Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, so I thought I'd keep it simple, and post a couple poems about Good Friday and Jesus's Resurrection.  I'll post some pictures hopefully on Monday about how our weekend went. Have a wonderful weekend celebrating God's goodness to us! :)

THE NAIL

The nail is used for many things,
A useful securing tool;
A hammer is taken by the hand
And drives it, that's the rule.

A nail is needed when you build,

It's a necessary thing.

It was also used over two thousand years ago

To hang upon a tree, the King.

He took the pain and suffering

For all mankind, you see.

Yet He took the torture just for you,

And He took it just for me.

You cannot keep a good man down,

Through the years many have said.

He went down a man, and rose a King

To deliver the spiritually dead.

He is on the throne

At God's right hand.

The First, the Last,

The Great I Am.

No nail, no hammer can touch Him now--

The mighty King on high.

What He built is forevermore,

Salvation for you and I.

So when you see a simple nail with it's sharpened end,

And need to build or repair,

Lift up your eyes, your heart and mind

And thank Him with a prayer.

                                                          -- Laurene H. Bell

Defeated:

Satan's waged a war for thousands of years,

and brought forth millions of tears.

infiltrating our inner lines, Putting evil thoughts into our minds.

He's destroyed our trust in one another,

and turned sister against brother.

He attacks the mind that's his playground,

and he really knows his way around.

He perfected his schemes, and filled our minds with doubt.

which makes us think there's no way out.

Attacking unrelentlessly , he slaughtered God's Holy Lamb.

Desecrating the words of the one who says I AM.

But in Satan's ignorance, what he didn't see,

Is the Lamb that he slaughtered, is our eternal victory!

Now he struts up and down this land,

thinking everything is in his hand.

Satan is known as the angel of light,

disobedient deceiver, he continues to fight.

He roams the earth seeking whom he may devour,

but soon he will see God's final hour.

Satan fills our heart with jealousy and with pride,

making it hard to stand side by side.

Always attacking in such a way

that even God's best Lambs are led astray.

He'll make you believe things that are not true,

try to make you do things you don't want to do.

putting temptations before your eyes

and covering them up in disguise.

The battle cry is getting louder.

the countdown is close to the finals hour.

Satan's attacking from every side.

but he's STILL no match for The Crucified!

~ By Tim Baughman '88

The moment of Full-Surrender!

All of us Christians, reach the moment of full-surrender in our lives. The moment when we’ve finally realized that what we have in life, isn't enough. The moment we realize that the only Joy we can get, is through Christ. There was a time in my life when I finally realized that. When I say, “Full-surrender”, I don’t mean, “Okay, God you can have this area.” I mean, “Okay, God, you’re the only one who can fill my thirst and hunger.” The moment, when we bow at his feet, and realize that He is our ultimate and Sovereign King!

     For my birthday last year I got a book called, “Hinds’ feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard. This is a book I would definitely recommend! J In this book, Much-afraid comes to the moment of full-surrender. I thought I’d post an excerpt from the book! After you've read the excerpt, I would encourage you to watch/listen to the video below! Enjoy! :)

     The white-robed flowers growing on the High Places that were buoyant and unsullied after being walked on by the Shepherd and Much-Afraid, are perfect examples of what happens when we lay our lives down for Him. Instead of being damaged as we might fear, we rise again to exude a perfume richer and sweeter than before. Is there anything you are hesitant to lay down? Think about it for a moment. Then, with renewed commitment and yieldedness, come to your Lord and say: You are my King-the King of love and of everything that is lovely.

     Kneel before Him knowing that you are kneeling before the One who is gentle and tender, but also full of strength, power, and authority. Express to Him your desire to have burned or pressed out of you all that is not of Him. Hear Him say: “…Lo, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven” (Isaiah 6:7 AMP)

     Thank Him for the reality of the experience when it pleases Him to bring it forth. Patiently wait for His timing! 

Test yourselves!

