Psalm 34:19 -- The righteous have trouble!?

This is so not popular!  To do the right thing should result in an easy life right?  It reminds me of Ephesians 6 and in particular the breastplate of righteousness.  Doing the right thing protects are heart. Even if people attack us we are protected because we know we can look ourselves in the mirror knowing we did what was right.

Then on top of this God has made a promise; "the Lord delivers Him from them all".  Ultimately God will step in and deliver those who do the right thing.

In between, don't waste the troubles.  Look for the lessons and help turn lemons into lemonade.

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see"

Psalm 91:1-2 -- God's shelter

A storm was coming in and we needed to get off the lake and find shelter...and there it was; a strong rock and a space under it for us to wait until the storm passed.  What a small illustration of something far greater. 

Much of Psalms was written by a guy who had seen a lot!  He hid in caves and he lived openly in the palace.  At one point he had a jealous king chasing him and at another times his own son decided to take over his house and kingdom!  Yet through all of this he found his protection in God.

Father, for those who are finding it hard to trust You just now; would You help them and protect them from the evil one; and for those who are taking You for granted now; would you enrich their relationship with You; and for those that understand what it is to trust You; would you help them to rejoice in You.

Isaiah 60:1-2 -- God's spotlight

Have you ever felt like the spotlight was on you? The end result is just amazing!  For some reason everyone was praising you; when all of this happens remember to give credit where credit is due. Thanks be to God.

Philippians 1:6 -- What God has started He'll finish

What words of encouragement.  God's not through with us yet!  We just need to continue to learn!  The tests He gives us, if we fail He'll work with us again until we ultimately pass.  That's the kind of God He is; one who is ever patient and loving.  Thanks God.

Jeremiah 29:11 -- God wants the best for us

Did you know that God wants the very best for us!  He's got some amazing plans for us.  He wants to teach us and He wants us connected into a group of people who we're to love as much as we love ourselves. God really loves us and wants to love and trust Him too.  This doesn't mean we're to just sit around and do nothing; He's given us time, $ and talents to use but what it does mean is if we trust Him he'll make the little that we have accomplish amazing things.

Lord, in all that You give help to never forget the giver.  You are far bigger than even the most brilliant person can imagine and You're putting together the most amazing picture of life so please help me to remember You have plans that are far better than anyone can dream or imagine and all we have to do is obey the next little thing You've called us to do.

Proverbs 3:5 -- Trust versus our own understanding

What do we trust?  If we've had some bad experiences they can limit us from trusting again.  On the other hand if we have a hypothesis we may try it out; is this trust or just an experiment?  Trust in an individual can come over time; as we get to know them yet people let us down and this type of trust is based on our own understanding.  The question is, can we trust when we don't know the whole picture?  Are we really willing to put God in control; a God who has far more people to care about than we do; and a God who will let people disobey Him just because He doesn't want a bunch of robots serving Him; yet a God who knows each one of our hearts and all of our motives; and a God who cares for us just like we're the only person on the face of the earth.  

Lord, today is Your day.  Please help me to trust You above my own understanding.

Proverbs 18:10 -- The name of the Lord

This quote is from the Jewish teaching so it's talking about the Lord as God the Father.

Israel is a group of people who have the hand of God upon them.  God has protected and blessed them many times.  David's psalms are filled with his honesty of asking God what is up and then ultimately recognizing that God is way bigger than he is so all he needed to do is trust God and be obedient to Him.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...the way to righteousness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX13CoJeFUk

John 3:17 -- Conviction versus Condemnation

Conviction is something specific and is of God where condemnation is general and not of God. 

Measuring up to what God wants us to be is like being in school.  If a grade 10 student is proud because the grade 1 test is easy it's nothing to be proud of.  Each of us are in God's school. We have something to learn and God will test us on the lesson until we pass the lesson and His lessons are very specific.  He knows what He will take care of what we need to take care of ourselves. 

It is true Christ wasn't here to condemn us but to save us and He left us the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey day by day, hour by hour.

Jesus, thank You for Your example, and Your sacrifice; and thank You for leaving us the Holy Spirit to help us to realize we are not condemned but loved and in that love You want to show us how to live an abundant life.

Luke 24:6-8, 33-34 -- He is Risen

Really???? He's Risen??? This is what makes Christianity, unique.  If Jesus is not risen Christianity is like every other religion.  Most religions believe in loving each other as much as they love themselves but the story of a perfect God/Man who was crucified and then conquered death is unique.

