But I'll just share three...the simplicity of prayer, the simplicity of forgiveness, and the simplicity of blessing.

Prayer

Early in the year, I taught the children the Bible story of the storm at sea and how Jesus came, walking on the water, to His disciples who were in the boat.  I explained that Jesus got into the boat when the disciples invited Him in.  Then He calmed the storm and rode with them the rest of the way to shore.

I then told the children that our classroom was our "boat."  We could invite Jesus into our classroom to be with us.  One of the children said, "Well, let's do it right NOW!"  And he burst into prayer!

tree huggers

The Blessing 1999

Sometime during the school year, I had read The Blessing by Gary Smalley & John Trent. In that wonderful book, the authors explore our human need for approval and validation. They show how this need was met in the Biblical blessings given by fathers to children. But also we could do this for our children today and for others we care about. The authors listed 5 elements to the Blessing:

1. Meaningful touch 2. Spoken words 3. Expressing High value 4. Picturing a Special Future 5. Active commitment

I intended to use what I learned from this book to bless my own young adult children and the ladies in my Bible study group. I basically left it at that, but God had other ideas.

It was the last day of PK class. We were gathering our things into each child's box. Just as we were all lined up and starting to walk down the hall and out to the waiting moms, the Holy Spirit stopped me. "Bless them!"

PK 98 LAST DAY

So there in the hallway, I laid my hands on them one by one and prayed over each in turn...unique words and blessings for every child. I wish I had journaled the blessings...alas! I didn't :(

But what I'll never forget are the eager little faces...as each child waited his turn to be blessed!

No dry eyes for me...and a lesson learned in the value of blessing others!

So dear sweet ones, I bless you and say that your lives are full of promise...as you face your futures, walking with your Savior.  Honor HIM, for He is worthy!

For 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 Am A Promise I am a promise I am a possibility I am a promise with a capital “P” I am a great big bundle of potentiality And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice And I am tryin’ to make the right choice I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.

I can go anywhere that He wants me to go I can be anything He wants me to be I can climb the high mountains I can cross the wide sea I’m a great big promise you see!

I am a promise I am a possibility I am a promise with a capital “P” I am a great big bundle of potentiality And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice And I am tryin’ to make the right choice

I’m a promise to be anything God wants me to be Anything God wants me to be!

Carson

Brian

Andrew

Pre-school 1998...HS Graduation 2012

PK 98 signatures13

Yes, it's that time again...graduation! Some of you may have read my post last year when my Dream Team graduated.  If not, you may want to take a look at that PK story.  It tells how a teacher like me, who emphatically doesn't DO preschool...ended up DOING preschool...and LOVING IT!

But now Graduation 2012 is a new year and a new group of graduates.  This is the year that my last PK group graduates from high school.

You may wonder how I think of this group, if the other was my Dream Team (after all, how many Dream Teams can one have?).  Let me just say, I remember these five precious four-year old's as my Free Spirits.

wiggle worm workout

At times, these little ones seemed to bounce off of every wall...not in a bad way, mind you...but in a four-year old way! My Free Spirits kept me on my spiritual toes.  And that was good!

In fact, as the year went on, I came to think of this little group as my Kingdom Academy.  Why, you might ask?  Because God in His grace did some very special things...amazing to this "non-preschool DO-ing" teacher!

But I'll leave that for my next post.  In the meantime, let me introduce you to this year's graduates from Mrs. Loyd's preschool:

Amy

First there's the princess and only girl in the midst of four boys...Amy.  Amy was always smiling, caring, helping.  In fact, when the boys started telling her, "Amy, get me this...put away that," I had to jump in to rescue her from the chauvanistic  :)  males of the group.  Seriously though, Amy is an only sister in a family of boys, so enough said!

Carson

Brian

Then there is Carson.  Carson would read my bulletin boards as I put them up.  When I asked him who taught him to read, he said , "No one!"  And I believe it!  Carson had a sensitive conscience and often struggled with what was right and wrong...a smart little guy.

Brian was our budding artist.  He loved to draw and color.  He didn't love when there was too much "upheaval" in the classroom...a man after my own heart!

David

David was the pray-er of our group.  Often when I would say, "Let's pray," David would burst into prayer.  He often didn't give me a chance to lead out as I had intended.  David was very spiritually sensitive and repented easily when he did the wrong thing.

Andrew

Last but not least is Andrew.  Andrew joined us in the middle of the school year.  I remember his grateful spirit.  Shortly after he joined us, Andrew said to me, "Teacher, thank you for letting me be in this class!"  He also thanked the Lord in prayer one day for "Mr Potato Head, my cat peeing and pooing in the litter box, and even for my teacher!"

In the next blog, I'll tell some more about these dear ones...

But right now, I want to thank you, dear Amy, Carson, Brian, David, and Andrew, for enriching my life with your free spirited innocence and love and life!

Your names and little faces :) are forever etched in my heart!

PK 98 signatures

See, I have written your names in the palms of My hands... Is 49:16a

Truly AWE-some!

Read this magnificent psalm.Then click on the picture below...you will be glad you did :)

Psalm 8 The Message

 1 God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.

 2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;       toddlers shout the songs    That drown out enemy talk,       and silence atheist babble.

 3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,       your handmade sky-jewelry,    Moon and stars mounted in their settings.       Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,    Why do you bother with us?       Why take a second look our way?

 5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,       bright with Eden's dawn light.    You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,       repeated to us your Genesis-charge,    Made us lords of sheep and cattle,       even animals out in the wild,    Birds flying and fish swimming,       whales singing in the ocean deeps.

 9 God, brilliant Lord,       your name echoes around the world.

Click on the picture!

The animation in this is very cool... Be sure to slide the bar left and right... Go both ways to see the dimensions of God's greatness... and notice how man is right in the middle of it all!

Alone? on Mothers' Day?

There are lots of emptyings in life.  There are deaths and losses of every kind.  There are ends of relationships...ends of jobs...ends of school-years...ends of eras...ends of phases of life.  Some of these are expected.  Some catch us by surprise! This Mother's Day, I think of an emptying that affects all mothers sooner or later...the emptying of the nest!

I know!  This is what we have been preparing our children for, right?...the launch, the flight out of the safety, security, and nurturing of their childhood home... out into the excitement of what God has for them up ahead.   But who ever prepares us moms?

I've always been an independent person. So releasing my children into adulthood...to make their own way...has caught me by surprise.  It has been harder than I ever thought!  In fact, it's been one of the swords that have pierced this mom's heart.

