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Two Parades

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #twoparades, blood, Exodus 12, Good Friday, Hosanna, Jesus, lamb, Moses, Palm Sunday, parade, Passover, save, Triumpal Entry on March 25, 2018| 2 Comments »

Today is Palm Sunday, and in churches all over the world, talk of a parade was paramount.

Recorded in all four of the New Testament gospels, is the event of Jesus riding on a donkey, as he entered the city of Jerusalem (the City of Peace … ironic don’t you think, that a City, so very mired, today, in conflict was named a city of peace? … but, I digress).

Some in the crowd laid down their cloaks for his donkey to walk on (maybe this was the first red carpet event in history?), some in the crowd waved palm branches as he went by, and many called out, “Hosanna (meaning ‘save now’) to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)

This all happened as the festival of Passover was beginning. Exodus 12 tells the story of the original Passover (Passover). The Israelites had been enslaved by Egypt, for many generations. God instructed Moses to have His people slaughter lambs, and cover their door frames with the blood. Then, in the night, the firstborn of every family would be killed, except for the households whose door frames are covered in the lambs blood, because the destroyer would ‘pass over’ those homes (this was the final of the ten plagues used to convince Pharaoh to let the people go).

Moses did as God asked, the Israelites obeyed, and the Passover story came to be. Even in the home of Pharaoh, the firstborn of every Egyptian household was slaughtered. But the people in the homes that were covered by the blood of the lamb, were spared, and Pharaoh set the Israelites free.

Later this week, on Good Friday, in churches all over the world, talk of a parade will be, again, paramount. Again there were crowds of people. Again there was shouting. This time, there was no “Hosanna”, there was no ‘save now’, being sung out. Instead the shouts were “crucify him.” This time it was all a parody, all a mockery of the earlier parade.

Each of the gospels mentions his walk to Golgotha (the place of the skulls), where Jesus was nailed to the cross that he and Simone of Cyrene carried there. That walk, that parade, was after being wrongly tried, convicted, flogged, and had a crown of thrones pushed onto (into) his head.

This parade was the parade of the lamb of God (the Son of God) to the slaughter. And his blood, shed for all of humanity, is what sets us free.

“And when your children ask you,
‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’
then tell them,
‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD,
who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt
and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'”
Exodus 12:26-27

Watch the Lamb

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To Live a Life

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #mayibringrelief, #purposeoflife, #tolivealife, #whyamihere, #youareamist on March 22, 2018| 2 Comments »

Screen Shot 2018-03-21 at 11.07.08 AM What is the meaning of life? What gives meaning to life? What makes life meaningful?

Those are the questions of a life … my life … at forty-nine years into this life.

We look forward, we look back, realizing that once that which was was forward, is now back. Tomorrow, this day will be past. The clock ticks, the calendar flips. Our inhales are the past as the freshness of that breath is exhaled. Our days move so slowly, looking forward, so quickly, looking back.

“You don’t know what will happen tomorrow.
What is life?
You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.”
James 4:14

You are a mist …

If my life, if I am a mist, than what can any of us accomplish or do for anyone, for this world, for our God?

Yet, as I awakened this morning the grass was damp with a mist-like dew, giving me more margin before watering the new seed in the ground. That mist-like dew, watering and giving life to that seed that I spread … that dead seed, hard and lifeless. That mist-like dew, bringing breath back into that hard shell, reminding it who it is, who it is meant to be, what it’s job on this Earth, in this Earth, is to do.

I am to be more than just a mirage in the dessert.

So, if I, if my life is a mist, that is seen for a moment (a morning) then disappears, I guess all I am required to do is water, bringing life to that, to those who have been hardened by their circumstances, beat down by the winds of life, brining refreshment and hope to those who think there is no more hope.

I don’t think I do that every day, I know I don’t, yet I know people who have done that, who do that for me. People who love and care and water my soul each and every day. People who encourage and inspire me. My family and friends who show love with their hugs, warm words and laughter. People who are really real, and who open the door that others, that I, can be really me.

So, I am a mist … may I bring relief.

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The Wonder of Spring

Posted in life, Nature/Creation, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #renewal, #thewonderofspring, Easter on March 20, 2018| 2 Comments »

Screen Shot 2018-03-20 at 8.18.25 AM.png As the Spring Break is underway for myself, and others, in my neck of the schooling woods, we get to also take in the signs of Spring.

