What's so good about Good Friday?

It sure wasn't a good Friday for Jesus.  He had a crown of thorns forced upon His head, and was scourged with a whip.  He was mercilessly interrogated by the religious leaders and condemned by those He came to save.  He was forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem after being beaten.  He was nailed to a cross, and His clothes were distributed to uncouth Roman soldiers by a game of chance.  He died a painful and horrible death.

But it was a good Friday for us.  Because Jesus died on the cross, our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life. 

In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed so sins could be forgiven.  In the book of Genesis, the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Issac.  The Lord was testing Abraham's faith, but Abraham obeyed.  As Abraham and Isaac was going to Mount Moriah, Isaac asked where the lamb was for the sacrifice.  Abraham said that the Lord would provide a substitute,  Abraham took Isaac, bound him, and place him on the altar.  As Abraham was about to slay Isaac, the Lord told him no.  He provided a substitute - a ram was caught in the thicket.    The Scripture state that the punishment for sin is death.  Jesus became our substitute when He died on the cross.

Passover is a holiday celebrated by the Jewish people to remember how the Lord delivered Israel from the Egyptians.  A lamb is killed for the Passover meal.  Jesus became the Passover lamb for us when He died on the cross.  His blood was shed so that we would be passed over from the punishment of sin.

I am sorrowful when I meditate on Jesus' death on the cross.  It saddens me that He had to die in such a painful way so that I could be forgiven.  It was because of me - and you - and you too - that He had to die in our place.  Yet Jesus knew that it was His Father's plan before the beginning of the world that He had to die, even though His human side pleaded with God that He wouldn't have to die such a painful death.  When I think about Jesus's death, it makes me want to be more like Him, so that His sacrificial death would not be in vain.  I am ever so grateful that He died for me.

Friend, is Jesus your Savior?  Have you asked Him to forgive your sins and live in your heart?  Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart and is waiting for you to let Him in.  All you have to do is pray a simple prayer, like this:

Jesus, I know I'm a sinner.  I repent of my sins and I ask you to come into my heart and live there forever.  Thank you for dying on the cross to save me from my sins.  Lord, help lead me and guide me for the rest of my days.

Now that you've said that prayer, your life has been changed forever!  You are now a child of God!  Please post a comment and tell me all about it!

That's all for now.  See you next time!

Diane

Castaway all

“Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV) While I was in prayer one morning, the Lord impressed on me this verse.  He even told me that it was in 1 Peter, and I skimmed through 1 Peter but couldn’t find it, and I even skimmed 2 Peter, but still couldn’t find it.  So I went to my Bible’s concordance, and the verse was in 1 Peter all along!  God is so amazing! David also spoke of casting his cares upon the Lord.  In Psalm 55:22 (NKJV), David wrote, “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”  

“Casting” is a fisherman’s term, and so appropriate since Peter was once a fisherman by trade (before he became a fisher of men, that is).  Then and now, fishermen cast their nets into the water to catch fish.  Casting is a word that means to throw.  In the same way, we are to cast, or throw, all our cares on Jesus.  Not only is He our Savior, He is our Friend.  A friend cares about what another friend is going through.  A friend listens to us when we tell them about our troubles and tries to help us the best way they can.  Jesus is there for us whenever we need Him – He is but a prayer away. 

When we cast our cares upon Jesus, we are to leave our cares with Him. It’s easy to cry to Jesus about all our troubles. But remembering to leave our cares and burdens with Him as we go about our daily business is the hardest part.  Only if He brings them to our attention another time are we to think on them again that particular day.  I pray every morning.  I have a list of people that I pray for, and prayers concerns for those particular people.  I have to remember, however, that once prayer time is done, I need to leave my concerns and cares with Jesus for Him to take care of.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be persistent in prayer. We are to keep praying for a situation or person until our prayer is answered.

So remember when times are tough and it seems like you’re at the end of your rope, Jesus loves you and is ready for you to cast your cares upon Him. He’s waiting for you right now.  Open your heart up to Him and tell Him about your concerns. 

That’s all for now.  See you again soon!

Diane

Wherefore art thou, Spring?

Although February has only 28 days (and some years, 29),

The month feels twice as long

Thanks to dreary, cold days

Sometimes punctuated with ice and snow.

The fourteenth of the month is a lover’s holiday

But for those not in love, it is a lonely day.

And on the second day, Punxsutawney Phil,

That prognosticator of spring,

Had the nerve to see his shadow once again,

Cursing us with six more weeks of winter.

But my soul longs for Spring,

For warm sunshine on my upturned face,

Bright green grass springing up from the cold, hard ground,

And tulips and daffodils waving brightly in the gentle breeze.

My heart longs for blue skies instead of gray,

With puffy white clouds breaking up the blue.

Leaf buds on barren branches,

Signal the promise of leaves yet to come.

Birds trill their joyful songs

And build their nests in the tall tree tops.

My body longs for warmer temperatures,

So I can put away my winter coat

And wear a light jacket, or if it’s warm enough,

No jacket at all,

So I can enjoy the breeze.

