A Word of Abandonment
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Abandoned. With no Rescuer in sight. What happens next in the unfolding drama of the crucifixion of our Lord is a mystery. Let's watch it unfold...
It is noon.
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Words from the Cross: a Word of Family Affection
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Dear woman, behold your son...behold your mother. (John 19:26)
Jesus has a special love for His own. As we've already seen with His forgiving and saving attitude in the midst of excruciating agony, His concern was not with His own suffering. Rather His attention was next drawn to His precious loved ones at the foot of His cross, His mother and His beloved disciple John.
What agony Jesus must have seen on Mary's face.
Read MoreWords from the Cross: a Word of Salvation
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Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. Luke 23:43
Jesus seems to have a special love for lost people ... This makes me think of the criminals executed with Our Lord Christ. They certainly were the lost sheep, ...the lost coins, ...the lost sons...and Jesus came to seek them.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10
They obviously had been running away from God...who knows what kind of crimes they had committed! The Bible just calls them "criminals" [thieves, malefactors KJV]. Maybe God didn't come into their thinking...but that's the point. They had gone their own way.
Read MoreWords from the Cross: a Word of Forgiveness
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Christ’a first saying from the Cross ushers us into our basic need as fallen humanity. Listen in and reflect on the amazing love and grace of our forgiving Lord …
Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet, once said,To err is human; to forgive, divine.
So true...but we humans more readily echo what someone else has said,
To err is human, but to get even? THAT is divine.
We struggle so, with forgiving our offenders! Perhaps that's why we are amazed and awestruck to realize that Jesus' first words from the Cross were ones of forgiveness.
Read MoreLast Words: Hearing the Words of Christ
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The last words of a dying person are significant. They can communicate good or ill to those left behind. Because the last words are so final and so revealing of what was uppermost in the person's mind as he was leaving this earth to face his Maker.
Read MoreSt Patrick's Prayer for Today
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I’m not Irish except in the sense that everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day.
So this week, I’m returning to a beloved “hymn”. Today more than ever we need the beautiful truths expressed in what is traditionally known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.
St Patrick's Breastplate is a Celtic hymn, usually attributed to St Patrick, that is sung around his feast day (March 17th). There are many variations to this hymn.* But I have chosen a simple version to share with you.
Read MoreThe Wave -- Abandoning to God
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I read an article recently about the revival going on in KY and how it has spread around the world. The author used the word “wave” and how we need to catch the “wave.”
It made me think of this entry from Penny Mandeville’s and my manuscript, Glory in Disguise: Experiencing God in our Every Day. This is the wave that is always available to us.
Read MoreThe Prayer of Relinquishment, part 2
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Welcome to part 2 of an article by Catherine Marshall entitled, the Prayer of Relinquishment. If you missed part 1, be sure to read the previous post before today's post.
Read MoreThe Prayer of Relinquishment -- Part 1
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Years ago, I was captivated by A Man Called Peter, the story of Peter Marshall, the former chaplain to the Senate, as told by his wife, Catherine Marshall. But it was Catherine herself that really drew my attention. She had experiences with God that made me long for more than what my "camp" of Christianity had systematized. So I began to read everything I could find about that fascinating woman. And I searched for her writings, which at that time were few and far between...or so I thought. Though I couldn't seem to find much (that was before internet), I started to piece writings together and grew to love how she responded to the Spirit of God.
Read MoreDust to Glory...a fresh reflection on Ash Wednesday
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Enjoy this preview of one of our devotions in our manuscript, Glory in Disguise: Experiencing God in Our Every Day by Jan Loyd & Penny Mandeville.
Dust to Glory: Honoring a Sanctuary
… for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Genesis 3:19 ESV
These words, spoken every Ash Wednesday in many Christian churches, has taken on a new meaning for me since my 91 year old mom passed away.
