PROLAIM His Death

 Communion was this past Sunday. The scripture selection is usually the same.

📖  23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, [d]“Take, eat; this is My body which is [e]broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

One verse in particular stood out to me this time.

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 

We mourn death, we talk about it. Even when we know a person has gone on to be with Jesus, we may celebrate, but we are sad at our loss. It helps to talk about them and what they meant to us. 

But do we do that about Christ's death?

The word PROCLAIM:

• To declare officially: To make a formal announcement.
  • Example: The president will proclaim a national day of mourning.
• To declare publicly: To make something known in a clear, forceful, or public way.
  • Example: He proclaimed his love for her in a poem.
• To praise: To publicly praise or extol something.
• Example: Let them proclaim the Lord
• In proclaiming Christ's death we officially state that we believe He died for our sins, but we also believe He rose again, and walked among us (more on that next week!)
• 📖 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38
We are are also declaring publicly that He died and rose again for each individual so that those who accept Jesus death on the cross, burial and resurrection will have eternal life with Him.
📖 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas,and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
And of course in all that we are praising Him for what He has done for every person. 
📖 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:8-11
🙏🏼Lord, I pray that we are not ashamed and are living our lives in a way that PROCLAIMS Your death AND resurrection until we see You again.  That the legacy we leave continues to proclaim until You come again!♥️

Please Be Seated

 Something I heard a while back....as one of the Fire Chaplains at our conference began to pray.

"Dear Lord,, .....please be seated....." 

he was beginning to pray but remembered he hadn't told us to sit. But the statement...as a complete sentence struck me.   

'Dear Lord, please be seated. ...

at my table."

"Next to me."

"In my most comfortable chair."

"Dear Lord, please be seated" says You are welcome here. Make Yourself at home. Make Yourself comfortable here.

How often do our words or actions say the opposite. We don't offer a seat because we don't want Him to stay long... we have things to do...no time to sit and visit. We have things we are doing that we would rather He not be present for...it would just make things awkward. 

We aren't willing to give up our comfortable spot for Him. 

He is there, wanting to come in and be a part of your life, your home.

📖 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

We have to let Him in...He won't barge in or push His way in unwelcomed.

📖 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45

We want our spaces filled with Him, not with what would take His place. But it has to be filed with One or the other.

He wants to be welcome and be in your life, a part of everything. 

And not grudgingly,  but with joy and gladness.

🙏🏼"Dear Lord....Please be seated..in a place of prominence in my heart, in my life, in my home. Amen♥️

Seeking What Is Lost

 Please forgive the repost. I pray it touches hearts.

Do you feel we spend much of our time looking for lost items? Car keys, which I dont seem to misplace. But the "other" sock, the "other" earing, a shirt I haven't seen since last fall. You can add your own.  It frustrates me when I am SURE it was right here...or there!

Jesus told a parable about time spent looking for something lost. 

📖 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:1-7

Jesus was speaking to EVERYONE. Sinners and tax collectors (lumped together of course), but the Pharisees and other important men were present as well.

📖 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation hast come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10

Jesus came to seek and to save.

📖 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. Ezekiel 34:11

We are far more precious to God than any material thing we could be searching for.

He came searching for sinners.

📖  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

Not to condemn but to save

📖  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18

And though He seeks us out....we MUST turn to Him...not try and hide like Adam and Eve.

📖  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

( Side note: even as they hid God was calling for them. )

Or keep our stiff backs turned to Him.

📖 those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”  Zephaniah 1:6

📖 My people are determined to turn from me.

    Even though they call me God Most High,

    I will by no means exalt them. Hosea 11:7

We need to seek Him, cry out to Him, He is there. He has already sought you out.

📖   if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

Just ask....

📖 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

🙏🏼 Lord, I pray we all turn our faces toward You, we run to Your open arms! Because, there we will find all we need. 

