You Changed my Sorrow into Dancing!

"You changed my sorrow into dancing…" Psalm 30:11a (NCV)

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"Get up," Mary said, shaking me out of a troubled sleep.  Memories of the previous day clawed at my wakening mind. I groaned and rolled away from the hands trying to pull me from my slumber.

"Go away, Mary," I said.

"Hurry," she insisted, tossing my sandals at my feet, "We must take the spices and anoint the body of our Lord."

We stepped out on the street just as the sun was rising. The air hung heavy about us, stifling and still. As the sunlight began to steal across the city, I thought how pointless it was. Why should the sun ever shine again?

Our hope had been crucified; our Beloved, beaten and scorned had hung on a cross as we watched Him draw a last ragged breath.  Even the heavens had convulsed in horror of His death.

Mary nudged me onward toward the cave belonging to Joseph, the one where they had placed Jesus just before the Sabbath had begun.

Salome had been quiet until now.

"How will we roll the stone away?" she asked as we neared the place.

We stared at each other, realizing that the three of us together could not budge the boulder covering the opening of the grave.

"We will a find a way," Mary' said, pushing steadily forward.

As we neared the grave, the ground began to shake. Terrified, I clutched Mary for support, and then reached for Salome, who was nearly thrown to the ground. It was over quickly, but fear would not leave my heart.  The earth had quaked like this immediately after Jesus had died, the skies had turned black as a terrible thunder roll across the heavens.  Was the world coming to an end?  It may as well; there was nothing to live for any longer.

Mary set her jaw the way she often did when she had made up her mind to do something, "Keep moving - we must anoint His body, " she said.

We hurried to keep up with her, but she suddenly stopped and I ran right into her.

"Look," she said, pointing at two Roman guards lying on the ground.

"Are they dead?" Salome asked, but Mary did not answer. She had turned and was staring at the grave.

I followed her gaze to see that the stone had been rolled away.

My heart pounded violently in my chest as I pushed past Mary and ran to the tomb.

"He's gone," I said when Salome and Mary clamored in behind me.  Suddenly a light so bright that we had to shield our eyes filled the cave and a voice said, "Don't be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here. He has risen from the dead as He said He would."

I looked toward the place where Jesus had lain and saw a being I can barely describe.

"Come," he continued, "and see the place where His body was. And go quickly and tell His followers that Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see Him there." The light faded and he was gone.

We stood, trembling and numb from fear. Had we seen an angel? Could it be that Christ was alive? My heart leapt for joy as a vague memory of Jesus ' words came to mind...the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.

"He's alive!" The realization sent shivers down my spine. "He's alive, risen from the dead, just as He said He would.  I clutched at Mary's arm, "He's alive, Mary - He's alive!"

We rushed to tell the others, tripping over our garments as we ran, laughing and shouting from that place.
Jesus was alive!

In the days that followed, our Lord showed Himself to many of us and we rejoiced at every moment spent with Him until one day He bid us farewell and promised to come again to take us to be with Him forever. As we stood, watching Him ascend into the skies, my heart sang, for I knew this was not a parting. Even as I watched Him go, I could feel His presence filling my very soul. I would never be without Him, and someday, He would take me to be with Him for all eternity.

Jesus is alive!

This story is part of an Easter/Ressurection themed blog chain. Below are links to other bloggers who posted on this theme. I invite you to visit each blog and enjoy reading about Easter & the Resurection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Comments are welcome. Have a blessed Easter! April 1: Chris Henderson, TheWriteChris April 2: Jan Christiansen, Refreshed by The Word April 4: Adam Collings, The Collings Zone April 6: Sheila Hollinghead,A Spring of Living Water April 7: Cindee Snider Re, Breathe Deeply April 9: Scott Fields, Dead Man Writing April 11: Nona King, Word Obsession April 13: Tracy Krauss, Expression Express April 15: Chris Vonada, I'm Just Thinkin' April 17: Keith Wallis, wordsculptures April 20: Victor Travison, Lightwalker's View April 22: Lynn Mosher, Heading Home April 23: Traci Bonney, Tracings April 24: Debra Ann Elliott, Writing with Debra April 25: Chris Perdue: The Bible Stop April 26: Chris Depew: The Beulah Land Blog April 27: Edward Lewis, Sowing the Seeds April 29: Carol Peterson, From Carol's Quill

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

A Father's Wisdom

"…we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began...These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God."  1 Corinthians 2:7 & 10 (NIV)

As a child, I thought my Dad was the smartest man on earth. If I needed to know something, Dad had the answer (even if he had to make it up). If something needed fixed, he knew how to fix. If something needed built, he could build it. Everyone in the family came to him for answers.

