What are you wearing for Easter?

I come from a conservative southern Christian family. Growing up, I always had a new Easter dress, new tights and new shoes to wear on Easter Sunday. Of course, it was never an appropriate outfit to wear out in the field for the easter egg hunt but I didn't care. I carried this "new dress" tradition to my own children. Often I would make my daughter's dress myself. I can still see those patton leather shoes now! I never really thought too much about why we had the "new dress" tradition. And, I think I followed it because it was the way I was raised and it was just what you do for Easter. But now I think I have some fresh insight about this tradition.

Isaiah 61:10 (New International Version)

10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

It seems that God is very concerned about my clothes. Not the same way I am of course, but He has dressed me in a robe of righteousness and adorned me with jewels. But lets think for a minute about how our Lord Jesus was dressed when they crucified Him on the cross. The book of Matthew tells us that the guards around him divided up His clothes after they crucified Him. Not only did our Lord endure unimaginable pain when He died, but He suffered humiliation as well. And He did it willingly. But the book of Revelation tells us more. Even though the people who crucified Him saw his nakedness, God saw Jesus dressed in a robe dripped in blood. (Rev. 19:13) Why is this important?

Hebrews 9:22 (New International Version)

22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Without that robe dripped in blood, there would be no forgiveness for us. Because Jesus chose to wear that bloody robe, God in turn clothes us in the robes of righteousness and the garments of salvation. We should all celebrate this fact by wearing our "new dress" on the day we celebrate the resurection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This Easter, as a symbol of my appreciation for what Jesus did for me, I'm going to wear something new. My money is a little tight right now, so it won't be a whole new outfit. But it will be something to honor my Lord.
What are you wearing for Easter?

Getting wet

There was a song we sang in church when I was a little girl written by Daniel Whittle in 1883 called Showers of Blessing. It's based on Ezekiel 34:26. Here are the words:

There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.

Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!


There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.


I have a perennial flower bed planted on the South side of my house. I've tried to plant several kinds of flowers right up next to my house that would grow tall any maybe even vine up the bricks. While I've been able to establish plants that grow several feet away from the wall, nothing grows well right up next to the wall. Why? It's because of the overhang of our roof that sticks out about three feet. It keeps the rain off the plants and consequently they usually dry out quickly, fail to thrive and eventually die. Even though I plant low maintenance (meaning drought tolerant) plants, they still need more rain than they get under the overhang. Those plants aren't positioned to receive the showers God is sending them. The showers of blessings would nourish and refresh them enabling them to be the beautiful flowers God intended them to be.

The same is true for us. God sends showers of blessings our way constantly. The problem is that we are often not positioned to receive them. We've planted ourselves under the overhang through our disobedience to His Word and our self-centered life styles. Positioning ourselves for showers of blessings means we follow the commandments Jesus spelled out for us in Matt:22:36-40:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Surrendering your whole heart, soul and mind to God and loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself may sound like an impossible task. Actually it is. It can only be done as a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. The good news is that if we ask for His help to be obedient to his commandments, He is faithful to change our hearts in a way that we could never think possible. Also, if you're like me, you have to ask for His help to be obedient daily. That's OK. Ask daily. Otherwise, the rain will never get you wet. Go ahead, position yourself for a good shower.

The Gardener

I love gardening. More specifically, I love flower gardening. I enjoy most elements of the process - the tilling of the soil, enriching the earth with nutrients, planting the seeds, checking faithfully for any sign of growth, pulling weeds, spotting a bud getting ready to bloom. Then comes my favorite part - the explosion of the flower! What a great reward!

No one makes me garden. I choose to do it. I have a friend who doesn't understand my joy of getting my hands in the dirt at all. She says she'd rather mop a floor 10 times than to put her hands in dirt. I offered to let her mop my floors, but she declined:) She doesn't understand the joy I have and the emotional attachment I feel to my living and blooming friends.

However, I know someone who totally understands how I feel about gardening. Actually He understands in an infinite way - He's God, our Creator. In John 15:1 Jesus states "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener". Jesus goes on to say that if we remain in him as a branch of his vine, we will bear much fruit. This means that God is the gardener of every Christian.

So what does it mean to have God as my gardener? It means He chose to create me.It means He prepares my heart to receive the seed of His salvation. It means He takes joy in providing the sun, water, nutrients and ammenities I need to be successful and happy. It means He is always doing what is best for me. It means He pulls out the weeds that try to choke me. It means He enjoys every minute of my life process and rejoices when I bloom. It means His love for me is unending.

Thank you God for being the Gardener of my life. Thank you for loving me in a hands-on way. Thank you for getting Your hands into the dirt and creating me!

