A Woman's View

Swap anxiety for Easter peace and then never let it go!

Take a nap, take a walk, take a pill, it's still there.

Blame it on anything or on nothing, it makes no difference. It's an indefinable sense that somehow we don't quite measure up. The feeling gnaws away at us and refuses to budge.

Peace is available . . . if we ask

Lasting peace and hope are as near as our breath, because everything changed that first Easter. That's when Jesus set things right between God and us.

Now all it costs us is believing the Good News of the Easter Gospel. We say something like, "Please forgive me, Lord, for my sins. I know I cannot live a perfect life, but I want to belong to you." We give him all our failures and mistakes and uncertainties.

Our loving Father answers, "What sins? My only Son paid your debt in full. My darling child, I love you."

It's as if God looks at us through one of those camera lenses that filters out the haze and sees his perfect Son.

The cross was God's way out for you and me

He sent his one and only son, Jesus, not just to live among us, but to suffer and be nailed to the cross and die. For you and me and all the world, because on our own we cannot meet God's standard for holiness.

Jesus died in our place, so we can live free from guilt and fear of punishment and hell.

As 2 Corinthians 5:21 states it: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

On that Friday we call, "good," Roman soldiers nailed God's Son to the cross and let him hang until he died.

His grieving followers and family watched with aching hearts as Jesus died an agonizing death and then his lifeless body was laid in the tomb.

We had nothing coming but punishment, yet God's gift to us is forgiveness, with no strings attached.

Jesus didn't stay dead!

Every week our pastor always asks during the children's message, "Did Jesus stay dead?"

The kids fairly shout, "No! He rose! He came back, alive!"

Over a period of days Jesus appeared to his followers and friends several times. He called them by name and spoke with them. He ate with them and they touched him. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus told them, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Later, while he was blessing them he was taken up into heaven. Even so, Jesus is with us. His Spirit lives in the heart of every believer, every minute of every day.

Impossible? It would be if Jesus were merely a great human teacher, as he's often described. But he is true God, and we cannot explain God, the unexplainable.

The youngsters at our church know that. So when our pastor asks, "And where does Jesus live now?" they answer, "In my heart!"

One more question from the pastor always follows. "So what happens to us when we die?" The children answer, "We get to live with Jesus in Heaven!"

That's why we celebrate Easter.  

We can swap anxiety for peace. For good.

Jesus living within us means we are never left alone to fear what comes next. Not even death, because we know that's not the end of our story, either.

It's only the beginning of the good stuff.

So take a deep breath and relax. Let yourself believe and feel the peace of being loved and accepted by God, without any ifs, ands or buts.

Now there's peace that lasts through whatever life may bring.

Easter Blessings, every day,

Lenore

Comments, please.

Note: You can read the eyewitness accounts of Jesus' last week on earth for yourself in the Bible. Turn to Matthew, chapter 21 to the end; Mark, chapter 11 to the end; Luke, chapter 19 to the end; John, chapter 12:12 to the end of the book.

Do kids need faith in God? Do you?

What difference could it make whether we believe in God? All that matters is that we believe in something. 

You've heard that said. Maybe you agree. After all, what difference does it make? 

A lot, I think.

Some people say, let children grow up and then they can make up their own minds. Sounds reasonable at first, except it means they pick up their values for life along the way. Think Sesame Street and Nickelodeon and MTV. Throw in Facebook friends, for good measure.

Not many parents I know would considere those the best sources.

"Out there" youngsters absorb a lot of negative stuff and fears. How it affects them depends on what's stored up in their hearts and minds.

Kids are less likely to run scared or be in the pits when they believe deep down that God created them (Psalm 139) and "God don't make no junk."

Even when (they think) nobody loves them, kids who believe in God know that Jesus loves them. At church they learn that old song, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Faith in God is like the cornerstone of a building, the basic, essential part of the foundation that keeps a structure standing when storms and winds come.

And what about times when nothing seems to make sense? Or when someone says they know the exact date of a worldwide earthquake, which will usher in the end of the world. What are they to do with their fears and aren't sure how to tell truth from lies?

What can a child--or an adult--hang on to?

If we know Jesus, we hang on to him. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

We find peace in what's known as, "the Gospel (Good News) in a nutshell," John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Right now the media floods us with pronouncements that tomorrow, May 21, will bring the end of the world. Christians, however, remember what Jesus said. You can read his words in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13. Jesus said,

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.         --Mark 13:32

So no matter how sincerely he believes it, Harold Camping does not know the day or the hour when the world will end.

God is still God and we human beings remain, well, merely human.

