My World in April

A  cabin on the land at Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge

          April found me rather busy. We had three dress rehearsals for our Good Friday drama. The cast requested the third one. I had to miss that one because Hubby and I had to go down to the southern part of Indiana so he could do some work for our friends who lost their mother in February. While he was helping them, our son and I went to the nearby wildlife refuge and took some pictures. 

One of the lakes, also a Muscatatuck

            Holy Week was extra busy for me. On Monday that week, Hubby told me we were leaving for Florida the next Monday. In our talking about this earlier, I had told him I didn’t think I could go until like April 30. We left on April 17. I had a Sunday school class party I wanted to go to this past Sunday.

            I had an eye exam and ordered new glasses before we left. When we returned home, I had seen they had called to tell me my new spectacles were in. I picked them up this past Monday.

I am part of a prayer group that meets on Wednesday mornings. Usually, every other Tuesday, a lady from church and I do visitation, making contact with some of our shut-ins, one in an assisted living facility, one in a memory unit of a retirement home, and three in an area nursing home. That week we had to go on Friday. On Maundy Thursday, evening, our church was invited to join a sister church for a Seder Meal service. I always find these services meaningful and instructive. I was trying to sort through summer clothes (packed away) and sweat pants to get washed.

The drama was well attended and well received. The Seder Meal was instructive. My Gluten Fee diet caused me to miss out on the Matzo Ball Soup and Communion with Matzo Bread. However, I did try one piece of Matzo bread with ground apples. AND two days later, it caught up with me.

I am working on two plays for our drama group, one I hope we can present just before Thanksgiving. The other one might be for next Good Friday. I have had to do some research on these. I even took some of my folders and legal pads to Florida, along with a small Bible and did some work on the Thanksgiving play while we were there. Right now the manuscript is 4/5 of the way of being done.

I await return the manuscript of my collection of meditations from one of my readers. I need to get with the program and work on the book proposal

With the advent of spring-like weather, I have been getting to sit on my porch. I call it “Porch Time.’ When we returned home from our vacation, our Dogwood tree we planted last year was in full bloom. 

Red Bud at the Wildlife Refuge

St. Andrews State Park, Panama City Beach Florida

                                            

Our Dogwood Tree.(Planted 2016)

A Spectacle of Glory:

Zondervan/ BookLookBloggers

                                  

God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day

By: Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby

The title of this devotional book tells the reader what it contains. You will see God’s glory in each reading. The contents of this book are divided into monthly sections. I found the subtitle to be true, as I saw Jesus in each reading.

In the majority of the short meditations, the reader will realize that Joni speaks from her heart. Those who know her history know she has lived close to the Lord since her accident at the age of 18. Her faith is evident in each page of this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who desires to grow closer to God. The short readings would be appropriate for use for devotions at Christian or para-church meetings or as an opening for a Sunday school class. This book may make a great gift for a young person who is going off to college.

I received a free copy of this book from Booklook Bloggers, a part of Harper Collins Publishers. This volume was published by Zondervan. All they asked of me was an honest review.

The Holy Spirit

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            What do we know about the Holy Spirit of God?

            Jesus promised to send a helper to His disciples after He departed this world.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” John 14:15-16

            The Holy Spirit was present at the creation of our earth.

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2

 

            Jesus invited the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit.

“Do not leave Jerusalem, wait but wait for the gift which my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. . . in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4

            The disciples dramatically received the promised Holy Spirit. They heard it and they saw it alight on each other.

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Acts 2:2-3

            Through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the disciples received powers they had not experienced before.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.”  Acts 2:4

            Why am I going into all this detail about the Third Person of the Trinity?  While we were traveling back from our vacation, I sensed this urge to pray for a special writing friend. In years past, this has happened to me numerous times.

            One of the men I met while I was in college grew up about ten miles south of the town where I still live. I used to remember something that I saw when a group of us toured his fraternity house. I used to think about that at odd moments twenty years after first seeing it. This happened three times close together. Then one day, I picked up our local newspaper and saw his obituary. He had returned to his parent’s home and had succumbed to cancer.

            That day, I learned a lesson. God, through the Holy Spirit, will speak to us and even give us tasks—such as praying for someone He puts on our hearts, sending a card or making a call to one having difficulties. I have fallen short in doing this. I know I need be more faithful in doing these things.