Read MoreCan You Start a Revival through Old People? A morning conversation with my FRIEND
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…So as reports of a move of the Spirit at Asbury University (Kentucky) and now at Cedarville University (Ohio) exploded social media and news outlets, this was my conversation with my FRIEND this morning:
ME: Lord, can You start a revival in and through OLD people? …
Read MoreA Love Song to Jesus
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When my husband John and I were seniors at the University of Arizona, the Carpenters were at the top of the music charts. We embraced them as our group who sang our songs as we were "a-courting." Their mellow sound and rich melodies fed our romantic feelings toward each other and toward life in general. At our wedding, we danced to, you may have guessed it, "We've Only Just Begun." Lyrics like "White lace and promises, a kiss for luck and we're on our way" made it the perfect song to start out a new marriage...or so we thought.
But as the years have rolled by and reality and maturity have set in, so has the realization that the romantic expectations of youth are so unrealistic and can only truly be fulfilled by an Almighty God.
Read MoreValentines Day -- Loving and Being Loved
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Several years ago on Valentines Day, I ran to Kroger to pick up a few things. As I got out of my car in the parking lot and walked across the lot to enter the store, I saw a man leaving, carrying a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers! For some reason, it moved me to tears. Here was a middle-aged, short, stocky guy ... not romantic looking or attractive in any way. And yet, I realized he was incredibly blessed because he LOVES someone.
Maybe she's a wife, a sweetheart, a daughter, a mother ... no matter, he has SOMEONE to love.
Read MoreMy Friend God Sees Me, Loves Me, and Smiles ... and You too!
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Much of my life I lived under the "frown of God," or so I thought. I wasn't a bad kid; in fact, I was quite religious and moral. But I wasn't perfect for sure. (For one thing, I was a terrible big sister, mean and self-centered toward my siblings.) But I knew God required perfection, so I was always working my way down a spiritual "to do list" of some kind (depending on the Christian group I was with. They each had their own, you know).
In fact even as Christian adult, I made up lists of my own to make me "spiritual," pleasing to God so that He would love me more and not frown so much . . .
Read MoreMy Dance Partner: a Backstory
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Enjoy this preview of one of our devotions in our manuscript, Glory in Disguise: Experiencing God in Our Every Day by my darling poet friend Penny Mandeville and myself.
Read MoreMy Friend and His Dance: Perichoresis
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When my Friend Jesus held out His Hand to me many years ago, He invited me into a Dance that was bigger than I had ever imagined. As a small child, I couldn’t have known or comprehended the depth of it all … this dancing with Jesus.
Read MoreMy Friend Leads: He's the Lord of the Dance
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My Friend Jesus is the Lord of the Dance. Many years ago He took my hand, when I was just a small child and invited me into His dance.
And so moment by moment, day by day, we dance together through my life. At times I may stumble, but He has me in His strong but kind and gentle grip. And so we keep on dancing together.
I would never change partners…I couldn’t, because He would never let me go. I am His and He is mine. We are friends and dance partners.
Read MoreMy FRIEND is Loyal: He Has My Back
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Friends are loyal to each other. They stick up for one another, don’t they. Or they should.
But in real life, our friends often disappoint us.
Well the good news is — that’s not my Friend Jesus.
Read MoreReceiving My WORD in my Loneliness -- FRIEND!
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In the early morning hours of this New Year, in the throes of my loneliness, I received the WORD that has been simmering deep in my soul, warming my heart for days, weeks — no months, even years —- FRIEND!
I am a friend of God, but more importantly…HE is MY Friend!
I had been so convinced my word for this year was “Light/Revelation.” But then I remembered that this warming thought of Friendship with God was grabbing me everywhere and at all times. His Whispers have followed me for years:
Read MoreReceiving Your WORD for 2023
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Here we are again, friends. Another year has past, and for many it’s a time for the infamous “New Year’s Resolutions.” But several years ago I turned away from that initially hopeful, but later, dreaded “setting yourself up for failure,” tradition to a new thing altogether.
Resolutions are no temptation to me anymore. I’ve given up trying to change myself by my own self-effort. The indwelling Christ is my “Game-changer” and my “Life-changer.” And a few years ago, He brought a lovely “new thing” to my attention … the idea of a word for my year.
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