The difference is that we rest in the love of God the Father. He loves us because we believe in his Son as our Savior.

We rest in the certainty that our lives today, tomorrow and forever are in the hands of God. That means we have nothing to fear.

That's what Jesus said, in John 14:1:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

Peace to you, my friends,

Lenore

Three cheers for this royal couple and may their example catch on

I resisted being drawn into the hoopla around  THE wedding. I've never been much of a royal-watcher.

Until today.

Today I gave in and  watched the lovely pageantry of the day, the ceremony in magnificent Westminster Abbey, with its soaring ceiling and choirboys with angelic voices.

The Bishop with his heavy robes, the chanting, all of it seemed appropriate on this day. Wedding guests sang hymns and spoke prayers, including the Lord's Prayer.

An estimated two billion people were said to be watching this wedding around the world. 

Then it hit me. Two billion people, most of them non-Christians, were hanging on every word as the Bishop proclaimed the Word of God and delivered a Christ-centered sermon, as well.

Many who were glued to their telly live in cultures where wives are looked upon as mere property, second-class, easily disposable. In Westernized countries like ours, more and more people now consider matrimony a needless outdated custom, irrelevent in today's society. Too many consider faithfulness and monogamy rather quaint.

No matter where viewers live, each one heard Prince William and Kate Middleton pledge to be wed as husband and wife and to live together according to God's holy estate of matrimony. Each promised to love and comfort, honour and keep each other, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Each vowed to forsake all others and to keep themselves only for each other so long as both shall live. 

What will these two people make of their marriage? That's up to them. They know their family history and the challenges they face even better than we. But I choose not to be cynical and to wish them God's blessing. I am glad for their choice to be married in a Christian church and to promise before God and the world to be married--and faithful--for life.

I'm thankful that the Church of England bishop preached a faith-centered, meaningful wedding sermons. Most of all, I am thankful that Christ was proclaimed. For once, the world was listening.

Who knows how God will use this? 

Lovingly,

Lenore

 

What if you could start over with a clean slate?

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

That's what this dark day is all about and why Christians call this, "GOOD Friday."

Maybe it's worth a recap.

*  Jesus was not captured by those soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane. He went willingly. It was all part of God's plan.

*  This God-man came to earth to set things right between us human beings and God.

*  That relationship got messed up in the Garden of Eden, when Eve turned from God and listened to the Serpent. She chose to listen to Satan, the voice of pride and evil, rather than to God. When Adam listened to Eve, he, too, turned from the Father who loved him and closed his ears to God's ways (Genesis 3:1-7.)

*  From that time on, the perfect, loving relationship between God the Father and human beings was destroyed.

*  If we tried to be "good enough for God," we would need to be holy, because he is holy (Leviticus 19:2.) That means to be utterly good, in thought, word and deed. Perfect. Every day in every way, all the time. Anything else is called "sin."

*  Human beings, male or female, could not--and cannot--achieve that, no matter how hard we try. On our own we are without hope.

*  Even though we don't have it in us to be perfect, God never stopped loving us. That's why He came to earth in the form of a human baby, born to Mary and Joseph, in Bethlehem.

*  Jesus, the God-man, allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross. For you, for me.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.               --John 3:16

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.                           2 Corinthians 5:21

In [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.                          --Ephesians 1:7

The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.                    1 John 1:7

At our church and many others, Good Friday services are a bit different. As we enter the church,  overhead lights on dim, we stop to jot down whatever regrets, pains, wrong  actions, sadnesses and broken relationships we want to be leave at the cross. We write as much or as little as we like, no names, because, after all, God already knows. 

Then alone or as families we walk to the bare, rough-hewn wooden cross that stands at the front of the churrch, along with a pail full of big nails and some hammers. Each of us nails our slips of paper to the cross to symbolize what we already know, that Jesus died to pay the price for all our sins, past, present and future.

It's a powerful way of reminding ourselves that Jesus died for my sins, not just the sins of everyone else. That's what makes Good Friday good.

He died for your sins, too. Will you let Him set you free?

Lovingly,

Lenore

 

Feeling troubled? Here's how to find peace

Ever looked back and thought life felt safer when you were growing up? Most of us have.

After all, we get a steady parade of dangers and crises that march past us in our headlines and on our television screens, over and over. It seems there's no safe place on earth.

Maybe recent events in your life have knocked the props out from under what you thought was fixed, or at least predictable.

Perhaps right now you're at a low place, uncertain about tomorrow, let alone the future. Life feels overwhelming. 

Nevertheless, you and I needn't live in fear. The One who rules the world and holds it all together also holds our personal world together. He alone is the place of safety.

