March 23, 2016

The End of Yourself

By Christina

imageThis week we share during holy week, the last 7 words of Jesus during crucifixion and death. The words are as follows:

THE FIRST WORD
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Gospel of Luke 23:34

THE SECOND WORD
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Gospel of Luke 23:43

THE THIRD WORD
Jesus said to his mother: “Woman, this is your son.”
Then he said to the disciple: “This is your mother.”
Gospel of John 19:26-27

THE FOURTH WORD
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

THE FIFTH WORD
“I thirst.”
Gospel of John 19:28

THE SIXTH WORD
When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished;”
and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit.
Gospel of John 19:29-30

THE SEVENTH WORD
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Gospel of Luke 23:46

Jesus came to the end of Himself. Surely, in life there will be those moments where you will come to the end of yourself too. No one is exempt from that truth. This is the one I had to elaborate on. The surrendering one… Continue reading

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March 19, 2016

He Wants To

By Christina

imageHE WANTS TO…. Our King Jesus wants to make the best things happen in our lives. Right near Jesus, He can give us so much.

“Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.” Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8:1-4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I’m sitting with my husband on this Saturday afternoon and I asked him, “Why do you think that Jesus told the leper not to say anything about the healing?”

He responded, “Because that would limit him in the town that he was ministering in…”

Then I come to read further that Jesus said, “Let your cleansed life be the testimony!” Continue reading

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March 17, 2016

Good Rich Soil

By Christina

imageThe last of the 4 grounds to sow on is good rich soil. If you haven’t caught up with this week’s theme of, “The Parable of the Sower” here are the links:

The Beaten Path

Gravel Ground

Among the Thorns

When there are many other grounds to sow seed on–the one that reaps the harvest and has that apparent overflow is the good rich soil. This brings the fruit …all the good fruit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 5:22-24 [English Standard Version]

Anything contrary to that, then we understand we are falling on one of the other three grounds. That could be handled, it is not difficult and it certainly isn’t impossible. 🙂 You can find a way to get to this ground. You just need to bring an open heart to God and allow Him to do the rest. Continue reading

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March 16, 2016

Thorns Hurt

By Christina

imageThe continuation of “The Parable of the Sower” in this writing is the seed sown among thorns.

First we read about the beaten path.

We then read about the gravel ground.

Now we will read about the thorns….

“Other seeds fell among thorns, so when the seeds sprouted so did the thorns, crowding out the young plants so that they could produce no grain.”
Mark 4:7 [The Passion Translation]

Verse 18 explains, “And the seed sown among thorns represents those who hear the Word, but they allow the cares of this life and the seduction of wealth and the desires of other things crowd out and CHOKE the Word so that it produces nothing.

Thorns hurt.

A thorn is a sharp excrescence on a plant, especially a sharp-point aborted branch; spine; prickle. It is something that wounds, annoys or causes discomfort.

A lot of times we think that things in our lives are okay to have around but that is not actually the case according to the word. It is only a matter of time in which we see that it produces nothing. Continue reading

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