Good Friday: Jesus & Mary

“seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33

It’s hard for me to even comprehend the pain and suffering that Jesus suffered on this day! And yet, even during this day of rememberance, Jesus gives us so much! Jesus truly was and is Selfless. He loves us with all of His heart. Completely and Forever.

And all we can really do, is pray that we can continue to come closer to that kind of love. We can never love others as much as Jesus did, but we can pray that we will continue to “die to self” and love God and others as Jesus commanded us to do:

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”-Matthew 22:37-40

As a mother, I think to of how Mary must have suffered so, standing at the Foot of the Cross. I can’t even begin to imagine Her pain, or Her strengh as She stood at the Foot of that Cross offering all of Her love. How Her encouragement must have helped Jesus. Or how much Jesus must have loved her that He provided for Her care, even in His darkest hour!

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” – John 19:26

The Bridge to our Lord and to Heaven was obtained through the Blood and Suffering of Jesus Christ, for He loved us so.

There are only two words to be said this Easter: Yes and Thank You!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter 🙂

He Took My Place

I can’t help but think about the Last Supper. How Jesus knew what was coming even then and how much He must have been hurting, but He traveled that path, step by step anyway, because He loved us! We will never be able to truly comprehend His Great Love for us, because we are truly not capable of that kind of love.

But this video is right, He took my place because He loves me so, just as He loves each and every human being

In Jesus’s Name Amen

Jesus And Mary…

I can’t even begin to imagine the fear and pain that Mary, Our Blessed Mother, felt as the Cross approached or as She stood at the Foot of the Cross. Loving Jesus and supporting Him. Can you?

I have a son of my own who I love with all of my heart. And I am sure that Mary loved Her Son Jesus with all of Her heart too! I can’t even begin to imagine being as strong and unselfish as Mary was!

I can’t even begin to imagine the overwelming Love that Jesus felt at the sight of His Mother standing at the Foot of the Cross.

And yet, there Mary stood. Engulfed by fear and pain; She stood there anyway, offering Her Love and Encouragement to Jesus. She stood there for Jesus’s sake and for ours. She Loved her Son and She Loved us!

Thank you Mary for being such a comfort and encouragement for Jesus and for us!

And thank you for leading us ever closer to Jesus 🙂

In The Darkest Light, God’s Light Shines For Those Who Choose To See It :)

“who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:4

Life can be hard, really hard. And there are those in this world who truly suffer. We don’t always see them because they are often the ones offering a kindness or a smile. But they are there.

One can’t help but wonder how they find the strength to smile through the pain. The strength to love others even as they themselves sometimes suffer so. There is only one answer. When life got really hard, they turned to God!

Sometimes when times are hard, people turn from the Lord. But it is those who turn to God who find the strength and comfort to not only deal with their suffering, but to love others during it :).

Jesus gave His Life for us and conquered death so that we could always turn to God, in good times and bad.

Fly like an eagle 🙂 Turn to God!

Forgiveness!

Through Jesus, God forgives anyone who truly repents. There is only one sin “blasphamy of the Holy Spirit”, that God will not forgive. More can be learned about this is Matthew 12.

So that means murder, lies, adultry and many other sins are forgivable through Jesus, for anyone who truly Repents.

So what does Repentance mean. Repentance means sincere sorrow for our sins, but it also means a willingness to change our sinful behavior. God is pretty clear in our Holy Bible and tells us exactly what behaviors are sinful.

But even if we try our best, we will not be perfect. The only perfect person that ever lived is Jesus Christ. If even one of us could live a life without sin, Jesus would not have had to come. But we can’t. We are all sinners.

And as such, we need to focus more on our own sins and repentance, and less about the behavior of others. For if Jesus came for sinners, if Jesus loved sinners in spite of their sins-so should we!

*There have been recent attempts to change God’s Word so that it allows for some sinful behaviors. I shudder to think what may happen to those who have tried to rewrite God’s Word with such evil intent. So what versions of the Bible are safe? True? The KJV, the NKJV and the ESV are all as they always were-True!

Following Jesus To Heaven :)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7: 21-23

Many of us expect Jesus to bring us to Heaven. We tell ourselves that we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, and somehow it’s almost as if we think we are done.

But the Truth is that if we have really, truly accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will Follow Him. We will pray and read the Bible, seeking the Truth of God’s Word with the help of the Holy Spirit and obeying it.

Some read the Bible seeking verses to support their own agenda. But the Truth is we need to ask the Holy Spirit to read the Bible with us and seek God’s Truth, not our own.

And then we need to do our best to Live God’s Truth!

Seeing The Truth!

” For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.” -Matthew 24:24

We need to remembere this and pray constantly to the Holy Spirit to protect us and show us the Truth! And we need to ask Jesus for the courage to SHARE THAT TRUTH! All of us, and most especially all of the Priests and Pastors.

A Special Message For Priests, Pastors And Christian Leaders!

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” – Peter 2:1-3

Leaders are held to an even higher standard, than those who are not. Sadly, there will be many False Prophets and teachers among Christ’s people. They will be severely punished if they mislead Christ’s people. Being popular is NOT important, sharing the Truth is. God’s Truth.

And that is one of the reasons we need to pray for our Priests and Pastors. It is difficult enough to be a Priest or a Pastor as it is and it is so important to seek God’s Truth and Share it. But for so many, Sharing the Truth, the Real Truth of God’s Word has become really difficult for our current culture does not have respect for God’s Word or God’s Place in our country.

But perhaps we can begin again in America and regain what we lost. Many in other countries face a much higher price in Following Jesus-their lives. The only price we pay is peer pressure. If there is anything more, it’s because we have allowed peer pressure to win for too long.

We tell our children all of the time to stand up to peer pressure. We expect them to! Shouldn’t we?

Holy Spirit: Please Let Me See The Truth-Always! In Jesus’s Name Amen

Sometimes we forget just how important it is to see the Truth of what is happening around us. Especially Now!

if possibleEven the elect” – Matthew 24:24

Satan attempts to confuse us and to sow fear and anger in our hearts. But God shares with us the Truth and Loves us!

In John 14:17, it calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth”. We need to listen to Him. Really listen! And then act accordingly…