Unfortunately, there was one area of life where his expertise ran out…the spiritual part of life. I remember asking him a question about God. He wouldn't answer. Didn't want to discuss it and I quickly learned that spiritual questions would put him in a bad mood, so I quit asking.

Fortunately, I didn't have to depend on my Dad to learn about God. My aunt and uncle took me to church and encouraged me to read my Bible. My pastor and Sunday school teachers taught me about Him and finally, God, himself began teaching me and He has continued teaching me for nearly 50 years…and I'm still discovering delightful mysteries about Him as His Spirit reveals them to me, for the Spirit knows the deep things of God and will open our eyes to them as we consistently seek to know God better.

What a wondrous journey we are on!

Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Spirit, who reveals the wonders of your character, the depth of your love, the vastness of your grace and mercy. Thank you for being a Father who is never bothered by questions, never too busy to answer and never in a cranky mood. I love you! Amen

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Taming the Tongue and Stinkin' Thinkin'

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart  Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)

Oh, boy! When the Bible starts talking about the mouth and our thoughts, I start to squirm. This has always been an area of challenge for me. Am I the only one?

I'm doing much better these days with thinking before I speak and with not dwelling on things that are not good to think about, but years ago this was a real struggle for me.

God had a way of breaking me, though…not a fun way, but a very effective way. Every time I would talk about someone behind their back, He made sure it got back to them! It was embarrassing, messed up relationships and required eating huge amounts of humble pie, which tastes horrible, by the way.

As for my thought life - I'm still working on that one. I have to be careful not to dwell on negative thoughts because they directly affect my moods. I am happy to say that I've conquered the "arguing with other people in my head" syndrome, though. Do you ever do that? Have a fight with someone in your head, providing the dialogue for both parties and by the end of it all you're really mad at the person you had an imaginary fight with?

No?  Just me, then - but, thankfully, that one's under control.

Prayer:

Father, help me to remember that my thought life should reflect my spiritual life and that if I find my thoughts are out of line, I need to seek you more, read more of your word and ask you to renew my mind. The words of my mouth will follow what's stored up in my heart, so if I get one right, the other will take care of itself. Thank you for loving me even when my words and my thoughts are not what they should be and thank you for grace that forgives. Amen

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Silver or gold, I do not have…

 "Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God." Acts 3:6-8 (NIV)

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple to pray. At the gate, they saw a familiar face - the face of a beggar, lame from birth, who was carried each day to the temple gate called Beautiful. There he spent his days crying out to those going into the temple courts-begging for money from the passersby.

As Peter and John approached they heard his cries and recognized that his needs went much deeper than the few coins he might garner throughout the day. He needed to be made whole so that he could stand on his own two feet, so that he could work for a living and so that he could know the healing power of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

They did not offer him silver or gold, but gave him the most valuable thing they could give him - their faith. They reached out, took his hands and helped him to his feet - all in the name of Jesus, and as they prayed God poured his strength and healing power in the lame man. He began to walk and jump and praise God.

Today we look around and see so many people in need. Our hearts are moved with compassion, but we aren't rich, we don't have unlimited funds to help, but is that really what they need?  Our government hands out assistance checks to those in need every month, but year after year they are in the same position, crippled by poverty, lame due to a lack of education, and sitting alone because they have no one who cares enough to show them a better way.

As the body of Christ, we have the answer. We know the One who heals the lame, turns lives around and puts joy in the hearts of the redeemed. What we need to do is reach out, help the impoverished to their feet and give them what we have - the healing love of Jesus.

It's easy to think, "that was Peter and John, we don't have the power to heal the way they did," but if we read just a bit further, we discover that Peter and John were mere men like you and I.

"When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. Acts 3:9-11 (NIV)

(Notice that the man held on to Peter and John.  Handing someone money, then walking away never solved anything. Hurting people need someone to hold onto. They need someone who is strong to show them the way, to help them get firmly on their feet - someone who will walk along side of them until they are strong enough to stand on their own.)

Peter wanted the people witnessing this miracle to know that he and John were not responsible for this healing.