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Turning Bitter Water into Sweet Water

Can you imagine being so thirsty, so parched, so dry-mouthed that all you could think of was finding water to drink? That's the way the Israelites were after they witnessed and experienced the miracle of the Red Sea. But at this point, they had been without water for 3 days. When they finally found some at a place called Marah, they were terribly disappointed because it was too bitter to drink. Oddly enough, God showed Moses a piece of wood and told him to throw it into the bitter water and, sure enough, it became sweet. Who knew that a tree could turn bitter water sweet?
God used another tree to turn the bitterness of sin into sweet salvation. Our Lord Jesus bore our sins on a tree so that we could be healed of our bitterness. (I Peter 2:24). How much precious time do we spend drinking in the bitter water of sin, selfishness, self-pity, despair, hopelessness? Wouldn't it be much better and more satisfying to drink sweet water that has been made sweet by the sacrifice of Jesus. He died so that we could do just that.
God introduced himself as Jehovah-Rapha (the healer) at the bitter water the Israelites encountered that day. He wasn't just taking care of their physical need for sweet water, he was taking care of their spiritual need for sweet water as well; by healing them of their bitterness. After they drank the sweet water, they left Marah and camped at a place called Elim where there was an abundance of springs and palm trees for their rest and enjoyment. If we let Him, God will always turn our Marah into Elim.
After we are healed of the Marah of our life, we will find peace at Elim. It is only here that we will be able to be truly used by God to further His Kingdom by maximizing our spiritual gifts and callings. First Marah, then Elim. First Friday, but Sunday is coming. What's keeping you from finding Elim?

Spiritual ADHD

Some days it feels like everything is a battle. Even the simplest things turn out to be so complicated. Relationships are tricky, financial security is elusive, there is never enough time to do what I want and I never have the energy I would like to have. It frustrates me to no end. But God reminded me in his Word that I am not the one who is suppose to be doing all the fighting. It's his job to do the fighting. The battles are his. I need to take a lesson from the Israelites after they fled Egypt. After they left, Pharoah changed his mind about letting them go. He gathered his army and charged after them to bring them back. When the Israelites saw the Egyptians coming they got scared and told Moses that they would be better off as slaves to Pharoah than to die in the desert. Then Moses said: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."(Ex. 14:14) Isn't that the hardest part? Being still! How many times does God have to tell me that? "Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10). I think I have spiritual ADHD because I struggle with the being still part. So what's my job? My job is to ask for the daily grace to be still. Open the eyes of my heart Lord so that I can see you fighting my battles. Forgive me for fighting first and turning to You second.

The pattern of life

Life has a pattern to it that was demonstrated by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. That pattern is this: TRAGEDY - DARKNESS - TRIUMPHJesus death was a tragedy to all who loved him - his mother, his siblings, his disciples, his friends. After he died, these people lived in darkness in the following days. You know the feeling. You're confused, sad, depressed. But then the resurrection occured. Jesus conquered death and demolished the lie that Satan had been telling everyone that death was the end. Jesus was victorious and triumphant.
This same pattern is the template of our life. Tragedy in inevitable. Life is full of heartache and disappointments, grief and dispair. After a tragedy, the normal human response is to go through a dark time. It's nothing to beat yourself up over - God created us as beings with emotions. So go ahead and feel sad and depressed. Grieve the loss you have had in your life. It's OK. But look at the pattern! After the darkness comes triumph! Yes, one day before you know it you will feel the beginnings of healing of your pain and despair. Jesus came to give you hope. There's one key however. You have to trust God to walk with you through darkness. He won't force Himself on you. In fact right now he's patiently waiting for you to open the door to your heart so he can come in. He's the one who will show you triumph and will draw you closer to him as a result of your walk of faith with Him. So don't give up hope because your Savior has not given up on you! Remember Jesus died on a Friday and rose from the grave on a Sunday. It may be a Friday in your life right now, but Sunday is coming!!!!!!!

What has praise and worship brought to your life?

In one of Beth Moore's devotions from her book, "David," she asked the question: "What has praise and worship brought to your life?" I grew up in a church was wasn't very demonstrative during the worship service. We sang the old hymns which are beautiful but sometimes felt routine. But I really latched on to the song "How Great Thou Art". My heart would soar when we sang it. It remains very special to me to this day. Many years later, my husband and I visited a different church and I was truly blown away by the worship service. There was an emphasis on praise in the music and in the attitudes of the people. I realized what I had been missing for so many years! It was the kind of praise and worship that can make my heart blaze with emotion because it reminds me of who God is! So to answer the question "What has praise and worship brought to my life?"...the answer is SWEET PEACE. I feel peace because I realize how small my problems and worries are compared to His majesty and power. Lord, help me to always remember the words of Job: "Your mysteries are higher than the heavens, deeper than the depth of the grave, longer than the earth and wider than the sea." How Great Thou Art!