JESUS IS VICTORIOUS!
I am feeling anything but VICTORIOUS this week as I feel alone and isolated.
My attempts to stay connected to others though Zoom meetings, phone calls, text messages, and Facetime calls, have worked somewhat, but as they end I find myself longing for more!
I have taken on HOME projects that have been neglected for lack of time, but let’s face it, my “empty nest” syndrome has left me with very few of those! I love my “quiet times” with God and cherish that golden couple of hours in the morning when I sit in solitude and read His Word and hear His voice only!
Problem is, after that life giving time of solitude with God, I NEED PEOPLE!
I started to feel guilty as I wondered what is wrong with me? I should relish this interrupted period of time in our lives when the “Rat Race,” has come to a screeching halt! I mean what is wrong with me? I’ve written Blog posts before on the “Craziness of Life.” Now, here I am, presented with the opportunity to slow down the pace and I find myself craving the race!
But is it the “Race” that I crave? Am I not appreciating this season of slowing down? Am I not taking advantage of the opportunities to reach out to people, encourage them, communicate with them and let them know they are not alone and neither am I? Am I not taking seriously the changes and adaptations we have had to make in our ministry to meet the needs of our people in a different manner? Am I not taking every opportunity I can to read more of God’s Word and His Truth through His Word, additional books and pod casts? Am I not trying new recipes and exercises to keep my health and nutrition at it’s optimal?
The answer to all of theses questions is a resounding YES! I am doing my best to maintain a positive outlook on this unprecedented crisis in our world! I am trusting in my Savior, Jesus Christ, to give me the strength and endurance to keep my focus on Him and His Word. I am praying as He modeled that, “God’s Will Would Be Done.” I am calling on Him for His wisdom to adapt and change and meet the needs of the people He has called me to love and minister to. I am changing up my routine and trying new recipes and exercises. Yet, I still really miss people!
This week was the hardest week for me through this crisis thus far. I found myself praying about writing my Blog this week and I was overcome with a sense of gilt and shame.
How can I write on VICTORY when I feel like a failure?
Then Jesus did what only He can do! He spoke to me in His still small voice…
“I too felt lonely!”
“I too felt sad and unsupported.”
“I too desired the company of those closest to me.”
“BUT GOD IS BIGGER!”
I was reading through the book of Luke and there it was, God’s Truth staring me in the face! I have had the practice of reading through the last week of Jesus’ life on Earth in the book of Luke from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday for the last 20 years or so. And here it was as fresh as the newly baked muffins I pulled out from my oven, Jesus had been alone, grieved(aka sad,) unsupported by people, and desperately sought the company of those closest to Him in His greatest hour of need!
“Then, accompanied by His disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There He told them, “Pray that you will not give into temptation…He walked about a stone’s throw away, and knelt down and prayed.” Luke 22:39, 41
BUT GOD WAS BIGGER! Through the grief, the loneliness and the pain, JESUS endured the cross and was VICTORIOUS over death!
JESUS IS VICTORIOUS!
His VICTORY did not come without sacrifice!
He endured the loneliness of separation from the people He came to save as they yelled, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of The Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven.” Luke 19:38
Then within less than a week their cries turned to, “Kill Him, and release Barabbas to us!” Luke 23:18
He endured the loneliness of separation from those closest to Him as He prayed pleading prayers to God! “At last He stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, and exhausted from grief.” Luke 22:45
And finally, Jesus not only endured the pain and suffering of excruciating torture and death by crucifixion, but the worst kind of loneliness, separation from God Himself!
“By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words He breathed His last.” Luke 23:44-46
Jesus felt the loneliness of separation from people, close friends and even God Himself!
He was sad, disappointed and even grieved. Yet it did not stop Him from being VICTORIOUS!
TRUTH BOMB
GOD IS BIGGER THAN ANYTHING WE FACE, THE EMPTY GRAVE PROVES IT!
As we celebrate Easter this year and it looks “different” than we have ever experienced it before, REMEMBER, GOD IS BIGGER than the Corona Virus!
God is Bigger than our separation and isolation!
God is BIGGER than anything we face now or will ever face, and the empty grave proves it!
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?
HE ISN’T HERE! HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!” LUKE 24:5-6
HAPPY EASTER FRIENDS!
HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD AND HE IS VICTORIOUS!
Speak Truth Love
speaktruthlove 