Joanne Monroe and Candace Jewell share their musings throughout the day whether it's a small thought or something learned in church/chapel. We hope to encourage any readers towards Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Mark 8:36-38 var sc_project=6461278; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="959a0604";
Yesterday was the first Sunday morning in a while that I got myself up and to the morning service (I was late, but I made it). Here are some points that really stood out to me from the message: *Living by grace versus living by the law create two very different worship lifestyles. Law = Worship out of obligation and duty Grace = Worship out of a desire and a relationship with the Savior. Sometimes worship must happen out of obligation (me getting out of bed and getting to the morning service was more out of obligation, what I desired in the moment was more sleep). However, that feeling of obligation should give way to worship because I desire to spend more time with the Father and my Savior. *I need to stop unconsciously waiting for Sunday or for the next retreat to allow God to give me a newness of spirit; newness of Spirit should be happening daily. * Feeling like the Christian walk is kind of stagnant? Why not give it a new boost by dedicating Sunday to worship, and going to a service that's available? It will cause a chain reaction of dedicating more time, which will strengthen my relationship with God as time continues. Basically yesterday's message was a wakeup call for me to stop being so lazy with my relationship and worship. <3 - JoJo
I was typing out a long "deep" post, but realized a lot of it would be fluff. So, get to the point JoAnne. ASAP. This weekend there have been a few things that have made me think about perceptions more than I usually do. Basically, this weekend I was just really struck with how everyone has just, so many filters that information is processed through. Two people may see the exact same thing, but because each person has different filters the information go through, different things will stick out to them and both will remember different facts. Which then got me thinking about which filters I consciously use to filter the information I receive through the day - and realized that unless the ultimate filter is the word of God, my perception will always be tilted. And I need to encourage those around me to filter their information through the word of God as well. Not necessarily so that we always agree, but so that our perceptions will be more on par with God's. My prayer is that I take off whatever tinted glasses I've been wearing, and instead sift all information through the truth of the Word. And let the truth work and change me as needed.
Sometimes a fast is simply giving up something that one has become dependant on to help cope with issues or even just little nic piking in life, and/or avoid them altogether. Tonight's example for me: Sleep. My restless heart would not be stilled even with my tried and true routine. So I had to accept the fact that the Lord wanted extra quality time with me over sleep. I'm so glad I followed this prompting, instead of just crawling into bed and trying to force sleep. And I'll be even more dependant on God today because being tired can cause poor judgement and decision making. Time to prove it serve a dependable God. Perhaps God is preparing me for an extra trying spiritual battle. No matter the reason, I'm glad that my God is patient and waits for me to come rest with Him. Lesson learned: don't wait for an impromptu "sleep fast" to be still and rest in the Lord's shadow. I need to make conscious efforts to make more time for my God, just like I need to make conscious decisions to keep in contact with friends.
In an attempt to be more accountable, as well as make better use of this blog, I've decided to try and get in a quick post everyday (or almost every day, let's be real). Instead of waiting for the new year, let's start today! Because of the ugly currently surrounding the workplace, I felt led to go back to James and really soak it in. Today I started in chapter 1. The verse this time around that really caught me was verse 26:If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. (NKJV) Part of the reason that I'm in the mess I'm in is because I seem to have a hard time holding my tongue when I know I should. Knowing when is the proper time to open it, and how to make my intentions known. Of course, sometimes having the right timing and intentions doesn't matter, because I can't control how others will react. So then comes the usage of discernment...but that's for another post. Having even a rumored "big mouth" is not something that is becoming of a Christian, and I really need to work and pray to make sure that I don't put any truth to that title. Because the only reason I'd want to be known as a big mouth is because I won't stop talking about the things of the Lord. Lesson for the day: Don't let the faith/religion in Christ be useless because I don't have control over my tongue.
The more effort you put into making time with God, the more natural, & less forced, it will become. Something will feel like it's missing. Make the time, and watch God work. <3 JoAnne
When I was doing my devotions this morning I was thinking about how God saved my family from a life of legalism. When I left to study in Israel my dad left my family and had an affair with another woman. It was hard to leave my mom for 3 months when she was in pain. Especially when I wasn’t sure if my church was going to take care of her. At this point they looked down on her for my dad leaving - never mind about the fact that he had an affair. It was a lot of pain to be looked down and rejected by a church that was so legalistic.
