About Barbara Harper

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Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Barbara Harper

It’s been a rainy, overcast, dreary week. That kind of weather can get me down a bit when it lasts so long. That’s one reason it’s important to deliberately look for the blessings in the week. They’re there, but they can be overshadowed by gloom if we let them. I join up with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to look for five good things from the week just past.

1. Dinner at Jesse‘s, my youngest son. He made chili, Mittu made gluten-free cornbread, and I made gluten-free blondies. We got to see the progress he had made in setting up his new house. And Jim and Jason helped him set up his wall-mounted TV. Then we all played Jackbox games on it.

2. The eclipse. Jim, Jason, and Timothy drove six or so hours to Sidney, OH, to view the eclipse. Jim’s main motivation was that Timothy be able to see it. We had seen the one in 2017, but Timothy was only three then and didn’t remember much. They had safe travels, clear skies, and good weather. Jim brought a couple of his telescopes so they could see the progression on screen.

He got some neat pictures with the telescope as well. Here’s just one:

They went to a hotel that night, with Jim using the last of the hotel reward points he had accumulated from work. They enjoyed the pool, then drove back the next day.

Back at home here in TN, this was all I got of the eclipse, in a short break in the clouds. 🙂 So I was glad the guys got a fuller experience.

3. Jeremy in Montreal. My oldest son in RI took a few days off and drove to Montreal to see the eclipse. He had not ever really taken a vacation beyond coming to see us or going camping with friends, so he thought this would be a good time to travel and explore. He went on a walking tour the first day, which I thought was a great way to start (and it was only $5). Among other things, he went to the “Aura Experience,” a kind of light and music show, at the Notre Dame Basilica and walked up 339 steps to the Mount Royal Park, which overlooks the city. He regaled us with photos and text comments about the places he visited. It was fun to experience it with him in that way.

4. Tax refund. Jim did our taxes this week, and for the first time in years, we’re getting a refund.

5. Tooth extractions are no fun, but getting it over with is helpful. This particular tooth has been a problem for a long time and had about everything done to it that can be done. It had a root canal, crown, and bridge, then got a cavity underneath all that somehow. There was some question about whether it would support another root canal or whether it should be extracted. In the meantime, it got infected again. So we made the decision to remove it. That was done Thursday afternoon, and they said it went as well as it could have. I’m still numb at the moment, a couple of hours after the procedure, but taking it easy for a couple of days.

6. Bonus: the dogwoods around town have been blooming, but our backyard ones are just getting started.

I wrote this on Thursday afternoon. Now, Friday morning, the sun is out! And should be all day!

Have a great weekend!

Who Was Isobel Kuhn?

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Several weeks ago, the chapter I submitted to my critique group mentioned Isobel Kuhn a couple of times. I was surprised that several of the women in the group weren’t familiar with her.

In my early married life, the ladies’ group of the church we attended had a lending library. Isobel’s books were among the most often checked-out. She was as well known in that time and place as Elisabeth Elliot or Amy Carmichael. I believe that’s where I first heard of Isobel: I know that’s when I started reading her books.

Isobel was a Canadian missionary with China Inland Mission (founded by Hudson Taylor) to the Lisu tribe in China from 1928 to 1950, when forced out by the Communists. She and her husband, John, ministered in Thailand for just a few years until she was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 1957 at the age of 55.

She had grown up in a Christian home in Vancouver. In her book, By Searching: My Journey Through Doubt Into Faith, she writes that when she left for a secular college, her parents armed her with all kinds of arguments against modernism.

In one of her first classes, her professor asked if anyone still believed in heaven and hell, in Genesis, etc. Only Isobel and one other student raised their hands. The professor didn’t present arguments against the Bible: he only said, “Oh, you just believe that because your papa and mama told you so.”

On the way home from class, Isobel examined why she believed what she believed in light of what she was learning in her classes and concluded the professor was right: she only believed because of what her parents said. She determined to “accept no theories of life which [she] had not proved personally” (p. 7). She wouldn’t say there was no God, but rather that she didn’t know whether there was or not. Instead of seeking out the answer to such an important question, she determined that, since one can’t know, then it really didn’t matter what one did. She gave up going to church so she could sleep in on Sunday to rest up after parties and dances through the week. She set aside Bible reading, and she gave herself to the activities she had always been taught were “worldly.”

At first everything was pleasant and fun, but she discovered before long that nothing satisfied. One night she was so low that she even contemplated taking her own life. A groan from her father in his sleep in another room reminded her of the devastating effect suicide would have on her family. She prayed, “God, if there be a God, If You will prove to me that You are, and if You will give me peace, I will give you my whole life.”

The rest of the book tells how He answered that prayer. “To find that He is, this is the mere starting-point of our search. We are lured on to explore what He is, and that search is never finished, for it grows more thrilling the further one proceeds” (p. 94).

God led her to a few summer missions conference at The Firs. During one conference, she heard J. O. Frasier speak about the Lisu tribe he ministered to. Her heart was stirred, and eventually she felt led to go to China herself. Frasier became a mentor to Isobel and later to John.

The problem was Isobel’s mother. For all of her missionary work in the church, Isobel’s mother declared that her daughter would go to the mission field only over her dead body. Her mother wanted her to marry well and move in “good society.” The thought of her daughter depending on the charity of others was more than she could bear. Isobel consulted with Frasier, who gave her some sound advice.

Isobel’s second book, In the Arena, tells how God turned her mother’s heart, provided for Isobel to go to Moody Bible College, led her to her husband, John, and then led them both to China. She tells of different events in their family and ministry, then her cancer diagnosis.

Some incidents in Isobel’s life were highly influential to my own. Here are a few of them:

She had covenanted with a group of friends to read the Bible an hour a day for a year. She divided up her hour into two thirty-minute sessions. One day she got back to her room right before dinner. She hadn’t had her second session with the Bible that day and only had the next thirty minutes in which to do so. She had a program to participate in that night and a devotional she was supposed to give which she had not even started to prepare for. She knew she’d be dead tired when she got home: her class was supposed to clean up after the event as well. She debated whether to have her devotional time, go to dinner, or prepare for her talk. Finally she said, “Lord, I choose you.” And in the time with Him, she felt He gave her what to say for her talk.

When she was a little older and living in a noisy boarding house, she couldn’t find a quiet time to read her Bible. She asked God to wake her up at 2 a.m., when the house was quiet.

In her early married life, she joyfully set up her home with weddings gifts. She was excited to receive her first women guests. As she began to talk with them, one blew her nose and wiped the stuff on a her new rug. The other’s baby was allowed to wet all over another rug. Isobel knew that they were not being deliberately offensive: those were just the customs of the country people in that time and place. Yet, naturally, resentment welled up and she had a battle in her heart. She wrote, “If possessions would in any way interfere with our hospitality, it would be better to consign them to the river. In other words, if your finery hinders your testimony, throw it out. In our Lord’s own words, if thine hand offend thee, cut it off. He was not against our possessing hands, but against our using them to hold on to sinful or hindering things.”

Whom God Has Joined is a collection of essays about marriage. It was originally titled One Vision Only and published with biographical remarks by a Carolyn Canfield. I think later versions were published without Canfield’s remarks.

When John proposed, Isobel wrote, “John and I are of very opposite dispositions, each rather strong minded. Science has never discovered what happens when the irresistible force collides with the immovable object. Whatever would happen if they married one another?”

One incident she writes of here occurred when she was telling a story to friends. She was artistic and exuberant and commented that it was “pouring rain.” John corrected her, saying it was “merely raining.” She was indignant that her story was being interrupted by such a minor detail and said, “I didn’t stop to count the raindrops.” He replied that that was just what she should do. He felt she exaggerated and wanted to break her of it. He began “correcting” her prayer letters and stories and began to use the catch-phrase, “Did you count the raindrops?” It was discouraging and distressing to her and she felt it had a stilted effect on her writing. She tells how over time the Lord used this to help her husband appreciate his wife’s gift of imagination and expression and helped her to be more accurate. She commented on the need for prayer, bearing with one another, and forgiveness. “The passion for accuracy plus a sympathetic imagination which relives another’s joys and sorrows—that is double effectiveness. Either quality working unrestrained by itself would never have been so effective. But it cost mutual forgiveness and endurance to weld these two opposites into one!”