Jesus does not consider it a waste of time to seek each of us....I pray we take the time to seek Him. ❤️

Beauty In the Dying...Reminder

  I played "Better Than A Hallelujah" at church this past Sunday. I always think of the song in the fall...because of the first time I was inspired to write this blog in October 2019. Then I reposted three years later, inspired by my Aunt Linda's final months. It seems "funny" to me that I am inspired to repost again...and it is three years again! We lost Aunt Linda three years ago this past Monday.  I have been thinking a lot about Leah as well, she was much like Aunt Linda in her vibrant colors and personality. I have been missing my sister as I know Mom and her siblings are missing each of theirs that have passed (Linda, Sue and Marge). So I am reposting the blog from October 23, 2022 in it's  entirety.  I hope you don't mind. ♥️🍁

Where to start...even though this is a repeat of a blog I wrote back on October 23, 2019 (funny, exactly 3 years ago). Since then, when I am surrounded by all the gorgeous autumn color, I always think about that "beauty in the dying" concept....but especially this fall, this year....my colorful, bright, beautiful Aunt Linda's life was coming to an end. 

How perfectly appropriate she die in October when the foliage all around was so absolutely stunning and filled with the vibrant orange she loved so much!

Though she knew her time here was quickly fading, she lived, loved and laughed to the fullest. 

She made sure each one around her felt loved, just as she had always done. She proclaimed her assurance in her God and her faith....Beauty in the dying as she was living....a Hallelujah!

The following is the 2019 blog, unedited, just as I posted it:

Working on last week's blog...getting the song Better Than A Hallelujah video correct...I wondered if the pictures were the right ones for the song?...appropriate to convey what I was feeling when I listened?

And then it struck me....the absolutely gorgeous fall colors that we have been experiencing, the beautiful scenery....is actually the result of the foliage on the trees dying!  And then I thought ...those pictures are perfect for that song!
"Beautiful the mess were are..."
Because in our brokenness and mess...God can be and is glorified!
We are all dying....we were not meant to live on this earth forever.
📖  As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10
📖 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

He brings life even in the dying....because the life He brings isn't a life lived in our earthly bodies forever, it is an eternal life for our souls in His presence.
So no matter what physical age we are or what circumstances we find ourselves ...we are all dying....but in that...shouldn't we live it out beautifully!?

📖But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  2 Corinthians 4:7-15

"Even in our misery....God just hears a melody"

📖 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Shouldn't our lives be a "hallelujah" to our Creator?!
📖 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

We need to let "the honest cries of our broken hearts" become Hallelujahs in our Lord's ears....and let our limitless and boundless God give us joy in our limitations!
God gave us today!  For His purpose!  I pray you find that purpose today!  Even if it is just to lift a thank you; for the scenery around you, for the day before you, for the people around you, for the breath you are taking....
come on!  You have MORE Hallelujahs, I am sure of it!

Better Than a Hallelujah Amy Grant

 If the above video doesn't play try the link below. 

Better Than A Hallelujah (video by Tracey)

Come To the Table

🍞🍷This past Sunday, being the first Sunday of the month, was our communion, or Lord's Supper. As it so happens, it was also World Communion Sunday.  So virtually every Christian Church in the world was observing communion at some point this past Sunday!  What a thought!  The song that was played during our communion time was Come To the Table by Sidewalk Prophets. I have heard it before, it has been played before.  

What struck me was the invitation in the song for people to come to the Lord's Table, and sit beside Him.

I am sure many of us have a thought in our minds of who would be sitting there, and next to Him.

But in reality all are welcome at the table, He calls every sinner to come.

Would we be willing to sit at the table with murderers, thieves, rapists, molesters?  How about with gossips, those who are bitter, resentful, jealous, prideful,.....WHOA  hey...they are not the same!

Oh....but....

📖 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:13-26

The bible says we are ALL sinners, regardless of our offense, 

📖 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24

and Christ died for all, 

📖The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Romans 6:10

IF we accept Him..

📖 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, Romans 3:22

and what He has done for us...taking on our sin.

📖“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

Shedding His blood in place of ours

📖Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:27-28

If we come with humble, repentant hearts

we are all welcome at the Table!