When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" Acts 3:12 (NIV)

By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. Acts 3:16 (NIV)

It wasn't Peter and John who healed the lame man. They did not possess the power to heal, nor did they possess great godliness. What they did possess was great faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and in His ability to change people's lives.  Why? Because they had experienced this life-change for themselves after their encounter with Christ.

We can't help everyone, but we can reach a hand out to those that God puts in our path. We can lift them up by reaching out to them, walking along side them, praying for them and loving them with the love of Christ - not in our own power, but because of our faith in Jesus, the life-transformer.

Easy?  No. Throwing money at a person in trouble is easy. It allows us to walk away with a semi-clear conscience, but it's not going to really help them. Reaching out is hard. It requires sacrifice, overcoming prejudices, giving of our time, our patience and our love until we are sure that this person has had an encounter with Jesus that will allow them to walk in victory.

God will strengthen us so that we in turn can strengthen others. Have faith that Jesus wants to help the lame and hurting people of this world and then - be His hand extended.

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

What does God look like?

Have you ever wondered what God looks like? All we have to do is take a look at Jesus because the Bible says that...

"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being..." Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

and that...

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." Colossians 1:15 (NIV)


Obviously, we can't see God in the physical sense of the word, because He is Spirit, but we can see and know Him simply by taking a look at His Son, Jesus Christ.

At this point, I am tempted to make a list of all the things that I have read about Jesus, but that would be second-hand information. Why not check Him out for yourself? If you want to know God, get to know Jesus-and the best way to do that is to read the story of His life.

Here are links to the book of John online so that you can read and discover for yourself what God is like through the life of His Son.

John	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

 
Prayer:
Father, I pray that as we read about the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, that you will open our eyes to see the truth about who you are and what you are like. Reveal yourself to each one who seeks to know you in a very real way. Amen

*For an even more detailed look at the life of Jesus, after reading the book of John, continue your reading with the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  These four accounts, written by four different men who knew Jesus will give you insight into the very nature and character of God, himself.

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Hidden Treasures

"I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:3 (NIV)

 Money was tight this month. After paying the bills we were left with $49.59 in our account and we still needed to buy gas for the week, groceries and refill our prescriptions. I did some creative menu planning and went to the grocery store, but I knew that we still needed to find the money for our medications.

Borrowing money is such a humbling experience, but that's what we had to do and I was thankful that we were able to purchase our medications.

Today, however, I went back over our checkbook and discovered an error that added up to just a little over the amount we had to borrow. It felt like I had discovered hidden treasure! The money had been there all the time. If I had only dug a little deeper, I would have found it.

In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians, he said that he had a goal for them...

"My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:2-3 (NIV)

Paul's goal was that they might know the mystery of God, who is Jesus Christ, and he said that in Jesus are hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I wonder how many times we overlook those hidden treasures? How many times we skim through our Bible or mutter hasty prayers, missing the depth of Christ?  How many struggles do we go through when the answer is right there, waiting for us to slow down, take our time and pay attention.

If I had done that, I would have known that God had already provided for everything we needed and I wouldn't have had to borrow money.  If we slow down and really get to know Jesus Christ, there's no telling what blessings He has already been provided that are just waiting to be discovered.

Prayer:
Father, help us to slow down and really spend some time with you, to really get to know your Son and the depth of His character.  Help us to find those treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. Deliver us from the busyness of life that keeps us from fully knowing your Son. Amen

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Chutes and Ladders

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." Psalm 37:23(KJV)


Remember the old game of Chutes and Ladders? You roll the dice and move ahead. Landing on a ladder moves you way ahead, but land on a chute and you go sliding way down to the bottom again.

Often life is like that. You roll the dice, take a chance and sometimes find your life going along quite well when suddenly you hit a bad spot and go tumbling down again. Sometimes those bad spots are of our own making. Bad choices, bad company, bad habits - all can drag us down.

It doesn't have to be like that, though. When we are walking with Christ, seeking His will for our lives and trusting His Holy Spirit to lead us, we don't need to walk in fear.  We can trust that God will order our steps and lead us in the right direction and even if we do hit a rough spot in the road, we know that He is walking that road with us, leading the way through to victory.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for the assurance that as we lean on you, you will guide our steps.  Help us to hear and recognize your voice so that we don't stray off the path you have for us. Amen


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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)