It has been a few weeks since my last entry. I have taken on a 2nd job, and it seemed to consume all my time. I even allowed it to invade on my time with the Father. Shame on me. So... I have cut back on work. Everything seemed to be suffering because of this job. Mostly my job as a wife and mother.

I was reading yesterday in John. Thinking about what happened to Jesus and the disciples after the resurrection. I read in John 20 how Mary went looking for Jesus. The first verse tells us she went to the tomb while it was still dark. Why? Why was Mary up so early? Or... had she not slept the night before? What was she thinking? Why was she so anxious to get to Jesus' body?

We know that they could not go to the tomb before this particular morning because of the Sabbath. I wonder if she thought about Him all weekend? I believe she did. I think she went to the tomb at the first possible time.

How different would my life be, if I thought about Him constantly? How different would our times with Him be if we rose early and met with Him at the earliest time possible? Because of the law, Mary had to wait until the sun started coming up to be with Jesus, we don't. We have a 24/7 access to the throne of Grace. Do we take advantage of this opportunity? It is sad to think that Mary Magdalene wanted to be with Jesus so bad, but had to wait. We can be with Him anytime, but we choose to do other things. How sad.

Verse 17 tells us that when she finally got to be with the resurrected Jesus, He told her, "Mary, don't cling to me" (The Message). The word used here in the Greek, implies that she was holding on to Him. I can almost hear her saying "I have been wanting to be with you all weekend, I am not letting go of you now". But Jesus said "Mary, let go... I can't just stay here with you all day, I have stuff to do" (my translation). Don't you know she was probably holding on to Him with both hands desperately not wanting Him to leave her again. But Jesus was saying to her, that even though this is a great moment, we can't stay here. There are other things to do.

Sometimes we have great times with the Master. We are basking in His presence and loving being in His glory. But, we can't stay there. There is work to be done for the kingdom.
Will you work for His Kingdom today?

Shall I Crucify Your King?

Good Friday. The day our Lord was crucified. As I open my Bible this morning to read John's recollection of the events of that day, I see something I haven't noticed before. John 19:15-16.

After talking with Jesus, Pilate realizes there is more to this man than he thought. He says to the Jews "Here is your King". But they cry "Crucify him". He begins to ask the Chief Priest, "Shall I crucify your King?"
And they answer "We have no King but Caesar.". This broke my heart this morning. The Chief Priests. The very ones God himself appointed,
reject His son, their Savior. They are the spiritual leaders of that time.
And yet they say, "We have no King but Caesar".

But, how many times do we live our life as if "I have no king but...". The definition of the word king means someone with a preeminent or superior position. Does my life show that Christ has a superior position over my life? Or, does my life show that I am in charge of my own life? Do I walk in obedience and submission? Or, do I walk in pride seeking my own way no matter who it hurts. Am I the King of my own life, or is He?

Later Pilate prepares a sign to hang over Jesus' head on the cross. It reads "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews". When the Jews saw the sign, they wanted it changed. They wanted it to read "he says he is the king of the Jews". But Pilate said "what I have written, I have written".
In other words, this is His sentence, and it will not be changed. It is almost as if Pilate wanted them to know that Jesus was being crucified because He was their King.

The words of the crowd that day had to hurt as bad as the nails peircing His hands and feet. Jesus was 100% God, but also 100% man. I don't understand how, but I accept it on faith. As a man, those word must have stung. "Crucify Him..., we have no King but Caesar...he says he is the king of the Jews..."

My prayer today, on Good Friday, is that my life reflects that He is my King. If "self" is the King of my life, then I want it to be crucified. Dead. I want to be crucified with Christ, so that I might live in HIM!
What about you?
Will you crucify your King?

The Betrayal

The week before Jesus' death and resurrection, has always been very interesting to me, especially during the Easter season. As I study this Wednesday morning, I find myself reading about Judas, the betrayer.

Matthew said in chapter 26 that Judas went to the chief priest and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" How could he do such a thing? So I looked at what happened before he went to the chief priest. Interestingly, he had been with Jesus at Simon's house in Bethany. That night is when a woman came to Jesus with an Alabaster Jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on Jesus' head. Judas did not like this at all. He said the perfume should have been sold, and the money given to the poor. Yea right...he wanted the money for himself. See, Judas was the treasurer in the group. And he had been dipping into the money box for himself. Of course he was mad she didn't give that perfume up for "the cause".
The cause of Judas! He wasn't interested in the poor, he was interested in himself!

As I stand appalled at Judas' actions, I realize how many times some leaders of the church do the same thing. We start projects and "ministries" because it will be good for us. It will make us look good and fulfill a need that we have in our own hearts. Or because it will bring more people into the church, which will hopefully bring in more money, which will support our next projects. Unfortunately so many times it has nothing to do with the ministry of Christ at all. Nothing to do with bringing sinners into a saving relationship with the Savior.

When this woman poured that perfume on Jesus, she was preparing Him for burial. Jesus described her act as " a beautiful thing". Something that would be talked about around the world. It was meant to honor HIM. It was not meant to make her feel better, not to make her look good among all the other men in the room, she didn't give her perfume so people would talk about her sacrifice and praise her good works. She wanted to glorify and praise the one who had set her free from her sin!!

This Easter season I ask myself, "Am I like Judas?" "How have I betrayed Him?", "Is He pleased with my actions?". "Are the ministries I am involved in glorifying Christ?"
What are we willing to accept for betraying Jesus? Or do our actions ask the question Judas asked,

"How much will you give me to hand him over to you?"