Tag Archives: faith

Surgery Scuttlebutt, part six – surgery and recovery

I’m home! It’s been over two weeks since I’ve shared anything…and I wanted to share the update! Surgery was July 17th. I was in the hospital for 7 days.

If you don’t know what scuttlebutt is, please check out

Intro, part one, part two, part three and part four

If you want a great book to help you prepare for, and recover with, please check out Healing and Hope by Christine Carter. Tell her Christi sent you!

I finally got to Chapter 7. Adjust your lens.

The day before surgery, Jim took me to a very unique hotel, the Tudor Arms in Cleveland, Ohio…just down the road from the Cleveland Clinic.

I wanted to have a restful evening with my husband, and that is exactly what we did.

The outside of the hotel is beautiful.

The history of the hotel is amazing.

The entry was intriguing!


We loved the room.

We had a great supper,


And then we went exploring.
In the rooms that were for banquets and balls, there were details that were amazing, but when you stepped back, you could see the whole picture! Go to the website and look at the beautiful weddings!





 

The next day would be my surgery. This whole surgery scuttlebutt series has been how I could be focused upon the minutia of the issue, but instead, I have been encouraged to widen my focus to see the larger picture, and in that larger picture, I have seen the hand of God.

When I widen my focus, then, when I narrow down into the details, I can see God’s hand, even in the little things.
I was unaware of doing this, until I read chapter 7 – Adjust your lens.

Christine had been encouraging me to be intentional in my healing…via the book.

We must be intentional with our thoughts and expand our vision to include the full scenery we are leaving out.

Here are a few of the things that happened while in the hospital:

  • Our daughter Faith was able to be at the hospital with me because of a scheduling boon with her mother-in-law, making it possible to have the children babysat. She braided my hair after the surgery. Big Picture? LOVE!
  • A dear friend came to visit – and one night, it was so perfect because Jim was exhausted and he felt free to go to the hotel, since our friend Suzanne was there with me! The Big Picture? God will provide for our needs!
  • Jim’s cancer treatment got messed up and he had to have some medicine shipped, and it arrived the day after my surgery. Jim and I had forgotten my CPAP for recovery in the hospital. The day of the surgery, our daughter Faith had been asked to bring it, but she forgot. We were able to not make this detail a bit thing. God took these details, and the big picture was that Jim drove back home for the CPAP, was able to pick up his medicine and continue his treatment while staying at the hotel near the hospital! The Big Picture? God had it under control, with all of our frailties in mind, and the possibility that Jim would not have driven home for the medicine except that he needed to pick up the CPAP!
  • My first roommate was apparently a very angry person. I barely remember. Jim remembers her well. He was trying to figure out how he was going to get me transferred so that I was not with her yelling angry presence. She decided to get up, pack, and leave AMA – he says she walked out of the room, yelling, someone get here and take this IV out of my arm…I’m going home! Big Picture? I know that I felt bad for her, and was praying in my drugged state, but God had already made sure that I would have a peaceful room…the woman made her own choice to leave.
  • I had two other roommates during the 7 days, and as they were preparing to leave, they came over to my bedside and sat down and visited with me. I was drugged, so I have no idea why they became so friendly. the Big Picture? When you pray that you will be Christ like, sharing Christ’s love no matter what, people are drawn to you. Jim says that my character was gracious, compassionate and apologetic for bothering the nurses, even drugged.

From Help and Hope:

I finally discovered that if you can broaden your view – expanding the moments when your vision seems stuck – a massive shift in perspective happens.

When I think about my view, I think about this little house that God has provided us.
Out my bedroom window

Out the bay window….

On the swing and from the swing!

There are parks, and places that I can go to immerse myself in beauty. (these were taken on our 38th anniversary, less than one mile from our home!)

There are many other beautiful views…
My grandchildren, who love to come and say hi.
My friends on the internet that check on me daily, from all over the world.
I just have to look outside of myself – see the big picture, and then, I can drill down the focus and see the beauty of a butterfly, a vine ripe tomato plucked by my grandson, or a marigold that he brings me to cheer me up.

Looking at the big picture reminds me that

  • Even though there is pain…there is no infection.
  • Even though there is pain, there is no cancer.
  • Even though there is limited mobility, THERE IS MOBILITY!

The choice is to be grateful, to acknowledge my blessings, and then, my heart is content!

Isn’t that like looking at the stars and seeing HIS handiwork….

Psalm 19:1 King James Version (KJV)
19 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

and after reading the whole of Psalm 19, I drill down to MY response:

Psalm 19:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Part of adjusting my lens also deals with my mental illnesses – depression, PTSD, and anxiety. When I am in a ‘normal’ state, I feel – MUCH.
But I have been drugged…to help me not feel the pain.
I appreciate the “not feeling” pain, as much as the meds were able to help, but this also effects my emotional state, which is tied to the mental illnesses.

One of the concerns for this journey has been the chemical upset that the various medications will cause to my mental health. Even if one didn’t have mental illnesses, the normal mental person would have struggles with depression and being homebound and such. Therefore, we took measures to insure that I would not succumb to the enemy of my mind.

Just the other day, I read a blog by a dear lady that is also struggling with mental illnesses, and writes about her struggle. She opened my eyes to one of the things that I was experiencing…numbness. What is normal for us is to FEEL – BIG. Take that away, and we don’t feel alive. This can bring in some other issues, for me, such as cutting and bingeing…just to feel. These are some of my enemies.

Katie wrote Wait in the Middle, that so clearly explains this strange situation that effects those of us with emotional issues. I encourage you to go read this!

Back to the book, Help and Hope …I prepared.
I saw the big picture – I have illnesses that need medication.
I saw the big problem – without addressing it, I could relapse into suicidal depression.
I made small, detailed plans – meds were laid out for three weeks, photos of joy were put into photo albums, music to encourage was downloaded, a cd player was set up in my bedroom, and my medical providers were aware of the situation.

Have I had thoughts? not of suicide, Praise God – but I’ve started to have a pity party or two…and by being prepared, I was able to stop that party!
Have I gotten down? yes – and I started counting my blessings, because they were all around me…so the enemy couldn’t lie!
Have I had pain? Yes, and I was able to quote verse as things were being taken care of…to mentally handle the pain.

No matter where you find yourself in this journey, there are those that are willing to help!
In Surgery Scuttlebutt, part two, I talked about how I was afraid I’d be alone…and I have not been!

I hope that you have found something in my story to help you in yours. I have one more blog to share with you the various other things that I have learned…please stay tuned!