Bad things still happen to good people, but...if, or when, they do, we need not face them alone. If you're mucking through a down time at the moment, then know this.

He who is Truth is your friend.

He who is Love will not abandon you.

He who is comfort will speak peace to your heart, not afterward, when the memory fades a bit, but in the midst.

He will if you let Him...if you give Him your fears and your troubled heart.

That's the price, the only price: to loosen the clenched fingers of your heart and let him in. 

Are you willing?

(Jesus said) "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me...Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."                      --John 14:1, 17

I'm praying that you are.

His peace,

Lenore

Your comments welcomed here! Agree or disagree?

Fun in the summertime--with VBS

"My kids have been waiting for this to start ever since last summer!" said the smiling young mother as she wiped perspiration off her forehead. She swayed from side to side, keeping her toddler quiet. "I brought our three oldest, plus two neighbor kids. Where do I sign in?"

She and her kids were part of the impatient throng that crowded into our church for the first night of Vacation Bible School this week. "I love those hot dogs and watermelon!" her preschooler announced. "Are we gonna have 'em tomorrow night, too?" 

I shook my head and answered, "I don't know what the kitchen crew is planning for tomorrow night. It's a surprise!"

Once their laughing, jumping group was through I turned to the next. For 20 minutes or so parents and kids kept a dozen of us busy. Most moms and dads delivered their youngsters to their appropriate age groups, then hung around, waiting to see how it went. They needn't have bothered. Their excited kids were having too much fun to miss them. Once the parents were sure of that they walked back past our table to the door. Their faces telegraphed their feelings: Yeah! Two and a half hours of free time! 

As of last night we were up to 230 kids attending, ages three through middle school. So far both kids and volunteers wear joyful expressions. Volunteers number at least 75, with the youngest age 13. The oldest is 92, loved by every kid. He's a feisty fellow who cleans up, empties trash cans and never frowns. Young to old, we work side by side, whether it's food prep, leading, crafts, putting away outside equipment or mopping floors. 

Are we volunteers having fun? Yes. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Otherwise, why would we come back every year?

Cynics might wonder whether any of the work or the expense is worth it. None of us knows...but God does. 

What we know is that children arrive and learn about Jesus. They learn that God loves them and watches over them, so they need not fear. Kids take turns on the playground and wait their turns for snacks. They memorize songs about Jesus and friendship and being kind to others, then sing them while waving goodbye and skipping their way out of the building. Before, during and after this week, those children and their parents have been prayed for.

I know several adults who first heard about Jesus at VBS, maybe only once or twice in their childhood. Yet they heard the Good News and seeds were planted. 

So we rejoice. These parents know our VBS costs them nothing except gas money. Members of our church give this as a gift of love. We think all of it is more than worth it, if only for the fellowship we have and the joy it brings us.

Believe me, we're not naive. We know for some parents all it means is a freebie, with child care as a bonus. That's okay. When a parent says, "This is our fourth/fifth/sixth year at your VBS. Our kids love it!" we all beam from ear to ear.

They're here. We plant the seeds. The rest is up to God and his Spirit.

Blessings,

Lenore

Question for you:What are your VBS memories? Why not share them with the rest of us?

Think you know our Founding Fathers? Maybe not ...

  Another Independence Day is upon us. Time to think about the roots of this country. We've seen those old paintings of our Founding Fathers as they deliberated for days and then wrote our Declaration of Independence. What were they like?

For some time the Colonies had seethed with unrest. Most people hated the taxes and the heavy hand of the British occupying forces. Yet to act and speak against the King meant one could be charged with treason. Acts of resistance were carried out under cover of darkness, more and more all the time.

Yet if they were to come out and openly rebel their lives would be in danger. They knew that to band together as a group and publicly state their united resolve to be free would carry a heavy price tag. Nevertheless,  they considered liberty worth fighting for. They staked everything on the cause of liberty.

Do you remember that unforgettable first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence? 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This is how it ends.

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes,  and our sacred Honor."

Many of them did pay with their lives and their fortunes, or family members did. As for their "sacred honor," many people around them called them traitors. John Hancock signed the Declaration first, boldly scrawling his signature. He said, "Well, I guess the King should be able to read that!"

(Ever since people have said, "Put your 'John Hancock' here.")

Over the years folks have argued over whether our nation's founders believed in God. Decide for yourself:

"We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus."          - John Adams and John Hancock

"God who gave us life gave us liberty."    - Thomas Jefferson

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."                                              -  George Washington

"[The Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests."   - Andrew Jackson

"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ."                               - George Washington

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.                                                                - Thomas Jefferson

"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."   - George Washington

Over this holiday weekend we'll see a lot of flags flying. This (un-retouched) photo arrived in my e-mail, photographer unknown. 

