Holy Saturday

Today is Saturday, the day after Good Friday. The day after Jesus was beat and crucified for our sins. Isaiah said it the best when he wrote: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Is. 53:3-7,NIV)

Jesus was put to death to make forgiveness of sins possible. But that was Friday. 

This is Saturday. Ever wonder what happened on Saturday? Not much actually. The Bible says very little about what took place on Holy Saturday as it is sometimes referred to as.

But, we do know this transpired: “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.'

 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

 65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how."

 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” Mt 27:62-66, NIV

Outta fear, Pilate had the tomb extra sealed, for fear that someone, particularly the disciples would come in a steal Jesus’ body. So it was made secure. 

That’s it. At least that’s all we’re told. 

But I imagine that the followers of Jesus were in mourning. The Man whom had changed their lives had been laid to rest. The Man who turned their world upside down; the Man who presented God as a loving Father, was buried in an-extra-fortified-tomb with extra guards posted outside of it. I imagine that they were in mourning. 

Which is exactly how we should be feeling…. remembering the sacrifice of Jesus… Yes, we know the end of the story, but just for once, lets pause and reflect about Holy Saturday. The day that Jesus was kicking satan in the teeth! 

Today, say a prayer thanking God for His plan and thanking Jesus for making a way to God possible. Take time to reflect on this say, and remember Sunday’s a coming!

It's Friday... part two

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https://www.sermonspice.com/product/77268/sundays-comin

It's Friday....

Today is Good Friday. It’s a day where we can experience freedom because of what Jesus Christ did, the price He paid to set us free from sin and death and shame and, well the list goes on and on…

This morning, as I was reflecting on what this day is all about, my mind went to a passage of Scripture that I had first come across years ago. It comes from John 19:41: “At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.” (NIV)

Seems like such a sad verse, until you take a closer look. Count out 7 words and then read what the verse says… “There was a garden…” (NIV) 

In the place where Jesus was laid to rest was a garden.. insignificant you say? I say no. 

What do gardens do? If they are working as they are supposed to, if the seeds are planted right, if the soil is properly maintained, then a garden’s purpose is to grow something. 

For John to have included this in His account of the burial of Jesus is, to me at least, significant. A garden represents new life, and even though Jesus had just been put to death and all hope seemed lost, three days later, He would rise from the dead, kicking death in the teeth. 

on the worst day of the world, when it seemed all hope had been lost, when this Man who had healed so many, when this Man had set captives free, When this Man was laid to rest, it would be in a new tomb in a garden, which represents new life. 

When life isn’t going so well for us, let’s look for the garden. Look for that one small sprout of good; it was there on the worst day of the world, and I’m sure one can be found if we will just look. 

Today is Friday, and Jesus is buried. But….Sunday’s a coming!

When Life stinks, Praise God.

I was going to post the continuation of the last post; but I stumbled across another verse of equal importance today during my quiet time. 

I am reading a you version bible plan called Dr. Charles Stanley’s “Life Principles to live by”, and today’s reading was life principle 20 where he says: “Disappointments are inevitable, discouragement is a choice.” and the verse for the day comes from Habakkuk 3:17-19: “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” (NLT2)

Interesting. 

Even though life sometimes stinks— ok, sometimes life really stinks. it Stinks for weeks at a time… even though we are disappointed with how things have turned out, with how things are turning out, we don’t have to be discouraged. 

When we are in a season of rottenness, we can still praise God because He is good. Especially because He is good. He has not left us, He has not forsaken us. 

“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” Psalm 103:8

When the world stinks, and it does often, we must remember to give thanks to the Lord, for His love Endures forever. 

A Higher calling deserves Higher Standards

So, during my study time, I have been trying to keep track of verses of great importance—now, before you pick up that stone and smash through your screen; I believe the entire word of God is inspired and God breathed. His word is always right no matter where we are at, but some verses just have a pull toward my heart and some of these verses have made their way into my head, or at least on to my desk. The verse I read today is no exception. It comes from Daniel 6:4: “Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.” (NLt2)

I’m sure you’re familiar with the story, But the king had set up ‘regional ministers” to look after his affairs, and Daniel was one of these people. the Other ministers didn’t like tjhe attention that Daniel had been getting from the chief, so they set out to find something wrong with him… but as this verse tells us, there was nothing wrong with him; no fault in him could be found. 

The life lesson here is that we, as followers of Jesus, should conduct ourselves in the same way as Daniel, because believe it or not, people are looking at us, watching us to see how we respond, and if, as my friend Karl Ingersoll used to say: “if what you believe makes no difference, then it makes no difference what you believe.” Daniel was such a man who lived what he believed and everyone saw it. 

Now, I understand that we always don’t measure up; we tend to drop the ball more often than not, and that’s where grace comes in, thankfully, but it should be our mission to act like Daniel did.  I’m thinking our corner of the world would be much better of a place if we were: “faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.”

(I also like verses 10-11 of this same chapter; but maybe I’ll save that for another time.)

bad situation turned good.

