My God My Everything

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;    He’s the one who will keep you on track.Don’t assume that you know it all.    Run to God! Run from evil! Proverbs 3: 5-6 MSG Early in the morning on the Saturday before Easter, I was reading through the Bible events that took place on that day many years ago. The disciples were no doubt in shock at the events that had transpired the day before and fearful of what lay ahead. I can relate to the numbness, the mind fog and the utter brokeness of loss. It’s as if…

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. 1 John 4:18 During Holy Week I was reading about the daily activities of Jesus in the gospels. It was a beautiful and personal way to reconnect and recommit my heart to the Lord, resulting in a reignited passion for Him. While reading about the day He taught at the temple and then explained the signs of the end times I was reminded of a book I read years ago. It was about a young woman who was a Christian and found herself in a Roman arena facing vicious and hungry lions. That’s when…

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Proverbs 19:14 I was given the opportunity to take my thoughts captive the other day and to think about them before I spoke them into existance. Did I make the most of that opportunity? Sadly, no. I was frustrated at a conversation with my husband and felt he wasn’t listening to me. As he made his parting remarks, my mind was stirring with my own thoughts and I could hear the Holy Spirit prompting me to be slow to speak and slow to become angry, because…

“Therefore _________I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can you, _____________ add one hour to your life by worrying?               Matthew 6:25-27 God has not given ____________ a spirit of fear. But he has given her a spirit of power and love and self-control.…

He is not here; He has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where He lay. (Matthew 28:6) I would have liked to walk with Mary Magdalene and the other ladies as they made their way to the tomb that morning. Mostly because I know how their day was going to turn out and I would have loved to see the amazement on their faces when they heard the Good News and saw the Risen Lord. These women faced two overwhelming problems as they set out to honor Jesus’ body. The Roman guards and the huge rock in the tomb’s doorway. These were impossible obstacles, yet urged on…

What just happened! Yesterday was a day like no other and the believers were emotionally crushed and in observance of the Sabbath, were at their homes. The stillness must have been deafening compared to the uproar of the events the day before. How their minds must have been trying to remember the words that Jesus spoke and comprehend their meaning now that He was dead and buried. Was this real? What would happen next? As the believers sat in silence, the Pharisees remembered and were actively trying to prevent the predicted outcome. The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  “Sir,” they…

In order to prepare my mind and heart for today I read each version of the Good Friday events from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I’m a visual learner and as I read the passages my mind would recall the scenes from the movie The Passion. Tears filled my eyes as I read about the brutal treatment that was given to my Lord. I thought of how exhausted He must have been, the sadness at betrayal and abandonment of some of His followers, the pain from the beatings and the mockery that He endured. Over and over in the passages it said, “these things happened that Scripture might be fulfilled.”…

The Thursday before Easter is known as Maundy Thursday, which is derived from the Latin word for “command,” and refers to Jesus’ commandment to the disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you.” On this night Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal together and it’s when Jesus explained and shared communion (The Lord’s Supper) with them; giving them a new commandment, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This was something that Jesus had eagerly desired to do with His disciples before He suffered. To be in that room watching Jesus interact with His beloved disciples, eating with them, talking with them, reclining with them, must have…

Wednesday is right in the middle of the week. It’s a day that seems pivotal for our attitudes and mindsets. During Passion Week there was no exception. The bible tells us about two people who, at that moment, on that day, made decisions that forever marked them and changed them. One was Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and the other was Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples. Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.  “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” While…

Tuesday is one of my favorite days of Holy Week. It is the day that Jesus taught parables, confronted the religious leaders, noticed the unnoticed and spoke about the future. Oh how I would have loved to have been there, listening to His voice, seeing the passion in His words, watching the responses of those in the crowd and most importantly, just being near Jesus. The day started with Jesus and His disciples walking to the temple and along the way they saw the fig tree from the day before, all withered up. Peter was surprised, but Jesus responded by saying, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone…