Grasping Easter On Calvary’s Hill

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015 - Amy Leave a comment

Over the last few years I’ve felt a tug on my heart around Easter. Not the usual tug of simple remembrance, but a real tug like God wanted me to know something.

I’ve known the meaning of Easter for as long as I can remember. I’ve gone through the motions, but it’s only been recently that I felt God seem to say, “I want you to hear my son’s story. I want you to feel deep compassion for Christ who came to save your life on the cross.”

I have watched The Passion of The Christ many times. It’s pretty easy to see those scenes and to think, “Wow this is terrible. Oh my goodness. Lord have mercy on him.” etc. But I really wanted to get into the word and into the things that Jesus said and did leading up to and during his Crucifixion and also when he rose again in glorious victory.

As painful as it was, it was supposed to happen.

Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! ⁵But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! ⁶We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us! – Isaiah 53:4-6

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

It was God’s will that his son die for our sins. It was this way from the beginning. It’s hard to believe that the purpose of one’s life would be to die, but we NOW know that he didn’t die and that he LIVES! So thankful for his Spirit living inside me.

The devil must really have been laughing to himself as this went down, but you know I think God was probably snickering himself. This terrible scene lead to the salvation of the WORLD. Hallelujah!

Even Jesus feared.

How human does this make our Savior! I’m not the only one…

He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to be filled with horror and deepest distress. ³⁴And he said to them, “My soul is crushed by sorrow to the point of death; stay here and watch with me.” ³⁵He went on a little farther and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the awful hour awaiting him might never come. ³⁶“Father, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take away this cup from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” – Mark 14: 33-26

He walked away, perhaps a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed this prayer: “Father, if you are willing, please take away this cup of horror from me. But I want your will, not mine.” ⁴³Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him, ⁴⁴for he was in such agony of spirit that he broke into a sweat of blood, with great drops falling to the ground as he prayed more and more earnestly. – Luke 22:41-42

Jesus wanted the fear and impending circumstances to go away if it was God’s will. He feared so much he sweat blood. I have been in some serious fear before, but never sweat blood. His was completely warranted I would say.

I love that he said “I want your will, not mine”. Thank you God!

This is how much he loved us.

A man that loved a broken world, DIED for us so that we may live. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. When we’re wallowing in lack of self-worth we should always remember that there is One who loves us so very much that He sent his only son to die for us.

With Easter coming up, let’s really try to grasp this.

And let’s also grasp the JOY that came with the Resurrection of that same selfless man! He is alive! Not even DEATH could hold down the Savior. He overcame so that each and every one of us can overcome.

I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world. – John 16:33

I adore this verse. Makes me think of Jesus as saying, “Hey, you’re gonna go through some crap, but don’t lose heart, I’ve overcome the worst for you!”

If you’re really wanting some great reading leading up to Easter this year, I have just the thing for you. My favorite author, Max Lucado has a great little companion for getting into the season. On Calvary’s Hill is 40 readings for the Easter Season.

It’s a compilation from several of his books that relate to Easter and what happened to Jesus during this time. It has got some really great stories and goes into pretty much every aspect of the Crucifixion and Resurrection story. But with an awesome Max Lucado twist, of course.

I especially love that it’s excerpts from so many of his awesome books. Put together they tell the incredible and redeeming story of Jesus Christ.

It’s goooooood stuff y’all. I’ve been trying to read one per day leading up to Easter Sunday.

You can get a copy of One Calvary’s Hill by Max Lucado at Family Christian for $9.99! Makes a fantastic gift idea.

OR you could win the $10 Family Christian Appreciation Certificate and buy your own copy! Enter my giveaway below.

$10 Family Christian Appreciation Certificate Giveaway

This giveaway will end on March 25th, 2015 at 11:59pm CT. I was given a copy of this book for review purposes by Family Christian. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

What Can You Do in Five Minutes?

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014 - Max Leave a comment

The following is a post written by my husband, Max.

Sunday November 2, 2014 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

What is Christian Persecution?

This topic may feel distant to many of us Western Christians. In 2013, I first got an understanding of what Christian persecution was when I read the book Tortured for Christ authored by Richard Wurmbrand, the founder of Voice of the Martyrs Ministry. If you are interested in receiving a complimentary copy of this book, you can get more information here. Richard Wurmbrand showed radical obedience to the Gospel in Romania despite the horrific persecution and torture that he both experienced and witnessed while spending more than ten years in prison. His life is a beautiful testimony of the Gospel and what it means to love.

The definition of Christian persecution from about.com is:

Persecution is the act of harassing, oppressing, or killing people because of their difference from society. Christians are persecuted because their belief in Jesus Christ as Savior does not conform to the godlessness of a sinful world.”

