A Word of Reunion

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A Word of Reunion

Now I lay me down to sleep. I 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.

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A Word of Completion

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A Word of Completion

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.

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St Patrick's Prayer for Today

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St Patrick's Prayer for Today

I’m not Irish except in the sense that everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day.

So this week, I’m returning to a beloved “hymn”. Today more than ever we need the beautiful truths expressed in what is traditionally known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

St Patrick's Breastplate is a Celtic hymn, usually attributed to St Patrick, that is sung around his feast day (March 17th).  There are many variations to this hymn.* But I have chosen a simple version to share with you.

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A Word of Personal Need

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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. 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

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A Word of Family Affection

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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.

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A Word of Salvation

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A Word of Salvation

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.

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A Word of Forgiveness

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A Word of Forgiveness

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.

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Last Words: Hearing the Words of Christ

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Last Words: Hearing the Words of Christ

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.

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Loving God for HIMSELF

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Loving God for HIMSELF

Sharing this once more before Valentine’s Day turns into Lent.
… As far back as I can remember, I have always loved God. I can’t remember when I had the very first loving thoughts and feelings toward God. But He has always been most important to me. …
My granddaughter Claire asked me one day,

“Babci, Who told you about God?”

My immediate reply,

“My mommy told me about God.” And she had because God was her life.

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A God Song: Wrapped Up in You (guest post by John Loyd)

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A God Song: Wrapped Up in You (guest post by John Loyd)

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.

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Romance: Loving Jesus

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Romance: Loving Jesus

… 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….

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The Spirit HIMSELF: Reminding and Groaning

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The Spirit HIMSELF: Reminding and Groaning

 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God …Romans 8:16 NASB

. . . Thus far we have seen that Jesus HIMSELF has said He will never, ever, ever leave us, nor forsake us. And He HIMSELF is our Peace in the midst of turmoil and conflict. Then we saw that Jesus wanted His followers (including us) to know He is not the only one who loves us. His Father HIMSELF loves us.
Now we see the Holy Spirit HIMSELF reminding us when we forget something incredibly important …

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Epiphany! Shining Light or Drama Queen?

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Epiphany! Shining Light or Drama Queen?

… 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 …

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Receiving God's WORD for 2024

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Receiving God's WORD for 2024

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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