I left for Israel and we saw so many amazing sights. One of many stories that I could not get over was the Samaritan woman at the well. It was hard to understand why Jesus even approached a Samaritan woman – let alone a woman who has had 5 husbands and most likely neglected from society. He presented to her salvation. Christ came to save sinners. That’s when I realized it is truly about the heart.
There is a coworker who is trying to get me to visit her church. What she doesn’t know is my mom did visit a while back and did not like it because of the legalism. Her husband even tried to talk down my favorite preachers and wanted to convince me that I needed to be in a church that does in depth study like MacArthurs. True, I love doing in depth studies. My home church does those and they have amazing programs. However, you cannot forget the heart. It’s my fear that my brothers and sisters in Christ are either swaying to watered down truth or to uptight legalism. All the knowledge and in depth studies will mean absolutely nothing if you do not truly act on it. Look at the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Yet, the gospel was most effective to a Samaritan woman because she truly had a heart for it. She recognized she needed a Savior and she cannot do it all.
After studying in Israel I realized we are lucky to be a generation after Christ. So many Jews and so many people looked for the Messiah and never saw but had faith He would come. And now that He has, we should be incredibly excited that someone has come to save condemned sinners.
It reminds me of a football game I saw in high school. I was in the marching band and we really don’t watch the football games but this particular game we could not help but watch. It was our first big game with another high school who was notoriously good. ESPN came out to film the game. All throughout the game the reporters were talking smack about our team and how we were going to lose. The more the game went on the less they talked because they were realizing we were holding our own. Even the other marching band was taunting our band. We would play a pep song and they would play the same one louder. It was an intense game. Fourth quarter, five seconds were on the clock. Our team was either at the 50 or 40 yard line. Our quarterback threw a long pass. As we all held our breath another player jumped up and caught the ball in the goal zone. We all jumped up, screamed, shouted, and hugged. We won the game because of that touchdown. This is how we should respond hearing that we have a Savior and the Messiah. He did not come to condemn but to save sinners. Why? Because He loves us and He knew we could not do it on our own.
Yet another Christmas has come and gone, and I admit to spending most of December feeling a little bit frazzled. The season came and zoomed by faster than ever before, threatening to leave me very dissatisfied.
Tonight while at work I realized that this dissatisfaction, and the fact that Christmas felt almost like any other day. Except, it isn’t! Not just because we opened presents, or that mom & I actually cooked, or the (fantastic) John Wayne marathon on AMC…Today was not a typical day because today - amongst the various ways of celebration - I was always reminded of the blessing of the birth of my Savior.
So…why then did I feel so dissatisfied?
Because I had allowed myself to get caught up in all the hustling that is associated with Christmas or just totally ignored many things, the celebration of Christ’s birth bring one of them. Basically - I allowed myself to start treating the season as any other holiday, instead of a sacred one, and hasn’t even really noticed that I had!
I realized this fully while trying to relax on a break at work tonight, but instead being captivated by the song “Angels We Have Heard on High.” A very popular song heard continuously during this time of year. And yet, tonight I found myself thinking of the shepherds when the angels first appear before them and start singing praises.
A group of ordinary working people’s lives changed at the instant the angels appeared and gave them the glorious news. But they weren’t content with just hearing it; they quickly went to the place where the Christ child lay and worshipped. And then they spread the Good News. (Luke 2: 8 - 20)
I allowed myself to be content with just knowing about the joyous occasion for celebration!!! While I don’t think I was a Scrooge, I definitely cannot truthfully say that I was quickly rushing to worship my Savior either, or that I allowed that joy to permeate my activities and daily life. I allowed various circumstances in my life to keep me from true worship. And yet, God meet me right where I was! He reminded me that among the first to see our Savior were ordinary working people! People like me. And if they were able to look past (what I can imagine to be) poor circumstances, then why couldn’t I??
I am pretty ashamed to say that I have been rather down in the dumps lately, instead of joyous. But thankfully, celebration of Christ’s birth doesn’t stop at Christmas. Because that Baby grew up sinless, became a sinless Man, and sacrificed Himself for all of humanity’s sin on a cross.
Everyday there are countless opportunities for me to follow the Shepherd’s example: to glorify and praise God for all the things that I have seen and heard and learned. And I determine to do just that!
the ones where you just want to stay curled in bed all day long, only getting up for essentials such as coffee/tea and food.
I was just so physically and mentally exhausted that I didn't even want to get up for church.
But I did drag myself from bed, and got a nice big mug of coffee, and went through the morning routine. I didn't make it to Sunday school, but I did make it for morning service, which is good as I had nursery duty.
