Tag: God’s grace

What a Savior!

On By CarmenLeave a comment

Perhaps it would have been better for me to post this message as we prepared to celebrate the resurrection of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, but I believe that we should keep daily at the forefront of our thoughts the price that He paid for the whole world—past, present, and future.

Our family custom during this most holy of celebrations is to watch various series depicting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; so much so, that I purchased a DVD of The Passion of the Christ a few years ago to watch on Good Fridays.

Some would say that this movie is difficult to watch with the graphic illustration of Jesus’s beatings and crucifixion, and I agree.

However, I need to remind myself through these images the great price that my Savior paid for me personally.

In this post, I would like to share a few verses from the Bible regarding those three days of indescribable pain, sorrow, and then joy.

Good Friday:  The Cross

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

1 John 4:10

Jesus willingly went to the cross for you, me, and everyone else.

He could have said, “No, Father, they are too prideful, selfish, arrogant, vile. Let them have what they deserve.” (my thoughts)

But He did not.

He said, “Yes, I will go to the cross in obedience to You and because I love them despite their sin. I will take upon myself their consequences so that they can be with us in Heaven for eternity.” (my thoughts)

Jesus, the only perfect being ever on this earth, took upon Himself all our sins and suffered horrendously in our place.

He suffered indignation: He was lied about, spit upon, and stripped of his clothing; yet He did not defend His reputation and forgave. (Isaiah 53:7, Luke 23:34)

He was humiliated: He was hung on a cross, mocked, and tempted to show his power; yet He accepted this mistreatment and completed His mission. (Mark 15:29-32, John 19:28-30)

He physically bled for us: He was scourged, beaten unrecognizable with His flesh ripped open, and nailed in both hands and feet to a cross; yet He willingly suffered and died for all mankind. (Isaiah 52:14, Romans 3:25-26, Ephesians 1:7)

Jesus endured all of this for all of us. He gave His life as a ransom for ours. He suffered so we would not have to. He paid for our sins because He knew we could not.

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:28-30

Good Friday symbolizes God’s love for the human race through the ultimate sacrifice of His Son. God’s grace is given for all who will accept it by surrendering to Jesus Christ.   

Holy Saturday: God Works through Silence

Jesus was laid to rest in haste after his death on Good Friday since the Sabbath was starting at sunset that same evening and preparations needed to be made for Passover.  

He was placed in a rich man’s tomb and His body wrapped in cloths waiting to be perfumed with spices.

The chief priests and Pharisees wanted to be done with Jesus and ordered his tomb sealed because they feared His followers would somehow steal His body to claim He had risen. Guards were also placed outside Jesus’s tomb to insure they could not steal His body.

Meanwhile, the apostles, Jesus’s followers, gathered together after having fled and deserted Him.

Apart from their sorrow, I am sure they were fearful, confused, and angry with themselves for deserting Him.

I imagine that they were meditating on and discussing what He said while He was with them about being God’s Son, the Messiah—the only Way, and His promise of coming back for them.  

The shock of it all was most likely laying heavy upon their hearts and minds of what they should do next.

How could they move on since Jesus was gone?

He healed others, why wouldn’t He save Himself?

How could this have happened? He promised a kingdom where He would rule righteously.

Broken hearts, misunderstanding, desperation was their lot.  

We may have silent days in our lives, but we should remember God’s promises and still our minds while waiting for His next move.

See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

Even though we may not see it, God is always working in the background, in our silent periods of waiting.

Jesus was on the move on the Sabbath after His death. He was not dead, but very much alive in the spirit and displayed His victory over death and evil.  

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

1 Peter 3:18-20a

Christ descended into the pit where the demons from Noah’s days were bound due to their wickedness against God. Jesus let them know that He was very much alive and had defeated them and death.

Jesus had the last say and put them on notice.

Let’s wait expectantly for God’s promises to us.

Resurrection Sunday: The Promise Fulfilled

Mary Magdalene and Mary (the mother of James) went early Sunday morning to Jesus’s tomb to prepare His body for burial with spices.

When they arrived, they saw that the tomb was open and an angel of the LORD began to speak with them. He informed them that Jesus was not in the tomb, but was alive.

The angel told them to go tell Jesus’s followers that Jesus is alive and to go to Galilee where He would meet them.

