Holy Week

This is Holy Week. It is the most important week in the Christian calendar. The week starited with celebration, where Jesus is hailed as the one who saves. The crowds shouted "Hosanna" which means SAVE US. We can shout that today! Hosanna - Jesus, Save Us!

The week started with shouts of celebration, hailing the Lord. By the end of the week, there are shouts of "crucify Him"! The crowds were probably made of different groups of people but what a change! Jesus is dead by the end of the week. He'd been beaten, ridiculed, slandered. The wealthy, the educated, the "upper crust" feared Jesus so they wanted Him dead.

But at the start of the next week, hope again rules the day. Jesus overcomes the harsh and unjust treatment He'd received. Jesus overcomes. He overcomes death, sin, unjust treatment. Jesus rose from the tomb. What is truly amazing is that this short ministry is still going on! We are still celebrating Jesus and His ministry and teachings.

Jesus died for you. Jesus died for me. He died for each person individually. He knows each of us individually, even if we don't know Him. Jesus saves. He saves anyone who will allow Him to do so. Jesus is not like anyone you've ever met. Jesus forgives completely, wiping the slate clean, as if the sins never took place. Jesus loves us each individually and meets us where we are, individually. What He expects of me is different from what He expects from you because we are unique and Jesus treats us that way. If you don't know Jesus, personally, and not just from stories you've heard, ask Him to show Himself to you. You won't be sorry that you get to know Him. No one will ever love you like Jesus does. No one.

Jesus, What you did for me 2000 years ago is astounding. You promise and you deliver. You want me, and you meet me where I am, much more than halfway. Please forgive my stubbornness and arrogance and ignorance. Fill me with desire to do your will always. Fill me with gratitude for all you've done for me. Amen.

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Jesus is calling or.... Is Jesus calling?

Jesus is calling. We know that from scripture and we know that from personal experience. We all at one point on another felt that something was missing in our lives. We meet someone, fall in love, and, for a time, feel complete . Then after marriage, we decide that maybe children would make us complete, then we'd be satisfied. but soon we find that we still need more. Maybe a bigger house, maybe a better car, maybe a better or different job, maybe... maybe... maybe. Many people try drugs or alcohol Some try sex or pornography. Gambling. An endless number of vices are available. I firmly believe that all that searching for the THING that will make us feel complete, whole, satisfied, is Christ. Now before you think that I'm saying that people with addiction problems can find Jesus and their addiction problems will go away, or their lust for another will dissolve, or their desire for a bigger whatever will go away....

Doing the right thing

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If we are thrown into the blazing furnace....

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Jesus - sending 72

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A friend's post

I have started a blog - photo blog - for a friend. Check it out if you like. I like her photos - as you can tell from my past posts! Deanna's Post

A Bad Witness Can't Speak?

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Put to death ... your earthly nature

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King Asa & his grandmother

King Asa's story is told in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. He was one of the "good" kings because he did follow and obey God at least more than many others. One item that I found interesting about his story is that he took the title of Queen Mother away from his grandmother, Maacah, because she made "a repulsive Asherah pole". 1 Kings 15:13 and 2 Chronicles 15:16 say almost the same thing: "K in g Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley." This story is an indication what is expected of us. We are to do what is right - in the sight of the Lord - even if it gets us in trouble with our family, even a beloved grandmother. I don't see anything in the Bible that says that King Asa loved his grandmother. I am reflecting my experience into this story. I LOVED my grandma. To depose or oppose her would ha...

He must become greater....

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/worryfea/pride5.htm John 3:30 says "He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less." This quote is from John the Baptist. I don't ever remember hearing this verse or seeing this verse anywhere, like on wall hangings, coffee mugs, book marks and the like. I'm guessing it isn't a very popular verse. We like Bible verses that make us feel good or profess our faith. We don't much like the ones that call us on the carpet! And this one does. We often put ourselves first, as one greater than Christ. We want the worship service to fill us, the music to lift us, our prayers to grant us whatever we want/need. This verse gives us the equation that sums up what our purpose is. We are to increasingly make Christ bigger in our lives and make ourselves smaller in comparison. We are to spend more and more time, money, brain power, activity on Christ and His work. AND we are supposed to spend more and more shrinki...

Zephaniah

Have you read Zephaniah, the book of the Bible? Zephaniah was a prophet. A tough job when the Israelites spent more time rebelling against God than listening to their prophets. It is a very short book, having only three chapters. Much is spent on warning about the coming "day of the Lord" when there will be destruction and God's wrath poured out. This is a hard thing for me to grasp. The God of the New Testament is so full of love that all the talk of wrath and destruction seems so out of character. I want to think about some of the passages and see if I can find hope and Jesus in this hard book. After introducing Zephaniah and his reason for speaking ( "1:1 The word of the Lord ...came to Zephaniah... ) it quickly gets into the heart of the matter. (Zeph 1:2-3): "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. "I will sweep away both men and animals; ...

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