 
Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Surgery Scuttlebutt, part five

If you don’t know what scuttlebutt is, please check out

Intro, part one, part two, part three and part four

If you want a great book to help you prepare for, and recover with, please check out Help and Hope by Christine Carter. Tell her Christi sent you!

Tomorrow is S-day! my surgery. 

In part four, I talked about finding(being led to) our new church, and being blessed by the current sermon series.
I mentioned that I prayed that Pastor Keith would continue for this past Sunday.
AND HE DID!

He taught out of Psalm 91….

If you have never read Psalm 91, please bless yourself and do so now! I’ll wait! This blog will be here when you come back!

I wrote this blog in 2011 – What does Sonic Flood and Psalm 91 have in common?

This blog talks about how important it is that we confess with our mouth to obtain salvation.

That was the focus yesterday of Pastor Keith’s message….
SAY –
life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21 King James Version (KJV)

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

There were four points to his sermon, but SAY – SPEAK were the big take aways for me!  There was faith not fear…and two others…but, SAY!!!

Jesus said speak to this mountain and it shall be removed.

Mark 11:23 King James Version (KJV)

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

  • shall say….
  • and not doubt….but believe
  • HE SHALL HAVE WHATSOEVER HE SAITH!

Now – this is not a name it claim it thing…been there, done that. Never got the t-shirt! But, I did get burned!
God is bound to His word and His plans…it’s not saying I have a Ferrari and poof – I have a Ferrari….
No – it must line up with the promises that GOD has given us…AND, that the devil wants to steal, kill and destroy!

1 Peter 5:8-9 King James Version (KJV)

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

John 10:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Jesus was giving us power – over the enemy! Not to get rich!

Luke 10:19 King James Version (KJV)

19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Dear ones, we have an enemy…but Jesus has defeated him, and IN CHRIST… we have victory!

  • We can claim the promises of Abraham…
  • We can speak life to the death he wants to cause.
  • We can speak peace to the chaos that he wants to cause.
  • We can speak faith to the fear he wants to cause.
  • We can speak truth to the lies that he wants to make us believe.

we can…
WE CAN…
WE CAN…

IT’S A CHOICE!!!

We choose whom we listen to! – I wrote about this in Are you a Judas?

We have to choose Christ – I wrote about this in Lent day eight.

This past year, as I did the study on Lent, I studied Peter – and his choices.

The thing is…

    • we have a choice what comes out of our mouth.
    • we have a choice what goes into our minds AND STAYS!
    • we do have a choice what WE put into our minds!

Looking at this upcoming surgery..I HAVE A CHOICE!
I can be Christ like or I can be Christi like.
I can serve Christ or I can serve Christi.
Christi needs to be CHRISTi…Christ is greater, i am lesser.

Psalm 19:14 King James Version (KJV)

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Jesus said that I could speak to a mountain, and it would be removed.
I don’t have a mountain that needs to be moved…I have a cyst…a mass…a ‘suspicious’ mass that off the record has been called cancer. (legalese about why they can’t call it cancer without a biopsy, which won’t happen until after the surgery).

Yesterday, as the pastor was preaching about life and death in our tongues…I received a word…I believe…for me.

This preparation for surgery has been very interesting.

  • FIRST – God waited until the demon of suicide was defeated in my life(well, until I let go of that demon I’d known for many years…sometimes we become familiar with our demons and don’t know how to let go!)
  • SECOND – God waited until I was settled in with wanting to LIVE! (there is a difference between not wanting to die and wanting to live).
  • THIRD – God waited until I was ready to give up everything to follow his call – back to Ohio – to Youngstown, Ohio! (seriously, from my hometown, we didn’t have much good to say about Youngstown – and if I was coming back to Ohio, I was expecting to go back to MY hometown)
  • FOURTH – God timed the whole thing, from Faith’s house, to the timing of finding the mass, to finding the doctor that is the most experienced in the nation with this type of specialized removal of the mass and saving the kidney.
  • FIFTH – HE BROUGHT ME TO THE CHURCH HE CALLED ME TO 2 YEARS AGO JUST AS THEY ARE ABOUT TO MOVE INTO THE FULFILLMENT OF THE VISION OF A BUILDING…which I was a part of the announcement meeting!( I have to write up an update…because the Lord has orchestrated so much more since April!)

The word I received was to speak to the cyst that it would be removed.
I asked God to heal me…and that took a work of God to get me to the point that I even asked for that!
He didn’t “poof” heal me…and I have experienced that before, but rather, he orchestrated the above steps to get me to this doctor!
If he’d wanted the whole kidney out…he could have just had me do the surgery in January in Florida!
No, HE orchestrated events so that I met THIS doctor, that has THIS skill, and I am here.
I speak to the mass – MOVE!
I speak to the cancer – LEAVE!
I speak to all those that are involved in my surgery and care tomorrow – PEACE – CLARITY – WISDOM
and I speak to the enemy – GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN – YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS STORY OTHER THAN THE BEATEN FALLEN FOE.
IN JESUS’ NAME
BY JESUS’ BLOOD
BECAUSE GOD PROMISED ME, IN CHRIST, BECAUSE OF THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED!

Back to Sunday’s sermon. Pastor Keith shared a vision, very similar to a vision that I have had about that church…meaning that this is where I belong, for such a time as this! I can join in with the vision, but the reason I am sharing this is that Pastor sharing His vision, that was so similar to the one I’ve been given, just confirms that I am right in the middle of the will of God! That’s not always the case… it’s is what my heart desires, but, my flesh often sways my off track. I AM WHERE I AM SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE TIME IN WHICH I AM TO BE!

I want to do a study on Psalm 91…but, my pastor just did an amazing one! In Part four, I gave all the instructions on how to find that sermon. look at the podcasts at Your Greater Life.

Better yet – read Psalm 91. IN THE AMPLIFIED VERSION!

And here’s a few bits that are crucial:
HE THAT DWELLS… do you dwell in the secret place of the most high? He is preparing a place in his mansion for me. Are you even invited into His presence? I was. and am. Do you know what that means? Do you think you are going to heaven?

I WILL SAY…I think I’ve covered that above.
TRUST …believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:11

Here’s the thing I’m getting at. Death is a risk whenever anyone goes into surgery.
I am at peace. I don’t fear the surgery, I don’t fear death. Why not? because I know where I am going!
Philippians 1:21 King James Version (KJV)

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Go ahead, read it in context….and for more info, I have shared my thoughts on Philippians 1:18-21.

YOU CAN KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING! I pray that each one that reads this will take this seriously.
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Now, I do not believe that I will die…but rather live to declare the glory of God!

