It’s “Good Friday” and hopefully many hearts are set on our Savior, the King of Kings who came, riding on a donkey, to save His people from their sins. He came to be the sacrifice, to absorb the wrath of God  on our behalf, He came that we might, having believed in His name, find new life ….resurrected life in Christ alone. AND this very King pursues the hearts of wicked sinners who have made themselves the enemies of God. I’m including all of us in this.

For some of us, we were pursued by God as children who were raised in the church and by parents who loved and followed God. Others were born into other “religious” families, indoctrinated with lies, zealously hostile toward God…BUT GOD. He is more powerful. He is faithful. He pursues the unlovable and draws us to Himself and then radically transforms us and makes us new because we receive Him and in receiving Him, receive life. 

This story of a Muslim becoming a follower of Christ  is very worth the read….

http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/

“HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David; Hosanna in the highest!”  Mark 11:9b-10

Today’s video clip  is not so silly and is surely not cheesy. Today’s clip will hopefully make you think as David and I have been thinking and praying and asking the Lord how he wants us to live not only in these “difficult and uncertain economic times” (I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that phrase!) but also in the economic times that feel like they are couched with more certainty. What does it mean to be a responsible steward of God’s money as HIS disciple? We’ve heard a few great messages on this lately….a few by Piper and a great one by Randy Alcorn. Watch this short clip by John Piper.  

 Piper–

YouTube – Don’t Waste Your Life: Wartime Lifestyle.

YouTube – Op zoek naar Maria – Dans in het Centraal Station van Antwerpen.

And in honor of my dad and brother currently ministering in Germany and soon making their way to Salzburg, Austria, I thought I’d pass the link along to you…just for a smile…or a dance if you like.

Don’t Want to Waste My Life | Jeremy Lucarelli .

My good buddy, Luca, already posted on this topic well & with a video of John Piper/Lecrae….quite the combo.

Here are a few pics….

We had some seriously good food!

The fabulous cake made by Nicki…the woman has talent!

my  very cute, not nearly 9 mos. pregnant looking sis

Recently I went with David to an assisted living home. These precious people used to meet for a Bible study but have had no one come since January. A few weeks ago, David got spontaneously asked to go share with them. It looks like they may become his little church. I was impressed and blessed by these women and grateful for a husband who doesn’t forget about the forgotten.

We discussed John 12, what we commonly call Palm Sunday, and about the first coming of Jesus when He came humbly, riding on a donkey….to SAVE. And then we took a brief look at the second coming of Jesus, when He will come to JUDGE the world and to bring home to heaven all who have believed in Him….

               Revelation 19:11-16 ~”And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in                righteousness He judges and wages war.  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so thatwith it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  

My new 90-year-old friend commented that when you read it aloud like that, it really sounds pretty scary. And she’s right. For those who know God, we should be filled with a deep and reverential fear, an awe, a preparedness….He IS coming back. He will be victorious. He ALONE is God. This spurred a couple of them, at 80-something and 90, to discussing their  witnessing opportunities  in the home and how they needed the Lord’s wisdom to know how to share because people are easily offended in their home. This isn’t an excuse to stop them, though, and they acknowledged how they still must take Holy Spirit led opportunities and share the gospel.

We want people to rejoice at His coming because they KNOW Him, not to shrink in shame when it’s too late. How often my own fear of man keeps me from sharing what they need most.  

Like these precious women, let’s ask the Lord to give us wisdom and daily guidance into HOW He would have us to share and with WHOM He would lead us to share. Then, let’s be faithful. 

Before I wrap these few thoughts up for the day, there is one more thing I’ve thought of many times since I visited with these women. I’m not entirely sure how we went from witnessing to prayer, but the correlation should be obvious nonetheless. David asked these women how he could pray for them and shared his renewed commitment to grow as a man of prayer. Several of us echoed the sentiment about our own continual need to become more faithful in prayer, to spend more time on our knees as well as to have more of a continual focus on prayer throughout the day. One precious lady (very much in her right mind!) spoke quietly, almost to herself until she looked at me and said, ” I pray all the time. I pray all day long. I ask Jesus about everything–should I do this, how should I do that, what do you want me to do? Sometimes I even forget that Jesus isn’t standing there right beside me.”

No, the resurrected Jesus Christ is not physically standing beside her, but He certainly is with her, communing with her daily, moment by moment. She lives her life to depend on Him, to ask Him what His desires are for her, to submit to Him in every aspect of her life, to talk to the Lord at all times and not just when she bows her head to pray a couple of times a day. I long to be this kind of woman, to be in such fellowship with Jesus that I just might, even in my right mind, forget that He’s not actually standing in the room. 

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

PLEASE go to the “GIRL TALK” page (you can find the link above) and bless me with some honest feedback. You will see the categories above…(HOME, ABOUT, GIRL TALK) Click on GIRL TALK and then you will find questions. You can answer anonymously or by posting your name. All you have to do is leave it as a comment and label the answer to each question as 1,2,3, etc….. Your help would be greatly appreciated! Please pass this along to your friends as well. I’d love input from as many women as possible. Thank you so much!

So here I am, starting a new blog. I enjoyed blogging when I was at FBCW working with the girls ministry but everytime I’ve considered starting a blog since, the idea of up-keep has deterred me. Then I see someone’s blog and appreciate the pictures, the stories, and the info. from my friends and so finally I decided to take the plunge and jump back into the blogging world. We’ll see how often I am a contributor! You can “subscribe” to the link on the right. That way when there is something new, if you want to know, you can know.

Have a great day!

~Elizabeth