WOW!

I have read this before, but it is a great one to read again.....


WHY DID JESUS FOLD THE NAPKIN?

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Early Sunday morning,while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers and mouth with that napkin and toss it on to the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done." But if the master got up from the table,and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet." The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

We believe that Jesus is coming back and are so thankful that He isn't finished just yet.....

A pain in the neck

I wrote this about 2 years ago, but I found it & wanted to share it.....



Last week the Lord gave me a pain in the neck, literally a pain in my neck. As I took my son for a walk I asked Him to show me something through my pain. As I walked our usual route I realized that the pain was enough that my typical neurotic habit was interrupted. I tend to look around a lot – glancing behind so no one will startle me, to the sides so that no animals from the brushy area sneak up on us, and just constantly trying to stay aware of my surroundings. I realized as I was walking that I COULDN’T look behind me. My awareness to this fact began a dialog between me and my Heavenly Father about how I could apply this to my life. I felt the Holy Spirit guiding me to the realization that I spend too much time looking behind me at my past and the mistakes that I have made. It was hindering my concept of my God – I kept falling back into a trap that was steering me to see a god who might still be punishing me for those old mistakes, one who not only remembered them, but was still actively looking for me to make amends for them. Now I KNOW that this is not the character of my God, and yet every time an opportunity arose for me to act as I believe, I kept choosing to act as the enemy was prodding me to believe. God’s Word says that when we ask for His forgiveness He remembers our sin no longer. Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” So as I realized that I couldn’t look back on my walk that day I realized that I didn’t want to look back any longer in my walk with Christ. I want to be the new creation that His word says that I am and I want to hide those words in my heart so that the next time the opportunity arises I have already decided that I will act as I believe and extinguish that dart that the enemy wants to use to pierce me. Praise God that His lessons come even in the mundane everyday things…..like a pain in the neck!!!

I've been caught..

I'll admit it -- at times I am a child centered parent, but as I've been reading "Sacred Parenting" by Gary L. Thomas I am learning how to change. You see God centered parenting means that my parenting comes out of reverence for God, regardless of how my children treat me or respond to me. In the first chapter Gary shares that "Christian parenting is truly a sacred journey. It invites us parents to purify ourselves, to use the process of raising kids to perfect holiness, and to do this consistently, every day, out of reverence for God. If we enter it armed with this understanding, each segment will gain new meaning and purpose -- even the difficult ones." Wow!! This is shaping in me a new perspective. As I remind myself that God is purifying me through the process of parenting -- through the poopy diaper blow-outs, the-mom this lunch is yucky, and the throw up in the middle of the night it refocus' me. I concentrate on my reaction, my behaviour and what I can learn about me and my relationship with God in those moments-- some how it seems less like an annoyance and more like a challenge. I wrote the verse from 2 Corinthians 7:1 on a piece of paper to help me remember "Dear Friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence fore God." I hope that this entry will inspire you to try this if you like me hadn't had this revelation before. I find myself challenged more often than I'd like to admit as I face what can sometimes feel like the mundane tasks of being a mom so I pray today and everyday for me and every mom out there that we will truly learn how to be God centered in our parenting so that the true reason God created parenting will not be lost on me. Of course I will pray this for my husband and all father's as well... can't leave them out now can we? :-) So go and face the next exasperating moment armed with the verse from 2 Cor. and the reminder that this is all for a higher purpose!!! God Bless Mother's everywhere!

The Road that got me here.....

So I alluded to the fact that my journey with Jesus began long ago, but I thought for those just tuning in I would give a quick overview of life on this road. I grew up in a Christian home where my parents made many sacrifices to send us to a Christian school for me this was from 2nd grade through 8th grade. We then moved and I started my high school years in public school (a bit of a shock). I was always a fairly good girl, mostly because I'm a people pleaser so this is how I valued myself -- by other people's approval. This can be a good thing and a not so good thing. It keeps you on the straight and narrow, but for the wrong reasons. I don't remember a whole lot from my younger years just that everything was pretty normal and that I almost always did the right thing (but not much more). After high school however I began to test my beliefs and rebel because as I saw it I had been pretty good and yet some of the things I wanted most in life elluded me (ie a husband, kids, etc) I spent the next few years struggling with what my heart & mind knew was right and what the devil on my shoulder kept telling me I might as well do. There is a song by Wayne Watson that talks about how you can take one step away from a fire and still feel the warmth so you think what's the harm. That was me I compromised what I knew to be the truth as I took each step back. I won't get into the details, but I made some poor choices that cost me and brought about consequences that would take years to overcome. Just as the Bible says in Romans God can use all things for good and He took those lessons and shaped me - to teach me humility, to teach me to have grace for others, and to help me understand that he gave me eternal life and every other gift is a blessing not a right. All of this changed my motivation -- I began to know who God really was to me and it gave me a desire to follow Him because of who He is and not because I just knew it to be what I should do. By the grace of God I have done some overcoming and I am here years later with an amazing, Christian husband, who I have no doubt is the man that God chose for me. We have two beautiful treasures that God has entrusted to us and we are living out our faith day by day. Some days are more successful than others and because of His great love for me the unsuccessful days drive me to listen harder, pray more diligently, and seek more earnestly. He brought us to a place away from our comfort zone and taught us how to serve in our church; He stretched us and grew our faith in a myriad of ways. We are so grateful for all the experiences that have brought us to this current bend in the road and all we can pray for is the opportunity and time to continue learning about God and ourselves. Hopefully I will be able to expand on some of those lessons as I continue this blog, but for now my treasures just woke from their afternoon siesta and are calling for my attention so I will close out this entry with a challenge to look over your road today and thank God for the good and for the challenges because they help shape our character in ways that we may never understand this side of heaven! Go and enjoy another day to live and learn. :-)