Psalm 118:17 King James Version (KJV)

17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

God has not given me a spirit of fear….
2 Timothy 1:7 King James Version (KJV)

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

1 John 4:18 New International Version (NIV)

18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

And God is perfect in Love!
Proverbs 18:10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

10 The name of Yahweh is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are protected.

It is in the name of Jesus that I dwell in the secret place of the most high, and I am protected.

I pray that each person that reads this will also know the name of Jesus, by inviting HIM into your heart to be Lord and Savior, and to choose to dwell in HIS secret place.
He is my hiding place! And he can be yours!
Psalm 32:7 New International Version (NIV)

7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

You are my Hiding place

He that dwelleth in the Secret Place.

A song to help memorize Psalm 91:

In looking for a Psalm 91 image, I ran across this lady’s blog about Psalm 91 – with free lock screens for your phone!

here’s an example

I also found this art by Hannah Pagel – that is absolutely beautiful…please check it out! And, yes, I did order one to keep in my bible!

I also found the image for ordering small cards of Psalm 91 at the Father’s Business. Great to have in your purse to share with those you pray for!

I also found a place for Bible Verse art….called, the Bible Verse Images!

another way that I have made images is via the youversion app. GREAT app for having your bible at your fingertips and bible studies, and our pastor puts our sermon series notes in there so that we can take notes right on the phone with the scriptures! woo hoo!

Freedom Word Ministries has a beautiful depiction of Psalm 91 – pray it out loud!

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Surgery Scuttlebutt, part one

Definition of scuttlebutt
1 a : a cask on shipboard to contain fresh water for a day’s use
b : a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval or marine installation
2 : rumor, gossip

I’m not really planning on this being gossip, or rumor…but, hopefully a drink of fresh water.
Think of this as the Naval equivalent of a water cooler conversation.

My surgery is scheduled for July 17th, 2018.

I’m reading the book, Help and hope while you’re Healing – a woman’s guide toward wellness while recovering from injury, surgery, or illness by Christine Carter. It’s available at Amazon, or from Christine’s blog.

In my introduction, I shared how I was freaking out.

My next step was to go to Florida, to see the ocean once more before my surgery.

Oh, right, and to touch base with my Florida doctors before major surgery.

I took along Christine’s book, and started to write in it…..

I started working on the lists….
One of which is a prayer list…for all of those that I will be praying for when I cannot do any other thing.

Another is a music list…My Grounding Worship youtube channel. It’s going to be growing!

Another is beauty…Shutterfly has an unlimited 4×6 photo program on the app. So, I’ve gone through tons of photos to have them there to make me smile.

Here is some of the photos…it’s from our drive from Clermont Florida down to Pompano Beach, and we drove through a double rainbow….

The rainbow has wondrous meaning to Christians…Genesis 9:13-16

Another lovely thought about the rainbow comes from Revelation of John – seeing the throne of God surrounded by a rainbow. A neat little study about that is at Patheos by Peter Leithart.

For Jim and I, we are often given rainbow signs in our life.
So, the very presence of this rainbow, DOUBLE rainbow that remained for 15 minutes at least, and that we drove under, was a spiritual gift to both of us. This was a trip to settle some things, and to prepare for the surgery. God not only allowed me to swim in the ocean, He surrounded us with HIS bow in the clouds!

In chapter three, managing the pain, Christine suggests that we should take the time to remember joy! and to write it down. This was where I started thinking of photos. And I decided that things that bring me joy are my family, friends, and God’s beauty. In line with this desire to pull together some of the beautiful places and people of our lives, God gave us a new one, experienced on a back road trip down the center of Florida!

I’ve also been collecting scriptures that will bring me back from the sorrow of pain…and that is another issue that Christine touched upon.

What bit issue sends me into depression? Being a burden.
Chapter four talked about reaching for my people…and I share about that in part two.

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

RESURRECTION SUNDAY! HE IS RISEN! 4/1

He is risen INDEED!

I cannot do more than share scripture and to Sing Praise! Hallelujah! I do have a video message to share He Is Risen

THE LIGHT HAS COME BACK INTO THE WORLD! DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM!

My traditional Resurrection Sunday:

My Now Resurrection Celebration!

In Christ Alone – Worship Video
Up From the Grave He Arose

For Your Pleasure and Worship:
A collection of Resurrection Scriptures from Bible Study Tools!
My Easter YouTube Channel

Jesus Rainbow – a gift to you!

Jesus Rainbow Poem

Let’s worship!

Luke 24:1-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)Resurrection Morning
24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they[a] came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.[b]

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered His words.

9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths.[c] So he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Let’s Sing Praise!

John 20:11-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.

15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.”

16 Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”[a]—which means “Teacher.”

17 “Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father—to My God and your God.”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what[b] He had said to her.

I’ve just seen Jesus – Sandi Patty and Larnelle Harris

Devotion
Phyllis Sather shares a John Piper Sermon on The Most Spectacular Sin Ever Committed. WOW! You can read more from Phyllis at Write the Vision.

My Friend Patty Hessler Scott shares some very inspiring thoughts about Good Friday – Please take a listen. You can see more of Patty at Hearts Homeward.

Early Sunday morning, God spoke to me as I prepared for my own sunrise service at home. He Is Risen!

This year, the Resurrection Sunday occurs very close to the Jewish Celebration of Passover…similar to the year Christ was crucified. I explained the Sabbaths surrounding Christ’s death on Maundy Thursday. In honor of the Jewish roots of our Resurrection Sunday – here’s a bit of Jewish flavor!

Yeshua – Messianic Passover Song!
Yeshua HaMashia

You can Print this off to color!

Let’s Rejoice!

God was not surprised…He had a plan!
He was born to Die – Shane and Shane

There is purpose for all ofus!
If that isn’t Love – the Nelsons

If you have never had the Risen Christ come into your life and make you new….PLEASE check out these links!
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

And then, you can join in with this song, and KNOW that it is REAL for YOUR!
It is Well With My soul – Worship Video

THIS IS CHRISTIANITY! THIS IS SALVATION! THIS IS JOY UNSPEAKABLE!
That My God would die for me, while I was yet a sinner.
And He did the same for you, and you, and YOU, and YOU!

May You be filled with Jesus Christ today!
Because He Lives – Matt Maher
He Lives – Chris Tomlin

He Is Risen!
He is Risen, Indeed!

I Serve a Risen Savior – Adam Jackson

In Christ I Rise!
Resurrection Power – Chris Tomlin

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

2018 Lent Day 36 – the Sign King of the Jews

Lent day 36 – The sign
Lent Devotions
Lent Week Six started March 19
Lent Week Seven started with Palm Sunday, March 25.
These will be updated as the blogs are posted.