Another time, she and her husband had a sharp disagreement. Angry and resentful, she walked out of the house, not caring where she went, just to get away from it all. Gradually she came to herself and realized she was in a little Chinese village as darkness was nearing. In that time and culture that was not done: “good women were in their homes at such an hour.” She felt as if the Lord were saying to her, “You have not considered Me and My honor in all this, have you?” She felt convicted her that she had not even invited Him into the situation. She confessed that was true, asked Him to work it out, and went home. And He did.

One of my favorite pieces of Isobel’s writings was a chapter titled “A Sense of Him” in her book, Second-Mile People. I wrote more about it here. She tells of one particular friend who carried a sense of God’s presence and peace through everything she did, even laughing and chatting.

Her book Green Leaf in Drought is not about her at all, but rather about Arthur and Wilda Mathews, who were the last CIM missionaries to leave China after it fell under Communist rule. Even though they were not welcome, they were not allowed to leave for some time. I was moved by the hardships they endured, what they learned, and how God provided for them (my review is here).

Most of her other books are about their work in China and Thailand. Some of the people they ministered to became dear to me as well. I anticipate meeting them in heaven some day!

Through her mentions of J. O. Fraser, I read two good biographies of him: Behind the Ranges by Geraldine Taylor and a later one, Mountain Rain, by his daughter, Eileen Crossman.

Isobel’s writing style was engaging and relatable. She was transparent about her faults and foibles and the hard lessons she had to learn.

As I suppose could be said about anyone, I wouldn’t agree with every little thing Isobel said and did. But overall, she sought to follow, serve, love, and obey God. Her life inspired me many times over. If you’ve never read her books, I hope you will.

(Note: some portions of this post were taken from previous posts about Isobel.)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: Create: Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Stuff

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Barbara Harper

In Create: Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Stuff, Stephen Altrogge contends that creativity is not just for the artistic. We’re all creative in different ways because we were made in the image of God, who is the ultimate Creator. He gave us whatever creative bents we have, so we should set aside fear, pride, or whatever else trips us up and create for His glory.

However, just because God made us creative doesn’t mean we create masterpieces from the get-go. We will grow in whatever skills we have as we exercise them. “We tend to treat creativity like magic: we should be able to summon it at will. But that’s not how creativity works. Creativity is a muscle that gets stronger with use.” We turn out a lot of bad stuff with glimmers of promise before we grow skilled enough to turn out good results. We shouldn’t get discouraged; that’s just part of the learning process.

We also need to remember our identity is not in anyone else’s opinion, good or bad. Not that others’ opinions don’t matter or aren’t helpful. But ultimately our identity is in being a child of God and our purpose is to please Him.

Also, to create anything, we need to be “filling your brain with ideas,” with creative fuel, by taking in creativity: reading if we’re writers, music if we’re songwriters or composers, etc.

All in all, I appreciated what Stephen had to say. Having read this type of book before, there wasn’t a lot that was new to me. But I need these reminders in my own creative journey.

My biggest problem with the book was its tone, which you can pick up from the subtitle. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t just read Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making by Andrew Peterson (twice in a row because it was so good). Andrew’s tone is warm, gentle, and encouraging. One of my friends described Stephen’s book as a kick in the pants. Some people like that style; I prefer coming-alongside encouragement.

However the book is only 56 pages, and the Kindle version is on sale for 99 cents at the time of this writing. So if you feel your creativity needs some inspiration or prodding, this might be the book for you.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

A Gradual Dawning

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Barbara Harper

We don’t think of Isaiah as an evangelistic book. We perceive evangelism as a New Testament concept rather than an Old Testament one.

Yet we find many admonitions in the OT for Israel to be a testimony not just to its own people, but to the nations.

Our ladies’ Bible study is going through Isaiah using Tim Chester’s book, Isaiah for You, as a springboard. Chester says this about evangelistic encouragement in Isaiah:

They [Israel] were to live under God’s rule expressed in the law in such a way that the nations would see that it is good to know God (Deuteronomy 4: 5-8). Isaiah himself uses this kind of language in Isaiah 2: 2-5: “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Why? So that “many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord’”. The people of Israel were to attract the nations to God.

The ladies discussed how we can do that in our day, when many people don’t seem to want to hear it. There was a time in the USA when people were more open to Christianity. But now, we feel like we’ll get a negative reaction if we try to share Christ with others.

A verse that came to mind during that discussion was Psalm 119:130: “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” (NKJV).

Even if someone says they don’t believe God’s Word, it can shine God’s light into their hearts.

That light is not always a blinding Damascus Road experience like Paul had. Sometimes people understand fully when they are first presented with the gospel. But I would guess that doesn’t happen often.

When I spent the night with my best friend in high school, her mother would often wake us up in the morning by coming in with a cheery voice while throwing open the curtains.

Going from darkness and sleep to bright light was not welcome. It was a shock to the system, though perhaps in some cases it’s necessary.

When I wake up these days, I look toward the bathroom, where the nightlight is on, to get my eyes adjusted to a bit of light. Then I turn on my phone to guide me to the bathroom. Then I turn on the bathroom light, usually squinting in the process. Gradually my eyes get adjusted so I can take in the full light of day.

I think sharing God’s light often works the same way. We receive a little, get our spiritual eyes adjusted, and then we’re able to receive a little more.

When I was in college, a new family came to my church who I became very close to. I called them my adopted spiritual family. The father told us once that when he was younger and not a Christian, he took an acquaintance home from a school function. As she tried to talk to him about the Lord, he answered her gruffly.

When he dropped her off, she probably felt her efforts had failed. But he thought to himself, “What was she talking about, anyway?” That conversation was a catalyst to his finding out more and eventually coming to know the Lord.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:19, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

As we share God’s Word, we can trust that He will use it to open understanding. We may not see any response at first, or we may see a negative one. Not everyone will receive His light. But for those who do, perhaps the light will gradually dawn like a slow sunrise until they see clearly.

The entrance of God's words give light and understanding.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here’s another weekly round-up of good online reads.

Sacrifice Is the Beginning. “Maybe the giving up, the surrendering, is not the end at all. Maybe it is the very beginning of something new, something bigger, and more purposeful.”

Longing for More, HT to Challies. “On a soul level, whether in our highest or lowest moments, we know from our earliest memories that something critical is missing. And God shows us in all kinds of ways that He is that vital ingredient.”

Resurrection Sunday Hope for a Tuesday Afternoon. “While we can’t ride the Easter high every day of the year (the jelly bean supply just can’t keep up!), the hope of the resurrection never wanes. You can have hope, joy, and peace in the middle of your Tuesday doldrums or Thursday despair because Jesus is our risen Savior.”

Is the Lord’s Supper a Feast or a Funeral? HT to Challies. “When we approach the Lord’s Supper we should do so with an attitude marked primarily by joy, and not sorrow. We come singing and rejoicing, not mourning or weeping. Yet, how can this be if the thought of death pervades the very foundations of the sacrament? The answer lies in the gospel.”

Is the ‘Silent Treatment’ a Godly Approach to Conflict? HT to Challies. Though I agree with the writer that silence and withdrawal shouldn’t be used as punishment, some quiet time lets emotions cool down and helps us process what the conflict was all about and how to deal with it.

10 Reasons to Hate Hospitality and 10 ways to rethink it.

Jesus destroyed sin by letting it destroy him.

That he, the God of life, should conquer death by embracing it.
That he should destroy the power of sin by letting it destroy him.
Joni Eareckson Tada, When God Weeps

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Every week seems to have up and down weather lately, but we hit extremes of 80s one day and 30s the next this week. I’m glad we can adjust heating and air conditioning inside so easily, but I am really ready for cold weather to be done til next fall. We’ll get there eventually.

