Holy Week- Remembrance, Compassion and Celebration

I love spring time and I also love Easter. New life budding from the musty earth after a season of dormancy is so invigorating. Bright colors and sweet fragrances that greet me just outside my door are such a bright spot in my day after a long, pallid winter. However, I often feel melancholy the week leading up to Easter. There are so many reminders of the anguish that someone very dear to my heart had to endure. I will always be incredibly grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for me and the hardship He bore, but I really can’t spend much time concentrating on the details of that kind of suffering; especially when it’s concerning someone that I love.

I've always been a very sympathetic person and naturally filled with compassion for people. My heart sometimes feels the hurt that other people are experiencing. I have learned over the years to balance the tension of living in the real world while shielding my heart from unnecessary pain.

I have never been particularly fond of going to see Passion Plays, or any kind of a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus. A few years ago, I sat through the movie, “Passion of the Christ” with my eyes closed during 90% of it and it troubled me for days. I have come to accept this aspect of my personality and wiring, and have come to the realization that I just don't do well witnessing violence of any kind. However, I know that I can't fully celebrate Easter without observing the reality of the cross and participating in the fellowship of His suffering, as it says in Phil 3:10. So, during Holy Week I do a lot of reflecting on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and my heart is very tender, compassionate and appreciative of what Jesus went through, the heaviness He carried, and the suffering and ridicule He endured. However I keep my focus on Easter, when He rose again triumphantly, defeating the grave and defeating the one who thought he had the upper hand.

I pause in remembrance of the cross but keep my eyes focused on the miracle and the joy of the victorious and glorious RESURRECTION. 

Easter! Is there anything better?

Sand Piper Faith

 

If you haven’t picked up on it by now, I am a big lover of the ocean and anything related to moving water. When I go to the beach, only fellow beach enthusiasts are invited to accompany me because I want to absorb the beauty for HOURS. There is something so majestic about the rough and tumble ocean waters. I experience God when I am sitting by that kind of grandeur. Recently when I was relaxing at the beach, I was very intrigued by little birds called sand pipers. Their little legs quickly take them from the water’s edge to the safe shores as each wave ebbs and flows and threatens to overtake their tiny bodies. They were uniquely designed by the Maker for that kind of activity. God fashioned them to scurry towards and away from the encroaching wave, so that they can probe the sand with their long beaks to find their catch. God is so cool like that. However, when I was watching them I interpreted their behavior as fear of the water. They would only go so far towards the water, and then they would ‘turn tail and run’. I pondered over their response to the water and applied it to my own life. I know God designed them that way so maybe this isn’t a good analogy, but I asked myself, what am I running from? Do I only go so far, allowing God to use me so much and then out of fear or lack of control, quickly run back to safer and more familiar ground? Am I willing to embrace the rough waters of life, the challenges and the stretching or do I scurry back to safety? Perhaps you have pondered over some of these things as well. 

What are you running from? Do you practice sand piper behaviors, serving God a little and then running back when safety or control is threatened? Why is that behavior prevalent in your life? Are you an ‘all in’ Christian or an ‘only in when it feels right’ Christian?

Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it."

Lord, thank you for the unique calling that you have for each one of us. Help us to boldly walk it out and help us to not run from it out of fear or intimidation. Equip us to fully comprehend how to lay down our lives, our motives and expectations and to live solely for you.

Jesus, you are everything to me and I sit with you in sacred stillness. I breathe in deeply of your strength, with a surrendered heart that is willing to run with you in the ebbs and flows of life and to live out the purposes that you have for me without fear. I love you Jesus and I want to serve you with everything that I have.

Side by Side Leadership

 I attended a Women's Retreat over the weekend where Pastors/Speakers Dave and Sherri Hess shared about their research and subsequent book, "Side by Side", which addresses men and women working together in the church. It was a familiar topic for some, and for others, new concepts and interpretations of scripture were introduced. I personally am a sponge under Dave's tutelage, and learn something new every time.

Below is an impression I received from the Holy spirit in the early morning hours while I was in bed. I repeatedly smelled something burning, but everything in my hotel room was perfectly fine. I became fully awake and alert to what the Holy Spirit wanted to download into my heart. Read below: 

"God is burning away walls, structures and boxes that we have put ourselves in or others have put us in, and He is bringing us into a place of stepping out and breaking free of stereotypes, a religious spirit, labels and limited thinking. It’s not coming from a feminist mindset or a rah-rah-womanhood rally cry, but it’s coming from a place of stepping into our own, stepping into a surrendered life of being obedient to what God is calling us to do. We won’t have to push doors open and fight our way, proving that we are capable, because as the Holy Spirit burns down the walls, our gifts will make room for us.

20 some years ago, God birthed a thought in my heart that I would be a pastor. I knew I had pastoral giftings, and I thought God was confirming that gifting in me. I never dreamed I would hold the office of pastor. I didn’t have to push my way into this call. God, in his timing, supernaturally opened the doors for me. We need to be careful when we are introduced to a new way of thinking/newfound freedom, that we don’t let the pendulum swing too far and fall into ungodly and unhealthy thought processes and attitudes. God uses surrendered hearts, not those that are pushing an agenda. As we step out of those walls and boxes, let’s do so with grace and surrendered hearts, and step into the desires He has for us, allowing the gifts within us to be showcased." 

Proverbs 18:16 A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.