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Today being Good Friday I thought it would be a good day to examine the cross.

I remember as a child going to Good Friday services at church. They were always a little frightening to me as the drama would be reenacted and the crowds would shout, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

The truth is that Good Friday was frightening. At the time, Good Friday started off looking like a very bad day. For a little while it appeared that evil had won and that Jesus had been defeated. Even from our vantage point now, that thought sends a shudder through us.

However, we know the end of the story. That cross designed as an instrument of torture, became an instrument that sang out God’s redemption and love. That cross meant to break the dearest and best instead made Him broken bread to nourish our souls. Jesus’ victory over sin and death on the cross turned it into a symbol of triumph that we wear around our necks and hang on our walls.

We are encouraged as followers of Christ to sit at His feet and learn from Him. But to sit at His feet while He is on the cross is a whole different experience. If we allow ourselves to meditate on what Jesus actually did there we will be overcome by emotion. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to sanitize the cross in my head. However, imagining Jesus as He is depicted in all of the beautiful art and on crucifixes does not tell the full story. The Bible records that He was not even recognizable as a human by the time He died, something that is difficult to think about. I know that the best part of Jesus’ death is His triumph over it in His resurrection, but I think we need to spend some time contemplating the cross. If we just skim over His death, we will not truly capture the awe of His empty tomb.

There will never be an end to all we can write, sing or say about what happened at the crucifixion and then the resurrection. Even if we were to deeply examine the cross every day, we would still discover more depth to God’s loving work there. So I would encourage you to ask God what He wants to show you about the cross today on this very Good Friday.

“When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.'” Matthew 27:50-54

I have a great opportunity I want to tell you about! It will be life-changing. This will help you in all areas of your life: your health, finances, friendships, marriage, work and recreation time. And get this, it is NOT a limited-time offer! This opportunity does require the rest of your life, but when you find out what the pay-off is, I promise you are going to want to sign up.

I am talking about the original pyramid scheme, which come to think of it includes some actual pyramids in its history. From the very beginning God had a plan. It is hard for us to comprehend He knew that we as humans were going to fall but He chose to create us anyway. However, that is exactly when His plan went into effect.

His plan to save us works like a multi-level marketing company. He picks one person: Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jesus and multiplies from there. Just like your friends may laugh when you tell them you are selling knives, Noah’s friends laughed when he said he was building an ark. Abraham’s son was literally named, “he laughs,” because his wife Sarah thought God’s plan was so outrageous. Joseph’s brothers made fun of him. Moses ran out of town and Jesus was killed. However, none of that stopped God’s plan from working.

And it is still working. Today it goes something like this: someone told you about the amazing saving grace of Jesus, you got so excited that you received the good news and told someone else, who told someone else, who told someone…And unlike the negative pyramid schemes we are familiar with, this one actually does change lives for the better.

It goes further than that though, God’s plan even provides future security. Jesus came, died and rose from the dead so everyone who received Him could live forever with God. I don’t know about you, but I think that beats any retirement package I have ever heard of!

So what do you think? Are you ready to sign up for God’s plan today?

“I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth…And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.” Acts 13:47&49

Doesn’t that sound so nice and cheery? Fuzzy bumblebees and friendly, blooming daffodils. However, the day I noticed them was anything but nice and cheery.

I have written before about a practice I started years ago after reading Ann Voskamp’s book “One Thousand Gifts.” Every day I try to write down at least one thing I am grateful for. Believe me, some days are easier than others to find things I am thankful for.

Isn’t it interesting how our circumstances can cloud our vision? On good days when things are going how I like them too, I can easily see God’s gifts to me and all the many blessings I have. But on the days when things are not going how I would like, my vision narrows and so does my gratitude.

So back to the bumblebees and daffodils. On that day I had deliberately put my giant list of to-dos aside and gone outside for a minute just to prune back my mint plant. My mind was still occupied with stress and worry though, even as the sun warmed my shoulders. Then I heard a humming and saw a fuzzy, round bumblebee land on the brightly blooming daffodils for a drink.

Just that simple moment brought my attention away from the stress and allowed gratitude to well up. Jesus was so good to design beautiful things for us to enjoy in nature, to replenish our souls when we are weary. I was able to go back to my tasks feeling lighter.

A friend of mine was talking about journals she had found of her mother’s that sounded a lot like my grateful lists. At first my friend could not understand why sometimes her mother would write something so simple as, “flowers,” but then as she herself went through some difficult times in her own life she began to understand. Sometimes life can be so hard that just to find one simple thing to be thankful for can feel almost impossible. But as the sign I saw in the craft store says, there is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

None of this is meant to produce guilt. God has designed the practice of gratitude for our good, not as a way to earn salvation or for us to be falsely cheerful. He knows that when we do take the time to be deliberately grateful, it expands our soul. It turns our eyes from our problems or difficulties to the One who holds all of it in His hands.

So I would encourage you today to find something you can be thankful for, even if it’s as simple as a bumblebee. You might be surprised to find that that one little step has the power to turn your whole day around.

“Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.” Psalm 54:6

In light of our “new normal,” I though it might be helpful to republish this blog from a couple years back:

I hope you were not expecting any fashion advice.  Those of you who know me know I am not a trendy dresser.  I joke that every now and then I am “accidentally” in style when the trend of the moment happens to be what I usually wear.  I might not follow the latest in fashion, but I have found something that helps me a lot.