Already I have examined the bulb plants growing, daily from their warming soil, Magnolia trees with flower pods getting heavy, the Forsythia blossoms starting to peek out, and buds on every tree. Even the grass is starting to dart up.

The gardening stores and nurseries are becoming the hubs of spring seekers, Seeds are being started, colour being added to the beds, pots and gardens. New gloves and clippers purchased to replace the broken and missing (no doubt to be found only days after new ones purchased). The blades are being cleaned and sharpened for trimming.

We breath in the air, fresh and clean, reviving our senses, our imaginations and dreams.

There is no sweeter start to any season. In a sense, spring is a sanctuary … a season of rebirth, renewal. A season of wide-eyed excitement and wonder. A time apart from the day to day of the rest of the year.

It is no coincidence that Easter also falls in the spring of the year. It, too, is a season of renewal, a season of wide-eyed excitement and wonder. It marks the end of waiting for the risen Messiah.

It reminds us that he rose once … that, like the crocuses, tulips and daffodils, he will rise again.

“Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many rooms.
If it were not so,
would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and will take you to myself,
that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:1-3

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Hold Loosely

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #dontholdtightly, #holdloosely, #mosesstaff, #throwitdown on March 18, 2018| 1 Comment »

staff

I have a love-hate relationship with our property.

When we first bought it we did so knowing that we would need to pour blood, sweat and tears into the property, for it was a visual disaster.

Almost fourteen years later, we are still bleeding, sweating and the tears are ever-flowing.

Much our time here, I have hated what it has taken from us, in terms of money, time and energy. Now, as we are preparing the property to sell, I find myself looking around at all that we have done, at how it is now looking as we had dreamed, and bemoaning the fact that we are about to leave it, for someone else to enjoy.

I have found my longing thoughts to be interrupted by a whisper in my mind,

don’t hold too tightly to the things of Earth

It was then that I remembered a speaker once talking about the staff that Moses carried.

Moses was a shepherd, and his staff was the tool of his trade. It was what helped him in protection of his sheep, but the staff would only do it’s job when under his control.

When Moses met God in the burning bush, “the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.” (Exodus 4:2)

I am pretty certain that God knew what was in Moses hand, but, I think, he wanted Moses to acknowledge it as it was, a staff, a tool when in his expert hand.

God gets Moses to throw down his staff, and God shows him what his staff can do when it is God who is in it’s control.

Later in the passage, we learn that the staff of Moses is to become the staff of God: “take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” (Exodus 4:17).

And he does. That staff, once the tool of Moses, is transformed into a snake, plagues, splits the Red Sea, and helps the Israelites defeat their enemy, when under the control of God.

The thing is, for God to operate that staff, Moses had to throw it down and allow God to take control …

he had to loosen his grip.

Whatever we are holding onto, if it can be used by God, he will leave it in our hands, if not, he will still use us in ways we cannot even imagine.

What is in our hands that God is asking us to throw down? loosen our grip? let go? If we can trust him with our souls, surely we can trust him with the things he has provided.

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The Eternal Blessing

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #godblesseshispeople, #theeternalblessing, #thelordblessyou, #thepriestlyblessing on March 15, 2018| Leave a Comment »

“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”

I hadn’t read, heard of thought of those words in months … months.

A common benediction, a blessing that hubby would frequently give at the end of a Sunday sermon, a church service.

Here it was, on a Monday morning, in a classroom devotion.

The blessing is not owned, not possessed by my hubby alone. It is known as the Aaronic or Priestly blessing, given, by God, to Moses, to instruct Aaron and his sons on how to bless the Israelites.

This was a great honour, for the Priests words were viewed as God’s message to them.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary says “though the priests could do no more than beg a blessing, yet being an intercessor by office, and doing that in his name who commands the blessing, the prayer carried with it a promise, and he pronounced it as one having authority with his hands lifted up and his face towards the people.”

You see, the blessing was not one from the Priests, but through them, from God himself, for the Israelite people … in a sense skipping the Priests completely, as if they were just the vessel through which God lay his hand of blessing, on his chosen people.

But it was not necessarily a group or community blessing, but one through the lips of the priests, directly to each individual, from God. It was a personal and individual blessing … a whisper of the personal and individual Blessing (Blesser) to come.