As they left filled with excitement, Jesus Himself appeared before them.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:8-10

As He promised, Jesus appeared to the apostles in Galilee, but they did not believe it was Jesus at first. Then, after speaking and eating with Him, they were overjoyed while He reminded them of what He had told them would happen to Him. (Luke 24:36-49)

Jesus gave them instructions (The Great Commission) to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them and then to go into all the world to teach about His love and sacrifice for all mankind and obedience to the scriptures. (Matthew 28:16-20)

No matter the effort in trying to silence God’s truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ some 2000+ years later, the Great Commission is ever strong and will continue to be until the end of time.

I am certain of one thing—we will see all the promises that God has given to us through the Holy Scriptures in our lifetime and into eternity.

We only need to study His word, believe in Him, and abide in Him.

God has already done the difficult work for us through His Son Jesus Christ.

Thank You, LORD Jesus, for Your sacrifice!

May the song below bless you as you consider the gift of grace given to us by Jesus’s death and resurrection.

If you want to have a relationship with God and are not sure how or where to start, see my previous posts Relationship with God and Relationship with God – Part 2.

The Little Foxes

On By CarmenLeave a comment

I want to write about something that we all as Christians need to be reminded of.

This “something” is to be obedient to our LORD God by following His commands, no matter what.

Let me share a personal story that will explain today’s message.

As I was reading and studying the Bible this morning, I found that I could not concentrate clearly as I usually do. I was struggling to keep a fluid understanding of what I was reading.

I stopped and prayed that God would help me to refocus and be able to comprehend His message for me.

I was reading in 1 Samuel 12 which is not hard to understand if you have read previously from Genesis to 1 Samuel.

I believe that God did indeed help me to focus after I asked Him, and I then fully understood why I was faltering.

I had committed once again a sin He’s been working on me about for a while. I will explain later what this sin is.

First, I want to share what I came across that snapped me out of my muddled state.

If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

1 Samuel 12:14-15

This statement by the prophet Samuel to the Israelites was to remind them that they and their newly chosen king Saul were to obey the LORD in all they do.

Up until this time, God had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt, fed them, protected them, gave them His laws for their well-being, brought them into the promised land, defeated their enemies in battle, and showered them with countless blessings.

Did the Israelites obey the LORD after this warning? No. Not completely.

The Israelites wanted to be like their neighbors—they wanted a king to rule over them.

Samuel, being a man of God, was greatly displeased over this; but God told him to go ahead and anoint a king for them, one that He would choose.

God let them have their way, even though this was a rejection of God Himself to rule over them, especially after all He had done for them.

They had severe consequences that followed. If you’re interested in knowing what happened as a result of their disobedience, feel free to read the remainder of 1 Samuel—and the rest of the Bible for that matter.

As Christians, also God’s chosen, we are told to follow God’s word.

God expects our full obedience to Him and His ways.

The apostle James, tells his fellow Christ followers the same.

You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save our souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:19-25

As for me, the awkward feeling of not being able to feast on God’s word clearly was enough for me to go in prayer to the LORD.

He revealed to me that I was harboring unforgiveness toward a neighbor for something that I was truthful about after she kept wanting to know why my husband and I were or were not voting a certain way in the 2024 presidential election. Consequently, she decided that she wanted nothing to do with us anymore. There is more, but I’ll just leave it at that.

The LORD impressed upon me that it doesn’t matter what others do to me or say about me, it is my responsibility to forgive and give it over to Him.

As Christians, we cannot be effective in our service to our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ with a wrong attitude.

It is an entryway for Satan to step in and create chaos and destruction in our lives.

We must instead trust God, be obedient in our thoughts, speech, and actions, and leave it with Him.

We will be happier, more focused and competent to carry out God’s plan for us daily.

I must say that immediately after I repented, I felt better, and I was able to continue in my reading and understanding of His word.

Often, it’s the small things, what we consider the small sins—the little foxes—that trip us up. God is concerned just as much about these sins as what we would call big sins.

Sin is sin to God. He doesn’t measure how big or how small. Even the slightest disobedience to Him is sin.

“Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom.”

Song of Solomon 2:15

In this scripture verse from the Bible, we learn that the little things spoil the overall progress of what is planned.

In this case, our wrong thoughts become our actions if we don’t reign them in. These negative actions harm our testimony as Christians and could keep us from what God has planned for us.

So, we must be content to let go of hurts or wrongs done to us, and depend upon His grace, love, and sovereignty.

He loves us and will bless us immeasurably when we follow Him completely.

I pray that this message blesses you today.

Below is a song that echoes my thoughts about my place in God’s kingdom.

“Who Am I?” – Casting Crowns