My mind goes back to a Mothers' Day at the very start of the emptying.   The Lord in a unique way comforted this grieving mother's heart.  It was at a time when my children, who were young adults, had just gone through some serious health crises.  So I was drained emotionally.

At that time, there were significant others in the picture.  So the issue of celebrating Mothers' Day became somewhat of a dilemma.  John & I decided to defer to the other mothers and postpone our celebration to the following Sunday.

That should have taken care of it, right?  But to my surprise, being alone on the real Mothers' Day was a grief to me!  I was doing my best not to wallow in my sadness, when the Lord surprised me with three gifts...three delights for a hurting mama's heart!  Three God-winks that most likely would have gone unnoticed had we been celebrating that day.

The first gift was finding old cassette tapes of my babies' voices.  (Keep in mind that in the 1970's early 80's, that was the best you could do to record audio.)  There were tapes of Jeremy and Beth when each of them was just starting to talk.  Others, when they were very young.  One was even labeled "doing school and being obnoxious!"  I listened...I laughed...I cried...as the bitter-sweetness of those precious voices washed over me!

The second sacred wink was catching sight of a mama house finch launching her babies.  Talk about the perfect metaphor at the perfect time!  Here the mama of the little family of house-finches, that had nested in a bush next to our porch, was giving this sorrowing mama a lesson in the circle of life.  I imagined mama finch saying her good-bye's as each left the safety of her nest.  Was she grieving the way I was, or was she more courageous than I?

And last but not least, I just happened to come across a monthly letter from Telling the Truth, a ministry I had begun to follow.  I had tossed it aside to join my stack of others to be read someday.  By God's grace, in that alone time, I picked it up and started reading.  It all came together...

Stuart Briscoe, describing how motherhood changed his wife Jill, wrote:

When the baby was born, I stood by helplessly and watched the transformation that took place in my wife.  Motherhood changed her irrevocably.  As she nursed her child I detected a mysterious gleam in her eyes--a certain glow, a knowing, a secret insight that she shared with the new arrival.  She and he knew something that I didn't know.  I could do nothing more than observe and wonder at the mystery of motherhood.

He went on to say...

It occurs to me that the unique bond between mother and child makes possible an intimate nurturing relationship that men never know for they, by definition, are removed--they stand at a distance from the mother-child phenomenon.  But hard as it can be for the father to make the adjustment to the beloved intruder, there is divine genius in the arrangement.

For the day comes---all too soon--when the child must spread his wings and take flight from the nest.  Guess who struggles at this point?  The mother, of course!  Releasing and relinquishing are not mother gifts.

Guess who knows how to handle distance?  The father, naturally.  So as the wise mother has steered the puzzled father through the mysteries of nurturing, so the wise father now steps forward to guide the fearful mother through the anxieties of relinquishment.

And the child receives what he needs -- a healthy balance of mother nurture and father freedom... (Stuart Briscoe, Telling the Truth newsletter, May 1999)

What a comfort these words were.  Having never gone through this phase of life before, I was struggling.  And as hard as it was and would continue to be for some time, I had to realize in my experience that it is God's way to move my children into responsible adulthood.  It's their turn to step up to the plate of life and fulfill the will of God in their generation.

Emptyings are never easy...

But God's intent in the emptyings is never to leave us void.  He wants to fill us with a greater capacity for Himself...to fill us with a greater experience of WHO HE IS in every phase of life.

So dear mama-sister, if you are going through THE emptying of all emptyings (or so it seems at the time), open your eyes...there may be God-winks all around you, visitations from your Abba-Father to comfort a relinquishing mama's heart.

My Mother...My Hero

mommy & me

Mothers are awesome creatures.  They are the lovely reflections of our Father God's unconditional, sacrificial, faithful LOVE!  Moms are the true HEROS of life, or should I say, HEROINES! My mother, Jeanette Galuszka Renner, is MY hero!

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to honor my "Mommy" as she turned 85.  We published mine, along with others from her children, grandchildren, and other relatives, in a book to honor this amazing lady.

I'm posting my letter to thank God again for the gracious gift of my MOM, my HERO ...and to encourage YOU to give thanks to the Maker of Mothers...for YOUR mother!

letter writing

Also, don't wait to eulogize your mom.  If you are blessed to still have her in your life, tell her!  Better yet, prayerfully and thoughtfully write her a letter.  Don't assume she knows how wonderful and important she is...put it in print! (I think there's something sacred about the written word!)

Summer 2009

Dearest Mom,

Someone once asked me, “Who was the person who influenced you the most?”  Without hesitation I answered, “My mother!”  You, dear Mommy, more than any other human being, have profoundly impacted who I am and how I live my life.  I will be forever grateful to God and to you for your sacrificial love, your teaching, and your example.

young jeanette

There was never a question in my mind that you loved me unconditionally and with great sacrifice.  You were always on my side and helped me with school work, projects, etc. even though you had the others to take care of too.  I remember how skinny and tired you always were, forgetting to even to eat lunch (amazing to me as a child!) because of your constant care for all of us. You would always make sure we had what we needed and often even stayed up late sewing to make clothes and costumes for us.  I remember wondering how you could be happy never getting anything new for yourself.  Now I know that your happiness was in giving to your family.

mom & dad, young

I also remember your teaching.  You taught me to write my name in cursive before I went to school – something I took pride in!  You taught me to crochet, which gives me great pleasure even today.  I know you drilled school work with me and really wanted me to do well.

But most of all, I remember you taught me about God.  I have memories of us sitting together on the couch in our living room in Tucson, looking at the big family Bible together.  There were some pictures in it, so you told me about those Bible stories.  I remember that you often quoted a verse from the Bible that I have never forgotten:  “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1Corinthians 2:9)

You gave me a view of God and His ways that has remained at the center of my life to this day.  You instilled in me that the most important thing in life is to do the will of God.  I heartily agree!

mommy & me

But you not only taught me about God and His ways and about life in general.  You showed me and my brothers and sisters what it is to live out faithfulness to God and your family by your example.  You didn’t have an easy life…there were heartaches, difficulties, and struggles.  You have often doubted yourself, but you have never doubted God and your love for your family.  You have always set us a good example of devotion to God through prayer, giving, and attendance at church.  And you have always been loyal, loving, and generous to all of us, your children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren.