Christians around the world are persecuted every day. According an article on Christianity Today, some 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith since AD 22. “Is there a global war on Christians?” Michael Austin asks. “That question is asked in this issue and judging from the number of deaths and torture in recent years, my conclusion is, yes – and the casualties are staggering. […] Sadly, the names of Christ’s heroes and their inspired stories go largely unspoken today and their cause goes unreported in the popular press.” Voice of the Martyrs’s Rou Stults adds that there is not enough awareness in the Western Church: “Many Christians in the West either deny or are ignorant of it, but persecution is part of present reality.”

Why are Christians facing persecution?

They are suffering persecution and dying for living lives that honor Jesus and being a witness to the Gospel, as we were commissioned by Jesus:

He (Jesus) told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. 19 Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” – Matthew 28:18-20

Spiritual warfare is active and real – and it is warring against Jesus’ Great Commission. We must remember this is a spiritual war and continue to love all, including those who persecute Christians.

For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.” – Ephesians 6:12

How should Christians respond?

Don’t put your head in the sand. Stand up with your brothers and sisters in Christ that are being persecuted and losing their lives for the Gospel. We can serve them through words of encouragement, prayer, time, and financial support.

Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” – Hebrews 13:3

This powerful list of 10 ways to pray for our persecuted family in Christ is from the Voice of the Martyrs Ministry:

Pray that the persecuted believers will sense God’s presence (Hebrews 13:5)
Pray that they will feel connected to the greater Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:20, 26)
Pray that they will experience God’s comfort when their family members are killed, injured or imprisoned for their witness (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
Pray that they will have more opportunities to share the Gospel (Colossians 4:3)
Pray for their boldness to make Christ known (Philippians 1:14)
Pray that they will forgive and love their persecutors (Matthew 5:44)
Pray that their ministries activities will remain undetected by authorities or others who wish to silence them (Acts 9:25)
Pray that they will rejoice in suffering (Acts 5:41)
Pray that they will be refreshed through God’s Word and grow in their faith (Ephesians 6:17)
Pray that they will be strengthened through the prayers of fellow believers (Jude 20-25)

Join with brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for persecuted Christians, and more urgently, for their mission, the spread of the Gospel.

If you need help getting started, I encourage you to start by earnestly and reverently praying. As the introductory video “What can you do in 5 minutes?” shows, a start could be as simple as praying for the persecuted church for 5 minutes once a week. Let us join together in prayer on Sunday, November 2, 2014 and continue thereafter.

Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers to help you, for the harvest is so plentiful and the workers so few.” – Luke 10:2

Additional resources

New Series: 21 Days of Affirmation

April 23, 2014April 23, 2014 - Amy 2 Comments

I’m starting a new series today on something that I have always found difficult. If you’ve ever felt down on yourself or sought to really dig in and change negative thinking, you may have been told to say affirmations.

Affirmation, (noun)- emotional support or encouragement.

This is one of those things mentioned in Gary Chapman’s book The Heart of the 5 Love Languages. Words of affirmation is a biggie in that book. And he explains that some folks receive love better with sweet words. So your partner would benefit from knowing that so they can speak your looooooooove language.

But what about ourselves? How can we truly show that we love ourselves if we speak negativity about ourselves? I will be the first to say that I struggle with putting myself down on a regular basis. I have trouble actually believing positive words about myself, but straight from the Bible, these are the ultimate truths. This is precisely the reason that I wanted to do this series with you. It’s probably more for me than you! I would love for you to join me in challenging ourselves to speak these truths over us each day.

The challenge: each day that I post a new affirmation, say them to yourself OUT LOUD at least 5 times that day. This can be when you first wake up, when you’re driving down the road, when you’re laying down to sleep, when you’re feeling low, when you’re feeling great about yourself, or at anytime you please. Even if all 5 have to be said in the same minute! There is power in words.

Each time a new affirmation is posted, add that one to the list! And at the end of this little challenge, I pray that you begin to believe these truths about who are you are not only to yourself, but to Christ. I’ll be sharing some of my thoughts about each of the affirmations and I’d love for you to give me yours as well. Let’s get started!

To the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved. -Ephesians 1:6

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! -Psalm 139:17

Even though we fall short of perfection (which is ok you know!), by His grace, we are completely accepted. It’s extremely hard for me to accept that I am accepted. If that makes any such sense at all. But the fact of the matter is that no matter what we have done and no matter what we will do, God will always have us.

His thoughts are always on us. They can’t even be numbered! It’s kinda like being in that beginning stage of love. You know, when you’re on the phone saying “no, YOU hang up”. God feels that way about us all the time.

When someone else says something bad about us behind our back.
When we wake up with nappy hair and stinky breath.
When our jeans fit too tightly.
When we were speeding the other day on I24. (this may or may not be a true story)
And even when we are hard on ourselves (which I am all the time), God still accepts us then.

How can we ever be worried about rejection with a love as amazing as that? I am going to ponder this very affirmation each day through this series.

Do you have trouble with feeling accepted by others? Do you find comfort in the fact that the only person’s acceptance that we need to worry about is God’s? Leave me a comment!