Good morning to you who are called by His name!! How are y'all doing this morning? It looks to be a gorgeous sunny day and I'm LOVING it so far. I have every intention of loving the whole day that the Lord has made just for my enjoyment. I hope y'all enjoy the day that He has made for your enjoyment also. With ever bit of sunshine, the earth just gets a bit warmer and more ready to start providing the kind of nourishing warmth for the little seeds to sprout and start growing wonderful produce. You can see where my mind is at. My little deck garden. We've had some really cold nights and we've had to take everything to the garage under a tarp with a light in it to keep my babies warm. It works. hahaha
This is Easter weekend. It is the weekend celebrated by Christ Followers as the weekend that we gained access to the Father thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. If we could go back and look at the scene, there is no doubt that we would shed many tears. To think that my Savior took all the punishment that I should have taken for my sins is more that I can hardly bare. The truth is, there is nothing that I can do about my sin without what took place on what we call Easter weekend. I would have been doomed to a devils hell with no hope for anything else. Jesus is my HOPE!!!! He is your hope also.
Without hope, life is not worth much. You can see hope as a tangible asset. Have you ever noticed it when people watching? Or when coming in contact with others? If not, I would make a suggestion to you to start watching. It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. I think that is a pretty accurate statement. If you see someone who has sparkles in their eyes, I believe they have hope abundance. If you see someone and looking at their eyes is like looking at a flat wall, they have no hope. If you have ever noticed it, just once, you'll never forget it.
Many years ago I worked with a beautiful young lady who was full of life and bubbly and so friendly. All of a sudden she was missing from work for a couple of weeks and when she came back to work, she was lifeless, dead inside, quiet, and wouldn't talk. Rumors started around about what had happened. I know the rumors was true, but I didn't partake in the rumormill. When the talk started, I left. I didn't want this sweet young lady to think I was talking about her. The talk and rumors kept on for months and someone asked me why I walked off when anyone started talking about her, suggesting I was too good to talk about her. I just told this person that while y'all talked about her, I prayed for her. When the rumormill started about someone, I started praying for them. Gradually, this young lady started talking to me when I was around, she started smiling again and her eyes got bright and sparkly again. That is the HOPE that God gives us. Her life changed drastically, but God was with her and He kept her thru this difficult time. She also knew I was praying for her.
If God has put someone in your life that prays for you daily, you are blessed. If God has put you in someone's life to pray for them daily, you too, are so very blessed. To pray for and to be prayed for, are two of the sweetest and most awesome things we can ever do or have done for us. I am blessed to have some ladies in my life that I know, pray for me daily, and for that I am so thankful!!! I pray for them daily also, and am very blessed to be able to lift them in prayer. Sometimes, even on a good day, we can lose hope, or lose sight of hope. But when we know we have sisters in Christ who are lifting us up, regularly, God hears those prayers.
Our hope is in Christ, and Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Our salvation is in Christ, and Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
All we have to do is receive the gift of salvation. Are you a good receiver? A lot of people are not. I used to be a bad receiver. Many years ago, at church, a lady wanted to bless me. I had done some embroidery work for her for a set price. I took it to her and she was extremely thrilled. She happily paid me for what I had done and I happily received my pay. On Sunday, at church, when we got seated, she turned around and handed me a greeting card. I opened the card and there was money, the same amount that she had already given me. I asked her what it was for. She said it was a blessing from her to me. I said, "oh, I can't take this!!" A lovely gentleman was setting behind me. He had no idea what this was all about. He leaned forward and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and he kindly and gently whispered to me and told me that she was following as the Lord had directed her and I needed to be a good receiver when someone wanted to bless me. If we are bad receivers, we can keep someone from receiving a blessing. It is awesome to be able to bless someone, but the receivers have to be good receivers. I received her blessing and have never forgotten the lesson that she and the gentleman behind me taught me that day. Be a good giver and a good receiver.
So, as I think about Easter weekend, knowing that Sunday is coming!!!, I want to be a good receiver of all the blessings that God, thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ, has in store for me. That is the ONLY part that you and I play in our salvation, believing, repenting and receiving. We don't work for it to earn it, it's a free gift, Being open vessels, ready to receive all that God has in store for us. Like empty buckets, ready for the blessings to rain down and fill us up. Once we get filled up, every little nook and cranny, filled with God's blessings, then the blessings start to overflow from us and spill out onto others around us. When that happens, we are then blessing others from our abundance. The phrase, "you can't give what you don't have", rings true in this circumstance. When we know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, then our buckets are full to overflowing.
About this free gift, salvation, it is free to us. However, freedom isn't free. Any freedom comes with a high cost. The freedom that we have here in the Untied States, came at a high cost, going back before we were even what is called The United States of America. People has fought and died for our freedom. There is always death associated with freedom. In order for people to have freedom, one has to decide that it's worth putting their life on the line for. And lots have given all for us to have the freedom that we love and take for granted now. But for us, we can squander our freedom and lose sight of the value of freedom and let it slip right from our grasp, like it's actually happening today, even as I type. We are losing our freedom. It may even be too late to do anything about it. We'll have to see how it plays out.
One thing about the freedom in Christ that we have, that freedom will NEVER be taken from us!!!! I don't know about you, but that makes me want to shout from the roof tops that no matter what is taken from me, they can't take my freedom in Christ!!!! Why? The work of Christ was finished on the cross more than 2000 years ago. That sealed the best deal that you or I will have in this life time or 1000 more just like it. I am covered by the blood of Jesus and all God sees when He looks at me is His Son!!! My sins are covered. I'm sealed by the blood of the Lamb. I'm saved, eternally. All I done was receive it. My life was changed upon receiving is. The old is gone and the new remains. All because of Christ my Redeemer. I seen a t-shirt that says, "plot twist, HE LIVES!!" I love that so much!!!!!
Today is Saturday, but Sunday's coming!!!!!! Today is one of the days that hope was lost, but with the "plot twist", WOW, Sunday is coming!!!!!! Are you ready?????
I hope and pray that as you go thru this day, you can see God very visible and active in your day. Just know that every step you take is ordered by Him. Yes, have the free will to veer from the path He is laying out in front of us. But with the help of the Holy Ghost, we will stay on path and walk the ordered steps of our Father. I hope as you close you eyes in sweet rest tonight, that you will say before you drift off, "HE LIVES!!" He lives, that is our HOPE. That is what Resurrection Sunday is all about. "HE LIVES!!!!" No other sweeter words!!!!
God bless you all Dear Ones of Christ. I hope and pray that you can celebrate the fact that He Lives and that is where your hope comes from. Sometime before the day is over get your Bible out are read Luke's account of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. When you read, read it with the understanding that it was all done for YOU!!!!! God loves you and so do I. hugs, love, blessings and Resurrection excitement be yours, patty
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