It is a great pleasure to honor you today at this celebration of your 85th birthday!  The Bible says that a woman like you is a treasure to find.  I consider you among the greatest treasures of my life, and I do truly “rise up and call you blessed!”  (Proverbs 31:28)  You are my hero!

My love always

Janet Gale

mother of 7

great-g'ma of 4+

grandmother of 12+

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I cry every time I hear this song...always thinking of my mom!  My niece Noelle sang it to my mom at her celebration. Listen and think of your mom...

Wind Beneath My Wings

It must have been cold there in my shadow To never have sunlight on your face You were content to let me shine, that's your way You always walked a step behind

So I was the one with all the glory While you were the one with all the strength A beautiful face without a name for so long A beautiful smile to hide the pain

Did you ever know that you're my hero And everything I would like to be? I can fly higher than an eagle For you are the wind beneath my wings

It might have appeared to go unnoticed But I've got it all here in my heart I want you to know, I know the truth, of course I know it I would be nothing without you

Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be I could fly higher than an eagle For you are the wind beneath my wings

Did I ever tell you you're my hero? You're everything, everything I wish I could be Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle For you are the wind beneath my wings 'Cause you are the wind beneath my wings

Oh, the wind beneath my wings You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings Fly, fly, fly away, you let me fly so high Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings

Fly, fly, so high against the sky So high I almost touch the sky Thank you, thank youThank God for you, the wind beneath my wings

Abba's Little Girls

Jan Youth07

Motherhood is a Sisterhood...unrivaled by any other (except perhaps, Grandmother-hood). So if you are a mom, you are my beloved sister...

And sometimes we mama-sisters just need to be daughters...Abba's (Hebrew for Daddy) little girls.

So this Mothers' Day, let us hear these restful words of promise from our Abba:

1.  Open wide...and be filled...

I am the Lord your God...Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.  Psalm 81:10

open your mouth wide ps 81:10

2.  Dwell in Him...and find refuge...

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty... He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge...  Psalm 91:4

Psalm 91:4 Under His Wings

3. Lift up your eyes...and receive help...

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.  Psalm 121:1-2

mountains

This Mother's Day...

may you open your heart wide to befilled with Him and His provision!  (Psalm 81)

may you dwell in Him and find refuge and protection from all dangers under Abba's wings! (Psalm 91)

may you lift up the eyes of your heart to your sovereign Creator Abba God for the help you need -- strength, safety, and stability! (Psalm 121)

Yes, even we mamas still need to be Abba's Little Girls :)

Total PraiseLord I will life my eyes to the hills Knowing my help is coming from You Your peace you give me In time of the storm You are the source of my strength You are the strength of my life I lift my hands in total praise to you Lord, I will lift my eyes to the hills Knowing my help is coming from You Your peace you give me In times of the storm You are the source of my strength You are the strength of my life I lift my hands in total praise to you Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen

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cild reading bible

Psalm 121 is very memorize-able.

When my kids were very young we used to take car trips to New Jersey to visit my family.  It was a l-o-n-g drive, so one year we memorized Psalm 121 together as we rode along. To this day, I have fond memories and sweet emotions whenever I read or hear that comforting psalm.

Why not spend a little time this Mothers Day memorizing Psalm 121 together.  Bask in the care and protection of your Abba Father!

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deut 6:4-8

You may also like to visit some other Mama stories 

...especially Open Letter to a New Mom

Beth with Kaden 2006

Evan Arrives 002

Cortney with Carter 2008

Beth and Eli at birth

John at playground in Metafe 138_5764

You might also like to read Children Incognito

Time to Vote!

Thank you, dear readers, for your input a few blogs ago.  I want to tell you the reason for my request.  I'm planning to enter some of my writing in the Writers' Digest Annual Writing Contest (spiritual, inspirational category).  I feel like this may be a door from the Lord...the info about it came to me.  I didn't seek it out.

However, because there is a fee for each entry, I thought I might ask for help narrowing down what I send in.  So here are the few blogs that seem to have surfaced as contest potential :).

If you have time and inclination, would you "vote" on the one(s) you like best?  You could rate them 1, 2, 3, ... (with 1 being the best).  Or just pick one or two.

By the way, when they are submitted, they will have been revised slightly to sound more like an article than a blog.  And I won't be able to include pictures :(

A Word of Salvation [This one will be revised as "Lost & Found"]

Embracing My Today

Choose Your Face...Change Your Day

Remembering Jesus' BIRTH-day

Walkin n Talkin...

Thanks so much, dear friends, for taking the time to read and evaluate!  I treasure your input!  Blessings!

Resurrection Walk...

When I was at the University of Arizona in the late 60's & early 70"s, the "Jesus movement" was in full swing.  A song that we always sang during praise time at our Christian student meetings in those days was "He Lives". This song grabbed me!  The concept of a living Christ who intimately related to me on a daily basis was just beginning to dawn on me.  Look at the words to this glorious song:

mom & me walking

I serve a risen Saviour He's in the world today; I know that He is living, Whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He's always near.

Chorus: He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and He talks with me Along life's narrow way. He lives, He live, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart.

In all the world around me I see His loving care, And tho my heart grows weary I never will despair; I know that He is leading Thro' all the stormy blast, The day of His appearing Will come at last.

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, Lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs To Jesus Christ the King! The hope of all who seek Him, The help of all who find, None other is so loving, So good and kind.

Brennan Manning has a phrase that I love...living in Present Risenness.  In his precious book The Rabbi's Heartbeat, he says:

We are not cowed into timidity by death and life.  Were we forced to rely on our own shabby resources we would be pitiful people indeed.  But the awareness of Christ's present risenness persuades us that we are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own.

The Christ within who is our hope of glory is not a matter of theological debate or philosophical speculation.  He is not a hobby, a part-time project, a good theme for a book, or a last resort when all human effort fails.  He is our life, the most real fact about us.  He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us.

Even though the holiday we call Easter has passed, dear child of God, meditate on this glorious thought:  The Resurrected Christ is alive in your world right now.  The Living Christ lives in you today.  And this same Lord Jesus Christ lives His resurrection life through you as you walk in Present Risenness...every day!

Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col 1:27

...you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. Col 3:3-4

...to those who are the called,...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1Cor 124

Now enjoy this simple, sincere rendition of "HE LIVES"...

*This was posted last Easter as Walking in Present Risenness

Resurrection Joy!

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! What a reason to celebrate!  And celebrate is just what my 5 year old grandson does when he sings this, his favorite song.

