Each year, I listen to a daily audio Bible podcast—and complete the Bible in one year. This year marks my sixth year through the Bible.
Why don’t I stop?
Every year, I learn new aspects of the Bible because each year, I am in a different place in my life, and the Holy Spirit speaks to me where I am.
The Bible is always fresh! It is always alive!
It is the only book that has a Living Spirit within it.
Each year, when I get to Judges in the Old Testament, I say, “Oh boy!” because I know what is ahead.
Passover begins this evening.
It is one of the most significant Jewish Holidays, commemorating when the angels of God “passed over” the Hebrews as the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians were killed—all because Pharoah would not set the Hebrews free as God commanded.
With this final plague on Egypt, Pharoah agreed to free the Hebrews so they might begin their journey to the promised land.
God instructed the Jews to commemorate the first Passover, when they had marked their houses with blood, alerting the angels to “pass over” their homes.
Christians draw parallels in their faith,
This week, I was listening to a minister on the radio who noted that in the days after His resurrection, Jesus did not appear to Pilate to tell him that he had been wrong in ordering His crucifixion.
Jesus did not appear to the Jewish leaders and chastise them for not believing and demanding His death.
He did not appear to the Roman soldiers who nailed Him on the cross.
Why?
Today, I was drinking in the beautiful hymns of Psalm Sunday. They are majestic, powerful, and inspirational!
Among my very favorites is All Glory, Laud and Honor. When I close my eyes and listen to the lyrics, I can feel all the emotions I imagine those present at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The hope. The joy. The expectation.
As Christians, we carry the hope, joy, and expectation at our Lord’s second coming. Feel this excitement. Play this song and sing along. It is a wonderful way to enter into the spirit of Holy Week.
What are some of your favorite Holy Week Hymns/ song?
We all love New Year’s Day!
New goals!
A fresh start!
We feel this way because each new year is very ceremonial.
The date we write is “new”.
The calendar we use is “new”.
We just concluded the holidays, and we are ready for new beginnings. New excitement.!
But, what if we treated each new day as a new beginning.
We are living in a time in which many honestly believe newer is better, younger is wiser, and truth is relevant.
The sad thing about this is that this mindset forces us to learn lessons ourselves—which is the most painful way to learn.
Rarely do we study the past and then take the lessons that were learned by others and apply them to our circumstances.
But, it doesn’t have to be this way.
What is the biggest weight you have ever carried?
I know some mothers think it is their growing children.
My children are grown. So, these days, the heaviest items I carry are bags of salt for my water purifier (not fun) and my grandchildren (pure joy)!
But, truly, these aren’t the heaviest weights I carry.
Joy can seem so elusive.
Sometimes, when my heart is troubled, it seems the harder I try to find joy, the more discouraged I become.
Discouragement breeds more discouragement, and then I find myself slipping further and further into unhappiness. I won’t say depression, because I think that that has other associated meaning, but definitely unhappiness.
When I find myself heading in that direction…
Many churches have been impacted negatively by this pandemic. I have read a few conversations in blogs and on social media in which pastors and attendees wonder if the congregants will return to the pews.
Will members decide they like not having to get dressed on Sunday mornings and simply stay home, read the Bible, perhaps podcast their church service into their living room?
Or, will they return having missed what only in-person worship can provide: fellowship, those much needed hugs, in-person music, feeling the presence of God?
I think a lot rests on what the churches are doing now—