Spring brings new hope and new life

From the cold and barren winter.

O calendar!  Make short work of these last few weeks of winter

And bring me my heart’s desire of Spring!

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

Reading about the stories here and here made me think a bit more about the last paragraph of my last post.  I felt those sentiments deserved some expansion. 

Did that mother and those two children wake up that Saturday morning and know they were going to be dead by the end of the day?  Or those two men who were in that plane - did they think that would never see their loved ones again?  And on a bigger scale, on 9/11, those who worked in the Twin Towers or in the Pentagon, or who were passengers on those airplanes didn't know that they wouldn't be coming home that evening. It was just an ordinary day for them.

Do any of us really know if we're going to wake up tomorrow morning? Will we be killed in an accident?  Or be murdered?  Or this country may even be attacked by an nuclear weapon.  Or the Rapture may occur and your loved ones who believe in Christ will vanish, leaving you behind.  These events that I just mentioned can happen so quickly that there is not even time to blink.

If God decided that my days on Earth would be over, I have no fear.  I am ready to go whenever the Lord feels my time here on Earth has been completed because I believe in Jesus and if I died, I would be in Heaven.   I have confidence that should my life be over, I would not be lost for eternity. 

Dear friend, if you have not yet repented of your sins and asked Jesus to be the Savior of your soul and of your life, I implore you to do so today.  If you need assistance, I would be more than happy to guide you.  Please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will contact you.  Don't hesitate - tomorrow may be too late. 

Every day is a good day

My husband gave me a necklace for Christmas with a pendant attached that reads, “Each day is a gift from God.”   Not only is the messsage food for thought, but it’s amazing I got a necklace at all – it wasn’t even on my Christmas list! If you want to see the necklace, post a comment and I'll post a photo of it.  Until then, I found a journal (see below) with this title.

God is the creator of time.  He created the sun and the moon so  there would be day and night.  The Bible also mentions months and years.  Each day is 24 hours long.  Assuming that you sleep 8 hours every night,  that leaves 16 hours for you to make a difference with.   

This gift of today (and every day) from God is something that we can’t return to the store to get what we really want, or regift it to someone else.  It is ours alone, and it is our choice as to what to do with it.  So now that we realize that this day  is a gift from God, what will you do with it?  Will you spend the day helping others?  Will you spend the day working?  Instead of wasting the day doing nothing, you could help spread the Gospel.   Or you could spend quality time with your family.  The choice is yours.

Only God Himself determines how many days we will live.  Someday, your days on Earth will be over and God will come to call you home.  When that happens, will you have made the most of the days He has given you?  When you see God, what will you tell Him about how you spent the days that He gave you? 

WWJT? (What Would Jesus Tweet?)

If Jesus came to Earth today and lived among us, how do you think he would use today's technology to present the Gospel?  Would He have a web site - maybe named jesuschrist.com?  Would you be able to follow Him on Twitter?  Would Jesus share His parables via blog posts?  Would He friend you on Facebook?  Would Jesus put His prophecies on His Facebook wall?  Instead of praying to Jesus, would you be able to send Him an e-mail?  Would He have a YouTube channel?

In Daniel 12:4, the man clothed in linen (most likely an angel) says to Daniel:  "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."  Without a big increase in knowledge, we wouldn't even have computers, and without some brainy person inventing it, I wouldn't be even able to make this blog post, let alone put it out on the Internet for the whole world to see.

The Internet is a great place to share the Gospel.  There are folks who might not ever pick up a book or know to look for a church.  But they know their way around the Internet, and they know how to search to find what they're looking for.  We are Jesus' hands and feet on Earth.  Since this technology is available to us, we should use it to the best of our ability to spread the Gospel.

Because of TV, people have short attention spans.  People don't have the patience to sit through long sermons or books any more, even if it's a subject that interests them. So how do we use this technology to spread the Good News?   This blog is a great example.  Even though I have some poetry on here, there are a lot of posts that are Christian in nature.  I pray that these posts would help folks understand the Bible and faith better.   If you're on Twitter, you can tweet Bible verses. Start a YouTube channel of videos of Bible based pastors and good Christian music. Or you can set up a web site. Use your imagination! 

Thanks for reading!  Have a great evening!

Diane

Citygarden in Summer

I wrote the poem below for a poetry contest.  I thought you all might enjoy it.  For more information on Citygarden, click here.

Citygarden in Summer

An oasis of green
In the midst of hot concrete sidewalks
And tall, imposing skyscrapers.
A place to cool off physically and emotionally
From the oppressive heat of the St. Louis summer.
The sculptures stand stoically, inviting viewing and discussion.
Tourists shoot photos of their children with the white bunnies.
Children frolic in the fountains
And wade in the reflecting pool.
Workers sit on the snakelike benches
And enjoy the scenery while eating their lunches.
Children and adults as well
Make melodies by dancing on the shiny square chimes.
Beautiful flowers, towering trees and bushy shrubs
Help make Citygarden an oasis of green in the hot city.

Thanks for reading!

Diane