Meanwhile, it helps to stop and count one’s blessings. That doesn’t usually happen unless we deliberately look for them, so I make it a point to do so on Fridays with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Easter. I enjoyed meditating on Christ’s death and resurrection the past few weeks by rereading Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter complied by Nancy Guthrie. We had a good church service, great dinner with the family, and a fun Easter egg hunt.

2. Camping. Jim, Jason, Mittu, and Timothy camped out a few days at a state park about half an hour from here. Jesse and I drove up to join them for lunch and dinner Friday. Mittu had made these neat foil packets with fish and vegetables, and Jim grilled his yummy burgers.

3. Time alone. If you’ve read here for long, you know I love my family. But I do love time alone sometimes as well. Camping is not my favorite thing for a number of reasons, some of them due to physical issues. Going for a few hours one afternoon gave me some of the camping experience while getting to sleep in my own bed at night. 🙂 While everyone was away, I got Mexican food take-out one night, watched a movie, and got a good chunk of writing done.

4. April Fool’s Day is not something we’ve ever done much with as a family. But I was amused to hear that Timothy pulled his first April Fool’s Day prank. Jason opened the egg carton one morning to find that Timothy had replaced the eggs with confetti eggs he had gotten for Easter. Jason said Timothy was pretty proud of himself. 🙂

I also smiled, after some initial confusion, when the Connections word game showed pictures that day instead of words.

5. Getting an appointment over with. I have mild sleep apnea. The only reason I sought treatment for it was that one doctor told me sleep apnea could cause atrial fibrillation (which I have, even after having an ablation), and any number of ablations wouldn’t help unless the sleep apnea was treated. Using the CPAP machine requires a once-a-year in-person visit to the sleep center. That visit really could be phoned in. In fact, one year they had a telehealth visit on the phone because they were moving to a new office the day of my appointment. I asked if we couldn’t do that all the time–it only took about ten minutes whereas the in-person appointment takes about an hour by the time I drive there and back. They said no, insurance requires that it be in-person unless they have extenuating circumstances like they did that year. This year it had to be rescheduled a couple of times. So it was good to be done with it for another year. Also, as appointments go, it wasn’t bad: the people were very pleasant, their new building was much more spacious than the cramped, maze-like building they used to have. Their bathrooms were right outside the waiting area instead of being back in the maze somewhere. My only problem with it was the hour it took. But since I have to do it, I need to have a better attitude about it.

I hope you’ve had a good week as well.

Review: Always On My Mind

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Always On My Mind is the fourth novel in the Christiansen family series by Susan May Warren.

Casper is the fourth child and middle son of the family. The previous book, When I Fall in Love, focused on his older sister, Grace, but also shared Casper’s budding relationship with a new girl in town, Raina.

After a big blow-up near the end of that book, Casper, an archeology major, accepted an invitation to a dig in Honduras. He’s always felt overshadowed by his brothers and wants to do something to stand out on his own. But this dig is going nowhere. Even a side project yields no results. He can’t get Raina off his mind. He decides to forgive the past, go home, and tell Raina he loves her.

But when he gets home, he is surprised to discover that Raina is pregnant and shocked to learn who the father is. Further, Raina wants him to go away and leave her alone.

Raina still loves Caspar, but feels she is damaged and no good for him.

Casper goes back to Deep Haven to help at his family’s resort and work in town until he can decide what to do next. He also helps out at the town Historical Society, where he’s surprised to discover that Raina has come back to Deep Haven, too. Their work throws them together, so they form a tentative friendship.

Caspar is dismayed when Raina starts dating Monty, a bully he knew from high school. But Monty turns on the charm with Raina, and she delights in feeling special in his eyes.

One subplot involves Casper’s discovery of clues from an old local legend about a missing gangster and the steel bonds he supposedly left hidden somewhere.

Another involves oldest brother Darek, featured in the first book in the series, who has taken over running his parents’ resort after they retired. But the responsibilities of repairs and projects and the lack of customers and therefore income weigh heavily on him. His long hours away from home start taking a toll on his family. He wonders if he should go back to firefighting.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not keen on romances. But I do like good stories where people learn, grow, and overcome. Susan’s stories don’t have the silliness and physicality that some romances do. Plus, I got invested in the family in the first book, and since the series was free at Audible for a time, I decided to follow through.