Let's join Evan (and his brother Carter)...and all the saints and angels in praise to God for His glorious gift of His Risen and Reigning Son!

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise...  Psalm 8:2

Happy Day by Tim Hughes

o happy day...evan & carter

The greatest day in history, Death is beaten You have rescued me Sing it out Jesus is alive The empty cross, The empty grave Life eternal You have won the day Shout it out Jesus is aliveHe's alive

Chorus: Oh happy day, happy day You washed my sin away Oh happy day, happy day I'll never be the same Forever I am changed

o happy day evan & carter

When I stand, in that place Free at last, meeting face to face I am Yours Jesus You are mine Endless joy, perfect peace Earthly pain finally will cease Celebrate Jesus is aliveHe's alive

Chorus

Oh what a glorious day What a glorious way That You have saved me Oh what a glorious day What a glorious name

Chorus

What a glorious glorious day, I'll never be the same

Be sure to view it in the full screen...awesome!

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Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

Resurrection Zoe!

Esaster lily and cross

Easter isn't Easter unless it's Easter to YOU!

So declared a radiopreacher early in Holy Week.  At first I said, "YES!"

Then I thought about it a while and said, "Not really...Easter is Easter whether I get it or not!"  Now I'm rethinking the statement.

What is Easter anyway?  I remember in my confirmation catechism class learning that...

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox.

That explains when, but WHAT is Easter?

Easter is the day we celebrate when...

Jesus rose from the grave...

conquering sin and death on the Cross on our behalf...

so that we could walk in newness of life.

EasterEggHunt

And that's the point, isn't it?  Easter isn't about chocolate bunnies, chicks, coloring and hunting eggs, new clothes, Easter lilies and other spring flowers, and freshness.  These are all simply pictures...metaphors, if you will, of the real deal.

And the real deal is ZOE!  LIFE!  Jesus Himself said,

I came that they may have life[zoe, in Greek] and have it abundantly. John 10:10

How does zoe happen for you and me?

The eternal life of God is imparted as a gift to all who believe in His Son, the God-Man Jesus Christ.  He is the One who paid the penalty for our sins, so that...

when Jesus died, my sinful self died with Him; when He was buried, I was buried with Him; when He rose from the dead, I rose with Him...a new creation in Christ.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Col 3:1-4

So Easter is Easter to me because the indwelling, resurrected Christ is my ZOE!  Is He yours, dear friend?

Even as believers, though, if we are perfectly honest, we must admit that we don't always live from His indwelling, resurrected LIFE, do we?

Rather we often live as if our abilities and cleverness, our relationships (including our favorite social media), our jobs, our pet activities, and our possessions are the source of LIFE.  But of course, when looked at that way, they aren't life at all, but rather false gods and dead works.

So back again to the statement:

Easter isn't Easter unless it's Easter to YOU!

May Easter BE Easter as we refocus on our glorious, Risen Lord who indwells all who believe.

Prayer: May every day be Easter, O Lord, because of Your abundant, indwelling, resurrection ZOE...thank you for the precious gift of Your glorious self.  Amen!

KNOWING YOU

EMPTY TOMB

All I once held dear Built my life upon all this world reveres And wars to own All I once thought gain I have counted loss Spent and worthless now Compared to this

Chorus: Knowing You, Jesus Knowing You There is no greater thing You're my all You're the best You're my joy, my righteousness And I love You lord

Now my heart's desire Is to know You more To be found in You And known as Yours To possess by faith What I could not earn All-surpassing gift Of righteousness

Oh, to know the power Of your risen life And to know You in Your sufferings To become like You In Your death, my Lord So with You to live and never die

The written lyrics are in English and hmong (a Chinese dialect); the song is sung in English.

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bible student

Bible Students:

Meditate on this marvelous passage.  Enter in...and give thanks:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Reunion

praying child

Now I lay me down to sleepI pray the Lord my soul to keep If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take

So goes a traditional nighttime prayer taught by American moms to their children for generations.

It may seem odd to us today that there would be the mention of death in a child's prayer.  But scientists say that sleep is the closest we come to death while still alive.  The Greeks even had a proverb,

Sleep and death are brothers.

However, in the first century, Jewish moms taught their children a different bedtime prayer...quoting Psalm 31:

Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

Sound familiar?  It should...they are the final words of Jesus as He breathed His last (Luke 23:46).

For most of us, death comes suddenly and often without warning.  But for many, there is a sense that death is imminent...and it even seems that in some cases, the dying individual yields his spirit after seeing that treasured love one or after receiving permission from an important someone, "It's okay...you can go" (perhaps merely giving in to the inevitable).

But not so in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ!  His death was totally voluntary...under His control...in submission to His Father's will:

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:46 ESV

Good Shepherd

About a year or so earlier, He had spoken of this voluntary quality of His death in the beautiful metaphor of the Good Shepherd:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.... I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep... For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. John 10:11-18 ESV

Later in that same beautiful passage, Jesus says,

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-31

images-7

Talk about intimacy and security!  And this with our Father God through His Son, our Lord!

So in this last word from the Cross, the God-Man Jesus Christ recites His familiar childhood prayer...the prayer learned at His mother's knee.   In doing so, He consciously and in full control yields His life and returns to the bosom of His heavenly Father.  Why? for love of you and me!

Lord, we are overwhelmed...thank you...thank you...thank you!!!!!

Calvary's Love -- S Green

Only Jesus, Only He Brings redemption, full and free There's a yearning, in all our lives That only Jesus satisfies

Calvary's love will sail forever Bright and shining, strong and free Like an ark of peace and safety On the sea of human need

Through the hours of all the ages Those tired of sailing on their own Finally rest inside the shadow Cast by Calvary's love across their souls

Chorus: Calvary's love, Calvary's love Priceless gift Christ makes us worthy of The deepest sin can't rise above Calvary's love

Calvary's love can heal the Spirit Life has crushed and cast aside And redeem til Heaven's promise Fills with joy once empty eyes So desire to tell His story Of a love that loved enough to die Burns away all other passions And fed by Calvary's love becomes a fire

Chorus

Calvary's love has never faltered All its wonders still remain Souls still take eternal passage Sins atoned and heaven gained Sins forgiven and heaven gained

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Further Application:

Consider making this your nighttime prayer as you drift off to sleep each night. You may also want to read and meditate on all of Psalm 31.

crown of thorns with bible

Further Meditation:

During Holy Week, you may like to join me by going back through the meditations...one or two each day. Journal what the Holy Spirit highlights to your heart. Here they all are...

bible student

Bible Students: Explore these Shepherd passages and be blessed! Psalm 23 -- the Lord, my Shepherd Ezekiel 34 -- contrast with false shepherds Luke 15 -- seeks for lost sheep John 10 -- the Good Shepherd John 21:15-23 -- feed My sheep... Heb 13:20-21 -- the Great Shepherd of the Sheep 1 Peter 2:25 -- the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls 1Peter 5:4 -- the Chief Shepherd

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Completion

tetelestai cross

Tetelestai!* It is finished! The death of Christ on the Cross is the HINGE of human history...and nowbefore He breathes His last breath... a cry of victory,It is finished!