I've been thinking lately about Martyrdom. I’m sure that many of us have heard the story of Pastor Saeed in prison for his faith right now in Iran. For those of you who don't know, here's the website: http://savesaeed.org/

     I started thinking about torture, and faith. Not to scare anyone, but if I was put in front of a stake to be burned, or tortured by some way/shape/form, how would I handle it? Would I recant my faith if they asked me to? I’d like to hope and pray that by God’s grace, if that day ever came, that I would be able to withstand the trial no matter the pain. It gets you thinking, that’s for sure! Is your faith strong enough? If you were put to the test, what would you do?
There was a true story I heard a couple years ago…

     A Pastor stood before his congregation one Sunday morning. Because of the persecution, they had to meet secretly. The congregation was just about to open the hymnals and sing, when 4 different people came in with guns, hoods on their heads, and wearing all black. Everyone screamed. The leader of the gunman said, “Recant your faith now, and we’ll let you go free. If you don’t recant your faith, we’ll shoot you. Choose now!” The majority of the congregation fled without a heartbeat; only the pastor, his family, the deacons, and a couple members of the church were left. With a deep breath they prayed silently. The leader of the gunmen walked to the front of the church, closed the doors, and took off his hood. He turned around and with a deep breath he said, “Let’s worship God!” This man wanted to see who the true believers of the church were.

     It made me think of what it would really be like to be held at gunpoint for my faith. The Bible
 tells us to test ourselves.
2^nd Corinthians 13:5-9, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^[e]fail the test? ⁶ But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. ⁸ For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete…"
I hope this encourages you to keep up the faith! :)
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousnes' sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."

                                              ~Matthew 5:10~

Love

Wednesday, I had the privilege of going to our friends, the “Davidson’s” to help out. When Mrs. Davidson left to go have coffee with some friends, she left me in charge of the “kiddo’s”. They range from 9 months-14 yrs.  While the older ones did their chores, math, and such, I took care of the “Little’s”. I held, and fed, the 9 month old, “Owen”, while I watched the other little kids play at their playground. When I went to put Owen to sleep, Talitha (14 yrs.) told me, “Caitlin, when you put Owen to sleep, tell him that you love him, and he’ll go to sleep just fine.” So, I smiled, set Owen down in his crib and said, “Owen, I love you!!!” As I stroked his cheek
and head. He smiled at me, and giggled. I was so amazed that even a simple, “I love you!” made him
 feel safe and secure!

     I’m sure everyone appreciates it when someone says, “I love you!” whether it’s a parent, sibling, spouse, or a family member. We all love that small taste of appreciation. I know I do! 

     I can’t tell you how many times I tell my sibling or parent I love you and they respond back with not only even more love, but sometimes a hug or a simple smile! 

     

    Christ also loves us. He loves us through the smiles, tears, trials, and triumphs. I posted a couple verses below that talk about Christ love for us. Enjoy! :)

John 3:16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

1 John 4:9-12 
"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us."John 13:34-35"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have
love for one another."

Romans 5:8 

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 8:37-39 

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Galatians 2:20 

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

Psalm 37:28 

For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever; But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

Proverbs 8:17 

"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Deuteronomy 7:9 

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving-kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

1 John 3:1 

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 

When life gives you lemons...

All of us take life for granted. I was reminded once again this week of life’s little blessings that come our ways. On Wednesday’s I have to wake up around 7:30-ish to take a shower in time to leave by 8:00, so that I can teach piano. After I teach Piano in the morning, I help out people in our church. On this last Wednesday, I was just about to leave, when I hear from the door, “Cait-win!” 

I turn around, and my 4 yr. old brother, Elijah, said, “I didn't give you a hug and kiss goodbye.” 

With a smile, I ran up the 5 steps of stairs, and he jumps into my arms not wanting to let go for a long time. J

Eventually, reluctantly, he let go of me, and smiled. 

As I walked out the door, my heart filled with Joy that my little brother (who was almost the only one awake at the time) wanted to say goodbye to me. 

I’m sure we've all heard of the term, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Do we really know what it means?
I found this on Wikipedia, and thought it fit perfect.

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. "Lemons" in this expression is used in the informal sense of the word, to indicate an unfortunate or inadequate situation, a meaning which probably stems from the sour and acidic taste of unsweetened lemon. "Lemonade" on the other hand, is a sweetened form of this same acerbic fruit, and so in the context of this expression, conveys the potential for pleasure and opportunity in seemingly bad situations.”

1) Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as for the Lord, and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. --- Col. 3:23-24
2.) Don't boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what a day may bring. ---Prov. 27:1
3.) For what is your life? It is but a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. ---James 4:14
4.)This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. ---John 15:12
5.) Until now you have asked nothing in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that
 your joy may be full. ---John 16:24
6.) Love one another deeply, from the heart. ---1 Peter 1:22
7.) Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. --- 1 Peter 4:8
8.) Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. ---Romans 12:10
9.) Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. ---Proverbs 16:3
10.) "...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..." ---Jeremiah 29:11