The Lord bless you

Three times the Lord is mentioned. Representing God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Likened to 2 Corinthians 13:14:

“The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.”

This blessing is also an endless, eternal blessing. It is not solely present tense, but also future, as if it were to say: the Lord will bless you.

What a good reminder of the story and blessing of God on and for his people, available now for all people (Jews and Gentiles).

Screen Shot 2018-03-13 at 8.08.58 PM

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Boring Consistency

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #boringconsistency, #hardwork, #rolemodelsworkhard, #whoisyourrolemodel on March 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Screen Shot 2018-03-11 at 8.36.00 AM “Just one of those boring, quiet, faithful men” was the line I heard, last week, that kept ringing in my head … for days.

No one would ever imagine such a boring individual as a life mate, or accomplishing much, exciting the masses or changing the world.

We humans want thrills, charm and excitement from one who is well-spoken, smiling and effervescent. We want people who can inspire us with their philosophies, motivational techniques, books, quotes, podcasts and blogs.

Yet …

” … it is a sign of marked political weakness in any commonwealth
if the people tend to be carried away by mere oratory,
if they tend to value words in and for themselves,
as divorced from the deeds for which they are supposed to stand.”
It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better …

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs,
who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst,
if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory
nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt (from Citizen in a Republic, 04-23-10)

We listen to the voices of musicians, reality-TV stars and politicians for stability, while ignoring the wealth of experience and expertise in our grandparents, that ethical business owner, that woman who raised her children on her own after her husband left, never to return.

Our philosophers today are people famous for athletic accomplishments, films and Ted talks, rather than from well-read, hard-working, well-lived individuals who understand the value in doing what they do best, and doing it with consistency … even, no especially, when it is hard, boring and provides no praise.

May we be consistent in love, work and life … even when it is hard and boring.

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Woman Power

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, women, WONDER, tagged #Iamnotavictom, #ichoose, #internationalwomensday, #jesusforequality, #jesusforwomen, #womancaughtinadultry, #womanpower, equality on March 8, 2018| 1 Comment »

194510_10150155497290789_6484144_o Happy belated International Women’s Day.

I admit, I only knew that because the Google search bar told me. When I read that it was, sarcasm and cynicism crept into my mind.

“If we need an International day to celebrate it, to make us ‘special’, then we haven’t accepted equality in our own hearts, minds and souls.” (me)

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that both genders are equal, should be paid equally for equal work, should be treated equally in society, should have opportunities equally, should be valued equally in terms of rights, in terms of value.

I just struggle when any group of individuals wants to be the headline of the day. Even if it is a group I belong to.

I believe that equality was modelled for us by Jesus himself (John 8:1-11), when a woman caught in the act of adultery (presumably with a man … but he wasn’t brought to Jesus).

The Pharisees, who brought her to him, said, “hey Jesus” (I hear baiting in their voices). Then they proceed to remind Jesus that the Law of Moses (their law, his Law) says that such ‘persons’ should be stoned, and ask him what he says (they were trying to incriminate him in disobeying the Law).

Then Jesus goes all … silent, and writes in the sand … (AND NO ONE THOUGHT TO TAKE NOTE OF WHAT HE WROTE!) He stood up and said, “whoever here has never sinned, take the first shot at her.”

And they scatter, like all of them.

So, it’s just the woman caught in adultery and Jesus left.

He says to her, “where are they? Is there no one ready to throw stones at you?”

And she says, “no one, Master” (you could say this was her conversion experience).

So Jesus (probably shrugging) says, “neither do I. Go on your way.” (ahh, love it).

Now the modern version might end there, but the story is incomplete with what he said after that …

” From now on, don’t sin.”

He didn’t patronize her with “poor you” talk. He didn’t bring up her tough upbringing, or difficult economic situation. What he did do was he called a spade a spade, to the ill-intended religious leaders, and to the woman before him. He treated them equally.

Actually, he didn’t. What Jesus did for this woman was more. He gave her a new and improved trajectory for her life. He led her to acknowledge that she had to accept responsibility for her own actions (something he didn’t bother doing with the son of a guns who used her … in more ways than one).

What Jesus did for this woman was to empower her to not be a victim of her circumstances. His attention and care for her empowered her right to freedom. He acknowledged her ability to choose a better future than her past.