I’m so sorry for the delay – thank you for your patience with me as we prepare to move!

Music
King of Glory – Third Day

Scripture

John 19:19-22 King James Version (KJV)
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.

20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

Luke 23:38

Devotion
King of the Jews….and on Palm Sunday – it seemed as though he was! Riding into town on a donkey, as a victorious King.

Just a few days later, and the crowd has turned against him.

Sounds like a news story from our time!

  • One day, thrilled the police are protecting us, then turn on them as the media spreads stories of varying degrees of truth.
  • One Day, believing that we should live by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s comment that we do not want to be judged by the color of our skin, and then, the violent aspects of Black Lives matter occur, because they want to be treated differently because of the color of their skin.
  • One Day, we are screaming about wanting police to do their jobs to protect our children from people/children with guns, and then next minute screaming that we want everyone to have no guns.

This isn’t a political post.
Yet, if you see anything on the news, or on facebook, or any other sort of newsy sort of media, one day everyone is saying YAY to something, and it can change in 24 hours…because the media tells us what to think. I don’t want to be told what to think!

This is what happened the last week of Jesus’ life.
Why did they turn on him?
It was politically incorrect to believe in him…to point out the illegality of his trial and judgement…to call into question the choices of the political and religious elite.

Peter denied him, to save his own skin!
Other’s ran away.
Even Pontius Pilate knew it was wrong, though he bent to the political correctness of the day! a Quote from the wikipedia page says:

“In all four gospel accounts, Pilate lobbies for Jesus to be spared his eventual fate of execution, and acquiesces only when the crowd refuses to relent. He thus seeks to avoid personal responsibility for the death of Jesus.”

Because of the throngs of people…and the inevitable cry of the Jews:”we have no king but Ceasar…” John 19:15…Pilate had to keep the peace.

I think his writing on the sign over Jesus’ head was his own attempt to state that he was guiltless in this.

Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.

Another great thing was that it was written in Latin, Hebrew and Greek – all of the major languages of the day.
On THAT day – there were Jews from all over – Passover in Jerusalem…and sellers that wanted to make money on the Jews that were attending Passover. PILATE DECLARED JESUS’ TITLE TO ALL OF THE WORLD!

Did he believe? No, I don’t think so. Yet, he was an instrument in God’s hand!

In researching this sign in order to paint it for this cross, I sought out several resources.
Wikipedea has a great basic explanation of the Sign over Jesus on the Cross.

I also found this image:

Which comes from a blog by Mark Lambert, De Omnibus Dibutandum Est.

I cannot say anymore than this man has said – and the break out of the sign, and the implications and the meanings are nothing more than intensely amazing and worshipful.

I humbly suggest that you read this blog as well!
Another image from Mr Lambert’s blog, just to whet your appetite:

Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus is the King of the Jews, and the gentiles!
Jesus is worthy of being Lord of All!
God used Pontius Pilate to declare that, as dear sweet Jesus gave His life for the sins of all mankind!

Jesus asks : Whom do you say that I am?
I want to say with Peter – You are the Christ – the Son of the Living God!
Matthew 16:15-16, Mark 8:28-29, Luke 19:20-21, John 6:68-69

I ask you, Whom do YOU say that HE is?
If you don’t know the King of Kings – please take time to check out the following links.

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Music – worship and Prayer
King of My Heart – Sarah McMillan
He’s a Wonder – CeCe Winans

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Lent Week Five – upper room talks, and then the Garden (TBD 2024)

What is LENT? (a link to all of the LENT devotions)
Wikipedia has a very complete explanation for many of the Christian denominations that observe LENT.
Short and simple, it’s making oneself prepared through humility to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the Christian equivalent to Passover for the Jews.
We’ve created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join us! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Week Five – Upper Room Talks, and then the Garden

TBD – by Lent 2024
23 – (3/20) Spirit of Truth – John 16:5-16
24 – (3/21) Sorrow to joy – John 16:17-33 smiley face sad face flipper
?? – Upper Room – Advice – to Simon, to all Lk 31-38; John 16, maybe John 16:1-4
25 – (3/22) Jesus’ prayer for Himself – John 17:1-5
26 – (3/23) Jesus’ prayer for disciples John 17:6-19
27 – (3/24) Jesus’ prayer for believers John 17:20-26
28 – (3/25) Gethsemane – Lk 22:39-46; Mt 26:36 – John 18:1

(3-26) 4th SUNDAY WORSHIP – REMEMBER THE RESURRECTION “it is finished” guest post

Lenten Cross Instructions
Our Lenten cross in progress.

I want these to be family activities, therefore, I’m going to list a few free coloring page websites here:

 

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

2018 Lent Day Seventeen – 3-5 – Many Mansions

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Three – for Catch up.
Week four started March 5,
and Week five starts March 11.
I’m so sorry for the delay – thank you for your patience with me as we prepare to move!

Lent Day Seventeen
In My Father’s House are many rooms
(some photos are from my trip to Germany, some from purchased photo sources.)

Music
I’ve got a mansion just over the hill top – Gaither & Jeanne Johnson
In my Father’s House – Elvis

Scripture

John 14:1-4 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Devotion
In my house there are many mansions

Continuing the Discussion in the upper room
The disciples were not really thrilled that Jesus was talking about leaving them. He had promised to send a comforter. They didn’t understand. We’ll talk about the comforter on another day. One of the things he says is that where he goes they cannot go, they cannot follow him and that he goes to prepare a place for us. He’ll come back and bring us home.

When he talks to the thief on the cross, he says today you will be with me in Paradise. So we can take from that that where Jesus is going is Paradise. He’s going there because his work here on Earth is done, yet He lets us know that he is going there to prepare a place for us.

Keith Green sings the song that talks about Jesus preparing a place for us and he’s been working on it for two thousand years.
I can’t wait to get to Heaven – Keith Green

What kind of place would you prepare for someone that you loved enough to die for and were looking forward to have come and live with you?

My story

In my married life, we have had houses that we have owned several times. One of the things that my husband has made sure of in every place was that he planted flowers. He planted flower gardens specifically so that I would have flowers as often as flowers would grow wherever we were living. One place I remember was the first time I had had gladiolas and they grew so tall and so pretty against the front porch. We’ve had irises and lilies and crocuses and snowdrops and tulips and daffodils and roses and so many other plants that every time I looked at them, I was touched my the love of my husband who had bought them and had prepared them for me.

