Good Friday

Good Friday. What a reflective day. It is a "good friday" for Christians because we know the outcome of the third day. But for the people of Jesus' day, it did not seem "good" at all. It was horrible. Their precious Savior slain. Mary watching her Son die. All of the faith the disciples put in Jesus - now in question.

Big picture - we know that Jesus went to the Cross to die for our sin. He was our substitute. The ultimate atonement. But the following excerpt expresses an aspect of the Cross that I had never considered. I have considered the agony He suffered for me. The pain. The price. But never before had I considered that Jesus, for the first time, experienced complete separation from God - for me. For you. Because of our wretched sin, Jesus went to the pit of Hell and for the first, and only, time the Father turned his back on the Son. Without Christ, this would have been my destiny. Eternal separation from God for my sin. There isn't a thing in the world I could do to atone for my own sin. No way to make it right. Oh Jesus. I am, literally, forever grateful.

Read the following and reflect on Jesus' great love for you this Good Friday.

"We must be very clear as to what was really going on upon that cross. The man who hung there was no ordinary Galilean rabbi. No, he was the eternal Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth was the Word of God who became flesh. He had existed from all eternity in the closest, most intimate fellowship imaginable with the Father. Even when he voluntarily left heaven's glory and emptied himself of all divine dignity and authority to become a man, he still maintained throughout his life sweet communion and deep intimacy with his heavenly Father. Until, that is, he hung on the cross. There, as he took upon himself the sins of all his people, Jesus Christ experienced, for the first time in all eternity, the horror of separation from God. The Father turned his back on the Son while he hung there on the cross, in our place, inflicting upon him the full fury of his wrath for our sins. We hear of the horrifying reality of this separation from Jesus' own lips, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). Jesus had known the joy of intimate fellowship with his Father, and now during this time of separation, Jesus wanted it back; he longed for it; he thirsted after God. On the cross Jesus was the supreme fulfillment of Psalm 63:1, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." - Steve Roy

This was my fate. Eternal thirst and longing.

No more.

Thank you Jesus for the Cross.

Today, I reflect and rejoice in this life changing event. Everything changed in this moment.

Everything.

Be blessed.

Soul Sorting

If you want to know what my heart looks like today, you should just look at my house.

I am serious. I should go get my camera. Let me paint.

Nothing is over-the-top messy. But, oh the clutter. There are a couple of piles on the counter top - mail to go through. Little piles on the steps - clothes and shoes to be taken up to the boys room. A basket of laundry in my bedroom floor, folded, just not put away. Dirty laundry to be washed. Floors that need to be swept and mopped. All of my houseplants are sad and thirsty. Heaven forbid you open my kitchen junk drawer. If you walked in, you wouldn't be disgusted, but if you stayed long enough, you'd see that work needs to be done. The busyness of the past couple of days has not allowed for me to give my piles attention.

So is the case with my heart. Not a complete mess, just in need of attention.

I have heart piles. Piles that I need to address with the Lord. Parenting piles. Financial piles. Marriage piles. Friendship piles. Ministry piles. I think there is a Becky pile laying around here somewhere, too. So today will be brief, because I have some soul laundry to sort, but this verse struck me and I thought I'd share.

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverb 3:3

If I could crack my heart and look inside, what would my tablet read? The Word says to write Kindness (some versions say mercy) and Truth on my heart. What does that really mean , God? Let's investigate.

Mercy means - kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them, to show one's self merciful.

Can I just confess that mercy has not been my strongest suit this past weekend? Luke has a double ear infection. I have been so frustrated by his inconsolabilty and lack of sleep that I have practically lost my mind at times. It has to be a work of the Holy Spirit in me to show mercy from 2:30 - 5:30am while we're up watching God Made Babies. Not my definition of a good time. Once again, the Lord gives me an opportunity to die to self and show good will toward my miserable and afflicted little man. To show myself merciful. Oh , forgive me Lord. I can be so self consumed.

Truth means simply divine instruction. God wants us to write His divine instruction on our hearts. Isn't that beautiful? Once again, I come back to my cyclical problem of busyness - neglect - empty - needy - Jesus - busyness - neglect - empty - needy - Jesus. And around and around we go. I don't just want His divine instruction written on my heart, I need it tattooed.

Heart. A word we use often - both literally and figuratively. In this passage it is used figuratively and this is the part that knocked my wind out. Stay with me. Heart is our inner man. Heart is made up of our - soul, mind, knowledge, thinking, reflecting, memory, inclination, resolution, determination, conscience, moral character. It is the seat of our appetites. The seat of our emotions and passions. The seat of our courage.

