4/10/2025
How can I express the things that are on my heart? Each day brings blessings, and it always brings a bit of sadness to someone I love or to someone in the world. This morning another friend passed away, so there's one more widow in this world. Divorce is something like that, and on that level I can relate only. I pray for strength and for God's love to wash all over my dear friend as she navigates through the difficult days ahead. O Abba, hold her close, and let her feel Your breath upon her cheek. Wash away her tears and longing, and fill the days ahead with Your manifest presence carrying her and her family on wings of love.
My day began with a word in Mark 14:62: "Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'" He was responding to the high priest of the Sanhedrin who had arrested Jesus in the Garden where He had been praying. The agony of what was before Him that He asked the Father if it was possible for this cup to pass from Him. Yet, He said "Thy will be done." He prayed this same prayer, crying out to the Father three times, while those He asked to watch with Him slept.This is before He was denied by His disciple Peter, and leading up to the crucifixion. In this verse Jesus was identifying Himself as the Eternal God, the One prophesied who would come. Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week for Christians all across this globe. It is the day of Passover for the Jewish brethren when the blood of the lamb was placed upon the doorposts and lintels of the Jewish people's homes so the death angel would pass over their homes and the first born of their households, to include their flocks, would not die. This is the remembrance of their exodus from Egypt where they had been enslaved by Pharaoh. Moses was their deliverer, the one God chose to set them free, His prophet, who had been raised by Pharaoh's daughter as her own son. God does amazing things, and the word of God is so alive for all who choose to walk in His ways. It carries us, and, yes, delivers us, out of the worst of times. It carries us through the best of times, and often the two coincide.
As Christians, our lives are meant to be intentional. Each day has a mission of its own that God has ordained as it should be. The scriptures say that we make our plans, but God orders our steps. It is the same with all decisions made or actions carried out regardless of one's convictions concerning Him. We are witnessing this truth each day as we watch the world's drama. Nothing in the Kingdom of God is happenstance. Our choices are just that, ours to make, regardless of what God may desire for us. He knew that we would either love Him or reject Him from before time began. Search the Bible, read it, study it, and live your life by it. It is so liberating to live for Christ, so rewarding and full. When we are young we want to conquer the world, live our lives free and easy, just as we prescribe it. And so it can be, and usually is for most, without realizing the fullness that a life hidden in Christ can offer.
Sadly, I am seeing that many who profess to know Jesus, including pastors and leaders who hold high offices, do not clearly see. Their vision is clouded by their own agendas, that they feel may be God inspired, but they are not. This is the heart cry of our LORD, a heart that is surrendered to Him. He does not mean to take away your life or make it as one enslaved in some machination. No, the life He has for us is one that is holy, full of love for one another. While we live in this world there will be pain and sorrow and even vile evil, because He is not a divine puppet master. Each has a free choice, and sadly, because of that free choice, the earth suffers the terrible consequences of sin. This is why we need a Savior, someone who can wash away the filth of this sin ridden world, who can adopt us into His family and take away the shame and guilt that has been afflicted upon us by a world gone astray.
This is passion week, as we relive the drama of our Lord laying down His life so all could be forgiven, able to enter into a relationship with a God who loves us and who wants the best for us. It is my hope, it is my prayer, that this week all who desire a life of promise will open their hearts to a Friend who truly loves you, wants the best for you, who cared enough for you to lay down His life, bearing the weight of all sins, past, present, and future, of each person who has or will live on this earth. Imagine the horror of the crucifixion in your minds. For one person alone the vision of it is horrifying, but multiply that by infinity, and you can only see a glimpse of what Jesus suffered. Look at His face on the cross for you. It will change your life forever. Choose life, my friends, eternal life, and you will truly live free.
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