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Posts Tagged ‘Easter’

From Salvage…

Posted in Devotional, tagged , , , , , , on March 15, 2016| 4 Comments »

I’ve been watching a show on Netflix- Salvage Dawgs. They take old things and re-purpose them. What others see as trash, worn-out or useless, they see of value. One of the workers said they take a piece from salvage to salvation. Aren’t we the same way?

Kerrville, Tx cross made out of re-bar iron

Most of Lent is a pensive time. We examine our walk and see where we come up short. What sins have we harbored? What bad habits have we taken up and what things should we release? All this introspection could be a downer, except for one thing. We know Our Lord is in the salvage to salvation business.

Without Easter, there would never have been Lent. Living this side of the Resurrection, we know the Good News that is coming as we weave through the Gospels and journey from Nazareth to Galilee to Jerusalem to Calgary. Sunday will come. We are not lost causes. God sees us not as the junk we’ve made ourselves but as what we can potentially become – a re-purposed work, restored to our originally intended glory through the efforts of the Son.

Guess that old saying is true. God doesn’t make junk. He re-purposes it to His glory into something desired and valuable.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Salvage to Salvation. Praise God!

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Enter The Gates

Posted in Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Next Sunday begins the journey through the gates.

ID-100154628 With praises and loud voices we wave palm branches to welcome Jesus into the gates of Jerusalem.

But, within a few days, we watch as his ministry on earth appears to crumble. Plots against him escalate. He and his disciples hide out in an upper room to celebrate the Passover, then pass through the city gates to a mount in a secluded olive grove.

One of them betrays Him,and the rest scatter, denying that they know Him in fear of meeting the same fate as He is to meet as he is dragged through the gates into the courts. The crowds choose a well-known criminal to pardon instread of Jesus and after much flogging and mocking,

He carries his cross through the streets, pass the main city gates and unto a hill. There he is nailed tothe beams of wood, and suffers unto death.

But the story doesn’t end. Unbeknowst to the world, Jesus enters the gates of Hell to conquer the power of Satan — sin and death  — once and for all. He took our sins upon the cross,carried them to Hell, and then built the bridge for us to Heaven.

Then rejoice! The stone is rolled away and He is risen. Now the gates of Heaven are open wide, as Don McClean sung in his wonderful Easter song, as seen through Peter’s eyes, “He’s Alive”.

What gates are in your life right now? Are they opened to Jesus entering through them, or have you closed them, slapped on a heavy lock and stepped away? We face all kinds of gates. Joyful ones like entering into marriage, or going off to college, or having a baby, and maybe entering your financially secure retirement years- is there such a thing now?  Maybe the gates are sorrowful- the last Hospice days of a loved one, the unexpected diagnosis from your doctor, the papers served to tell you your spouse wants to end the marriage. Maybe the are gates of unknown. A job change, moving to a new city, leaving home, entering the mission field abroad.

There is one common denominator in all these scenarios, and the upcoming Holy Week from Palm Sunday through Easter shows that. Whatever the gate is – Jesus is there. Let Him walk through it with you. Gates have no power over Him. So  give thanks and praise His name. Then hold His hand and enter in.


Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Psalm 24:7

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100 :4

 

 

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Were You There?

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

When I was growing up there were a series of children’s books called You Are There – years later a few became TV movies. They took kids back to historic events and embedded them in the moment.

The next four days of Holy Week are often overshadowed by the preparations for Easter.  But without them, there would be no reason to celebrate Easter, would there?  There is an old hymn –Were You There? that brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it.

This week – will you go there?

Thursday – Will you sit in the Upper Room and be shocked when Jesus bathes your feet, and then claims the bread and wine are Him? Will you shake your head in disbelief when Judas leaves the table.

Will you stay awake one hour and pray Thursday night into Friday morning as your Lord requested in the Garden?

Friday– will you picture yourself in the crowd as they shout for Barabbas to be spared. Will you weep silent tears when you see the crown of thorns trickle blood down His brow and watch as He skins his knees on the rocks carrying the cross? Will you see His muscles ripple under sting of the Roman whip?

Will you hold Mary as she watches her son die the most excruciating death possible and sink to your knees when Jesus asks God to forgive us all. Will you smell the sweat and blood mingled with the bitter vinegar on the sponge, and then hear the clank of the ivory lots as the soldiers gamble for his robe and sneer at him?

Saturday – as you rush around getting the last ingredients you need for the Easter meal, iron the Easter dress, mow the grass for the Easter Egg Hunt, or clean and decorate the church and plant the flowers…

will you take a moment to remember the disciples as they huddled in sorrow, fear  and disbelief in the Upper Room too bewildered and ashamed to pray, waiting for the soldiers to come, drag them away and crucify them as well?

Then come Easter morning, you may be even more ready to rejoice and proclaim the greatest miracle of all –

HALELLUJAH- THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!

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