What's finished? It must be something BIG,...look at what happened when Jesus died:

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:51-54 NLT

So WHAT was finished?  What wascomplete at the death of Christ?

All the work that the Father had sent the Son to accomplish:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

paid in full

...especiallythe work of atonement and redemption as our Sin Bearer:

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2Cor 5:21 NLT

...so that there was nothing left to be done to bring us to a Holy God!

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. 1 Peter 3:18 NLT

This has HUGE implications for us!

Jesus did everything that He needed to do... ...for our salvation from the penalty of sin! ...for our Christian life on this earth! ...for our eternity in glory!

Look at how Paul says it:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners....God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. Romans 5:6-10

But not only did Jesus die for us (as if that wasn't enough), but we died with Him (read Romans 6 and Colossians 3)

I have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me... Galatians 2:20a NIV

...you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Col 3:3-4

crucufixion tetelestai

Now this is where it gets really exciting...and practical for my everyday life:

WHAT did I die to through my union with Christ?

I died to the sinful self -- Gal 2:20; 2Cor 5:17; Rom 6:3-14 I died to the flesh -- Col 2:11-12; Rom 8:1-10 I died to sin --  Col 2:13; Romans 6:3-14; Eph 2:1-7;2Cor 5:21 I died to the Law (“to do list” religion)! -- Rom 7:4-6; 8:3-4; Gal 2:19-20; 3:10-25; Col 2:14 I died to the power of Satan, whose main tactics are lies and accusation! -- Col 2:15; Heb 2:14-15; Eph 1:19-21;6:10ff I died to the world -- Gal 6:14; Col 2:8

So if death means separation, then...

I've been disconnected from my selfish self as my source of life; I've been disconnected from the fleshly and sinful attitude of independence as the source of my life; I've been disconnected from the need to do good works (religious and otherwise) to earn God's favor (I already have God's favor in Christ); I've been disconnected from the power of the lies of the enemy (for a good example of this, see Caught in the Web); I've been disconnected from the world system with its values and mindset as my source of meaning in life.

Now I can chose to live from the indwelling, risen Christ who is my life...

And that's worth shouting about...Tetelestai!

And singing about..

How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss, The Father turns His face away As wounds which mar the chosen One, Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross, My sin upon His shoulders Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there Until it was accomplished His dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer But this I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom

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Bible Note: In John 19:30, "John chose to quote Jesus using the Greek word tetelestai, an accounting term found on canceled loan documents, relieving a debtor of future payment.  When the last payment had been made, the paper was stamped tetelestai, meaning 'paid in full.' If the lender wished to forgive the debt, he could stamp the document tetelestai, meaning 'fulfilled' or 'completed.'"  (Chuck Swindoll, Saying It Well, p. 131)

A Request of my Dear Readers

Hi friends! It's been a year since I started writing A Branch In the Vine.   My desire has always been to honor the Lord and encourage God's people.

I have also wanted to get some of what the Lord has done in my life written down for my children and grandchildren.  [I wish my mom and my "Babci" had written down their journeys with the Lord as young moms on into their senior years.  But I digress...]

The reason for this short post is that I'd like to ask a favor.  Whether you have been a regular reader, an occasional reader, or a hit or miss reader,  would you do me the honor of letting me know if there was a particular post (or posts) in the past year that...

...impacted you in some way or...

...was enjoyable to read or...

...particularly well written or...

...just memorable for some reason.

I'm sorry I don't have any prizes to offer :(  But there is a reason that I'm asking (more about that later on).

So if you have a few moments to do this, I would be grateful!  You can leave it as a comment below, or you can email via this site:  jan@abranchinthevine.com

With gratitude and love, Jan

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Personal Need*

Thirst is a primal need in all of us humans...more demanding even than hunger!  We can go quite awhile without eating, but a very short time without drinking. Jesus on the Cross had refrained up to this point from satisfying His thirst.  Instead He drank the Father's cup to the very last drop! He became sin for us...the Sinless One!  Jesus took our place, and the Father turned His back.  The punishment for sin had been accomplished...spiritual separation from God....for US!

Now in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus expresses His own physical need:

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 ESV

Here He is...the Source of Living Water...asking for a drink!  That reminds me of another time Jesus was thirsty...and it was a thirst that ended up quenching thirsty souls.

He had been traveling through Samaria, and  He asked an unknown woman at a well for a drink.

Samaria was the place where a mixed race lived...half pagan, half Jewish...wholly outcast to pure bred Jews.  But not to Jesus!  He was to have a divine encounter with this forgotten woman over a drink of water.

This woman of Samaria was not the godly, religious type, even according to Samaritan standards...in fact, the exact opposite.  She was looking for love in all the wrong places...five husbands and now a live-in boyfriend.  Yet still thirsty for love...from Someone, but didn't know it!

So in her shame, she daily came to the well to draw water at mid-day...at a time when she could avoid the knowing glances and whispers of the "righteous women" of the community.

Here she encountered a Stranger with a strange request:

Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.  She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?...

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Thinking that Jesus was talking about physical water and physical thirst,

“Please, sir, the woman said, give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

Jesus, gently confronting her of her sinful and fruitless life, answered her God questions:

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him...

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.

Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world. John 4:1-42 NLT

In the end, this little woman, as well as the community she desperately tried to avoid, drank deep of the Well of Living Water...all in response to a Thirsty Stranger's request for a drink.

Prayer: Lord, I hear Your words, I thirst, and I realize that You thirsted for me too.  Thank you for Your ever-thirsting thirst for the souls of men and women like me! I have to admit that I go through my days thirsting also. But I often try to quench my thirst at broken cisterns that hold no water ...cisterns of human approval, recreation and entertainment, social media, relationships (even good ones), religion, perfectionism, comparison, one-up-manship, and the list goes on. In the end I come up dry...because I'm really thirsty for YOU, my Savior and Lord. Thank you for Your Indwelling Spring of Living Water...Your Beautiful Self! Cause me to walk in Your overflowing fullness every day of my life. Amen and amen!

