A Precious Gift of Life

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Romans 5:18

I had an inspiration the other day for a personal devotion-using my birth month and date as a focus. So this morning I went through the New Testament and wrote down all of the 5:18 verses as a start. I am going to go back and pray over each verse and read more around the verses, but for today this verse in Romans stood out to me.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, the day Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Today is the day that Jesus is in the tomb, dead, taking our sins and burying them.

This verse in Romans reminds us that one transgression allowed death into the world, but with one amazing act of sacrifice-a sacrifice that was holy and pure- life was given to all humanity.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Almighty, for sending Your Son to walk among us, to experience a human life with all of its temptations and yet to remain pure, not succumbing to the world of flesh. Thank you Jesus, for taking on the sins of the world, of all humanity, for all time and taking them to the grave so that we may have access to the Father through the Son. You are worthy of all praise and glory. I lift my hands and bow my head to You for Yours is the Glory and Power forever. Amen

Celebrate Easter with much joy dear friends, for this is the day Our Lord and Savior conquered death and gave us life!

From Chocolate Bunnies to Grace

Easter is a very special day for me. It is the day God opened the eyes of my heart and showed me what it means to be a Christian.

Before that Easter Sunday I never really understood what the big deal about Easter was. Ok, we have the Easter Bunny that hides colored eggs and leaves chocolate in our baskets. I do love hard-boiled eggs and chocolate bunnies, but, come on,  Easter isn't Christmas.

And what was all that stuff leading up to Easter? People with ashes on their foreheads, all that fish on Fridays, palms. Really, ashes on your forehead??? I love my red meat, so if you think I'm ever giving up meat on Fridays you have got to be kidding me!

Easter means spring. Pretty dresses, ham and potatoes for dinner, jump ropes and sidewalk chalk. Oh, and all those pretty pastel colors. Groundhogs may let us know how long winter is going to be, but Easter tells me spring is here! Oh...and Cadbury Eggs.

But on that specific Easter Sunday as I was sitting in church with my dad, something amazing happened to me. All of a sudden I was at the crucifixion, looking up at Jesus on the cross. We all have an image of that day in our heads but then I saw more. Jesus was pulling all the sin of the world for all time into himself. The sin of the past, the sin of the present, and the sin of the future was coming out of the people and going into Jesus. Jesus, pure and holy covered in the blackness of sin.

     From the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. Matthew 27:45

Once Jesus became sin a light started emanating from Jesus' heart, bright and pure. Intense, white-hot light started as a small point then exploded out of Jesus turning Jesus into Holy Light and reaching out from Jesus to the people, covering humans with the love, grace, and mercy of God. This is the ultimate gift from God, the secret of Christianity, the joy of living in God's love. Jesus took the deepest, darkest sin from us and purified us through his holiness.

     "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Luke 24:5,6

My words leave much to be desired, there are no words to describe what I saw and felt that day. It was an awesome, amazing, life changing experience. Can you imagine being filled with all of the evil of the world, not just the evil at that moment, but the evil that would be committed throughout all time? Jesus had to be buried in that tomb, to take all that evil back where it belonged. Jesus did not stay with that evil...He buried our sins and then rose from the grave to cover us with His etermal LOVE and GRACE.

Thank you LORD above for sending Your Son, pure and holy, to take our sins as the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you, for giving Your children on earth a bridge to Your presence and holiness. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

I would love to hear your testimonies, please share a special moment, a turning point, a time in your life that God intervened.

Easter Bunny picture by:
Image'>http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=4387">Image: debspoons / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Crucifixion picture by:
Image'>http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=440">Image: bela_kiefer / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rooting Out the Doubt

Let your roots grow down into Him.

Let your lives be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught

and you will overflow with thankfulness.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him.

Live clean innocent lives as children of God.

Hold firmly to the Word of Life.

Excerpt from: Philippians 2 and Colossians

(Thank you ro www.godsgracefulness.com for permission to repost)

This was just what I needed to hear today! If you have been following my blog you know I have been given verses about growing roots, settling down. This last week has been filled with doubt for me.

My nephew heard something during children's church two Sundays ago that didn't sit well with him. So, he asked me and I didn't have a good answer. I told him I would find out. The answer was not what I wanted to hear...but God's ways are not our ways. Well, this gave doubt an open door.

I have a bachelor's degree in Anthropology. I have a curious and inquiring mind and I like to find out facts. This is one reason I have had a difficult time with becoming a Christian. The reason I bring this up now is not to get into the science/religion debate but to let you know that I like to analyze things and think things through. I like things to make sense.  I want to Know!

When I read the above post from God's Gracefulness I felt God telling me to remain faithful, that the roots he wants me to grow are spiritual roots. He wants me to "settle down" with Him and my faith.