Investigating this a little more we could assume the opposite "He didn't rise from the dead". If this is true:

Where is His body?  The Romans expected someone to steal the body because they actually assigned guards at His tomb.  We know they fell asleep and were paid to keep quiet when the body went missing but why would anyone steal the body and keep it hidden?

Jesus did tell the disciples that He would rise again so maybe they faked stealing the body?  Yet this doesn't make sense.  They were scared after He was crucified; so scared they locked themselves in a room. 3 days later they were speaking openly about Jesus so what changed?  And why would they be so brave and risk being killed (and many of them were killed) if they knew they had the body?

The same thing could be said about the Jews and Romans, if they had the body why didn't they produced the body to stop everyone who believed in Jesus?

We're all given a free choice.  Do we believe Jesus rose from the dead and if we do; what does that mean for our lives today?

John 19:28-29-- God's drama

It is interesting that Jesus was acting under the concept that "it was finished" and even in His state He allowed the soldiers one more chance to help Him.

We don't know the motives of the soldiers. It seems to me that they had no choice in their work.  As a crucifiction soldier they would have the job of nailing people to the cross and giving the guilty folks the vinegar drink while they're on the cross. Did they always draw lots for the people's possessions or was this a special case because Jesus was someone they admired?

We know God is good and Jesus didn't like this part of His assignment.  He struggle with His Father over this assignment.  Yet before all this took place Jesus knew it would be hard on His followers and He said  "But take heart! I have overcome the world.”'

This was the hardest assignment Jesus ever had yet He chose to trust His Father. Being a Christian doesn't make us the best runner in the world yet we may be called upon to stand up for what we believe in.  Eric Liddell was an example of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqHEYnNSZeA

Luke 23:46 -- In His Hands

There are unknown days in our lives.  Days where we just have to trust that God knows best.  These days can draw us closer together.  For the disciples the Saturday after Jesus death had them behind locked doors.  They were scared.  Nothing made sense.  The person they believed in was just killed!

Lord, as we live today would You help us to listen to Your still small voice and trust that You know what's best for each one of us.

John 19:30 -- It is finished

The reading today asks a great question; what is finished?  Jesus's mission in His earthly body?  I like thinking of our body like a car and we are the drivers of the car.  Or another analogy is our house and we're the owners of the house.  These analogies work great for us while we're alive here on earth but what happens when we leave our bodies?  Last night I watched "God is not dead".  It's a great movie.  There's also another one playing called "Heaven is for real". They don't have all the answers; this world is too big for anyone of us, or anyone one movie, to have all the answers.  Yet each one of us has a purpose so maybe what is finished is Jesus's God assignment.

Lord, would You take this body of mine and fill it with Your Holy Spirit so every part of it is used for Your glory.  Teach me how to best take care of it so it is ready wherever and however You want to use it; and Jesus, thank You for modelling how to live and for choosing to do God's will even when You didn't want to do it.  We owe our lives to You!  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUf-gk39KQM

John 19:26-27 -- Jesus' Mom

This picture of Jesus, John and Jesus's Mom is so intimate and precious.  Jesus usually put His mission from God His Father ahead of His earthly family but in this case Jesus knows His Mom needs help so He asks one of His best friends to take care of His Mom.

This passage allows us to ask the questions; when should we rely on others,  when should we be dependent on God and when should we be independent?  Understanding who we are and how we're unique helps us to value ourselves.  1 Corinthians 12-14 is a great reading for helping us to recognize that we're one piece of the whole.

Lord, thanks for making us just the way we are.  Thanks too for choosing to be part of our lives and thanks for placing us in families, and other community groups.  Teach us about ourselves and how You want us to contribute in the lives of those around us and help us to receive the blessings You give us through others with an attitude of gratitude.

Luke 23:43 --What's fair??

What is fair?  It doesn't seem right that the guy who killed people was set free and Jesus, an innocent man, is on a cross.  Jesus is unbelievable, even while he's in pain on the cross He's thinking about the guy beside Him.

As a God/Man; how much pain did Jesus really have?  We know He really didn't like losing the communication with His Father.  That seemed to be the worst for Him; yet He had to have had physical pain too.  He was so popular the week before and then days later everyone seemed to turn against Him.  It shows the power of a group for good and for bad.

Jesus, thanks for "taking it" for us.