Let anyone who is thirsty come to ME and drink. Whoever believes in ME, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:37-38

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Bible Students:

Fully God, but fully HUMAN.

This is another of the divine mysteries...the Kenosis, the self-emptying of the Son of God.

Explore these passages and be humbled and blessed by the realization that the Sovereign God became one of us...for you and me!

Philippians 2:6-11 ESV Hebrews 2:9-18 ESV

*Thanks to friends at Abiding Christ Church for this title.  Traditionally, this statement is often called a "Word of Distress."

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Abandonment

Abandoned!  Left on the "doorstep of Life"...but with no Rescuer in sight! What happens next in the unfolding drama of the crucifixion of our Lord is incomprehensible!

My God, My God...

It's an abandonment so profoundly mysterious that it boggles the mind...but ravishes the believing heart! Let's watch it unfold...

It is noon.

By this time, Jesus has already forgiven His executioners as they cruelly hammered Him to the Cross...as they, careless for His pain, roughly lifted and dropped His Cross into the ground...Father, forgive them.

By this time, He lovingly has received the confession and cry of a repentant thief with a word of hope...Today you will be with me in Paradise.

And by now, He has tenderly cared for His suffering mama by entrusting her to His beloved disciple and friend...Behold your son...behold your mother.

Three hours of agony are yet to come...as if enough suffering hasn't already been His cup. This agony will be beyond understanding and description!  But this is the crux of theFather's cupthat Jesus has chosen to drink...and drink it He must...to the full!

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” Matthew 27:45-49 NLT

crucifixion with darkness

Strangely silent, God the Father abandons Jesus, God's Son...for three hours.

This is the same Father who validated Him at His baptism with the words:

This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well-pleased. Matthew 3:17 ESV

...the same Father who declared Him superior to Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration:

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" John 17:5 ESV

...and the same Abba who responded to Jesus' prayer just days before His crucifixion:

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ...Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:27-32 ESV

But now nothing but darkness!  What kind of rift could be happening in the Trinity?

Whatever it is, it's so mysteriously real that we hear the very human God-Man ask the question we all ask when we face the "unanswerables" of life...WHY?

Theologians* down through the centuries have basically scratched their theological heads, trying to understand and explain this mystery of mysteries.

But it's the pages of Scripture that give us the answer to Jesus' WHY?

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed forour sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.Is 53:4-6 NLT

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Cor5:21 ESV

God turned His back on His Son so He wouldn't have to turn His back on us...

Because the wages of sin is death...spiritual as well as physical; because death means separation...separation from God (spiritual death) as well as separation of the soul from the body (physical death); Jesus our Brother underwent spiritual death as well as physical death to be our sinless Sin-Bearer, our Perfect Substitute.

Jesus the God-Man was spiritually separated from a Holy God in order to take our place...and bring us to God.

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit... 1 Peter 3:18 NIV

And WHY?

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.John 15:13

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 1John 3:16

Prayer:

"We twist in anguish at Your cry ..."My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"  God forsaking God, this is a mystery beyond understanding.  A forsaking that was meant for us, but wretched alienation and blackness experienced by You.Because of that tormented howl, the barrier that kept us from God tears in two.  And we who have insulted and mocked You, denied You and crucified You, we fall on our knees and whisper Good Friday truth: "Surely this man was the Son of God." Ann Voskamp, Trail to the Tree

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Something to Think About:

Tears

Have you ever been forsaken by someone you love?  Jesus understands...He was no stranger to abandonment.  He was abandoned by His nation, His people, His "so-called disciples, His brothers, Judas, Peter...and in reality, us as well.

He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Is 53:3 NLT

Have you ever felt abandoned by God?  Jesus was!  And this has been the experience of devout believers through the ages.  (See Dark Night of the Soul) Of course, we will never experience it to the extent of the Son of God.  But we know that because He has gone through it before us, He understands and comes to our aid even when the Heavens may seem like brass...silent and dark.

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT

Have you asked the WHY? question...without getting a reply?  Read what our Mysterious God says:

The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. Deut 29:29

Bible student:

Bible Students:

Many Bible scholars consider Psalm 22, the psalm Jesus quoted here, a Messianic Psalm. There are at least four points of comparison between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27.  See if you can find them. Look especially at Ps 22:1,7,8,18 and Mt 27:35,39,43,46.

You may also like to read through the Gospel of John during this Lenten season.  As you do, make note of how intimately connected to and dependent on the Father, Jesus was.  This made the abandonment the Son experienced all the more painful...all for you and me!

* A Theological Word:

God forsaking God.  Who can understand that? Martin Luther (quoted in Abiding Christ Church, Lenten study 2012)

The first three sayings were probably all spoken before noon.  This one, which is in every way central, was uttered about 3pm, after three hours of darkness and silence during which the Son of God bore the sin of the world.  In that work He had to be forsaken by God, and yet at the same time there was no splitting up of the Trinity.  All that is involved is inscrutable, but He gave Himself, He was made sin, He bore sins, and His soul was made an offering for sin.  His work was to bear sin.

Charles Ryrie,  Biblical Theology of the New Testament, p.69

Kiss Me…I might be Irish

That was the saying on a balloon I saw the other day at Kroger.  And it was also the sentiment in the elementary school we kids went to in New Jersey.  St Matthew’s was an Irish parish (maybe because the founding pastor was Irish, Fr Duffey), so our sports teams were the “Fighting Irish.”  Anyway, the sentiment was that everyone was Irish on St Patrick’s Day. I remember us Renner girls (mom’s maiden name = Galuszka; so you do the “ethnic” math ) spraying our hair green, putting on our already green uniforms, and heading next door to school.  (Yes, we lived next to the church and school!).  We FELT Irish…even if we were really German & Polish!

Everyone was indeed “Irish” at St Matthews on St Patrick’s Day, except for the few rebellious students and even teachers who wore orange instead of green.

But as an adult, I haven’t paid much attention to St Patrick’s Day…because I came to realize that for many adults it’s an excuse to drink and get out of control.  So I enjoyed the decorations and taught my children about the Trinity by using the shamrock (as tradition says St Patrick did).   But I basically gave it a token nod…that was until recent years.