What do you do when you’re fed up? 

Who do you turn to when you’re at the end of your rope?

Recently, I stumbled upon (again) a passage of scripture that I forgot about… It comes from 1 Samuel 30. Let me try to set the stage just a bit

David, had been making ‘his home” in Ziklag for more than a year and a half, and had become friends with a dude by the name of Achish… and david had gone out on a few battles and raids and had been successful on these raids. 

One day, Achish was going into battle with— not against— the Philistines, and David and his men had been bringing up the rear. the Philistine commander had wondered about david, and he said something to Achish and one thing led to another thing and David was not allowed to accompany Achish into battle; even though he had turned out to be a help to Achish, not a hindrance. (The Philistines had thought David would turn against them and go back to Saul once again…)

So, David and his friends make their way back to the place where they are staying and: “Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. 2 They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone.

3 When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, 4 they wept until they could weep no more. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured. 6 David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.” (NLT2)

If things aren’t bad enough, when Dave and his posse arrived back home, they found that it had been raided by their enemies; they had completely torched it and stole the women and children. 

After an intense time of mourning, David’s men started to turn against him because not only had David’s wives been stolen, but the men he was working with had their wives taken from them, too. David was about to get stoned. 

Things are bad for David. He was kicked out of the hunting party; his house had been raided, burned to the ground and wives had been taken away from Him. He had every right to be mad. His companions had every right to be mad. 

Its the last part of verse 6 that interests me: But David found strength in the Lord his God.”

Instead of putting his hand through a wall, or yelling at the top of his lungs, (which he could have, and did indeed do in some of the Psalms) He found strength in the Lord. 

David took his troubles to the Lord, and he let the Lord figure things out… 

I’ve been trying to do this same thing. I often take my troubles to the Lord, and often tell Him what I don’t like— particular being sick and tired of being sick and tired— and, well, I guess the Lord is giving me strength to make it through the day, and when I get too tired of it all, I take a nap. Or try too, but that’s another topic all together.   

I want to encourage you to do what David did, and what I am trying to do: Look to God when you feel the world is coming after you. 

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV)

God is in the details.

My friend Rev.David LeRoy used to tell me that God is in the details. He mentioned this to me almost every time we talked with one another. I was reminded of his words again the last few days. 

While Beth and I were headed to the doctor when all of a sudden she yelled: “deer” and the next thing I knew Bambi had come face to face— or face to side— of my car. Smashed it pretty hard. So hard in fact that it had been written off by the insurance company. 

let’s back up just a little bit— I had been complaining that getting in and out of my car had been getting more and more complicated; falling in and climbing out; but I knew that we were in no position to upgrade our transportation. Plus, I had finally gotten to the point where our car had been modified with awesome lights and other features that made it a delight to drive; but as i said it had been difficult to get in and get out of. 

So when Bambi hit our car it was almost as if a door had been opened to allow us to upgrade our transpiration, and we were able, thanks in good part to our insurance pay-out, to get into a Rav4, a pretty sweet ride. 

Now, did God cause Bambi to hit our car. well, that depends on your theology, but I do know that He was with us in the details of the whole ordeal, working everything out, right down to the last detail. Reminds me of Romans 8:28:Ro 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV) God was at work in this situation, As He is at work in every situation, and He is in the details. (Posted March 13)

The great fall... of Pastor Nick

I fell the other day. 

Let me rephrase that. As I was trying to be of wonderful help to my wife, I ended up slipping and falling down on my left side, including my leg and arm and hip. My leg got the worst part of the fall and it has been killing me ever since I fell. 

I’ve seen 4 medical professionals getting their opinion on the leg; some told me to rest it, others told me to use it, others told me to ice it, others told me to heat/ice it…  

I’m thankful to say that today, my leg is not as painful as it was this time last week..(I’ve found that 3 days after an injury are the worst, and that day was Sunday. my pain, on the pain scale, was a 24.)

Anyway, to the point i’m tying to make. 

Because of my leg, I have been unable to do quite a few things; and as such, I have had to depend upon my wife to do most- if not all- of the things that I have been able to do around the house to help her out. 

There was even a period of time when I could not get out of bed because my leg hurt so bad, so, again I was dependant on my wife; and thank goodness she has been very helpful to me. 

This dependance on people is an interesting topic. We as parents teach our children to be independent-not needing to ask help from anyone; but in God’s economy, we are actually to be dependant; God actually wants us to ask Him for help. 

I love the words of Jesus that are recorded for us in John 15: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (NLT2)

In order for us to have a fruitful life in Jesus, we must remain connected to Jesus. Without Him, we have no hope. Read that statement again. 

It’s not wrong to be dependant on someone, especially if that Someone is Jesus. God created us to thrive and we can only do that if we remain connected to Him. 

So, if you fall, call out to Him; 

If you’ve lost something, call out to Him;

If someone is bothering you, call out to Him. 

Peter reminded us of the following: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” ( 1 Peter 5:7)

Do you need something? Go ahead and ask, our Father is waiting for you now.