A Day of Reckoning...Put Off/Put On!

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A Day of Reckoning...Put Off/Put On!

Today is a Day of Reckoning...but not how you think!  Usually we use that term to mean to give an accounting, a calculation, a settlement of accounts.  In fact according to Wikipedia, it can mean a host of things from the Final Judgment Day to heavy metal albums and Nintendo games.

But in the Bible sense, EVERY day is a Day of Reckoning.  This word reckon in the Greek is often rendered consider.  In other words, "count on something to be true".  My reckoning doesn't MAKE it true.  It already IS true, so I count on it and live from it.  So each day is THE day to reckon to be true what God says is true...because it IS true.  I can take it to the bank and live from it :)

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Focus on the CROSS: the Last 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

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Focus on the CROSS: the Last 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

It is truly "holy ground" to reflect on the Cross — what our Lord went through … but more than that, what He accomplished there. Would you meditate along with me ... and revisit Christ's seven sayings from the Cross? [links below]

What a perfect preparation for the joy, freedom, and release of the Resurrection.

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Words from the Cross: a Word of Family Affection

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Words from the Cross: a Word of Family Affection

Dear woman, behold your son...behold your mother. (John 19:26)

Jesus has a special love for His own. As we've already seen with His forgiving and saving attitude in the midst of excruciating agony, His concern was not with His own suffering.  Rather His attention was next drawn to His precious loved ones at the foot of His cross, His mother and His beloved disciple John.

What agony Jesus must have seen on Mary's face.

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Words from the Cross: a Word of Forgiveness

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Words from the Cross: a Word of Forgiveness

Christ’a first saying from the Cross ushers us into our basic need as fallen humanity. Listen in and reflect on the amazing love and grace of our forgiving Lord …

Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet, once said,To err is human; to forgive, divine.

So true...but we humans more readily echo what someone else has said,

To err is human, but to get even? THAT is divine.

We struggle so, with forgiving our offenders! Perhaps that's why we are amazed and awestruck to realize that Jesus' first words from the Cross were ones of forgiveness.

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FEAR NOT: Every Day of the Year

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FEAR NOT: Every Day of the Year

My Child...

Fear not...you are never alone for I am with you!

Fear not...you are never left out for you are one with Me !

Fear not...you are never condemned, but always accepted! I not only love you...I like you!

Fear not...you are always adequate with My adequacy...no matter how helpless and inadequate you feel!

Fear not...you are alive with my everlasting, indestructible life, no matter how dead you feel inside! I am your Life!

I AM in your "right here, right now," whether it be suffering in a hospital room or struggling over a wardrobe choice in your closet...and everything in between...I am with you!

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Jesus, I am working, working

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Jesus, I am working, working

I'm such a worker bee...how about you? I get great satisfaction out of accomplishing something. It can be a "driven" thing if I'm not careful. By the time I realize it, I'm really dragging! And rather than being satisfied, I'm disgruntled and out of sorts!

Being the worker bee is especially dangerous when it comes to the spiritual life. I lived for a long time under the yoke of what I call "to do list" Christianity. What a bondage! Self-effort doesn't work when it comes to doing what only God can do...which is anything and and everything of any spiritual value.

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Virtual Ocean Sunrise: Scripture & Song

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Virtual Ocean Sunrise: Scripture & Song

For several years before my mom went home to Jesus, I spent lots of precious time with her on the coast in New Jersey. One of the highlights had always been my early morning walks along the beach at sunrise.

I’m returning to this blog that I wrote after a sweet summer with my mom at my sister's house in Belmar.

Maybe you too need some peaceful reflection today. Why not join me as I "go down the shore" and enjoy the glory of our great Creator in pictures (my own), Scriptures and song.

Blessings, my friend.

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Holy Week: 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

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Holy Week: 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001

A few years ago, I came across an inspiring cartoon in my "Easter" file (See enlarged image below).  I think my husband John, who had been the family reader of the Sunday funnies in years gone by, cut it out and gave it to me back in April 2001.  So there in my file, this little treasure has been tucked away for all these years.

For those of you who have been following the Lenten Meditations on a branch in the Vine, this piece serves as a fitting climax during Holy Week.

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Abandonment

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Abandonment

Abandoned!  Left on the "doorstep of Life"...but with no Rescuer in sight! What happens next in the unfolding drama of the crucifixion of our Lord is incomprehensible!

It's an abandonment so profoundly mysterious that it boggles the mind...but ravishes the believing heart! Let's watch it unfold...

It is noon. By this time, Jesus has already forgiven ... 

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Family Affection

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Family Affection

Dear woman, behold your son...behold your mother. (John 19:26)

Jesus has a special love for His own. As we've already seen with His forgiving and saving attitude in the midst of excruciating agony, His concern was not with His own suffering.  Rather His attention was next drawn to His precious loved ones at the foot of His cross, His mother and His beloved disciple John.

What agony Jesus must have seen on Mary's face.

Read More

Forgiveness Revisited

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Forgiveness Revisited

Several years ago, I met with a group of moms to explore one of our Lord's first words from the Cross: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Luke 23:34

As our discussion went on, we talked about the struggle we all have to forgive our offenders.  I shared a short section from a book that years before had an incredible impact on me in the area of forgiveness.

I used to think that the struggle to forgive was itself sinful...as well as the horrible feelings I had in the whole thing.  But I've come to realize that the struggle and the feelings are all part of the human condition on this earth. 

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Forgiveness

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Lenten Meditation: a Word of Forgiveness

Christ’a first saying from the Cross ushers us into our basic need as fallen humanity. Listen in and reflect on the amazing love and grace of our forgiving Lord …

Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet, once said,To err is human; to forgive, divine.

So true...but we humans more readily echo what someone else has said,

To err is human, but to get even? THAT is divine.

We struggle so, with forgiving our offenders! Perhaps that's why we are amazed and awestruck to realize that Jesus' first words from the Cross were ones of forgiveness.

Read More

Lenten Meditation: Last Words and Conversations

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Lenten Meditation: Last Words and Conversations

The last words of a dying person are important.  They can communicate good or ill to those left behind.  Why?  Because the last words are so final...and so revealing of what was uppermost in the person's mind as he was leaving this earth to face his Maker. I've never been at the bedside of a dying person.  But I have been with a few people just days before their death.

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The Secret Place of Communion (with PODCAST)

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The Secret Place of Communion (with PODCAST)

Where do you go to commune with your God? 

Do you go to a chapel or a church?  to a favorite place near a stream, at a mountain retreat, or on a beach? Do you go to a "prayer closet," a special place in your own home?

But maybe you are frustrated because there never seems to be a "place" where you can go. Maybe you're a mom with young children or a special needs child. Perhaps you are a working mom or a worker who needs to moonlight at a second job to make ends meet. Maybe you or a loved one has a handicap or serious illness that takes you to services and medical places that seem to consume your life. Where is the place for you?

I have good news for all of us ... 

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