Life's Journey

Excellent blog written by a friend.

This past weekend, we celebrated Palm Sunday, the feast that commemorates Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus entered the city the crowds began to proclaim ‘Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna means God saves, reassuring us that no matter what we are going through God will help us, save us, and take care of us!
Monday – was the cleansing of the temple reminding us to cry out -’clean up our hearts O God so there is never anything between us.’
Tuesday – the religious leaders got together and questioned Jesus asking what was the greatest commandment in the law – Jesus basically summed up Christianity by saying, ‘love God with everything within you and love Others!’
Wednesday – the disciples and Jesus were hanging out when Mary came in and broke an expensive jar of perfume on Jesus’ head, preparing him for his burial. This inspires us to remain devoted to our Savior giving Him our best, no matter the cost!
Thursday – was the last supper, when Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet and giving us an example of how we are to love and serve one another. The Passover feast reminds us of God’s steadfast faithfulness.
Friday – He was crucified and died an unimaginable death to take away the sins of the world! There’s a scripture I meditate on every single day, Isaiah 53:4-6 – “Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” This scripture is so powerful! It’s what we celebrate at Easter – that Jesus came and really did all this for us; However, we often don’t act like it! We continue to carry it all ourselves when He really came to carry away ALL our sin, pain, sorrow, sickness, guilt & shame… So, I take this scripture and put those things back on Him, one at a time, because the weight of them is just too heavy for me! If we would just believe Him and apply these truths to our lives, we would live and walk in such freedom and victory! Maybe you need to lay something back on Jesus this week. Take the time to lay down the things that are not yours to carry and allow the beauty of the cross to saturate your heart and soul. Leave your burdens, sin, pain and brokenness at the cross.
Sunday – We celebrate the resurrection of our amazing Savior! Luke 24: 1–6 – “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen!” JESUS IS ALIVE! In fact, on the door of the tomb in Jerusalem – where they believe Jesus’ body was laid it says “He is not here – He is risen.” Because Jesus is alive, we can live overcoming, victorious, resurrection power filled lives.
Philippians 3 – Paul said, “I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection.” I don’t know about you, but I want to know Him with all my heart, and receive all His love and provision that I can. We need God’s power, the Holy Spirit, that same power that raised Jesus from the dead: to live inside us, to energize us, to help us, to comfort us, to heal us, to lead and guide us, to fill us, to strengthen and empower us!!! Because Jesus is Alive, we can truly live a grace filled life of freedom and hope both now & for eternity! Join me as we celebrate the life, burial and resurrection of our Lord this Easter season.

Tags: Christianity