Tag: “I am doing a new thing”

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.

Welcoming the New in Your Life

On By CarmenLeave a comment

When we enter the New Year, we plan to make some changes for the better in our lives. Many of our resolutions are made based on what we want to achieve for ourselves, whether it be for health or lifestyle improvements.

I wonder though if we have prayed and sought what God would like for us to do differently or work toward that would not only be good for us personally but would benefit others as well.

As we start this new year, let’s make room for the new developments that await us when we graciously accept what God has planned for us.

Accepting the New

I met a lady yesterday while shopping at Walmart who had the sweetest baby girl sleeping in her cart with all kinds of groceries stuffed in the cart. I was in the checkout line behind this woman who I assumed was her grandmother.

The baby was very small, so I asked her how old the baby was and she said that she was twelve weeks old and they had adopted her when she was eleven days old. She continued to tell me that this was her 15th child that she has fostered.

All I could say was God bless you for being such a wonderful person to foster such a sweet little being. She responded, “It’s not for the faint of heart, but it has been very rewarding.”

All I could think was WOW! How selfless! And she feels “how rewarding!”

This little baby girl is most definitely blessed to have such a kind-hearted woman to give her a good and loving start in life that her biological mother for whatever reason most likely cannot.

I wonder how her love and attention to all of these children she’s fostered has changed their lives for the better.

She has two biological children and has adopted two of her foster children. Her grocery bill was certainly in line with this 7th member of her current household!

I didn’t ask, but I am sure that when she first felt the call to foster children she was concerned about whether she and her husband could do it, afford it, have time for it, etc.

She said to me that without God, she could have never done it because He has always provided what they needed.

God provides for His call on your life!

God has and is still using a surrendered soul to bless so many lives. And He does the same for anyone who is willing to answer His call for their lives.

Now I would like to share with you what I feel God is leading me to change in my life and to develop with others in my community.

It is to focus less on my likes and desires and to spend more time with some of the women that God has placed in my life getting to know them better and developing stronger relationships.

I have had the privilege of knowing these women from my neighborhood and my church, but I have not really invested quality time with any of them other than briefly speaking to them on occasion as the opportunity presented.

I look forward to this new idea, pledge, beginning, because I am eager to see what God will do in the future through my simple obedience to His plan.

I don’t have any preconceived notions other than understanding their current life situations as well as their past—and future goals.

I know that God will make the way for His plans to unfold this year in my life and the future as I step out in obedience to Him.

His word tells us this exactly.  

“Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19

I know that I can put all my trust in God’s word, His truth written to and for us—because I have walked with Him in good times and bad.

God may be calling you to do something unique and different in your life this year. I encourage you to heed the call and submit to His plan for your life. I have a feeling that if you do, you too will feel far more rewarded than strained.

Letting Go of the Past

If you are experiencing difficult times now or have in the past, let me encourage you to let go and let God show you His love and His power in your life over all the adversities that you have gone through.

Simply trust Him and seek Him.

You may be saying to yourself, “Yes, but you don’t know what I have done to bring about all these terrible circumstances that I am suffering now.”

Friend, let me tell you that what you have done in your past is of no consequence to God’s love for you and His blessings over your future.

When we come to the end of ourselves and realize that nothing good comes from living our life without Him, our best option is to seek God and surrender to Him and His ways.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

A few years ago, I came to this same conclusion and I am a living example of how God can transform a life going in the wrong direction to a stable and joyful existence looking forward to what He has planned for a life surrendered in obedience.

Leaning on God

Read again the last two lines above in Isaiah 43:18-19.

I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

God promises us that He will bring the change in our wild, barren, fruitless lives while at the same time refreshing our souls with His living water that nourishes, heals, and restores us.  

His living water is Jesus, our Savior.

When we surrender to Him, we are given new life.

When we seek Him, we are given a new understanding of this life.

When we abide in Him, we are given new purpose for this life.

When we obey Him, we are given new victories in this life.

I encourage you to step out of your routine and walk with Jesus because He alone brings change.

Get ready for new purpose and a new outlook that will help you stand through any storm or adversity.

God is for you and He wants a relationship with you.

Trust Him and seek Him for a better year and a better life.

Here’s to new beginnings.

May God bless you.

Enjoy the song below as you consider making a change for the better—God’s will for your life.

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.