Susan had written here that part of her reason for writing this series was that she and her husband were in the season of parenting adult children, and she wanted to write about “watching, hoping, praying your adult children into a legacy of faith.” The Christiansen parents, John and Ingrid, are somewhat background characters in the books, but emerge to share a word of wisdom, guidance, or encouragement here and there.

Each story begins a beautiful letter that Ingrid has written to the child featured in that book.

Susan writes that part of her focus in this particular novel is “What do you do when you love someone who seems bent on self-destruction? Worse, when they seem incapable of listening to reason? Pray. Hope. Love anyway.”

There’s kind of an obvious symbolism between Casper’s hunt for lost treasure and Raina being a type of lost treasure.

My only difficulty with this story is that I didn’t care for Raina at first. I didn’t have a problem with the fact that she was a “broken soul,” had a lot of baggage, and needed redemption. I just didn’t see any qualities that would cause Casper to fall in love with her. But by the end of this story, I did.

On a side note, for some reason, the audiobook covers are different from the e-book and print covers. I like the book covers much better.

Review: A Noble Scheme

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Barbara Harper

A Noble Scheme is the second novel in Roseanna M. White’s Imposters series. The first book, A Beautiful Disguise, established that The Imposters were a private investigation firm in the early 1900s. Siblings Yates and Marigold Fairfax learned that their father’s spendthrift ways had left no money. One of his whimsical purchases had been an entire circus which stayed at the estate when not traveling. The circus performers and animals became close friends of the Fairfaxes. Yates and Marigold had learned acrobatics, theatrics, and other performance tricks from them. They decided to use these skills to support themselves and their circus friends by maintaining their place in society and secretively, in disguise, investigating matters for high-end clientele.

However, in A Nobel Scheme, a waiter comes to them–someone who could not afford them. Yet when they hear that his son has been kidnapped, mistaken for his almost identical wealthy cousin, the team accepts the case pro bono.

Gemma Parks is also part of the Imposters. She writes a society column as G. M. Parker and fills in however she can. She keeps her ears open in society functions and sometimes masquerades as Marigold so Marigold can look for clues.

Graham Wharton is the Fairfaxe’s distant cousin who came to live with them when his parents died. He’s an architect who can help the Fairfaxes find tunnels or keeps or hiding places in old houses.

Graham and Gemma had grown up together and fallen in love. But in the last book, they were estranged. Several references were made to what had happened between them, but that situation wasn’t explained until this book. It’s a pretty big reveal, so I won’t spoil it.

Gemma avoids Graham as much as she can, but they try to put aside their differences for the cases they are working on. This particular case throws them together more than normal. Graham hopes to win Gemma back, but she can’t forgive him. He, in turn, blames God. He acknowledges his foolishness in what happened, but God could have prevented it.

I love that this series is different from the usual historical fiction fare. The themes of faith and forgiveness are woven in naturally. Roseanna is one of my favorite authors, and this book didn’t disappoint.

Some of my favorite quotes:

The more she wrote for herself, the more herself she became.

Words were wily things—but they were miraculous too. They created, they shaped, they breathed life. God had used them to form the universe, and Christ had come as a living Word to write Himself onto the hearts of humankind. Was it any wonder, then, that words had pulled her from the brink of darkness and delivered her, however slowly, back to the Light?

I enjoyed the audiobook nicely read by Susan Lyons. Sadly, the audiobook didn’t include any author’s notes. But I found this interview in which Roseanna shares how she came to write about nobility hosting a circus and investigating in disguise.

The Tomb Is Empty that We Might Be Filled

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Some people only think about Jesus at Christmas. Perhaps they are inspired by sweet paintings of a mother and child and promises of peace on earth and good will to men.

But Jesus is no longer in the manger.

He grew up to be a man, led a righteous life, kept all of God’s law in our place, and died on the cross for our sins. His death on the cross canceled our sin debt, demonstrated His love, reconciled us to God, took the punishment for our sins, made it possible for us to be saved, and more.