Thankfully the kids in the nursery this morning were pretty calm (;) lol), so I took advantage and decided to read from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon.
After reading, I wrote for a few minutes as prayer to the Lord.
Lord, I'm tired. I'm exhausted. And I just wanted to sleep.
And as I wrote and prayed, I felt a calm peace - the kind one gets when receiving affirmation that they made the right decision - and I knew that the Lord would bless the effort to get out of bed and worship and serve.
All I could think for the rest of the day was this:
Lord, I thank you for being faithful, even when I am not.
Tonight I seem to be really realizing just how stubborn I am when it comes to having peace. I know that I can have an ultimate peace with God, but as of late that peace seems a bit elusive. "Where is that peace Lord? Why don't I have it?" "These words I have given you, that you may have peace." (John 16:33). Oh.. Duh. Your words! It's at moments like this when I am amazed at my stubbornness... I know that God's Word will do more or my spirit than anything, and that I will find not only peace, but instruction, encouragement, wisdom, and yet I don't take advantage of this? WHY? Since I'm currently drinking a latte (which is delicious btw)... Analogy coming: When I'm in a hurry in the morning I quickly pour coffee, get some cream and sugar in, and kind of gulp it down hoping that the caffiene will quickly kick in and do it's job. When I take the time to enjoy the simple things, like pouring the coffee, choosing the yummy hazelnut creamer, savoring that first sip of coffee, and the next and the next, that's when I find that the caffiene has the best effect. Or, at least, that's when I really notice the effect. Lately I've found myself trying to quickly gulp down by reading time, instead of truly savoring each passage, each word, and each truth. And while God's word always works, I find that it's when I take the time to truly savor it that I gain the most and it has the most effect. SO. Goal for the week: stop rushing through reading time. Savor and be in each moment. (Also, stop gulping down coffee... food would probably taste better when the taste buds aren't burnt..) Love - JoAnne
I recently came across a short devotional series called "Unrush Me", by Lysa TerKeurst. As can be gathered from the title, the purpose of the series is to help us learn how to stop rushing and take the time to truly learn from the Word.
Since starting this series, one request I have been consistently adding into my morning prayers (actually, most of my prayers :)) has been, "Lord, please help to unrush my mind and my spirit. Let me take the time to truly see what you want me to see."
This morning, the answer to that prayer was a prompting to look up a definition for a word.
I was reading in Joshua 1, and verse 9 says:
Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be though dismayed; for the LORD thy God is with thee whitersoever thou goest. (KJV)
Now, I've heard and read this passage many times before, but as I read it this time I was really struck by it, and couldn't figure out exactly why. "Yes Lord, I already know that I shouldn't be afraid and that You're always with me." But I re-read it, and decided to look up the definition of the word "dismayed"; because in my mind "dismayed" and "afraid" held almost the same meaning, so I couldn't understand why we would be told "don't be afraid" twice in the same sentence.
According to the Strongs Concordance (available with the MySword Bible app) "dismayed" means: To be shattered, broken, abolished, afraid, terrified; to break down by violence (in a literal use of the word) or confusion and fear (in the figurative use of the word).
I was floored. Because in my prayer before reading, I just unloaded all of the things that were breaking my resolves and purposes, and things that were causing fear. This verse is reminding me to not be afraid, and also to not let myself be so overwhelmed that I begin to break down and my spirit shatter. Don't let myself feel this way - my God is with me wherever I go.
So, by simply looking up one word in a verse that I'm so familiar with, the passage came alive to me again, thus breathing new life and comforting me.
So, a challenge I give to myself (and to you) is the next I read a verse I am very familiar with, do a word search, dig deeper, and let that familiar verse work in you in a new way.
I love going through the day in an ordinary way, only to find that something quite out of the ordinary is going to happen.
(That seems like a bigger build up than needed, but this is seriously how it seemed to me. Ha.)
Yesterday I only had one class, and we were scheduled for lecture and the midterm. My professor decided to ditch lecture and just do the midterm, so class (for me) was a total of 30 minutes. It was awesome, but I also found myself a bit annoyed because the library wasn't going to open until 10am...so I decided I'd just find a place to sit until 10am.
I tried the student building, but at 8:30am it was already a bit too loud for my liking. I tried the admin building, but all the tables and chairs were already full. So I went and sat in front of the library.
I got about 2 hours of uninterrupted reading time *exciting* and then a guy came up and asked if I'd like to participate in a Bible study. I was pleasantly surprised and responded that I'd love to.