Music

Music is something that truly speaks to my soul. At the core of who I am I hear and feel music like nothing else. One of my favorite songs is by Barlow Girl and the line that hits me EVERYTIME is "somehow deserve what I already have" It speaks to the side of me that is a people pleaser -- that wants to feel that I can be good enough for everyone and everything. Even God! It floors me that I can't DO anything to deserve the salvation that God has already gifted me through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. I want to deserve it, I want to earn it, I want to be able to pay for it so that I can feel better. This however is not THE PLAN -- God's plan made it so everyone could come, so everyone would be on equal footing before the throne, He knew that to earn it would cheapen it... would allow some to feel more worthy than others. It had to be a gift which at the center of it's meaning is a voluntary act that does not require anything in return.
Jesus suffered the same for me as for the heroin addict, His back was torn to shreds for the murderer to the same degree as it was for me. His grace is for me as much as it is for the child molester. Whether we are good or bad whether we live well or terrible the gift is there for ALL to receive. As hard as it is to understand at times -- I am grateful because like the song says I have wasted time, I have done things that make me wonder how the God of the universe could like me, let alone cherish me? Knowing that I don't deserve it humbles me and creates in me a desire to worship, a desire to know the One who would give such a gift. It inspires me and again like the song.. makes me want to let go of the past, see myself the way that God sees me, and give Him my all -- everyday in everyway!!!!

"I Need You To Love Me" by Barlow Girl

Why? Why are You still here with me?
Didn't You see what I've done?
In my shame I want to run,
And hide myself.
Yeah, but it's here I see the truth,
I don't deserve You.

But I need You to love me,
And I, I won't keep my heart from You this time.
And I'll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need You to love me

I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing You away from me.
I just never saw how You
could cherish me.
Cause You're a God who has all things,
and still You want me.

And I need You to love me,
And I, I won't keep my heart from You this time.
And I'll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have

Yeah, ye-ea-eah

Your love makes me forget what I have been.
Your love makes me see who I really am.
Your love makes me forget what I have been, oh-oh.

And I need You to love me, yeah
I need You to love me, ye-ea-eah!
And I'll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need You to love me, yeah
I need You to;
oh woah oh woah oh woah(x4)
I need, I need You...

The meaning of a word--

Journey: Travel or passage from one place to another, especially
one covering a large distance or taking a long time.

Hence: [figurative], A passage through life, or a passage
through any significant experience, or from one state to
another.

The distance that is traveled in a journey[2], or the time
taken to complete a journey

Tour; excursion; trip; expedition; pilgrimage; jaunt.

Usage: Journey, Tour, Excursion, Pilgrimage. The word
journey suggests the idea of a somewhat prolonged
traveling for a specific object, leading a person to
pass directly from one point to another. In a tour, we
take a roundabout course from place to place, more
commonly for pleasure, though sometimes on business.
An excursion is usually a brief tour or trip for
pleasure, health, etc. In a pilgrimage we travel to a
place hallowed by our religions affections, or by some
train of sacred or tender associations. A journey on
important business; the tour of Europe; an excursion
to the lakes; a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
[1913 Webster]

The beginning...(not really)

So this is the beginning of something that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. Everyday as I go for a walk along the streets in our town I try to spend that time talking with Jesus about all those things that swirl through my head. I giggled at myself one day as I compared my physical walk & talk w/the Lord with my favorite term we use for our daily relationship with God "my walk with God". I decided I wanted to have an outlet to share some of my joys and struggles with anyone who wanted to peek in so here is the beginning of my journaling of my journey with Jesus, but certainly not the beginning of my journey............