But Jesus is no longer on the cross.

Some of His last words were “It is finished.” He had done everything necessary to make it possible for people to be saved.

He was taken down from the cross and buried in a borrowed tomb.

But Jesus is no longer in the tomb.

When friends came to care for His body, instead they found an angelic messenger declaring, “He is not here; He is risen, just as He said.” “God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death” (Acts 2:24, CSB).

Jesus’ resurrection testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, validates His claims, removes death’s sting, gives hope in sorrow, show’s God’s power, and so much more.

Now Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, praying for us, and preparing a place for us to be with Him. Yet He also dwells in our hearts through faith. “Christ in us” is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

The manger, the cross, and the tomb are all empty—that we might be filled with His presence, pardon, power, and peace.

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,
A clean vessel in Thy hand;
With no pow’r but as Thou givest
Graciously with each command.

Witnessing Thy pow’r to save me,
Setting free from self and sin;
Thou who boughtest to possess me,
In Thy fullness, Lord, come in.

Mary E. Maxwell, “Channels Only”

“If you come to seek His face, not in the empty sepulchre, but in the living power of His presence, as indeed realizing that He has finished His glorious work, and is alive for evermore, then your hearts will be full of true Easter joy, and that joy will shed itself abroad in your homes. And let your joy not end with the hymns and the prayers and the communions in His house. Take with you the joy of Easter to the home, and make that home bright with more unselfish love, more hearty service; take it into your work, and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus; take it to your heart, and let that heart rise anew on Easter wings to a higher, a gladder, a fuller life; take it to the dear grave-side and say there the two words ‘Jesus lives!’ and find in them the secret of calm expectation, the hope of eternal reunion.” —John Ellerton

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Him will live though he dies.

This post was inspired by a short piece written by Terry Rayburn.

I often link up with some of these bloggers.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here’s my weekly list of good reads:

Jesus Was No Victim. “It was physically dark, as the very sun refused to shine on the crucifixion of its Maker (Matthew 27:45). And it was morally dark, as a collection of bitter rivals joined to commit history’s most grotesque crime, the murder of the Son of God. Scripture holds Jesus’ murderers guilty for their crime (Acts 2:24, 36; 3:13-15; 4:10, 27). And yet, it would be wrong for us to see Jesus as the victim.”

The Silence of the Lamb. Adrian Rogers discusses why Jesus did not explain or defend Himself during His trials before crucifixion. One of my favorite parts of this: “If Jesus had risen up in his own defense during his trials, I believe that he would have been so powerful and irrefutable in making his defense that no governor, high priest, or other legal authority on earth could have stood against him! In other words, if Jesus had taken up his own defense with the intention of refuting his accusers and proving his innocence, he would have won! But we would have lost, and we would be lost for all eternity.”

How to Protect Your Kids from Sexual Abuse, HT to Challies. “Parents, educators, caring adults, and the church have grown more alert to the need to teach kids tangible ways to stay safe from abuse. Since concerned adults like you and me can’t always be with children, we must educate them in concrete, child-appropriate safety skills.”

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, HT to the Story Warren. A mother reflects on what her son has taught her about Jesus’ love on World Down Syndrome Day.

On Whales, Menopause, and Thanks to God, HT to Challies. “In God’s good design, we humans share this somewhat rare life stage with only six other species on earth. Humans, however, are the only creatures who are able to reflect upon the experience of menopause, and even (stay with me here) thank God for it.”

Talk to God About What Hurts, HT to Challies. “When life is painful, God invites us to talk to Him about it. He wants us to cry out to him in humility–to talk to him about what hurts–that we might grow in our childlike trust in Him and His Word.”

Just Checking In: How’s Your Bible Reading Plan Going? HT to Challies. “I want to give a little encouragement for those who are trying to read through the Bible this year.”

Does God Care How You Cook Your Goat? The verses in the Old Testament about not boiling a baby goat in its mother’s milk are puzzling, both from the standpoint of why it was a law at the time and how it applies to us today. Tim Challies shares a couple of interpretations and applications.