It was great! We were a small group, but the leader read the Scriptures with authority and boldness, and students passing heard the Gospel as well. It was so exciting to meet and see fellow students who were being open and publicly bold with their faith (something that I tend to struggle with).
The first group dispersed after a short discussion, and as I was deciding to go into the library group of gals associated with the first group of guys came and asked if I'd like to participate in another Bible study. At this point I was very excited, and we had a wonderful study about how we can actively and daily seek the Father.
Not only was this encouraging, but it was also humbling because I think it was kind of presumed that those of us who joined in are kind of new or wayward with our faith. So while I wanted to share what I now and try to encourage the speakers, I also had to humble myself, not be offended (because I'm sure that presumption wasn't intentional). And I found myself so refreshed and encouraged by doing so. It also convicted me, causing me to wonder if I truly humble myself before hearing a sermon, or before my personal Bible reading time.
I'm so excited about knowing they plan on meeting on campus a couple times a week. And it's just so cool to me, that this time was destined. God set that up just for me (and the others who came). Of course I have free will, and I could have gone somewhere else. But I subconsciously went to where I needed to be. I want to continue growing in the Lord and becoming more in tune with His guiding, so that He can continue to lead me right where I need to be, with or without me even knowing.
I actually need to go, as I'm going to meet up with one of the gals from the group for to study. :)
There is a time of rejoicing...and that is today. Starbucks has been quite a ministry. One particular partner is a Christ follower and she has had bad experiences in her life. I've been able to encourage her and give her strength back and support her. Today she put in a week's notice because she found another job. I'm sad because she's a great supervisor but I'm very excited for her new job. I've also been able to get to know other partners and love them. The Lord used me at this job. He showed through integrity and professionalism that even my boss made a comment which was huge. I'm very thankful that the Lord gave me that opportunity. It's why I don't mind staying there.
At the same time I have grown leaps and bounds serving at my church. Our VBS time came around and I had to step up my role. Instead of assisting like I usually do, I was co-commander of 5th grade (over 30 volunteers alone). I led the 5th graders, kept them on schedule, grabbed whatever supplies they needed and dealt with discipline issues. By the end of the week my co-commander complimented me and in the back of my head I'm thanking the Lord for giving me wisdom and direction. Looking back on the week I was glad I had a short week of initiating. It was like a little demo of what my team does. I admit, this is a role I take on to a certain extent for the weekend ministries. However, I'm an assistant to the Weekend Director.
I have been looking for a full time teaching position but the Lord kept closing those doors. I had been very discouraged and ready to be in the classroom for so long. My team had been very active and supportive of helping me but God kept shutting the doors. Last night I talked to JoAnne about it. Expressed my frustration and concern about loans kicking in. I also genuinely love working for my church but it's not appropriate and not the right motive to ask for work at a church. So JoAnne and I agreed that if the Lord wanted me to work more at the church He would build a bridge. Today, I was asked to basically be the Director of Club Connect. The director of it now is on my team and she knew for months and told our LEAD Pastor she wanted me to do it. The team found out yesterday and two members told Wiley they wanted me to do it. I found out our Human Resource director wanted me to do it.
One, the fact that JoAnne and I had a conversation take place last night and then God answering that prayer right away was just huge! Two, the fact that my team thinks I am ready to take on the role of a director and supporting me just blows my mind. This is a huge responsibility of initiating everything from classes to big party events. I'd also take on a budget, spend time with our communications team and interact with our newly-yet-to-be-installed Route 56!
An incredible opportunity just landed at my feet. Quite a bit of changes will happen like not working at Starbucks, not being able to sub for the school districts, not sure if I'll be able to commit to another short term missions trip next year, etc. What's really on my mind is can I actually do this role? I asked some of my coworkers and they have a lot of faith in me. This isn't VBS for a week, it's a full time job and responsibility. I have never taken on this big of responsibility before and it's something I'm really praying about.
Last Sunday during Sunday school my brother introduced a simple idea, but it really kind of confounded my mind and really encouraged me this week.
This summer he is working at Ironwood Christian Camp. He explained that the preacher for the previous week had made the statement, "God doesn't care about you doing devotions." All of us in the college & career class were like, what?! In my own mind, I'm thinking, well that's kind of a blasphemous thing to say... My brother continued, "He doesn't care about the 'devotions', what He cares about is your devotion. Devotion to Him, His will, and devotion to growing in Christ."