I came to have a greater appreciation for St Patrick himself through a song/prayer I found while doing a Bible study on some little words of Scripture called prepositions.  In the Bible, these little words often show the relationship of the Lord and His people.  But rather than bore you with grammatical information, let’s take a look at this precious song.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate*

There’s a Celtic hymn, usually attributed to St Patrick, that is sung around his feast day (March 17^th).  Notice how the highlighted words (prepositions) show the close relationship to Christ that we believers enjoy.  In a very real sense this is a celebration of what is already true.  It’s also a prayer for our own realization of these wonderful truths.

Perhaps you would like to learn it and recite it often to celebrate the truth of our union with Christ by faith. Or maybe you’d like to carry it a step further, like one friend of mine, and teach it to your children or grandchildren.  Then you can recite it together.

Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,

Christ be behind me, King of my heart;

Christ be within me, Christ be below me,

Christ be above me, never to part.

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,

Christ all around me, shield in the strife;

Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,

Christ in my rising, light of my life.

Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,

Christ be behind me, King of my heart;

Christ be within me, Christ be below me,

Christ be above me, never to part.

* There are many variations of wording to St Patrick’s Breastplate.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSeyPd280r4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

BIBLE STUDENTS:

Take a look at Psalm 139.  There are some striking similarities to St Patrick’s Breastplate

Find the prepositions and bask in the completeness of God’s love and care for His people!

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Family Affection*

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. Calvin Miller describes the scene well:

Beneath the tree stood the grieving mother of the heretic.  She was a woman whose face was rimmed by little wisps of silver hair that protruded defiantly from under her mantle; occasionally she trembled with uncontrollable spasms of despair.  Before the tree a young fisherman gazed in blurred glances at his dying friend; his broad arm cradled the head of the convict's mother.  But he was unable to console her.  The man on the cross was her son... Miller, Once Upon a Tree

This was her little boy...her precious son that she nursed and rocked and raised to be a man to fulfill God's plan.  Yes, she had warning of suffering ahead...remember Simeon's prophecy when the baby was presented in the Temple?

This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul. Luke 2:34 NLT

Little did Mary know all this sword would entail.  According to Miller, romphia (Greek) was a huge Persian sword that literally skewers its victims in pain.   Jesus Himself knew all this and yet submitted to the Father's plan.

But now He would care for His suffering mama by entrusting her to the man He knew would care for her as his own.

When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home. John 19:26-27 NLT

Years later the apostle Paul would write to Timothy, his beloved son in the faith:

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

But this begs the question...where were Jesus' brothers?  Surely, this first-born Son could have entrusted His mother to one of his brothers, James or Jude, or perhaps another close relative.

There was obviously something more going on here...something that includes you and me.

Perhaps a year or so before...

...as Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.” Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” Matthew 12:46-50 NLT

So by entrusting His mother to His beloved disciple and friend, Jesus was "creating a new family based not on kinship to one another [blood relationship] but solely through their relationship to him."*  Although his brothers were related by blood, they had not yet become related in the Spirit through faith in Him, God's Son and Savior of the world.

And that brings us back to us believers...those of us who are related to Him by faith.  We are His family...children of the same Father:

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Jesus the God-Man is our Brother, and we are his brothers and sisters:

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers … For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest. Hebrews 2:10, 11, 17

And Jesus cares for His own with a special love and care:

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested...So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 2:18; 4:16 NLT

We also belong to one another...brothers and sisters in our Father's and Brother's family.

On the night before He died, Jesus gave us the new commandment, Love one another as I have loved you...

Why? because then the world will know you are my disciples. Why?  because the world will hate you. Why? because in this world you will have trouble.

So we will need each other!

Love each other with brotherly affection, and delight in honoring each other. Romans 12:10

Dear brothers and sisters, ...who is it in your human family that needs your affection and attention? ...who is it in the family of God that needs your brotherly (Or sisterly) affection and attention?

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone--especially to those in the family of faith.  Gal 6:10

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Bible Students:

Go back to the night before Jesus died (John 13-17). Mark every time that Jesus says love with a red heart. Who is loving whom? Now do this for the epistle of First John. Did you notice that LOVE is John's emphasis? No wonder...He's the disciple Jesus loved.

You may also like this post:  "Love's Abiding Harvest"

The New Testament is filled with "_________________ one another verses." Click here and read through all of them, including the Scriptures. Which ones jump out to you and why? Is God telling you to do something about it...attitude or action-wise?

You may also like this post: "It Takes a Village..."

Activity:

In the center of a piece of paper, write your name.  Around your name, write the names of all the other persons that you consider part of your family.  Those closest to you might be written close to your name, those further away may be written a greater distance from your name. *

Now do the same with your "spiritual family"...fellow believers in your life, whether in your church body, Bible study, family, neighbors, etc.

Then answer the closing questions above...

Dear brothers and sisters, ...who is it in your human family that needs your affection and attention? ...who is it in the family of God that needs your brotherly (Or sisterly) affection and attention?

*Thanks to friends at Abiding Christ Church for sharing these thoughts.

Lenten Meditation: a Word of Salvation*

Jesus, thief

Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. Luke 23:43

lost sheep

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.

lost coin

The second story is of a woman who has 10 coins but loses one.  She is so distraught that she searches high and low for it.  When she finds the coin, she calls in her neighbors to rejoice with her.

prodigal son

The last story is of a father who had two sons.  One of the sons decided to go his merry way, away from his father's love and provision. The son then squandered his inheritance with loose living in the far country.  The father never stopped watching for and longing for his beloved son.  So when the lost son finally came home, his father threw a party so all could rejoice with him.

At the end of each of these stories, Jesus says,

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent...I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents...we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

Jesus & 2 thieves

This makes me think of the criminals executed with Our Lord Christ. They certainly were the lost sheep, ...the lost coins, ...the lost sons...and Jesus came to seek them.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10

They obviously had been running away from God...who knows what kind of crimes they had committed!  The Bible just calls them "criminals" [thieves, malefactors KJV].  Maybe God didn't come into their thinking...but that's the point.  They had gone their own way.

But here is an incredible thought:

Of all the possible condemned criminals in the Roman world (and there were many!)... through all the centuries that Rome practiced the cruel punishment of crucifixion... God in His sovereignty placed those two, side by side...with the SON OF GOD!

Jesus & the good thief

And this, at the time of the victorious Crisis of the Ages -- the redemptive death and resurrection of Christ!  Hardly a coincidence!