 

Just looking at this lifts my heart. It seems a "curious coincidence" that the rays of the sun just happened to line up this way...

 

I don't know about you, but lately I've been feeling we're all in the middle of a long, hard trudge into who-knows-what. I need to remember again the timeless principles upon which we were founded. They trace back to Bible  verses like these:   

 

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  - John 8:36

 

        Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. - II Corinthians 3:17

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.  - Psalm 33:12

This July 4th as we head off to celebrate the birthday of the USA, let's give thanks! Thanks for those courageous men of faith and vision who founded our nation. Thanks for the protection of Almighty God. From the beginning He has been gracious and merciful despite all the ways we depart from His ways.

 

I'll be asking God, too, to graciously watch over and preserve this nation. Just as our Founding Fathers, I believe we cannot continue without His blessing.

 

Blessings and joy to you, 

 

Lenore

 

Question for you: Which Fourth of July stands out in your memory--and why?              

What's Easter all about, anyway?

What a crazy mixture of Easter symbols we have in America...and probably all over the world. Bunnies, butterflies, baby chicks, eggs, flowers and green grass, chocolates in foil wrappings...and once in awhile, a picture of a man hanging on a wooden cross.

So what's the big deal? Isn't Easter all about Spring and everything greening up, blooming, growing?

Well, that's not the original source of people celebrating this holiday. Easter traces back to the death of a man called Jesus, nailed to a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem. Nails through his hands and his feet. Blood everywhere. It's a gruesome scene, gruesome to onlookers, gruesome to us.

But the story doesn't end there. "Good Friday" is called "good" because Friday came first, but then came Sunday. Without that Friday, there never would have been Easter Sunday. That day the followers of Jesus went to his grave, ready to embalm his body properly. They came to the cave, which had been blocked by a boulder and sealed around the edges with old-timey sealing wax. Roman guards stood watch. 

What did these grieving friends find? An empty tomb, only the death-wrappings left behind. An angel, saying, "He is not here. He is risen!"                               

What could that mean? Who could know what it meant to "rise from the dead?" Every person alive, now or then, knows that dead means dead.

Ah, but...but...Jesus did not stay dead.

Jesus, fully human, born of Mary, was--and is--true God, as well.

So Jesus, the same loved friend they had watched die on the cross, reappeared to his followers and friends. He spoke with them. He ate with them. He told them how much he loved them and promised they would receive power to carry on his ministry. How? Through the power of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promised to send them. 

Maybe you're reading this and thinking, "Says who? Why should I take your word for anything?"

Please don't. Check it out for yourself. Pick up a Bible and read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. (Don't miss John 3:16-17.) They all tell the story of Jesus and his life. Each has a slightly different "flavor," since each was transcribed by a different individual. Matthew and Luke begin with his birth. Each one winds up with the sequence of events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. 

It's worth reading the book of Romans, too, especially chapter eight, verses one to four, and verses thirty-one to the end.

How could one sum up the Easter story? John 3:16-17 does so. I like one explanation I've heard:

Jesus had to be true man, because God cannot die for the sins of the world. God cannot die for any reason. He is eternal, without beginning and without end.

Jesus had to be true God because man cannot forgive sins or pay the price of sin for the world. Only God.

 So..what's the big deal about Easter? Just this: New life for the world. New life for  each of us--eternally--free for the taking. 

Look around. Every new leaf, every bud and bloom, points back to the Source of life that never ends: Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only one and only son, that everyone who believes in him shall have eternal life." --John 3:16

All it costs is taking Jesus at his word. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." --Romans 10:10.

For me, that's the big deal on Easter. That's what I celebrate. 

Easter blessings, day after day,

Lenore

How about you? Your comments welcomed! (Just go to the "Post a comment" box at the end and follow directions.)

Remembering Christmas Eves past ...

    Today is Christmas Eve, and just the words trigger so many memories for me. You see, my father was a pastor, so naturally our family life centered around our church. My earliest Christmas memories center around the small country church across the road and down just a bit from the parsonage in which we lived. We knew every family living within miles, and they knew us.

     Most Sundays my mom played the organ, since, as everyone said, she could "make that  old organ talk!" Often my dad would not only preach a sermon, but also sing a solo, since he possessed a glorious tenor voice. For Christmas he'd sing, "The Birthday of a King," or "Oh, Holy Night," always to a hushed congregation. None of this seemed remarkable to me. These were my parents, doing what they did.   

