tonight, I feel like writing about something "lighthearted".
I feel drained talking about political issues.. I started a post on abortion, but I haven't finished it yet.
Sometimes, I feel a desperate need to share so many things. I truly believe that God shows me a lot of things. I read a lot of things that I truly want to share with others. I read beautiful God stories and I read a lot of things related to false teachings..and truthfully, there are days when I see so much hatred and so many misconceptions that I kindof feel the need to advocate. Sometimes I feel as if I am trying to be a PR rep for Jesus.
I feel that He is so misrepresented by so many, that I just wish that we could let go of all of our preconceived notions..sit in the silence..and find Him..
Tonight, that is what I long to do.. just find Him..all over again. I simply just want to sit in the stillness until I sense His precious prescence sweeping over me like rain..like a tide that washes away all of the dirt.
Tonight, I miss my family.
It has been nearly a year since my grandmother died, and tonight I am homesick. I remember when I was a child she would bring me a coke every time I was sick. It was the one thing that I could look forward to during bouts of fever and stomach flu.
I remember my grandfather telling me the story of "Jesus and the Cross." Every Friday I would eagerly anticipate going to stay at my grandparent's house. Gran would cook me special meals or treats, like chocolate bread and "Pa" would read to me out of the Bible at night. He always read the same story, but I never tired of hearing it..The story of the death of Jesus and how through that death, we can all have eternal life..
Thirty years have passed since those days and I still cling to that story. It seems that we veer so far away from that story, at times.
Sometimes,in our haste, we forget to embrace our families..We get so caught up in things that have no eternal consequence. We idolize money and things when the most important things are staring us right in the face. The beauty of the life and story of Christ was a deep, rich and all abiding love.
Tonight, I miss my boys. I am an hour away from them and I simply want to cuddle up with Baby Bear, my three year old. I long to feel the warmth of his little skin and hear his tiny voice..saying, "I wuv you, mommy." I want to remind my Cade how much I care about him. I want him to never have any doubt about how wonderful and special he is to me.
Those are the things that matter. Everything else is just the loud blare of the excess. Nothing really matters at the end of our days except how much we gave of ourselves.. to Christ and to one another..I'm not even talking about our resources.. How much are we giving of ourselves?
One thing I love about Jesus is how He lived so simply..and yet, His life was so beautiful. No one wants to embrace the simple anymore.. The gospel has become a race for bigger homes..faster cars..and nicer "things." Gain has become godliness and the true message is being watered down and forgotten..
Anyhow, before I wind up on a tangent and posting a three hour long blog.. I simply want to share with you the Christmas story. lately, I have had a strange and uncanny desire to hear Christmas music.. ..Or maybe.. I should just tell you the story of Jesus on the Cross...
This one's for you Gran and Pa... John chapter 19
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”[c] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[d]
I feel drained talking about political issues.. I started a post on abortion, but I haven't finished it yet.
Sometimes, I feel a desperate need to share so many things. I truly believe that God shows me a lot of things. I read a lot of things that I truly want to share with others. I read beautiful God stories and I read a lot of things related to false teachings..and truthfully, there are days when I see so much hatred and so many misconceptions that I kindof feel the need to advocate. Sometimes I feel as if I am trying to be a PR rep for Jesus.
I feel that He is so misrepresented by so many, that I just wish that we could let go of all of our preconceived notions..sit in the silence..and find Him..
Tonight, that is what I long to do.. just find Him..all over again. I simply just want to sit in the stillness until I sense His precious prescence sweeping over me like rain..like a tide that washes away all of the dirt.
Tonight, I miss my family.
It has been nearly a year since my grandmother died, and tonight I am homesick. I remember when I was a child she would bring me a coke every time I was sick. It was the one thing that I could look forward to during bouts of fever and stomach flu.
I remember my grandfather telling me the story of "Jesus and the Cross." Every Friday I would eagerly anticipate going to stay at my grandparent's house. Gran would cook me special meals or treats, like chocolate bread and "Pa" would read to me out of the Bible at night. He always read the same story, but I never tired of hearing it..The story of the death of Jesus and how through that death, we can all have eternal life..
Thirty years have passed since those days and I still cling to that story. It seems that we veer so far away from that story, at times.
Sometimes,in our haste, we forget to embrace our families..We get so caught up in things that have no eternal consequence. We idolize money and things when the most important things are staring us right in the face. The beauty of the life and story of Christ was a deep, rich and all abiding love.
Tonight, I miss my boys. I am an hour away from them and I simply want to cuddle up with Baby Bear, my three year old. I long to feel the warmth of his little skin and hear his tiny voice..saying, "I wuv you, mommy." I want to remind my Cade how much I care about him. I want him to never have any doubt about how wonderful and special he is to me.
Those are the things that matter. Everything else is just the loud blare of the excess. Nothing really matters at the end of our days except how much we gave of ourselves.. to Christ and to one another..I'm not even talking about our resources.. How much are we giving of ourselves?
One thing I love about Jesus is how He lived so simply..and yet, His life was so beautiful. No one wants to embrace the simple anymore.. The gospel has become a race for bigger homes..faster cars..and nicer "things." Gain has become godliness and the true message is being watered down and forgotten..
Anyhow, before I wind up on a tangent and posting a three hour long blog.. I simply want to share with you the Christmas story. lately, I have had a strange and uncanny desire to hear Christmas music.. ..Or maybe.. I should just tell you the story of Jesus on the Cross...
This one's for you Gran and Pa... John chapter 19
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
So this is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,[b] here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.The Death of Jesus
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”[c] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[d]
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