🙏🏼Lord, help me to see all those around Your table as You do, washed in the blood of Christ. Fill me with Your compassion, Your grace, and Your Mercy. Thank you that what You did for me saved me and is my invitation to Your table.❤️

🔗Come To the Table Sidewalk Prophets

Disciples vs. Apostles The Important Difference

 You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!  You have heard the saying "learn something new everyday." Well I did this past Sunday!  It may have been something I did know...but if that is the case I had completely forgotten it!

Actually, I had to make a bit of an alteration to this  log that I posted a couple of years ago.

The difference between disciple and apostle! And when I first wrote this missed an important distinction between the two.

Disciple:

A disciple would literally follow someone in hopes of eventually becoming what they are. A Christian disciple is a believer who follows Christ and then offers his own imitation of Christ as model for others to follow (1 Corinthians 11:1). A disciple is first a believer who has exercised faith (Acts 2:38) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Jesus called His disciples to come follow Him

📖 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20

He told them He would change them and their purpose. 

They were to follow literally and figuratively. They left their homes, professions, and even families and went with Jesus. Traveled where He went. But they also learned to follow His teachings, His actions, to become more like Him.

📖 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

📖  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Then, they became apostles

📖 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Luke 6:13

In the New Testament, twelve disciples were commissioned as Apostles. After Judas’s death, the church replaced the vacancy by selecting Matthias, as Acts records. To this number Jesus added the Apostle Paul as the special Apostle to the gentiles. Paul’s apostleship was a matter of some debate because he did not meet all of the requirements for apostleship set forth in Acts. The criteria for apostleship included being: (1) a disciple of Jesus during His earthly ministry, (2) an eyewitness of the Resurrection, and (3) called and commissioned directly by Christ. Paul was not a former disciple, and his vision of the resurrected Christ occurred after Jesus’ ascension. Paul was not an eyewitness of the Resurrection in the same way the other Apostles were. Nevertheless, Paul was directly called to the office by Christ. His call was confirmed by the other Apostles, whose apostleship was not in doubt and was authenticated by the miracles God performed through him, attesting his authority as an Apostolic agent of revelation.

How I missed this the first time I blogged this I don't know. 

They were not meant to be disciples only...it was training for their actual purpose! They were given a mission, by Jesus Himself,  which is what made them THE apostles.

📖  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

It is important that we become disciples of Christ.  To follow His ways and learn who He is and how we are to be.  We have a mission as well, we are a called to go and tell, to be ambassadors of Christ.

To remain disciples only we are missing an important part of being a Christian. 

📖 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James 2:17-18

📖 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8

We must learn and then take that to others, that is what makes us a Christian. 

But the term apostle was meant for those  first with Christ. 

📖 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as

 though God were making his appeal through

 us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20

The term may be used loosely today. But for me it is important to first learn and know what our mission is about. 

It is important to know who Jesus is and what He teaches before we can go out and tell others how life changing following Him can be.

We need to constantly be in step with Him so we have the resources to take His message to others.

📖 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25

🙏I pray today Lord, help us to listen and learn from You, to be committed to following Your ways so that we can tell and show others who You are at every opportunity.  Amen❤️

Don't Lose Heart

In the voyage of life we feel tossed about by the wind and the waves. Sometimes we feel like we aren't even able to stay afloat. that we might even drown.

📖 Save me, O God,

 for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths,

    where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.

I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,
    looking for my God. Psalm 69:1-3

But I was reminded, as I worked on next years Vacation Bible school stories 

HE CONTROLS THE WIND AND THE WAVES.

We are not to lose heart! 

📖  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.......

......Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7-12,16-18

If we feel pressed, perplexed, persecuted....we have to remember Who is in control of the waves and the mountains.

📖 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”  They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

📖 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 9:5-10

We have to know, and my prayer for you, is that you know this truth in the depths of your heart...

🙏🏼

📖 When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,

 you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.  

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.

Isaiah 43:2-5

❤️

🎵 Don't Lose Heart Steven Curtis Chapman