Currently, our daughter and son-in-law have found a house for us that has part of the property that is right up against their property. Prior to this they had specified a room in their house specifically for me to come and be able to stay and visit without having to pay for a hotel room. It is so precious to my heart that they prepared a place for me in their new home. The next plan was that we would build a small little home for me and my husband to live on in their property, or remodel one of the outbuildings or something. The were preparing to have a home for me in case anything happened and I needed to move close to them, and so that I could be part of their life without having to stay in a hotel.

Just recently, this nearby house came on the market, and our son-in-law found it and suggested that we consider it. I actually believe that if they could do all the work to get the house prepared and ready and such like, they would. They have three small boys. Those three small boys are an extra perk for living close by as well! My point is, they have been looking for a place for me in case anything ever happened to my husband, so that they would take care of me and that I would not have to be concerned about living so far away. They have also been preparing a place for me because they want me to love close, to be close!


I have friends who have recently had houses built for themselves and the excitement of getting the house made just for themselves is palpable.

I’ve had friends move into rustic cabins in the woods that has been a dream home for them for years and their excitement of that was palpable.

I have fixed up rooms as guest rooms in the excitement of someone coming to stay with me and visit and I want the place to be special, comfortable, and warm for the person to visit.

How much more so, does Jesus love us and want to prepare a place for us?

Have you ever seen a palace? Really seen one up close, not just in a photograph? Have you gone to somewhere and some large city and walked toward some Grand Mansion thing with all of the intricate Woodwork and tile work and glass work? These were made by people for people that were very, very special.

 

The Taj mahal was built for a wife who died in childbirth…https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

There are many examples…https://weburbanist.com/2010/02/10/architectural-love-story-10-castles-built-for-love/

Not of these are free of damaged, sadness, or trauma. They also fulfill the law of thermal Dynamics… All things tend towards disorder… Without constant up keep, the dissolve. Not very heavenly!

When you look at the description of the parts of the Tabernacle you see the elaborate detail that God required for his Tabernacle as made by human hands. When you read about the temples and all that was put into them again for God but made by human hands, exquisite! Still exposed to the 2nd law of thermal Dynamics!

Jesus has gone to heaven, to prepare a place for us, with his intimate knowing of our personality, our joys, and our desires. My husband just shared with me a thing from Billy Graham that said “if my happiness in heaven depends upon having my special dog there, God will make sure my dog is there.” If our joy is made full by being in the presence of God, then we have to believe that the place that Jesus is preparing for us will be a place that provides Utmost Joy completely separate from all the sorrows here on Earth.

This castle in Germany was ostentatious…I could not get all of it in one photo!  The description of Heaven has the streets paved with gold. The doors into the New Jerusalem the gates are actual slabs of precious gems. And… It’s eternal!

There is a verse that says no eye has seen nor ear heard nor can we comprehend the riches that God has for us.

1 Corinthians 2:9 King James Version (KJV)
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

And that doesn’t mean that we’re going to have piles of gold and piles of silver and such because it won’t mean anything. It will have no value because we will not need to buy and sell. Or, there value is so diminished in light of all the Holy richness of God! What it means the riches of God is our joy, peace, love, grace, and mercy against such there is no law(Galatians 5)! Whatever it takes to fill our hearts exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask or think(Ephesians 3:20-21), that is what our place will have and be.

Then again, we have Psalm 23 makes me lie down in Green Pastures and beside the Still Waters and he restores my soul. If our hearts are full of Jesus now, how much more being in his presence will fill us overflowing.

I don’t know what the place is, and I know that there are versions, some that say rooms. Some say mansions and some say a place. I don’t know.

What I do know is he has gone to prepare a place for us that we will dwell eternally in his presence in the presence of God in the fullness of joy and love that we cannot even comprehend. Will it be like the garden before Adam and Eve sinned? I don’t know! I know the tree of life will be there! I know that there will be living water there! And I know that everyone who has ever love God and believed on Jesus even before they knew his name, will be there I know that there are people that have gone on before me that I rejoice in there death in Christ because I know that I will see them again for eternity. I know that people I know down here when I move from one place to another that even if I never see them again on the face of this Earth, I will send I will spend eternity with them in the presence of God.

Sometimes I’m so full of love for Jesus and exuberant In Worship that I think all I need is a space right before the father to spend eternity singing his praises and Thanksgiving for all that he has done for me. If there is more than that, praise God. If that is all there is, that is all I need.

For some reason, Jesus told the disciples that he was going to a prepare a place for them, and that was part of his comfort to them as he was going to head off to the cross. Knowing that there is a place for us as our comfort when someone passes away. For those who have terminal illnesses that God has not chosen to heal, that is our comfort. As Billy Graham said we’re just changing our address.

HOME – Chris Tomlin

Do you know if Jesus is preparing a place for you?

If you don’t know, please go to these two links and make your eternal future secure.
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Worship and Prayer
This world is not my home – Gaither
In My Father’s House – Mick Flavin

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

2018 Lent Day Fourteen – 3/1 – Jesus washes feet

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two for catch up.
Lent Week Three – this week.

We have created a facebook group to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Lent Day Fourteen
Jesus washes the disciples feet.

Music
The Servant Song – Maranatha Music Band
Take My Life – Chris Tomlin

Scripture

John 13:2-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 Now by the time of supper, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Him. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. 4 So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. 5 Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t understand now, but afterward you will know.”
8 “You will never wash my feet—ever!” Peter said.
Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him. This is why He said, “You are not all clean.”

The Meaning of Footwashing
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined[a] again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.
16 “I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master,[b] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Devotion

“Servant”
I looked up the definition of servant from Vines via Blue Letter Bible, and it means Bond slave. It means servant. It means everything that you would think that slave would mean. If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey, you’ve actually seen the issue between Masters and servants. They do not interact. The Masters do not serve the servants. But our Master chose to serve his servants.

The job for washing someone’s feet, the most disgusting job other than possibly one other area of the body, was for the low man/woman on the totem pole. The upper servants didn’t do this. This was the lowest of the low servants. Add to that, the knowledge of what was on the ground back when it was Jesus’s day(no paved sidewalks with gutters that all of the gross stuff could wash down into).
For your information:
I’ve even heard some people say that they didn’t really even go out behind the house to go to the bathroom mad. When they had to go to the bathroom, they just went. Apparently, not true! I did some research on Ancient biblical practices of personal hygiene.
Toilets in Biblical times – NT and Rome
Toilets in Biblical Times – Old Testament with levitical rituals.
Suffice it to say, it wasn’t just dirt on the ground that these people were walking in their sandals.

I happen to live in Florida. Nine months out of the year, if not more, we wear sandals. That’s just because restaurants and stores require shoes on our feet in order to enter! I can wash everything on my body and walk around outside and come in and take off my sandals and I have lines from the dirt that has gotten on my feet, even though my feet have been above the so-called dirt because of my sandals. All sandals do is protect the bottoms of your feet from rocks and such. In Jesus’ day, they all wore sandals.