    Christmas Eve centered around the children's program. We would practice for weeks, memorizing our "pieces," and the words to the Christmas songs we sang as a group. Anxiety would grip our little group--and our parents. Would we remember to go forward when it was our turn? Would we freeze when we looked out on that huge congregation of perhaps seventy-five people? Older kids got to recite the Old Testament prophecies, the ones with the big words. We sang "Away in a Manger," "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and of course, "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful," and so many more.

     Did we have a white Christmas? Well, of course. It was Minnesota, after all. In that simpler time, shepherds of small flocks often also got to be shovelers of snow on church steps and walks. I'd tag along, stepping on the just-cleared spaces. I remember walking from our home to the church across that country road, our footsteps crunching and squeaking in the snow.

    With frost etching the windows, Bethlehem seemed very far away. To think of shepherds out on green hills, watching over their flocks of sheep seemed impossible to me, since to me, Christmas and snow went hand-in-hand.

    Yet we spoke and we sang of times and places far away ... and somehow, we knew the truth of the familiar words of Luke 2:1-20. I could picture the scene. That lowly stable, filled with smelly cows and sheep and donkeys, and in the midst of it all, Mary and Joseph with the newborn baby Jesus, wrapped in cloths and lying in the manger full of hay. 

     Every year since I can remember, I've treasured the thought of the glory of the Lord shining around those shepherds and an angel appearing to them, announcing:

      Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you; You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

    Suddenly the sky was filled with angels, all praising the Lord. Only the lowly shepherds heard their glorious music, not the rulers, not the "important" people of the town.

    That still speaks to me. No matter who we are, or how many times we've messed up, or what's going on in our lives, the same Good News of Christmas applies. The Savior is born--to us! His love waits for us. He waits for us ... and all he wants is for us to open our hearts to Him.  

    It's Christmas Eve. Time for new beginnings. Time for you and me to come to that tiny Child in the manger and kneel in wonder, as the shepherds did. That's all it takes, and the same peace and joy they felt can be ours, not just for a season but for always.

    Christmas Eve memories live on. So does the timeless Christmas story.

    I wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas, and may your spirit be bright!

    Lenore

    Your comments welcomed!

    

What do you do with that question everyone asks at Christmas?

    I'm keeping a count of how many times I'm asked, "Well, are you ready for Christmas?"

    Evidently every checker in the United States is trained to ask this  question. I still smile whenever I remember the time I answered, "No, I'm not. I really don't know how it can be time for Christmas already!

    My answer attracted the attention of a little woman in the aisle next to me. She looked to be about eight-five or so years of spunk. This rosy-cheeked lady fixed her sparkling blue eyes on me and took on the air of an old-timey school-marm. She left me no wiggle room at all. "But my dear!" she said, "All year long you've known it was coming!"

   Who could argue with that logic? Guess I'm a slow learner, for here I am, once again playing catch-up. Let's just say life intervened with my well-laid plans.

    Getting ready for Christmas could leave a person feeling depleted. Too much to do, too many places to go, trees to trim, cards to write, packages to mail. So it could seem natural to feel depleted ... if not for the fullness of Christmas.

    I feel that fullness every time we open a Christmas card and touch hearts with ones we love! Reading their notes and letters, we laugh, and at times we cry with them. Memories spring up out of nowhere, ready to be relived and flood the heart with joy all over again. Every year I scramble to write notes on the (copied) letters we send, and each one we receive feels like a gift from the heart.

    And have you noticed? People smile more in December. Perhaps that's because we focus on what we can give and what we can do for other people, rather than on what others could--or should, we think--do for us. We smile as we gather toys for toy drives and food for community food pantries and bake cookies for (it seems) the whole world. 

    That fits, because Christmas is the season for giving.Think about the name: "Christ-mas."

    This is the time to remember again the wonder of it all, the birth of the Christ child, Jesus. GOD come to earth in human form. The Gift beyond description.It seems inconsequential to dither over whether December 25th actually marks the date of his birth, because it falls at just the right time. In this season of dark mornings that hang on too long and cold, dark evenings that come too soon, we especially need the Light! 

    So if you, too, still have cards to write and packages to wrap and mail, let's breathe deep right now and rejoice. It's Christ-mas! True, bad news dominates the news and we still don't have peace on earth. Yet we can experience peace in our hearts, even in the midst of our rushing and scurrying.

    That peace will carry us through Christmas Day, through all our days ... and beyond. 

    Happy rushing around! Here's wishing you peace, deep-down and lasting, and joy that makes your heart sing!

    Lenore

    What's your favorite part of Christmas? Your comments welcomed!