Holy Week

 

I wonder what Jesus thought and felt during this week prior to His crucifixion and death.  He knew what was coming but was still determined to do what He came to the world to accomplish.   That week He confronted the merchants, and the pharisees, Judas, and even a fig tree. 

He met with his disciples and celebrated the Passover meal with the twelve.  He prayed for the children given to Him by the Father – His followers.  He also included us in His prayer – the ones who would hear of Him in the future, have faith in Him and would remain in the world.   

I consider and try to imagine the dread Jesus must, (truly must) have felt.  He was a man, after all and as a man as well as God, He would have had to viscerally dread what He knew would come.  When we read the accounts of this week, of His suffering, we can’t help but get physically involved as well.  If my heart does not ache, if I do not feel my blood pressure rising, if I can ignore the picture portrayed in the garden, in the courtyard, before Pilot, then I wonder if I truly understand the depth of His love.

All this pain, even prior to His actual crucifixion must have been unbearable – but He did bear it for you, for me, for all the people who would come, or had gone before. 

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He might have said -

The night that Satan thought he had me, the night he planned his victory,
the night his servant Judas kissed me – began my walk to Calvary.

Rough arms came, reached out, and seized me.
A dear friend drew his sword to fight.
I said “No angry swords are called for.
It has to be this way tonight.”

Oh don't you think I could withstand them at any time if I should try.
Oh don't you know ten thousand angels would be at hand with just a cry.
 
Lead me on the way to Calvary.
We'll take the road together now.
I'll walk along - no need to drag me
for I won't use my heavenly power.
 
Oh I could call ten thousand angels if I wanted to be free.
But my love for you will keep me silent.
For
I’ve lived to die upon that tree.

As you see the pain and suffering that He endured, may you also see the unbelievable love that He has for each of us.

Love,
Diane 

Hope in Christ's Sacrifice

Dear ones, 

Recently our minister spoke about true "hope."  This is what I heard in my heart.

Hope is spelled JESUS.
Hope means rebirth.
Hope feels like confidence while we live on this earth.

Hope doesn’t worry,
doesn’t fret, stew or wonder.
It’s assurance that God cares when your world’s torn asunder.

Hope isn’t just wishing.
No, it’s true expectation.
It's faith in God's promise that He rules in the nations.

Hope is spelled JESUS
Hope means rebirth
It came through the sacrifice of Christ for the earth.

As we approach Easter and look at the events leading up to Christ's death and resurrection,  I absolutely need to remember the HOPE that Jesus brings to us, don't you?

So Weep Not!

As I watch the clouds weep 

on this early Spring morning 

my tears join the clouds as they cry.  

My mind's full of grief for the sin that Christ carried 

and my heart's sick with sorrow 

as if no tomorrow 

will come, and my tears will not dry. 

Gently, there comes from the heart of the Father

a breeze whispering, “Daughter, don't cry.

Yes, the price for your sin was paid by my son.

He was willing to pay

and His life give away

so your tears could forever be dry."

"It was love for you child that He walked on that path.

It was love for all men that He'd die.

So weep not, 

see the morning

 as she shouts out in joy.

Weep not!

See the sun as He shines.

Weep not!

Hear the words, "He is risen.  He lives."

Weep not!

and remember, you're mine.

He has risen.

Joy will reign

on this earth and in heaven.

The price has been paid, and sin's power lies dead.

Sing, child!  

For your sins are forgiven."

Friends, I was thinking about what to write at this especially difficult time of the year - the days that we consider all Jesus had to go through for us.  I decided that something I had written last Easter season was what I needed to post again.  So....

It's almost time!  Easter is just around the corner!  But, before we sing of His resurrection, before we glory in the Conqueror’s might, let's take a minute to walk with His disciples during those dark days of uncertainty.  

I want us to walk with those men and women because I believe that we all have days of uncertainty as they did.  We all have days when we wonder what tomorrow will bring.  We all wonder, at some time or another, if tomorrow will even come, don’t we?

Can you imagine the disappointment?
Can you feel the aching pain?
Their leader is dead.  
Their hope was in vain.

Those hopes seemed to vanish, eclipsed by the roar 
of the thunder within, and the words “nevermore.”

Their plans for tomorrow were lost in the storm 
of the evil before them, 
in the winds of despair.
They questioned, “God, why,
and God how can it be
that Jesus, our Savior, is no longer there?”

As we walk with the people who walked with our Lord, 
we can feel in our hearts the despair they endured.

But today

on the other side of the cross, on the other side of the empty tomb, we can scarcely imagine what they might have felt.  

We can’t really walk in their shoes, especially since we know the rest of the story.  They told us!  And in their words we find our solid hope! 

I, for one, wish His friends hadn’t been required to walk that path.  But I’m so grateful that they were finally able to touch the scars and hear His voice, and to see and know that He was truly alive after all.

May you live in hope as you consider the joy that was just around the corner for those disciples, but is here - now for us. 

From my heart, Diane