The Triumphant Entry

This past Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday. The irony of Palm Sunday and then Good Friday have always puzzled me. Ironic because one day we celebrate the arrival of the fulfillment of the Messiah and days later we murder Him. It is weighty to grasp the change of the human heart in just a matter of days but in reality my heart is just like that. 

One minute I can praise Him with hands raised and a spirit consumed with joy and then days later completely sin against His holy name. Sometimes it isn't' conscious. Sometimes it is purposeful. 

Our pastor said something on Sunday that has consumed my thoughts this week. He said one day we will stand before God and He will say, "Why did you live in rebellion against my Holy Name"? 

Wow. 

What will I say?  I told my husband that I don't think at that moment, being face to face with the Creator of the Universe, I will be able to formulate all the "good things" I have done.  Lord, "I served at church, I rocked babies in the nursery, I took meals to friends when they were sick, I love my husband and children well.... Lord, I did a lot of great things in your name".

No... I won't be saying that. I don't think I'll even be able to hold my head up and view His holiness. I think I will be bowed on my face before Him and say, "Lord, I'm a sinner covered with the blood of Jesus. That is all I bring you is the blood of Christ". 

I believe that is what will happen. And because of the perfect work of Christ on the cross, I can confidently say that God will look at me and say, "well done".

He will not look at my heart, my sins, my good deeds. He will overlook all of that because I am washed in the blood of Jesus.

That is why I smile this week. It is a weighty week for those who love Jesus. But it is a beautiful story of an unrelenting Savior after His people. 

Washed in the blood.. Cross.. Redeemed... Forgiven... Christ...  Risen... 

That is Easter. Do you know Jesus?  

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31)

With Great Hope in Him,
Leeanne

 Matthew 21:1-11:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

God's Action or Inaction

This devotional resonated with me today. There are so many things I am praying and waiting on an answer for. The Lord is faithful whether He is silent or speaking. As I was writing in my journal this month, my prayers started with "Dear Lord, please allow this, this, and this, to happen. Please grant us favor with this or this or this"...  After weeks of pouring it out and feeling frustrated I realized my heart needed to change. This week I wrote, "Lord, grant us any and every request if it is for our good. If your plans are different then they are better and we receive them with joy".  This week, my heart has been light and joyful. Not because the answers have come but I know He is faithful to provide exactly what we need.

With joy,
Leeanne


Praying and Waiting
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Habakkuk 2:1

Additional Scripture Readings: Psalm 130:5–7; Lamentations 3:24–26

There are so many ways in which God’s actions or inactions make little sense
to us. We ask him for help, and he is silent. We trust in him to provide, and
he withholds. But is God inconsistent, or is he simply running according to
another time schedule, another set of priorities?

Habakkuk questions God’s plan to use the pagan nation of Babylon to discipline
wayward Israel. He then settles in to wait for God’s answer: “I will stand at
my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will
say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint” (Habakkuk 2:1).
Like a guard who waits through his watch with eyes peeled for a sign of
movement, Habakkuk waited for God.

So must we. We must pray with a willingness to wait and wait with a
willingness to pray. Waiting and praying go together. Like two shoes of a pair
or two halves of a whole, they work as a team. 

NIV Devotions for Moms
Bible Gateway

Joy

James 1:2-4  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Perspective is everything.  Did you ever stop in the middle of a bad situation and re-frame it to look totally different?  James says to, "Consider it pure joy, " in the midst of a trial.  I can assure you this does not come natural to thank The Lord as some has just stolen your purse and wallet, when the stomach flu is making it's round in your family, when your best friend has just been diagnosed with cancer.  You name the trial.  What are you dealing with today?

This past weekend a lovely virus decided to pay a visit to our home.  And this is a week that my husband is traveling.  Here are two thought patterns:

Thought Pattern #1

- Why does this always happen to me?

- Now I'm not going to be able to get a good night sleep.

- I will have to call in sick to work and make sub plans, which is not fun.

Thought Pattern #2

- Thank you Lord for everyone not having this illness all at the same time.

- Thank you for allowing me to have a day off to spend with my child alone.

- Thank you Lord for choosing me to nurse my children back to health.

Considering any trial pure joy does not come naturally in the flesh.  Notice that all of my thoughts from the first one are all about me.  The second one is about God and others.  A simple acronym that I learned years ago was, If your want pure JOY, put J-esus first, O-thers second and then Y-ourself.  It has proven to be a good motto in my own life.  God has a plan and purpose in all of our trials.

With Joy, Jill

Testimony Part 2

 Part Two of Kim Braddy's testimony! God is faithful!
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 I immediately knew that this was not a healthy pregnancy due to the symptoms that brought me to the Dr in the first place.  A series of tests showed that the pregnancy was no longer viable.  A few days later, I went to the hospital for surgery.  When I woke up, the OB told me that I had been pregnant with twins in one of my fallopian tubes. While I was saddened that they had stopped growing around 6 weeks, had the Lord allowed them to continue to grow, my fallopian tube would have soon ruptured and I could have died.  He told me that they removed my fallopian tube and this would significantly reduce my fertility. 