Thinking about it, it absolutely makes sense. And I know that this is a point preachers and teachers try to make all the time.
But saying it bluntly like that, and hearing it bluntly like that, really helped me.
I know, for myself personally, I get all wrapped up in trying to make a plan that will allot "proper time" for my devotions.
An issue I've dealt with for a LONG time is just that, giving myself ample time to properly do devotions. But here's the thing - if I don't do them in the morning, I'm not starting my day devoted to the Lord. And if I don't start the day devoted to the Lord, how can I make myself find time in the middle of the day? And how can I justify doing them at night before going to be, when I know I usually fall asleep in the middle of reading or in the middle of praying.
Hearing that statement so bluntly put really helped free me of the traditional sense of having devotions. And it's really helped me stay encouraged and energized this week.
I love hearing contradictions like this to routine tradition. Like I said, the teaching of needing to be in God's Word and making the time to spend in communion with the Lord is SO TRUE and we need to constantly be reminded of it. But it's also important to not make it a ritual..just like I have to text or call Candace at least once a day or I feel disconnected (and honestly sometimes worry about losing my mind..haha), I need to have my time with the Lord daily, or I'll be disconnected from His power and struggle through the day.
So my question for you, and for me, is this: Why do I do my devotions? To say that I've done them? To "get it out of the way"? Or because I truly want to commune with my Lord and grow?
If you'd like to read about how this little bit of an epiphany helped me this week, I'll put it my experiences under the cut. :)
<3 - JoAnne
I've also posted a checklist by my door of all the things I need to do in the mornings before going. Everything from washing my face or taking a shower, taking care of my dog, to getting morning coffee ready. And next to some of the more routine actions I put a reminder of something that I could pray about or do while preforming that task. Ex. While washing my face/taking a shower -> repent and ask the Lord to wash my spirit and make me clean. Give me a clean start. Refresh and renew my mind.
I found that making these two simple enough changes really affecting how I felt during the duration of the morning, and therefore the rest of the day.
Starting out with my day already devoted to the Lord caused me to quickly and willingly seek Him in the afternoon and evening.
I didn't listen to a message yesterday morning because I was "in a rush," (my early alarm didn't go off or I didn't register the alarm) and when I got home I could really tell the difference. While I did start the day with prayer and "did well" on that end, because I didn't fill my mind with the Word first thing in the morning, my day didn't start totally devoted to the Lord.
"That's what they all say", right? Something that never fails to bring me back to a state of wonder at the awesomeness of God is when He moves in little ways. Today I realized that I don't really have to do too much juggling with my schedule to fit in summer classes, work, and VBS. And I'm *really* excited about this facr, because in the past I have really stressed out about scheduling. I don't remember praying "Lord please fix my schedules this way or that way." All I know is that I pray for the Lord's will with my schedules, and that I learn how to better manage time so that I can be involved and serve more. Perhaps this is God saying, "sweetie, I know you have a long way to go with this goal, so I'm going to help you out and make it work without you specifically asking. Because I know you heart, and I love you." I realize this may not seem like such a big deal, but it is for me. And that's the beauty of God working in us; He works in each individual differently, so what bothers them might not bother me, but that doesn't make it less. This is another truth I have to remind myself of. But the reason it's a big deal for me is this: He just proved that I can trust Him with my schedule and it will work. I love that! I pray that I take this gift, and continue to learn to manage God's time wisely, and become more successful {through all of life} with this. -JoAnne
My mom and I, along with 17 other ladies from our church had the opportunity to get away for a weekend of renewal and fellowship through the Liberty Baptist Church Royal Ladies' Retreat at the beginning of May. It was such a blessing for my mom and I to be able to go, and such a blessing to see how the Lord provided for every one of the women in our group to be able to go at no cost! Praise the Lord for His provision!
I wanted to do a mini-series about what I learned in each of the sessions that we had during the retreat, and how I'm applying these things to my life in the days, and the weeks after the retreat. I want to be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only, and I want to share these truths as well. :)
If you'd like to listen to the sessions, Liberty Baptist has been kind enough to post them on their website (all but one).
Our speaker, Mrs. Francie Taylor, has a lovely website that I love visiting and being encouraged by.
If you'd like to see pictures, I've posted most of mine on my "Christian nerdy girl" blog (or whatever it is...haha).
I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use this series to remind me of what I've learned and show me new ways to apply everything to my life. I hope you enjoy and learn from it as well.