Jesus was listening to the guys as they were trying to figure out who was the greatest. He was going to teach that the kingdom of God is based on a servant heart. We have the discourse between Jesus and Peter as Jesus sets up to wash Peters feet. Peter is not going to have anything to do with this man that he believes is the son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, washing his feet. He’s not going to have anything to do with someone who deserves so much glory and worship and honor bowing down before him and doing the work of the most base servant.

In Wycliffe’s Bible Commentary, he supposes that

The materials for washing the feet were present(Lk 22:10) but there was no servant (Jesus had requested privacy). One of the disciples might have volunteered, but all were too proud. At this time they were disputing as to which of them should be regarded as the greatest (Lk 22:24)

Maybe Peter was embarrassed – shamed that HE had not volunteered to do the washing before the meal!

Jesus looks at him and says “if you won’t let me wash your feet you have nothing to do with me.”
So then Peter, good old Peter, says “then wash me all of me from the the head to my feet!”

Jesus says “no, you are clean but not your feet.”
So Peter finally acquiesces.

What is the POINT? Why did John make sure this story was IN the gospels?
There are two points to this story that I am interested in today.
1. the Servant heart.
The God of the universe obviously had a servant heart to decide to leave His glory and be born a baby, needing to have His diapers changed and to be fed and being born where He had to be laid down in a Manger! He chose to participate in the filthiness that is man! Even though He was without sin and He was not filthy, He chose to enter the world of man. That is the epitome of the master choosing to come as a servant.

2. Why did Jesus insist on only washing Peters feet and not his whole self? I believe that this has something to do with being washed clean at salvation but having our feet get dirty by walking in this world. I believe this shows us that we’re only saved once, but we need to have our feet washed often and by Jesus so that we are clean to come before the throne.

I searched Blue Letter Bible on the word servant. In the Old Testament

  • Abraham is called a servant of God
  • Moses is called a servant of God
  • David is called a servant of God
  • Job is called, BY GOD, a servant of God
  • the prophets called themselves Servants of God,
  • those who were the followers of God identified as servants to their master God.

Many many verses about being a servant can be found in Psalms and proverbs. Psalm 119 specifically talks a lot about being a servant to God’s law.

What does this have to do with God being our servant? Jesus was trying to point out and to exemplify the fact that in the kingdom of God the first shall be last, the last shall be first. (Matthew 20:16) Those that serve have higher regard to God than those who are served. When you think of the fact that original sin was lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16 with Genesis 3:6) which actually is three facets to selfishness or plain and simple pride, you recognize that humility exemplifies God.  It is one of the character qualities that God expects out of someone who calls himself by his name. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face…(2 Chronicles 7:14) .  God embodies humility, and expects it of us.  When you recognize this, it’s not surprising that Jesus would humble himself to serve. It was less painful than the cross – the ultimate humble sacrifice.

There’s also the concept that and so many other things that in our fallen, worldly, finite minds seems upside down and backwards. Then again it’s because of our fallen, worldly, finite, minds that things ARE upside down and backwards. His ways are higher than our ways and we do not see things the way he sees things unless he opens our eyes.

Isaiah 55:8-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.

This is the last chance Jesus has to teach his disciples. I’m going to be discussing what things did Jesus decide to teach in the upper room. By washing His disciples feet He wanted to impress upon them that He had come to serve. He wanted to impress upon them that He was sending them forth to serve.

Many of the Jews thought that when the Messiah came he was going to come riding on a stallion with an army to set Jerusalem free and deliver them into this great Kingdom reigning and ruling over all the world, or at least just delivering them from Rome. That was not what Christ’s first coming was about. His first coming was to be an offering. He knew he was coming to be the lamb that would be slain on behalf of an ungrateful world.
He knew that his death on the cross would be a complete humiliation in the public arena.

Greater love has no man but that he would lay down his life for another. John 15:13
When someone throws themselves on a grenade or steps in front of the vehicle while pushing someone out of the way, or any sort of thing along these lines, they are considered Heroes. The fact that they put their life on the line for someone else, whether they knew them or not, is considered the ultimate gift. The same as said for any person in the military that gave their life on behalf of the United States, that they had given The Ultimate Gift. The military, the police, the fireman and such are all called public servants. They do put their lives on the line for others.

How much more the perfect Son of God, taking on our penalty for our sin by dying, how much more of a servant’s heart is this? Then He asks of us to be servant leaders. He asks us not lead by bullying or manipulation or Bible beating, but to lead by serving. Quite a few Parables talk about serving another. This whole concept of serving held great importance to Jesus Christ. He was trying to give his disciples a very tangible memory that would hopefully not fade away.

Why the feet and not the whole body?

I think this is a statement of salvation. Because once one chooses to follow Christ, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ believes that he is the Son of God that he died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave (which they didn’t know yet), that person is saved.

Romans 6:23 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These disciples had declared Jesus was there Lord, they had given up their old lives to walk with Jesus. They did have to change their ways, because they were walking with Jesus! And Jesus’s life was perfect! They would have wanted to impress Jesus and would try to be the best people they could be to please Jesus. Their works would not gain the them salvation but their works would be the evidence of their salvation.

Did they still sin? Of course they did.
We have multiple evidences of Peter spouting off at the mouth and Jesus reprimanding him. We can be sure not one disciple was perfect because not one disciple was raptured! The Apostle John wrote in 1 John that we aren’t supposed to sin but if you sin… Then we we have an advocate with the father… Jesus Christ intercedes for us and cleanses us from sin. That’s 1st John 1:9-2:2.

John doesn’t say that okay you messed up you need to get saved again. John just said you needed to confess your sins. James talks about if any of you is sick let him call for the Elders of the church. If he’s committed sin Let Him confess, and then they will be healed. James 5:14-16 Sin can have an effect on our physical health! We know sins have an effect on our fellowship with God, and have ever since Adam and Eve left the garden. So it’s not that we don’t get dirty, just that we don’t need to be saved again.

Now here we could go off on the once saved always saved Doctrine and while I believe that there’s some aspect to that I believe that there is an abuse of that wear one person wants told me that they got saved but because they started smoking again they were unsaved and need to get saved again. That’s two extremes. This would be a perfect place to put some sort of a study on the security of the believer but that really gets into some deep theology and I think there are plenty of places online which would answer those theological questions.

Here’s two links to Calvin’s explanations:
Perseverance of the Saints:

And

P – Preservation of the Saints
~ Thanks to my husband Jim for finding these references!