To move away from the circumstances we are dealt with, to choose to live differently, to accept responsibility for the wrongs we, ourselves, have done … that is woman power!

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What is Love?

Posted in FAMILY, life, WONDER, tagged #1corinthians13, #loveis, #loveishard, #loveisntaboutme, #loveneverdies, #whatislove on March 6, 2018| 1 Comment »

Cookie decorating with the fam and friends recently had me thinking, what is love?

Media, entertainment and even some of our philosophers of the day (aka Therapists, Life Coaches, celebrities, etc) would have us believe that it is warm and fuzzy feelings that make us ‘glow’ with good feelings and only experience agreement, affirmation and acceptance all of the time. You know, basically whatever feels good for you, for me.

I say love is so far from self.

Anyone who has pursued life-long love with other human beings (from spouses to parents, to kids, to neighbours, to friends) knows that love is far more complex, diverse and dirty than all that ~~fluff~~ stuff.

I think most of us pursue love to not be alone.

This is unfortunate for the parents who pour all of themselves into their children (and, lets face it, this is what most of us do) and then, when their children have grown and get their own lives (you know, what we bring them up to do) our nest is empty and we are lonelier than before.

Many of us pursue love for how it makes us feel … those warm and fuzzy feelings that are so sweet to lull us to sleep, but no one on this Earth can make us feel like that day in and day out … nor can any of us make another feel that way in the long term.

How many of us have heard people say that they love someone because they share so much in common? If commonalities are the only foundation of our love for another, it will implode when, inevitability, divergent views emerge.

Love is that which we have to work for, with and in spite of. Love trumps disagreement over politics, religion, philosophy or behaviour. Love is hard to maintain, a struggle of constant personal effort, and, sometimes, doesn’t even get reciprocated. Love is not dependent on what another does for us, it is only dependent on our own will and commitment.

“Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
(The Message)

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Just as I am

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #beliefnotperfection, #believeandbesaved, #billygraham, #charlotteelliot, #ibelieve, #jesusislord, #justasiam, #justasyouare, #justbelieve, #romans10:9, baptism on March 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »

FullSizeRender

With the passing of Billy Graham, from Earth to eternity, I keep hearing, in my mind, those familiar lyrics …

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

This hymn, written in 1835 by Charlotte Elliot, who referred to Just as I am as her spiritual autobiography. It is a song of coming to Christ, of acceptance. Really, it is a song of forfeit to some greater force, and with the greatest of humility.

My own personal connection to it was that it was used when I was baptized, at the age of sixteen. A verse was sung after each person was baptized.

I remember that day so well, and the pondering that led to my decision to be baptized. I had been told by a friend that without baptism I would not enter heaven when I died. I did not agree.

That disagreement sent me right where, I believe, God wanted me to go … to the Bible. I read every verse and book chapter, that I could find, that spoke of baptism. I learned what a commentary was, and I poured over their understanding of biblical texts on the subject.

Finally, I came to my own conclusion, that baptism was simply the outward expression to the world, of the acceptance I had made, of the redemption availed to me through Jesus. I also came to the conclusion that it was what I would choose to do, because I wanted the world to know that I was associating with Jesus, for the rest of my life. Not because I had it all together, not because I was perfect, but because I was renewed, redeemed.

And that is the appeal of the hymn, Just as I am. It is not a song about how we have it all together. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite:

without one plea
rid my soul of one dark blot
many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without
poor, wretched, blind

It is a song of self-realization of the lacking, the negativity, the sin in our lives. And it is in acknowledging where we lack that openness to what Christ has for us, is birthed. Even in the negatives, each verse ends with “O Lamb of God, I come!”

My favourite verse is the fifth (I believe the last in the hymnal I grew up with),

“Just as I am – Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe

That is it, belief.

Not vast amounts of tithing, piety or perfection, but because I believe.

Romans 10:9 tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Though my baptism was not some magical event, it is one of the most special events of my life, because it was the first time that I declared with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord … it was the public expression of the change in my heart.

Is Jesus your Lord? Do you believe it, in your heart, that he was raised from the dead? for you?

Believe, and be saved … just as you are.

Just as I am – without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – though toss’d about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am – of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
-O Lamb of God, I come

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