On Friday night the theme of the session was "How to Survive an Explosion", aka "how to survive a disaster in life". The main text was Psalm 61, which is one of my go to passages when I am just so overwhelmed and exhausted.
One thing that I love about the speaker, Francie Taylor, is that she is wonderful at getting straight to the point. No need to beat around the bush.
1) Turn up the Prayers. There is no such thing as "praying too much". I love that she said this, because even though I've never said such a statement, I think I had begun to believe it????? She also reminded us that we need to pray for everyone involved in the situation - the victim/s, the outside causalities, those intimately involved with the situation, and the offender/s. I know I tend to only pray for those helping and the victims, and it was so needed for me right now to be reminded to pray about the whole picture, not just the scenes that I can see needing help.
2) [If I am not the one going through the explosion] Offer to help with the right motives. Be the friend talked of in Proverbs 17:17 - one who becomes family in adversity. There's this graphic that pops up every so often on facebook that warns to be careful who you tell your business to: some ask because they are truly concerned, while most ask simply because they are curious. I do not want to be the curious rubbernecker that will probably cause another accident by not paying attention (drivers slowing down to gawk at accident scenes are a serious pet peeve of mine...) Be a friend of action and few words. (Proverbs 10:19)
3) [If I am the one going through the explosion] Do. Not. Panic. Now, I'm not really much of a worrier (thank you Lord!), but I do know that when something hits me and I'm not ready to deal with it, I panic and shut down. This something I need to deal with now - "Panic is a temporary place, don't let it become a permanent address."
4) Stay on track in the Lord. Feast on the Word of the Lord - Don't fast (from the Word)! Stay in church and fellowship, keep going to Bible study, continue devotions. Our job description as laborers for Christ does not change when life beings pouring the misery - we are always on duty (Matthew 9:37-38).
5) Recycle Good News!!! It is so easy to repeat the ugly and negative things on Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, etc. And it truly is just as easy to repeat the positive (the share button is the same), but we tend to not share the good news! Winston Churchill said, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has time to get it's pants on", and the same goes with the negative and positive news. I should not be the one people know they can come to and get the lastest news on all the people around them (Proverbs 10:19 is quite applicable here too).
Conclusion) Keep yourself, and those around you, in a covered position within the arms of God. (Psalm 25: 20-21)
At this time in my life 2 and 5 are the most applicable in my life. There are many who just need encouragement that they are doing the right thing and that the Lord has not forgotten them. I definitely need to be a woman of more action! So within the next two weeks I want to reach out to the handful of people that I'm thinking of as I type this and just let them know I'm praying for them.
And I really need to get on that recycling the good news. Thinking about the things that I hit the "share" button for is mostly for entertainment news. It's time that I seek out encouraging things that I can share. And I REALLY need to stop giving into gossiping and whispering opinions behind other's backs. Practice what you preach Jojo, if you have an issue take it up with the person, and if you know the person is having a hard time offer to pray with them instead of whispering about how "worried" I am about them.
{If you'd like to listen to this session, and the other sessions we had the privilege to hear, please follow this link to Liberty Baptist's website and follow the audio links from there :)}
These past few weeks we have talked about some pretty common themes for this time of the year: Passover, Christ’s trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. But why?
Unfortunately a few of the common traditions for this time of year consist of fasting (in the form of Lent), weeping over visuals of Jesus still on the cross, and even trying to reenact Christ’s crucifixion.
None of these traditions, especially weeping over Jesus still on the cross or reenacting the crucifixion, are necessary.
Jesus is alive!
He sits at the right hand of the throne of the Father. He is our high priest, and intercedes for us.
We do not have to fast from certain foods or activities (unless convicted to do so by the Holy Spirit, that’s another matter) during the Easter season. Often times, it’s just an act anyways. Jesus did not die for us so that we can act like good children when it’s time to remember Him.
Jesus died for us so that we can have eternal life, a restored and full relationship with our God, Creator, and King.
We hope these posts have been insightful, eye and heart opening, and a light towards the One Who deserves our love and praise. A reminder not only of the sacrifice that the Father and Son made on behalf of us (humanity), but also the ultimate boost of hope and rejoicing in the fact that Jesus did not stay dead, and death does not have victory.
If all of these things sound like mumbo-jumbo but you want to know more, please let us know! It would be our honor to talk with you about how to receive Christ as Savior and have salvation.
We are praying that the Lord will continue to use us, this blog, and our brethren for His glory and that when He does come again He can tell us, “Well done my faithful servants.”