We’ve been washed by the water of the word and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ therefore we are saved.
But we walk in the world which is filthy.
We have a fallen nature that we constantly fight.
We sin and those who say they do not sin are liars which is a sin. Just ask 1st John 1.
We need to wash our feet, we need to be washed from the effects of the world upon us as we walk around with in it.
We don’t need to be saved again, we don’t need to be baptized again, we just need to be washed so that we could come to the table and fellowship with our father.

The one thing I am sure of is eternity. Every human being has eternal life. And every human being gets to choose where they will spend their eternal life. With God or without God, and as I talked about the other day the place where the rich man was when he was asking Abraham to send Lazarus to talk to his family, didn’t sound like such a nice place.

Prayer and Worship
Make Me a Servant – Maranatha Music
Here’s My Heart Lord – Casting Crowns
If We are the Body – Casting Crowns
I will serve the Lord– Carmen

To Be a servant of God – you must first be a child of God!
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Whiter than Snow – Lenny LeBlanc
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow – Best Loved Hymns

Blue Letter Bible has Elizabeth Elliott’s talks on Servanthood.

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Lent 2018 Week Three (updated for 2023)

What is LENT? (a link to all of the LENT devotions)
Wikipedia has a very complete explanation for many of the christian denominations that observe LENT.
Short and simple, it’s making oneself prepared through humility to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the Christian equivalent to Passover for the Jews.
We’ve created a Face book group to follow and discuss, please join us! – 40 days of Lent!

11 – (3/6) Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – REMEMBER – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
12 – (3/7) Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – NEW COVENANT – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
13 – (3/8)  Upper Room – Lord’s Supper – cup and body – Mt 26:17-30; Luke 22:14-20 small cup and plate
14 – (3/9)Upper Room -Jesus washes the disciples feet – John 13:2-17; great is least – Luke 22:24-30 terry cloth
15 – (3/10)Upper Room – Declaration of Judas’ betrayal John 13:21-30, Luke 22 ; 21-23 knife;
16 – (3/11) Upper Room – Peter’s confession of Loyalty Mt 26:31-33, John 13:36-38
(3/12) Third Sunday of Lent  SUNDAY WORSHIP – REMEMBER THE RESURRECTION – “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?”

Lenten Cross Instructions
Our Lenten cross in progress.

 

I want these to be family activities, therefore, I’m going to list a few free coloring page websites here:

 

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Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Second Sunday of Lent – 3/5/2023

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Two
We have created a facebook group in which to follow and discuss, please join! – 40 days of Lent!

Second Sunday of Lent

If you are doing the Lenten Cross – light all but one. I am starting from the bottom, it seems symbolic to me. Here’s a photo of my cross:

Second Sunday of Lent

The Second Sunday of Lent
The final words of Jesus
“Today you will be with me in Paradise”

Music
Pass Me not Oh Gentle Savior – Don Moen

Scripture
Luke 23:43 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
43 And He said to him, “I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Devotion
I want to break this down by word.
Today -Jesus isn’t saying that sometime in the future or even tomorrow. Jesus is saying to this man, who has repented(confessed his sins) while hanging on the cross next to Jesus, today you will be with me in Paradise. This man knew he was a sinner. This man probably knew that according to the law he was going to hell. This man acknowledged Jesus as the son of God and asked him to forgive him.(Luke 23:39-43). Jesus’s response was today…TO HIM!

You – Jesus isn’t saying that the other thief was going to be with him in Paradise. Jesus isn’t saying that the ones who put him on the cross would be with him in Paradise. Jesus is speaking specifically to this man, who had declared his faith in Jesus, confessed that he was a sinner, and asked to be delivered. Jesus could have called him by name I’m sure, but the way we have it written is you.

YOU! THIS IS A PERSONAL PROMISE! This is a conversation and a promise from Jesus Christ to the thief as Jesus Christ was dying for his sins for him. As we know later in the story Jesus dies before the two thieves do and therefore Jesus paid the price before the thief died and therefore again, Jesus died first, paid the price and then the thief died and he went to Paradise to be with Jesus. Talk about a last minute conversion! Yet, that is all it takes to be promised life in Jesus! Recognize you are a sinner, repentance(in this case, confession and sorry), confess that Jesus is Lord, Wait – the next part of that verse is believe that God raised him from the dead! Romans 10:9 The thief was confessing Jesus BEFORE the prophecy was even fulfilled! The thief was confessing something that even those that had walked with Jesus were not sure about! The ultimate death bed confession! WOW!

WILL BE – this might be a bit nit-picky, but I’m going to say it anyway: will be.
Today.
you.
will be.
It’s not today you might be. It’s not today you could be. It’s today you WILL BE with me in Paradise. These are the words of Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God, the God whose word spoke creation into being, the One who is the way, the truth and the light and life, and God cannot lie! Jesus was not just saying something to make him feel good. Jesus wasn’t just using some strange turn of phrase to sound good in the King James version. When Jesus said that the thief will be with me in Paradise that’s what he meant.
He meant I’m going to die and pay the price.
Then, you’re going to die, and your sins will be forgiven and
then, you will be with me in Paradise.

Let every man be a liar but God is faithful and cannot lie(Romans 3:4; Num 23:19). What an amazing confirmation for this man as he hangs on the cross next to the man that he’s committing his life to, or what is left of it.

WITH ME – the need for Salvation is that by sin we are separated from God. That’s what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden.
They disobeyed God,
He had to remove them from the garden or Paradise, and
they no longer got to walk with him in the evening and
no longer had perfect fellowship with him.

Somehow Enoch walked with God and ended up being raptured/taken up.
Elijah had some amazing relationship with God that the Chariot came and picked him up and took him up to heaven.

We are not able to walk with God in the way that Adam and Eve did in the garden,  or not willing to walk with God in the way that  Enoch, Elijah, or even Moses – the friend of God – did.
Even so, our human nature does desire some sort of connection with the supernatural and that is our heart cry for us to be with God.

The thief just declared that Jesus was the son of God and was not a sinner and asked him to take him to his kingdom. In the midst of dying, Jesus looks at him and says you will be with me.  I imagine a life of crime would be one that’s very lonely. Always looking over your shoulder and such like and whatever drove the man to a life of crime would be something that again would cause extreme loneliness.

In my life, having mental illness and having a history of abuse and some other things have caused me to be peculiar enough that I have spent much time being lonely. There are people that would say “yeah I’ll be with you” and they are until life gets rough or until the second or third time I have had to back out of something because of an anxiety attack or migraine or pain or whatever. Sometimes it takes 10 to 12 times and yet I’m not someone that they can just call up and say “hey, Let’s go do this or that” and I can drop everything and go. People get tired that I have disabilities and difficulties.