 A month later, I conceived our last baby.  So much for reduced fertility!! About 10 weeks into this pregnancy I had a lot of bleeding that continued for several weeks and made for a complicated pregnancy where my life and the life of the baby growing inside of me were at risk.  This time, instead of freaking out, I was able to look back at the faithfulness of God in my life and say, "OK God, I am weary of this, but you are good and your plans are good so lets do this, whatever your will may be."  I'm thankful to say she is healthy and happy and our family is doing great.  So how does this story have anything to do with blessings?  I used to sing the song, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" and there is a line in this song that says, "you give and take away, but blessed be your name".

  When life is good, this is so easy to sing.  The question is, can you sing it and mean it in the midst of the storm?  It is by God's grace that I can say yes!!  God was so faithful to walk with me every step of the way.  I was so often comforted by the verse. in Isaiah 43 - "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

 God does not ever promise in His Word that I will have it easy in this life but He does promise to walk with me when it isn't!  And what a blessing that is!!!  My hope is in a God who does not change even when my circumstances do. Hebrews 13:8"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."  That is a blessing!!  I always think about how that probably isn't the worst thing I will go through in my life and how I can look at an uncertain future with joy, hope, and confidence instead of fear.  Because the God of the Bible is faithful!!  This is a blessing to know.  When I look back on this child birthing season of my life, I miss the intimacy I felt to the Lord during those trying times but through these times, He has taught me that total dependence on Him is for my good. 

 It is by God's grace that I am not angry and bitter, but hopeful.  And God continues to use this in my life...

2 Cor 1:3-4 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."  The Lord continues to allow me to shed tears and share hope with friends who have gone through this same thing and that is a blessing!  So now, when I think of blessings...I don't just think of the obvious things that the Lord has graciously given me but I think about what a blessing it is to know and walk with a faithful, compassionate, loving, unchanging  God who uses all circumstances of this life to shape us and make us more like His Son.  I look forward with great anticipation to the day when I will be with Him for eternity and He introduces me to those 4 sweet babies that we did not get to hold this side of Heaven. 

Testimony Tuesday

We are so blessed to have our friend Kim Braddy share her testimony with us!  You will be blessed by God's faithfulness in her life!

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Blessings

So often when I think of blessings, I think about all the amazing things God has blessed me with:  air to breathe, sunshine, my home, dinner, my sweet kids or my awesome husband.  That's what I use to think about when I thought of blessings.  That was before the sad loss of 4 babies during 3 pregnancies.  After my first daughter was born, I found out I was expecting again less than a year after her birth.  We were so excited to be having another baby and expanding our family and felt so thankful that the Lord allowed us to get pregnant so easily.  I went to my 10 week appointment at the OB and heard the sweet sound of my baby's beating heart!  

I went back a month later for an ultrasound and knew the moment the screen popped up that something was wrong.  There was just no movement at all. The Dr. just stared at me and said they were sorry and asked if I needed a minute.  I was left in the room sobbing with my one year old in the stroller.  All I wanted to do was hold her and cry!  I remember calling my mom and my husband and telling them that our baby had died.  I had so many questions.  The baby was healthy with a strong heart beat just a few weeks earlier.  How could something like this happen?  I am a healthy person and my first pregnancy was perfect.  What could have gone wrong?  Did I do something that caused this to happen?

 As any woman who has dealt with this knows, there are no answers to these questions.  The Dr. explained that with all the things that have to come together just right in a pregnancy, that there is a surprisingly high percentage of the time that something doesn't happen just right and your body's way of dealing with that is for the pregnancy to stop growing.  Of course, this answer is not helpful because it is really not an answer at all.  

They are basically saying they have no idea why this happens but it sometimes just does.  Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts or my ways your ways, declares the Lord.  As the Heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts".  I cried for days and wondered if I would ever again open my eyes in the morning and this not be the first thing I think about. Lamentations 3:22-23 "The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness."  Would I ever be able to get pregnant again?  Would this happen again if I did?  

Well, both questions were quickly answered.  I got pregnant just a few months later, only to miscarry once again.  The first time this happened I was so full of sorrow; but this time I was angry.  I had been walking with the Lord for about 5 years at this point in my life and didn't understand how He could let this happen.  It almost felt mean.  Why not just keep me from getting pregnant in the first place?  I was angry and I told God all about it, even though He already knew my heart.  After continuing to wrestle with God about this, I had 2 more healthy, beautiful children a few years later.  However, when my son was almost 3, I once again found myself in the Dr.'s office for some weird symptoms that I was concerned about.  I thought the Dr. was going to tell me that I had an infection, but to my surprise, the Dr. told me I was pregnant.  This was a complete shock!  My husband and I thought we were "done" having kids. 

