an Easter devotional...

Thinking about Easter this week... wondering how... and when... or if... my little family would gather...

The pondering... led to a blessing...
an inspiration... a vision of sorts...

Traditionally... we've gathered for lunch...
but this year one has to work...
one has plans with a friend...
so we are eating the evening meal together...
7 pm works for everyone...

The vision...
the dining table covered with flowers...
vases... small and large...
mason jars...
filled with whatever flowers...
wild or bought...

With the invitation...
each has been asked to bring fresh flowers...
to fill the table...
to complete the vision...

Then it came...
words to share...
with those who will gather...
for Easter...

Below... I share them here today...
in case you're looking for a vision for your table...
a way to make room for Him at the table...

These are the words... I'll share in my home...
before we eat in celebration...
you're welcome to use them at yours...

An Easter Devotional...

Read Psalm 103...

We are like the flowers of the field...
We flourish for a short time...
And then we are gone...

We spring forth into life...
By His will... not ours...
We live out our days...
Moving toward death...

God's Word is everlasting...
And Jesus is that Word...
His Word... to a broken... hurting... world...

Easter is about God's love...
It's the exclamation point on Christmas...

Jesus... the Word made flesh...
Came to live a perfect life...
Totally devoted to the glorification of His Father...
The life each of us are called to live... created to live...

Jesus... willingly...
With a heart full of love...
Endured the punishment we deserve...

And for those who believe...
those who trust their lives to Him...
We enter eternal life with Him...

Easter celebrates His resurrection...
A resurrection we can be a part of by faith...

The flowers today...
remind us of our own fragility...
our lack of control over our life...
our birth... our death...
none of it's really up to us...

But in Jesus lies the hope of life...
The YES to everything our hearts desire...

For us who believe...
who trust Him as Creator and Keeper of our lives...
who trust His love and His work on the cross...
for our good... and His glory...
we partake of Communion...

To remember what He's done...
Who He is...
And what He invites us to be a part of...

Eternal life... through His death...
By faith in His work... and love...

[At this point... you may wish to share Communion with those at your table... bread and wine... a prayer and a blessing... I will at mine...]

Close... with a prayer of thanks...

Happy Easter... dear friends...

wresting with rest...

Another call to Sabbath...
one I didn't want to hear...

It did not go well... from my perspective anyway...

Did work... that should've waited...
recruited others to help... when I should've let them rest...
self-indulged...
spent more time at wrest with Him... than at rest in Him...

And then today... the Monday following...
after a day of wrestling with rest...
He clears up much of my day...
hours in fact...

But you know what...?
The opportunity to work extra hours... brought no rest...
unmet expectations... (you know... the ones set too high...?)
left me feeling like a failure...
the work... did not fulfill...

The sun sets early these days...
and it feels like the day is done...

After a time with Him... remembering Him...

He reminds... There's still time in the day...
Do not give up... or be dismayed...
because so much seems undone...

Trusting Him... to guide the evening hours...
because I'm not sure I did so great with the day...

Thank You Lord for Your strength to persevere...

...for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:12 ESV

Bread and Wine [from October25, 2011...]

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks

a participation in the blood of Christ? 

And is not the bread that we break

a participation in the body of Christ?

1Corinthians 10:16

Broken bread...
Wine poured out...
Given...

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many,

are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Corinthians 10:17

One cup... one loaf... one church...

Nobody should seek his own good,

but the good of others.

1Corinthians 10:24

Thank You, Lord, for this clear picture of one body

partaking of the single broken loaf of the Bread of Life. 

Do not let me walk away from the table today 

without fully eating this truth

and allowing it to transform the way I live.

connected by His mercy...

The cross... a sign of His mercy... connects us to Him... and to each other...

In the first place [Christ's] union with the [human] race as "the last Adam" began historically at Bethlehem and ended at the cross and the tomb. In it He gathered up into Himself all that was in Adam and took it to judgment and death. In the second place our union with Him as "the second man" begins in resurrection and ends in eternity --- which is to say, it never ends --- for having in His death done away with the first man in whom God's purpose was frustrated, He rose again as Head of a new race of men in whom that purpose will at length be fully realized. ...

The cross is thus the mighty act of God which translates us from Adam to Christ.

---Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life

 Jesus... connected Himself to humanity... through incarnation... and from there gave Himself up to death on the cross... to bear our sins...

Through belief... trust... in His work of grace... we are connected with Him...

His cross... our cross...

We know that our old self was crucified with him

in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing,

so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Romans 6:6 ESV

By faith... we know we died with Him...

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

By faith... we know He lives in us...

Not only that... because of His mercy... we receive the Holy Spirit... and by His Spirit we are connected to all other Believers... becoming the Body of Christ...

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

and there are varieties of activities,

but the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit

for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 ESV

We remember... the power of these connections... through Communion...

In Communion... we connect with Him... remembering His blood shed for our salvation... and His crucifixion... of which we are a part by faith... destroying the dominion of sin and death in our lives...

Through Communion... each of us gather... eating the Bread of Life... the single loaf broken for us all...

Connected... by... His... mercy... 

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"... Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ..." --- Jesus

Revelation 3:20 ESV

Lord Jesus... keep me attentive to Your mercy that connects...

I don't want to miss... Your invitation to communion...

re-membering Him...

A teaching from retreating... Believers re-member Him... come together... as the one Body of Christ...

The sacrament... mystery... of communion... the picture of re-membering... many parts becoming one... partaking of... His body... broken bread... and wine... poured out blood...

The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread.

Having given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, broken for you.

Do this to remember me.

After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:

This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.

Each time you drink this cup, remember me.

1Corinthians 11:23-25 Msg

Yet... I see Him... re-membered... through prayer... Believers gathered to intercede for others...

Consequently, [Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

He is re-membered... when we gather to study... share what we've learned... through His Word...

And they were astonished at his teaching, for [Jesus] taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Mark 1:22 ESV

Through worship... He is re-membered...

"...Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

John 4:23-24

Any time... His people gather... to serve... love... others in His name... His character... He is re-membered...

"...For where two or three are gathered in my name,

there am I among them." ---Jesus

Matthew 18:20

How are you... re-membering Him... with others...?

the eve of Christ's communion...

Christmas... Christ's Mass... Christ's Communion with the world...

Jesus... God made flesh... the eve of His birth... His time of communing... with His people...

communion... an act or instance of sharing... (capitalized) a Christian sacrament... intimate fellowship or rapport... communication...

God sent His Son... the Word... to communicate...

hope...

love...

joy...

peace...

to a world at war...

God came... to establish... re-establish... intimate fellowship...

with those who rebelled...

Jesus... emptied Himself... to share His Light... with a dark world...

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2Corinthians 4:6

May you be blessed... 

with intimate communion with Him this Christmas... 

and know the hope... love... joy... peace... 

found in Him...