Even worse than that, because of a life of low self-esteem and self-loathing, I’m constantly dealing with “what if they find out who I really am they won’t like me and they will desert me.” These are called cognitive distortions and yet they are real, and they make for a very very lonely existence. It only takes a few times where somebody actually makes good on what are supposedly cognitive distortion lies to re-establish those cognitive distortions that “everybody hates, me nobody likes me, I think I’ll go eat worms!”

Here’s this thief. Thieves are not cared for in the least. Think about how in the old west the cattle rustlers were despicable, horse thieves where despicable all because they stole the livelihood of others. There was no insurance policies for someone who was robbed back in Jesus’s day. Someone steals something from you and it’s gone and if that was the only something you had, now you are in a world of hurt.
I think about Matthew the tax collector or Zacchaeus, and how they were hated because they were tax collectors and they took extra. They were kind of government sanctioned thieves. The Pharisees were constantly ridiculing Jesus for spending his time with publicans and sinners and that if Jesus was actually the Son of God he would never spend time with these type of people.

Jesus stating to this thief that he would be with him speaks volumes

IN PARADISE – This can get very tricky because of various theological viewpoints. There is some question as to where was Abraham when the Lazarus the poor man died and the rich man came and said send him to talk to my brothers and Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom(Luke 16:19-31).

  • Some think that that was Hades, a waiting place until Christ died on the cross and brought them back up taking them to heaven.
  • Some think that there is a place that’s not quite the kingdom of heaven but is not hell and it’s waiting place that when Christ returns in the Rapture and he calls up and then the dead in Christ will rise first will come up and meet him in the clouds.
  • There’s the Catholic perspective of purgatory and I don’t know enough about that to speak on it.

There is the statement in Ephesians 1:20 where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and we are seated in the heavenlies with him now(Ephesians 2:6)? Is that figurative because we’re not there yet or when Stephen saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God(Acts 7:56) just before he was stoned, was that stating that Jesus had died on the cross, he gone to set the dead free and then he went up ascended into heaven? That is what happens in Acts 1:9-11 and Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.  Then there’s the passage in Revelations where the martyrs are under the altar asking God “how long do we have to wait before judgment comes on the world?” Revelations 6:9-11.  All of this to say there’s a lot of variations out there to believe, to research and to decide on.

For what it’s worth here’s my take.

Where Jesus is is Paradise.

To be with Jesus is to be in Paradise.

I don’t know how many realms there are. Hell, Hades, Death. I know that Paul talks about being taken up to a third level of Heaven.
I like Got Questions Explanation of what Paul said:

In 2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul says he knew a man (assumed to be himself—he is speaking in the third person) who went to the “third heaven.” The “third heaven” here simply means the spiritual dwelling of God, as opposed to the other two “heavens,” the atmosphere and outer space. The three “heavens” implied in 2 Corinthians 12:2 would be the three different realms that we call “the sky,” “outer space,” and the “spiritual heaven.”

My point is that this man, dying next to Jesus, was promised that he wasn’t going to be lying in a grave rotting, that he was not going into nothingness, that he was not going into that Hades(the place where the rich man was was constantly to tormented by fire(Luke 16:19-31)).

Jesus said today you will be with me in Paradise.

My Story
I have had three near-death experiences. I have two that I have small paintings that depict, in part, what I experienced.. I have one painting in progress. I can tell you that in those near death experiences the beauty that I saw was so intense that I could feel the colors. The light permeated every cell of my body and the love washed over me as if I was immersed in liquid love. I have written about those in two blogs and I’m going to post those here, rather than rewrite them.

Glimpses of Heaven – Stairway to Heaven
Glimpses of Heaven – a Glimpse of Jesus

All I can say is having seen a glimpse, no matter how tainted it is by my finite mind, I declare that the promise of being in Paradise with Christ Jesus is exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think and is so immeasurably enriching and enlightening and life-full, that to hear Jesus say to me some day “today you will be with me in Paradise” is second only to wanting to hear him say “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Confession – Oh my! Hearing that Billy Graham has entered into his eternal life gives me jealousy! To know the riches that he is experiencing now and to know that he definitely paid the price and he sacrificed his life and gave it for the Lord, challenges me. I thank God that I got to know a little bit of the ministry of that man.

When I hear that someone has gone on, specifically, someone who has lived a ripe life for the Lord and was ready to go, I am full of rejoicing because I know I’m going to see them again! I know, in part, what an amazing party and celebration they’re going to have that our finite minds cannot comprehend. Everything here pales in comparison!

I do think that this is one of my favorite phrases that Jesus says at the end of his life. And I hope this gives you a little bit of an insight as to why I feel that way.

There’s a part of this verse I have not covered. Jesus said something else in Luke 23:43
A Bit of a word study:
Truly – NIV, ESV, NAS, BEREAN, CSB
I assure you – NLT
Verily – KJV, JUBILEE, ASV
I promise – CEV
I tell you with certainty – ISV
AMEN – ARAMAIC
I tell you in solemn truth – WEYMOUTH
I can guarantee this truth – GOD’S WORD TRANSLATION.

Jesus made a promise….declared a promise…I think in this moment, Jesus breathed that creative power, and the man became a new creature. Jesus was being GOD!

Numbers 23:19 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?

2 Corinthians 1:20 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.

The same promises that Jesus gave to this man, He gives to us.
The same guarantee that Jesus gave to this man, He gives to us.
Can it be anymore beautiful? No.
But, there is a down side to this story. The other thief.

He was on the other cross. He ridiculed Jesus.
There is a saying – in response to living your life for Christ being fantasy.

If I’m wrong – and there is nothing after this, what have I lost?
If I’m right – you will have lost everything.

What would it have taken for that other thief to hedge his bets? The thing is, it’s a heart attitude. He didn’t want to believe. His heart was hardened. He was presented with the gospel by the other thief. He said no, by not saying yes. In Lent Day Eight, I talked about Jesus crying out for those to believe in the LIGHT. It takes a response.

Another saying I’ve heard about pastors, but since we touched on the martyrs, and I’m not shy about the life of being a Christian is not a bed of roses(unless you include the thorns), I’m going to share this.

The Christian Life is hard –
but the retirement plan is out of this world!

Is there anything that is keeping you from saying “Jesus – please remember me today?”
Here are some simple tools for taking care of this need.
Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

You can have that need for the supernatural in your life FILLED TODAY!

Don’t be a Judas!

Prayer and Worship

Just As I am – Aaron Shust

At Calvary – Casting Crowns

 

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.