            The Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to carry God’s message to their world. I pray that I can help carry His message to our world of today.

“I Have Seen the Lord.”

William Brassey Hole via Suzanne Woods Fisher.comAdd caption

Thoughts of Mary Magdalene:

            I returned to the tomb. I couldn’t keep from crying. I wanted to know what the soldiers, or whoever took my Master’s body, did with it.

            After Peter and John departed, I sat at the entrance and sobbed all the harder. Then, I heard a voice ask me why I was crying and who I was looking for.

            I thought it was the gardener. I inquired about the Master’s body—where had they taken it? Then, I heard my name. I looked up and saw Jesus. No one knows the relief I felt. All I could do was call out his name, the name I thought of his as. “Rabboni!”

            He talked to me. He asked me to deliver a message to the disciples. I departed to find the disciples to share the wondrous news, "I have seen the Lord!”

            Mary went from somber sadness to ecstatic joy. Can we identify with her as we enter into the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection?

I've Just Seen Jesus

          

       I will be taking a short break from blogging. I will be back on April 24. Hubby and I are going to do something special while I am unplugged. In the meantime, I wish each of you a very Happy Easter.

 

Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene

http://aviewfromtheright.com

            John and I saw Mary Magdalene as she ran toward us. I wondered why she hurried so.

            “They have moved the Master’s body and I don’t know what they did with him.”

            John and I took off running toward the tomb. John outran me and arrived there first. Later, he told me, he hesitated at the door. He didn’t want to enter such a personal place.

            I came to the tomb a moment later. I had to see for myself. I brushed past John and entered the tomb. Mary was right. I saw the linen strips lying there. The burial cloth for His head was folded neatly and lying separately from the other pieces. Then John came in. He looked around, as he looked around the tomb, his expression changed.  He told me as we headed back to the city that, when he saw the clothes, he believed what Jesus had told us was true.

Joseph of Arimethea

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            I watched as the Roman soldiers took down His body from the cross. The Sabbath drew closer. I sought permission to receive his body. They were going to lay Him on a pile of decaying bones, the remains of others who went through crucifixions. I had to save Him from that despicable end.

            Recently, I, in preparation for my own departure from this world, I had my tomb dug. It only seemed right that Jesus be laid to rest in a tomb rather than on top of a pile of rotting bones. So, I asked for Jesus ’body and placed Him in my tomb.

            Nicodemus, a colleague of mine, purchased a huge quantity of burial spices, 75 pounds in all. He prepared Jesus’ body until the Sabbath began.

             Both Nicodemus and I had been convinced of who Jesus was, however, because we were both members of the Sanhedrin, we had to refrain from saying anything about how we felt about Him. Watching the travesties done to Him pierced my heart until I had to speak for the Master.

An Observer’s Thoughts on The Crucifixion

fivefoldministryireland.com

            The soldiers had made Jesus carry his own cross; it was customary. We had followed along behind the soldiers. When we arrived at the place of the skull, the Roman soldiers set up three crosses; they placed Jesus’ cross between the two others.

            Pilate ordered a sign made for Jesus’ cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” Some of us disagreed with the wording. We felt it should have said, “He says He is the King of the Jews. Pilate exercised his role as governor and refused to change it. He had the sign written in three languages, Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

            The four soldiers cast dice for his five pieces of clothing- shoes, turban. Girdle, outer robe, and tunic. William Barclay tells us, “Legend has it that the tunic could have been made by His mother.^1.

Later on:

            Jesus called out, “I thirst.” The soldiers, prepared for everything, placed a sponge on a hyssop reed, dipped it into a vat of wine vinegar and tried to give Jesus some to slake his thirst.

            Jesus bent His head back and shouted, “It is finished.” He died. Because of our Law, that day being the preparation day for the Sabbath, the soldiers had to remove the bodies from the crosses. The soldiers received permission to break the legs of those on the crosses. The broke the legs of the two criminals first. When they came to Jesus, he had already died˗ to be certain, they pierced His side.

My thoughts:

            I wrote this from the standpoint of one who was a casual observer. Maybe, someone writing a newspaper article. If we had been there, would we be stoic or would we be emotional about what we saw?

1.      Barclay, Daily Study Bible, Book of John, Vol. 2, page 254