Happy Dependence Day 2023
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Here at A Branch in the Vine, we are proclaiming our Declaration of Dependence! We are celebrating that every day is Dependence Day for those of us who "live from the life of Another."
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A Final Benediction -- Worshipping the ONE
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Thank you, dear readers, for following along with us through these beautiful blessings and benedictions. We have only scratched the surface of the treasury of scripture blessings.
I would like to end our series with a benediction hymn that leaves me speechless… truly. I feel I must lay flat on my face before our Almighty, Glorious God. The hymn is Immortal, Invisible by William Chalmer Smith. We rarely sing this hymn these days. But we did sing it in our church just a few weeks ago. I was transported to “the Throne.”
Read MoreA Family Blessing (part 2) -- Discovering Ancestry
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Many of us have “lost” families for various reasons. Maybe through death, geography, dysfunction, neglect, … ? But I love God’s promise that we never need to be family-less.
God places the lonely in families … Psalm 68:6a NLT
Read MoreA Family Blessing -- Singing Together
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The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord cause His face to shine on you, …
God loves families. He has placed each of us in our family at our birth. If we are adopted or marry, we gain another family. And so, we belong to each other.
God blesses families. Our human family is a picture of the family of God. In His family, we belong to each other, and we need each other.
This was especially true during the recent worldwide pandemic. During the quarantine, we were amazed how people across the miles connected with one another in many ways. We needed to “be together.”
Read MoreA Benediction at Sunset ... Remembering with Gratitude
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Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days ...
So goes the beautiful wedding song from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof. And so go our days, don’t they? One day follows another – sunrise, sunset.
And so has followed the days of our Gulf Shores family vacation — from early morning sunrises together to all of a sudden a final sunset.
A Benediction at Sunrise ... Praising our Glorious Creator
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We are vacationing this week at Gulf Shores, Alabama. Our kids and grandkids have joined us at a beautiful, fun place along the coast.
Those of you who have followed A Branch in the Vine over the years know that I have a “thing” about sunrises…
Read MoreA Blessing for Aging ... Trusting and Flourishing
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Aging is hard. When we are young, aged people are often “invisible.” Life is so busy for parents of growing families, adults who are building careers, even middle aged people who are young enough to travel and serve. They all have “big, busy lives.”
As we get older, our lives can get smaller. Our capacity shrinks and much of our time, attention, and energies are absorbed by health issues. Life gets hard and can feel hopeless.
Read MoreA Mother's Blessing ... Speaking Truth Over Your Children
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My husband John and I are currently on a long car trip. In the midst of it, we find ourselves heading to a beloved place — Tucson, Arizona. John is an Arizona “native son,” and Tucson is the home of our Alma Mater, the University of Arizona (Go! Wildcats!). Also back in the 1950’s, Tucson was my family home. So Tucson truly is special to us.
Read MoreA JOYful Benediction -- Catching the Wave of Abandonment
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Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away
and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault….
Several years ago, we were at Bethany Beach, Delaware with our daughter and son-in-law and their three amazing boys. It was a hot one . . . NO, a scorcher. …
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 MoreTrinitarian Benediction -- Enjoying the Dance
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2 Corinthians 13:14 is one of the most glorious benedictions in Scripture. It is a blessing celebrating the fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Read MoreBlessings & Benedictions -- Learning from Children
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… The authors listed 5 elements to the Blessing:
Meaningful touch
Spoken words
Expressing high value
Picturing a special future
Active commitment
Blessings & Benedictions -- from The Chosen
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My husband and I have been watching The Chosen. For those of you who are not familiar with this truly riveting dramatic series, here is the storyline of the first season:
Read MoreHis Qualifying Life and Death
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A few years ago, I spent spent several hours in an exercise that I never would have dreamed would be so valuable. And so I would love to share the fruit of my “what I thought would be agonizing” afternoon and evening with you, my dear readers. My project? Transcribing just a ten minute sermon into pages of type. But in the process of it all, my mind received greater clarity and understanding and my heart just leaped with joy and thanksgiving for my beautiful Lord Jesus, who is my Savior and indwelling Life.
So please watch the video first. It is truly powerful. And then if you long to understand and relish the message on a deeper level, read the transcript that follows.
Read MoreAre You Still Taking Flowers to Your Grave?
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One line of the lyrics for “Got to Let It Go” by MercyMe draws a picture that is in keeping with Jan’s most recent post “Are You Guarding an Empty Tomb?”
“Stop taking flowers to the grave of the old you that died.”
Read MoreAre You Guarding an Empty Tomb?
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It is Finished!
But why are so many of us "guarding an empty tomb," trying to keep the shame of memories, regrets, sins of the past from impinging themselves on our present as if these offenses are still alive...and unforgiven?
Read MoreEaster Bonnets and Bunnies: Living in Newness of Life
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I have two younger sisters, Linda and Nancy. At Easter every year, our mom would dress us up in our ruffly Easter dresses, shoes, purses, and of course, bonnets. Since I am the oldest of the three, my Easter clothes were usually brand new. My younger two sisters, on the other hand, had hand-me-downs, but they were “new to them.” This was especially true when it came to our Easter bonnets.
Read MoreFocus on the CROSS: the Last 7 Sayings of Christ with B.C. 2001
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It is truly "holy ground" to reflect on the Cross — what our Lord went through … but more than that, what He accomplished there. Would you meditate along with me ... and revisit Christ's seven sayings from the Cross? [links below]
What a perfect preparation for the joy, freedom, and release of the Resurrection.
Read MoreWords from the Cross: a Word of Reunion
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Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
So goes a traditional nighttime prayer taught by American moms to their children for generations. It may seem odd to us today that there would be the mention of death in a child's prayer. But scientists say that sleep is the closest we come to death while still alive. The Greeks even had a proverb,
Sleep and death are brothers.
However, in the first century, Jewish moms taught their children a different bedtime prayer...quoting Psalm 31:
Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.
Read MoreWords from the Cross: a Word of Completion
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Tetelestai!* It is finished! The death of Christ on the Cross is the HINGE of human history...and nowbefore He breathes His last breath... a cry of victory,It is finished!
What's finished? It must be something BIG,...look at what happened when Jesus died:
At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.
Read MoreWords from the Cross: a Word of Personal Need
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Thirst is a primal need in all of us humans...more demanding even than hunger! We can go quite awhile without eating, but a very short time without drinking. Jesus on the Cross had refrained up to this point from satisfying His thirst. Instead He drank the Father's cup to the very last drop! He became sin for us...the Sinless One! Jesus took our place, and the Father turned His back. The punishment for sin had been accomplished...spiritual separation from God....for US!
Now in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus expresses His own physical need:
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 ESV
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