   Part two tomorrow....  

Teach Us to Pray

Luke 11:1 Lord, teach us to pray.

This weekend at church I was challenged and asked if my prayers were more for my own comfort, safety and current events in my life or were they more heavenly-minded, gospel-centered and mission minded? 

During our nightly devotions as a family, we all take turns praying.  My six year old likes to go first and his prayers are sweet, but do not vary much.  He thanks God for the roof over our head, food on the table and whatever he had fun doing that day.  He may occasionally pray for someone or something else but he is growing. My middle one who is seven is my prayer warrior.  She prays for everything and everyone.  She has a tree in the front yard she calls her, "praying tree".  She climbs it and prays.  She prays without thinking about it.  Such an example.  My oldest prays from her heart and is deep and serious.  I remember one night listening to her on the monitor when she was five years old.  She was praying to Jesus and said, "I asked you into my heart Jesus and I will never ask you out.  I will never say to come in and go out."  I laughed and cried at the same time.

My prayers vary.  The more tired I am and the less time I spend with God and in his Word, the weaker and more temporal are my prayers.  I thank Him for the day, where I saw His hand at work and pray for the next day.  As I write this, I am coming off a two week break from school.  I've had lots of rest, relaxation, play time, getting caught up on life and mostly had an abundance of time with Him and in His Word.  I feel close to my  Heavenly Father and my prayers are so much more potent.  I am reminded that we were created for Heaven.  Heaven is my home and ultimate destination. Do my daily prayers reflect that?  Sadly, not always.  But today, I'm so thankful for this time of renewal.  

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me from myself.  Thank you for choosing me to be part of your Kingdom.  You have transformed my life and heart and I'm forever grateful.  Lord, I pray that you continue to grow me and mold me into your Son's image.  Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.  Strengthen and protect my marriage from the demands of a busy life. Help me to be an example for my children, to rear them in such a way that their foundation is unshakeable when they leave our house because You are their rock.  I pray that others come to know  You and Your saving grace through the way we live and the choices we make.  Give my children the boldness to stand firm in their faith and not be wooed by the temptations in this world.  Teach us to love like You love.  In Christ's name, Amen.

Testimony Part Two

Welcome back to Part Two of Becca's testimony!  Becca, thank you for blessing us with your story and for the end where you show How much He loves us!  

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On January 11, 2013, my first week of classes, I met a girl named Kaitlyn. I was lead to ask her about the cross bracelet she was wearing, and after class we spent hours just talking. I told her all about my life, and the guy I had been dating, and how just depressed I felt. And she listened. She didn’t judge me or condemn me for all the sins I kept committing. She told me all about her life, and how unpleasant it had been at moments. But the JOY she had just radiated off her, and it really got me thinking. If somebody who has been through some pretty rough stuff in her life as well could feel this joyful because of this Jesus guy, well I want what she has.

Kaitlyn asked for my number, and over the next few weeks she texted me and kept inviting me to church. Finally, after the 3rd time of asking, I went with her. I will never forget the sermon preached that Sunday. The preacher talked about how we all have “thorns” in our life, crosses we have to bear, but we are given these in order to bring us closer to God. We are all so self-indulged, that unless we felt a need to have Christ in our life, we wouldn’t even try.

Wow. What a powerful sermon it was. So I started reading my Bible every night like I did in high school, going through the motions again, thinking that would make me a true Christian. But it just wasn’t working.

Fast forward to February 13th, 2013. I started feel depressed again. I was hopeless, lonely and felt like nothing would ever get better. The walls felt like they were closing in and I was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe. I picked up my phone and texted Kaitlyn. She didn’t even hesitate, she told me to come over. I spent a few hours over at Kaitlyn’s that night telling her how frustrated I was and that I just couldn’t do it alone anymore. So we prayed together and then she prayed over me. I gave my life to Christ that night. I still wasn’t sure what that meant, but I was willing to find out.

It has been about a year since I accepted Christ into my life. My life definitely isn’t perfect – but through all the pain and the trials, I have a HOPE that I NEVER had before. Depression is a battle that I fight everyday – but now I can fight it with the Truth of God’s Word. He has blessed me with so many Christian friends that are such an encouragement to me. He has healed my relationship with my mom – we finally have the relationship that I have always wanted with her. I am doing my best to live for Christ’s will for my life, and not my own. I know now that I am never alone, because God is always there for me even when the whole world walks out.

Because Christ loves me and you SO MUCH,  He gave HIS ONLY SON, to DIE FOR US. What the crap y’all… there is no love greater than that. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

We are all here for a purpose, GOD’S PURPOSE. Give up your life to Christ. He loves you and just wants to adopt you as His Child. If you have any questions after reading this, please don’t hesitate to ask !

In Christ, Becca