A long time ago, I heard that people who got dressed right away in the morning were more successful throughout their day.  For some reason this advice stuck.  At the time, I was being home schooled so a lot of days I could have just stayed in my comfy p.j.s., instead I decided to follow the advice and started the habit of dressing first thing.  At the time, my public schooled friends couldn’t understand it and all claimed they would not get up and get dressed if they didn’t have to.

I honestly don’t know if this helped me any as a teenager, but I do know it helps now.  I have eight very energetic, enthusiastic kids that always need my help or attention about something.  If I don’t come out in the morning ready for the day, it might end up being noon before I look down and realize I am still in my robe.  We also have an open-door policy at our home, which means anyone might walk in at any time.

I home school and I teach my kids to get up and get dressed as well.  I get my fair share of grumbling from them as they would much rather stay in their p.j.s.  Confession: some of them try to beat the system by wearing their clothes to bed.  If I’m not paying attention some of them might be in the same outfit for a couple of days–yuck!  While I appreciate their efforts to cut down on our laundry demands, I still try to hammer home the benefits of a change of clothes.  I do give leniency on Saturday mornings, but through the week they are expected to be up and dressed.  After all, I doubt they will be able to show up at their future places of employment in pajamas and slippers.

The Bible talks about getting dressed first thing as well.  In the book of Ephesians it says to put on the full armor of God so when the day of evil comes we will be ready.  We might not always think of ourselves as soldiers needing armor, but in God’s view that is what we are.  You might want to take a minute to look up Ephesians 6:10-18, it’s a pretty specific list including things like the belt of truth, helmet of salvation, and breastplate of righteousness.

I have to confess that some days I am more concerned with the physical clothes I am going to put on than the spiritual.  I am usually reminded fairly quickly as I encounter my first “battle” of the day and find myself unprepared.  God’s armor is only a quick prayer away though and as fast as I can utter the word, “Help,” He has clothed me in His armor and I can take my stand.

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”  Ephesians 6:13

A couple weeks ago at Cub Scouts one of the little boys was singing a Christmas song. His leader put a stop to his song by saying it is not Christmas, to which the little boy replied with the question, “Why?”

I say indeed, why is it not Christmas? However, even though it is not Christmas time, that fact does not mean we cannot learn from Christmas or, (at least at my house and not Scout meetings) sing Christmas songs! Anyway, a few weeks back the sermon at church was about bitter versus broken, and I though of the Grinch.

Dr. Seuss’ character gives us a vivid picture of someone choosing to live in bitterness for fifty-three years. Every year the Grinch would harden his heart against the “Whos,” (the inhabitants of the town just down the mountain from him) more and more until his heart had all but shriveled away. I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of meeting someone in real life who has done this sort of thing, but I have and it is very sad.

Unfortunately, a lot of us can carry some degree of bitterness around without even fully realizing it. Maybe it seems like just a little thing. That coworker you resent because they were promoted instead of you, but of course you are always polite to them. Maybe it is the slight from a family member that has hung around in your heart for years: you smile at the family get-togethers, but it still hurts underneath. Bitterness does not always shout from the mountain top the way the Grinch shouts in the story.

We all experience hurts in life. The question is whether we are going to remain bitter about it or allow the brokenness to soften our hearts and allow Jesus, the healer, to come in and mend the broken places. Bitterness says, “No thank you,” to healing. Brokenness acknowledges the hurt and pain and humbly receives the healing. Bitterness is usually out for revenge of some kind, like the Grinch determined to hurt the Whos as much as he thought they had hurt him. Brokenness is more honest and can cause us to see the blind spots in our own lives and seek forgiveness.

The good news for the Grinch as well as us, is that bitterness does not have to be permanent. Even if you have lived with something for fifty-three years, (or longer) this can be the day to let it go. This could be the day when forgiveness can flood into your heart and allow it to expand. When the Grinch finally experienced forgiveness his heart grew three sizes!

At the end of the story the Grinch and the Whos all join hands and sing. The Grinch not fully knowing the words or the melody yet, but still singing his newly-expanded, forgiven heart out. When we find the forgiveness that Jesus has for us, for everything in our lives, we can’t help but sing–even if it is Christmas songs in March!

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

Each of us has a way we identify ourselves and our role in the world: I am a teacher, I am a mom, I am an engineer and so on. Those labels are harmless for the most part and are usually what we tell another person when meeting them for the first time.

However, there are far more insidious labels we use for ourselves that for the most part we would never share with anyone. Unfortunately these can be things that were put on us by other people, usually when we were quite young or at a vulnerable place in life. And like name tags with super-glue, they have stuck with us for life.

These are labels such as fat, ugly, trouble, no good, worthless, mean, and the list goes on. Most of us have learned how to hide these words using a variety of methods. We might work really hard to live the exact opposite of a negative label or we might give in to the label as part of our identity that it is useless to try to change. Sadly, we also can self-medicate the label away with any number of vices or addictions many of them masquerading as “good things” such as work or service.

Thankfully, there is another thing we can do to remove these labels and live in real freedom. We can allow Jesus to give us a different name. Believe it or not He has all kinds of wonderful labels He attaches to you: beloved, child of God, kind, beautiful, precious, unique, clean, pure, worthy, wise, lovely, valuable and this list goes on as well.

We simply need to be willing for Jesus to remove our old names and receive His new name for us. He promises that He will renew our minds until those old thoughts and old patterns are healed. It can be scary and difficult to trust that Jesus has anything positive to say about us, but I challenge you to just ask Him. He has been waiting for you all your life with a new name that He has chosen just for you.

“You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.” Isaiah 62:2b-3