But of the two hanging there next to the Son of God, only one was saved! What made the difference?

They each perhaps heard Jesus' "Father, forgive them..." but only one responded in repentance and faith:

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left...

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly ["we are sinners"], for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong ["He is the sinless Messiah"].”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:32-42

Look at our Lord's response:

Truly I say to you, TODAY you will be with ME in Paradise [heaven]. Luke 23:43

So one desperate, believing lost one was found...captured by the seeking, pursuing Lover of Sinners!

We are not unlike these criminals (or the straying sheep, the lost coin, or the prodigal son, for that matter)...

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

We all go our own way -- wandering off and needing God's rescue.  And we're all faced with a choice (as these two criminals were), God's salvation or our own.  Yes, even as believers, "saved ones."

The Divine Pursuer is always on a "Rescue Mission"...sovereignly orchestrating our circumstances (as He did for the thieves on the cross) so we can encounter HIM in new and life-giving ways.  He rescues us from our self-centered attitudes and ways of doing life [SIN].

As C.S. Lewis once said,

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.   C.S. Lewis

Where in your life today, dear friend, is the Divine Pursuer seeking you out, perhaps even shouting at you? Is it in your relationships? ...in your finances? ...in your attitudes and thought life? ...in your health? ...in the health crises of loved ones? ...in _______[fill in the blank]_____?

Call out to HIM in your distress...TODAY!

For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation. 2Cor 6:2

Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:17

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Listen, view, and reflect on our suffering Savior [with scenes from The Passion of the Christ]:

jesus with crown of thorns

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown: how pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!

What thou, my Lord, has suffered was all for sinners' gain; mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Lo, here I fall, my Savior! 'Tis I deserve thy place; look on me with thy favor, vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend, for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end? O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee.

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reading the Bible

Bible Students:

Salvation is much more than just going to heaven when we die...and just doing the best we can in the meantime.Salvation is the NT Greek word sozo.  In its broadest sense, sozo means "to save, to deliver, to preserve safe from danger, loss, destruction, to make whole."

The Bible uses the word salvation in three tenses:

1. past = I have been saved from the penalty of sin. (Eph 2:8; Titus 3:5)
2. present = I am being saved from the power of sin. (Rom 6:14; Gal 2:19,20)
3. future = I will be saved from the presence of sin. (Rom 5:9,10; 8:18-24)

Spiro Zodiates summarizes it this way:

Salvation of the soul is deliverance from death unto life through Christ (John 6:56-57; 14:20; Rom 6:7,11; 1Cor 1:30; 9:1.2; 2Cor 5:17; Eph 2:13). The believing sinner receives the spiritual life of a new nature from God (2Pet 1:4) and is freed from the power of sin (spiritual death) while having to endure its presence until the resurrection.  Deliverance of the body will occur at the resurrection when an entire creation will also be renovated (Rom 8:21-23).  The Complete Word Study Dictionary

Another way to look at salvation is through Ephesian 2:*

1. I am saved from__________________________ (vs 4-5).  See also Rom 6:23.
2. I am saved by________________________ through __________________ (vs 8-9)
3. I am saved for_______________________(vs 10).

*Thank you to my friends at Abiding Christ Church for the title and additional thoughts to the Bible study section.

Lenten Meditation: Forgiveness...Revisited

Today I met with a group of moms to explore our Lord's first words from the Cross: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Luke 23:34

As our discussion went on, we talked about the struggle we all have to forgive our offenders.  I shared a short section from a book that years ago had an incredible impact on me in the area of forgiveness.

I used to think that the struggle to forgive was itself sinful...as well as the horrible feelings I had in the whole thing.  But I've come to realize that the struggle and the feelings are all part of the human condition on this earth.  Perhaps they are rather temptations to the sin of unforgiveness.

Here are the five points that Lewis Smedes writes in his book Shame and Grace. I pray these points will be helpful to you as well.

Consider forgiveness as a personal drama with five scenes [I love that Smedes doesn't express them as "steps" but rather as an unfolding "story"]:

Scene One:  We blame the [offender]. We hold him or her accountable.  If we do not hold people accountable for what they did to us, we will not forgive them.  We may indulge them, perhaps, as if it did not matter much, or we may excuse them, as if they could not help doing what they did.  But we will forgive them only if we hold them responsible for what they did to us.

Scene Two:  We surrender our right to get even. We take our natural right to a balanced account--a right to fairness, mind you, that is all, only what we deserve--we take it in our hands, look it over, consider its possibilities, and then surrender it [to the Lord, I might add].  We agree to live with the score untied.

Scene Three:  We revise our caricature of the person who [offended] us. When we taste our resentment, we roll it around our minds the way we roll a sour lozenge around on our tongues, and we taste it, our minds draw a caricature of our [offender].  We turn him into a monster who is what he did to us.  We see him; we feel him; we define his whole person in terms of how he [offended] us. However, as we move with the forgiving flow, we gradually change our monster back into the weak and faulty human being he is (or was), not all that different from ourselves.

Scene Four:  We revise our feelings As the frozen tundra of resentment melts, a tendril of compassion breaks through the crust.  Sorrow blends with anger.  Sympathy softens resentment.  We feel emerging in our consciousness a hesitant desire for the other person's welfare.

Scene Five:  We accept the person who [hurt us]. In the last scene of the drama, we offer our [offender] the grace that God has offered us.  We not only pardon him; we also accept him.  We take him back into our lives as a fellow member of the human race.  Chances are that we are not able to restore the special relationship we had before.  But if we cannot be reconciled, it will not be our resentment that prevents it.

Dear friends, may the Forgiving Christ so fill our vision and our lives that He lives His forgiving life through us...one "scene" at a time.

[Note:  The brackets represent where I changed the words shamer/shame to alternate words.]

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You may also want to read an excellent sermon by Dr. Smedes, entitled "Five Things Everyone Should Know About Forgiving."

Here's a summary of the "five things": (but you will want to read the entire sermon)

1. Forgiving is the only way to be fair to yourself after someone hurts you unfairly. 2. Forgivers are not doormats; they do not have to tolerate the bad things that they forgive. 3. Forgivers are not fools; they forgive and heal themselves, but they do not have to go back for more  abuse. 4. We don’t have to wait until the other person repents before we forgive him or her and heal ourselves. 5. Forgiving is a journey. For us, it takes time, so be patient and don’t get discouraged if you backslide have to do it over again.