I have been going to two churches, of different denominations. Doesn't seem like it should be a big deal. But that has also let the enemy in to confuse me. My spiritual roots aren't deep enough yet. I am still a spiritual baby, and I crave pure spiritual milk. I need to get that spiritual milk from one place to decrease the confusion.

I pray the Lord plants me in the garden in which He wants my roots to grow deep so that I may bloom and bring joy to others. Amen

A Gentle and Quiet Spirit

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment...Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4

Holy Father, I pray that Your Spirit washes me with Your Word so that I may be holy in your sight. Lord, I lay my burdens at your feet, fill me with peace and love and take away the demons of anxiety and irritability and depresion. Lord, I yearn to have a gentle and quiet spirt which is worthy to you. You have given me beautiful and holy role models, Lord show me the way to quiet my spirit and be gentle towards myself and others. In Your Name I pray, Amen

This was the Word God gave me this morning. A gentle and quiet spirit. How I yearn to have a gentle and quiet spirit. Intolerance, impatience, irritability get in the way. Selfish pride gets in the way.

I repeated this verse every time I felt myself becoming irritated today. God showed me that I was being selfish and this selfishness is an obstacle to finding peace. I kept my thoughts on God and called on Him to quiet my soul when the feelings of irritability started. I slipped this evening though, and I pray for grace. God is showing me where it is most difficult for me to remain gentle-in my interactions with my sister. Lord, help me see my sister as You do, as Your child precious in Your sight. Fill me with Your love for her. Help me to keep patience and have a gentle and quiet spirit in my interactions with my sister. Amen.

God also let me know that my pride gets in the way. I never thought I was prideful...but God has shown me that I was wrong. Pride is a funny thing, our world says we need pride-parents, teachers, other caring people in our lives tell us they are proud when we do something they approve of. We are also told to be proud of ourselves. It develops self esteem and confidence. As God's children we are to be in this world but not of this world. Pride is of this world. Lord, thank you for showing me my prideful ways. Wash my pride away with Your Word, Your loving kindness, and Your grace. Allow Your love and light to shine through me and All Glory to You!

Rising from the Depths

One of the most difficult parts of depression is describing your feelings to others who don't understand. Most are well-meaning and only want to help you, but they have never struggled with depression and have no clue how it feels. I have been trying to figure out how to describe the hopelessness that comes with depression, the feeling of being in the dark with no light to lead the way out. Then, God gave me inspiration-God knows what I am feeling and He has written it in His Word.

You may know Jonah as the guy who was inside a whale for three days (kind of like Geppeto in Pinocchio), but before Jonah was swallowed by the whale he was thrown into the ocean during a mighty storm. Jonah was tossed by the waves and pulled under by the forces of the current. Jonah sank beneath the waters and got twisted up in ocean flora. Jonah was drowning in the depths and had no way out but God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah. While Jonah was inside the fish he prayed to the Lord and described what depression feels like:

5 The waters engulfed me up to the neck;
the watery depths overcame me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains;
the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever!
(Jonah 2:5-6 Holmes Christian Standard Bible)

This imagery describes how I feel when I am lost in the claws of depression. The ocean demons are trying to drown me. But God raised Jonah from the pit and only God can raise me from the depths of depression.

God saved me from the deepest pit I could ever imagine, if it hadn't been for God's loving grace and intervention at the very moment I needed it I don't know what would have happened to me. But God, using my dad as His messenger, guided me to read Psalms. I remember screaming at my dad that I couldn't read the Psalms, I didn't understand them. My dad just said, well, try anyway. So, I did and this is the Psalm the Lord gave me that night, the Psalm that saved me. Especially verses 2 and 9. I cried to God because I was weak and weary, my bones were shaking. The gift is that God heard my prayer! That was the moment I knew I was not alone and that with God I could get through.

Psalm 6

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger;
do not discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking;
3 my whole being is shaken with terror.
And You, Lord—how long?
4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me;
save me because of Your faithful love.
5 For there is no remembrance of You in death;
who can thank You in Sheol?
6 I am weary from my groaning;
with my tears I dampen my pillow
and drench my bed every night.
7 My eyes are swollen from grief;
they grow old because of all my enemies.
8 Depart from me, all evildoers,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea for help;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror;
they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.
Psalms 6:1-10 (HCSB)

This Psalm was like God reaching His hands down and lifting me from the ocean depths. Thank you Lord for your mercy and grace. Thank you Lord for your everlasting love!

What verses speak to you in times of distress? Do you have a special scripture that you turn to when you are feeling down? Please share!


Image'>http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=149">Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net