Proverbs 3:3 is telling us to write mercy, goodness, and God's divine instruction on our inner man. Write it on our soul and our minds. Reflect on God. Think on Him. Our resolutions, determinations, appetites, emotions and passions are to ALL point towards him.

So this morning, I am opening up and sorting through my junk drawer. I am in need of a declutter. I need to read through what I have been scribbling on the tablets of my soul, mind, thought life and reflections. My appetite is hungry for some divine instruction. The soil of my emotions need some Living Water. I resolve to sort through the clutter of my soul and resolve to not let kindness and truth leave me today.

Be blessed.

Never Thirst

So back to the land of the living.

I am no longer living under the curse of time change. I am up and adam, and can't get the thirst analogy out of my head. So we are back again, looking at Christ's solution for us, the thirsty.

One thing I love about Jesus is that he loves a good metaphor. I am a sucker for figurative speech. The story of the woman at the well is no exception. Brief recap - Jesus is in Samaria in a small town called Sychar. Tired, he sits down by a well where a woman comes to draw water. He strikes up a conversation with her and asks her for a drink.

He tells her, "Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Never thirst. Imagine. Now, you and I both know He is not talking to her about water from that Samaritan well. He is talking of a different kind of water. He is the Water. The Living Water. Let's back up.

I looked up thirst in this passage. I was so struck by what I found. Read and tell me if you relate. Thirst: figuratively, those who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened. Good ol' Merriam Webster defines thirst as a sensation of dryness....an ardent desire, craving, longing.

I am relating. I often come to this place of painfully needing refreshment for my soul. Spiritually dry. Craving something. Further, correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesn't this define our culture? Eagerly longing for refreshment for the soul. Support. Strength. Longing to quench desires. Can I suggest that we are going to the wrong well?

Drink in this passage means to receive into the soul what serves to refresh, strengthen, nourish...into eternal life. See the connection. Jesus is offering to her (to us) refreshment and nourishment for our figurative thirst.

But what is this water?! Even the Samaritan woman perked up and asked, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here." v. 15

Oh I love this. Water, by definition is emblematic of the SPIRIT; our identification with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. A New Birth: a setting aside of all that the believer was according to the flesh. A new beginning.

So Jesus is telling this woman (who by the way has one heck of a past) that she can drink the Water he offers and she will have a new beginning. He will set aside all that she was and her past will metaphorically go to the cross, die... only to be resurrected. New. Glory.

This world has nothing comparable to offer. Nothing.

Wherever you are today, drink.

Receive for your soul what serves to refresh and strengthen.

If this is news to you, salvation is to be had. Set aside all that you were and receive a new beginning that only Christ can offer.

If you are a thirsty believer, going to the wells of this world, set down your cisterns. He is the Spring by which our wells are fed.

Be blessed.

Living Hydrated

Early the other morning, Grant woke and came into the kitchen. I was sitting at the table. He bypassed me and went straight to the refrigerator. He was drunk off sleep -eyes halfway open, and stumbling around. He cupped his hands up to the water dispenser on our refrigerator door and pushed.

"Get a cup buddy!"
"Mom, my mouth is just so dry. I'm so thirsty."
Water went everywhere. He didn't care. He just had to wet his lips.

That is exactly where I am today. Thirsty.

The time change is killing my quiet times. It sounds like an excuse, I know. So today, I am a little dehydrated, cupping my hands up to Jesus, asking him to pour himself out.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters...why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fair. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:1,2 &6.

God offers nourishment that feeds my soul. But I must come to Him first. His nourishment is free. How often have I spent money or worked trying to find satisfaction for my soul? Too many times to count. My kids can't satisfy. Brent can't satisfy. Food can't satisfy. Even Target can't satisfy - although it comes close :) . These things bring me joy. Yes. But do they satisfy? No. They will fail me. Only God can satisfy.

Hear me on this. We do NOT have to work for our salvation. By grace it is a free gift. However, to nourish my soul, Isaiah tells me I must eagerly receive it. I must come (55:1). I must listen (55:2) and I must call on God (55:6). So that is where I am today.

Grabbing my cup of joe I am off to sit at the feet of Jesus. Listening to him and calling on him. Cupping my hands to his Word. I am over feeling dehydrated. I am over feeling tired and unsatisfied. I pray he makes a mess of me - spilling over to every crevice of my soul. I don't want just a cup full. I want him to overflow.

Love is here. He satisfies.