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.
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 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.”
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.”
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.
Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime. Martin Luther
Here we are at another Friday and the end of another month. Time just keeps marching on, doesn’t it? That’s why it’s good to pause occasionally and reflect on the blessings of the week before they pass out of memory. I’m joining with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story. You have a standing invitation to join in!
1. Ladies’ Brunch at church. This is the first ladies’ function I’ve been able to attend at this church. I love brunch foods. They played a variation of speed friending. I enjoyed getting to know the ladies at my table as well as talking with people I hadn’t crossed paths with yet during the game. Through the game, I found a number of other readers, as well as some who liked the classics!
2. A good visit with a new doctor. I was sad that my former gastroenterologist retired last year. He had done some testing and ruled a few things out, but hadn’t really figured out yet what my issues were. I wasn’t looking forward to starting over with someone new. But I was impressed that the new (to me) doctor actually read my file before coming in to see me. It seems like, usually, no matter what’s on file or what you’ve written in the multitude of forms you have to fill out, the doctor still wants you to start from the beginning. But we were able to jump right in. She recommended a couple of things to try that were non-prescription (which I was thankful for), and I am supposed to check back with her in six months.
3. My husband has done most of the grocery shopping since he retired in December. I was feeling guilty about that, but he assured me he doesn’t mind. Then this week he took some things to the post office for me and ran some other errands.
4. Family text threads. We have a group text for our immediate family where we share everything from family news to funny memes to pictures of weird things we see out and about. Then my siblings and I have a group thread on Messenger.
5. Sunshine. We’d had cold, overcast, rainy days, so it felt good to see the sun again.
I wish you all a blessed Easter remembering God’s great love in giving His Son to die for our sins so we could be forgiven and have a relationship with Him.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
We have a few days of March left, but this was the best time for me to post my monthly recap.
Spring and winter are still going back and forth, as they always do. Even though we’re past the first day of spring, we’re still having cold nights. I’ve been tempted to update our front planters, but thankfully I resisted.
Family
We enjoyed celebrating my husband’s birthday and Pi Day. We got Jesse moved into his new house, and he’s planning to have us all over for dinner soon. We got his fairly new washer and dryer since his new house had stackable units in a closet. That entailed Jim having to put in an electrical line since our previous dryer was gas, but he did a great job.
We had a couple of lovely quiet weeks, with no appointments or activities. It was nice to catch our breath after the last couple of months.
Creating
I only made one card this month, this one for Jim’s birthday.
The “Happy Birthday” and drawing were on the Cricut–evidently people can submit their designs to the Cricut Design Space. This was one sent in by a user. The Cricut sends the drawing part to the computer and then cuts around it. The original card was just the size of the drawing, with the “Happy Birthday” in the white space. But I wanted it a little bigger. I was happy to find the “camping” scrapbook paper in my files.
Then Mittu and Jason (mostly Mittu, he said) drew this card for Jim, which I thought was so cute.
We didn’t know the other was going with a fishing theme, so it was fun to find out we both did.
Watching
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit was a nice film, even though it was in another language and we had to rely on subtitles. I didn’t know til the end that it was based on a book which was based on a true situation. Judith Kerr wrote the book for children, telling about her family’s experiences as refugees from Germany from her viewpoint as a child. The title comes from a beloved stuffed bunny she had to leave behind. Then she learned later that the Nazis took everything left in their house. I want to read the book itself some day.
While looking up the trailer on YouTube, I also found this video with Kerr talking about this book as well as another she was working on for children about widowhood.
Reading
Since last time I finished (titles link to my reviews):
Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate, fiction, audiobook. An unlikely friendship forms between a retired, conservative, curmudgeonly white man and a streetwise black teenage girl. Very good.
It Had to Be You by Susan May Warren, fiction, audiobook. The second in Susan’s Christiansen family series. In this one. oldest sister Eden has been on the sidelines cheering everyone else’s accomplishments. But her dream of being a reporter hasn’t materialized: she’s stuck in the obits department. She clashes with Jace, her brother’s hockey team captain, for not being a better example. But she doesn’t know Jace has his own struggles between his health and what the team owners want from him.
When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren, fiction, audiobook, the third Christiansen family story. Middle sister Grace is a homebody who loves cooking and wants to go to culinary school one day. Her family surprises her with a cooking school vacation in Hawaii. Besides all the fears involved with that, she’s humiliated that they’ve arranged for their brother’s hockey teammate, who is going to the same school, to help her out. She doesn’t want him to “babysit” her. He doesn’t want to, either. But when they meet, they hit it off. However, he’s promised not to get involved with anyone due to a health issue he doesn’t want to discuss.
Be Comforted (Isaiah): Feeling Secure in the Arms of God by Warren W. Wiersbe, nonfiction
Isaiah for You by Tim Chester, nonfiction
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter compiled by Nancy Guthrie, nonfiction, a reread
Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes, fiction
A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White, fiction, audiobook
Blogging
Do You Have Access? The Old Testament emphasized how great a divide there was between the holy God and sinful people. But when Jesus died on the cross, the veil into the holiest part of the temple was torn in two, signifying that we can have access to God through Christ.
The Power of Words. Some say we don’t need words to show love or share the gospel. We do need actions as well as words, but not instead of words.
We Won’t Understand All, But We’ll Trust More. “I don’t know if we’ll ever understand all the mystery of God, even in heaven. But when we see Him, we’ll be ‘lost in wonder, love, and praise,’ as the hymn says. When we see Him, whatever doesn’t make sense to us here won’t matter. Our faith will be sight. Our trust will be perfect.”
The book looks very much like a gift book. It has a puffy hardback cover, lovely pages, and a ribbon bookmark. The size is a little under 6×7″.
There are about 46 readings grouped into several categories: the Righteous Woman, Virtuous Woman, Faithful Woman, Confident Woman, etc.
Each reading contains a verse from the book of Proverbs in the Bible, a story illustrating the proverb, a conclusion, a “Try this” action suggestion, and a few other proverbs or quotes.
This book mostly uses the Good News Translation of the Bible (formerly Good News or Modern Man, now often called Today’s English Version). This is not my favorite version, for a number of reasons. It translates the thought of a passage rather than the words. It succeeds in its goal of having an easily readable text, but it sacrifices some accuracy. I think a different Bible translation would have made this book a lot stronger.
Also, I wouldn’t endorse all the people the book quotes from.
Just about the time I thought this book seemed a little lightweight in content, I’d read a section that was particularly helpful and meaningful.
So, this book has a lot of good points, more good than bad. But it could have been much better with a little tweaking.
Often we want to get right to the happy part of Easter: springy clothes, family get-togethers, church services with songs of triumph and victory.
But we shouldn’t rush too quickly past the cross. Without the cross, there would be no redemption; without death, there would be no resurrection.
I thought I’d take a little time to look up verses that share what Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished for us. We know Jesus died for our sins, but we don’t often think of other things that happened as a result of the cross.
I’m sure there’s much, much more that could be said. But here is some of what I found:
Expression of God’s love
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).
The forgiveness of our sins
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. . . but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6, 8
Reconciliation to God
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life (Romans 5:10).
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him (Colossians 1:19-22).
Opportunity to become God’s children through faith and repentance
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 4:4-7).
Opportunity for Gentiles to become part of God’s family
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles . . . were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostilityby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:11-19).
Canceled our debt of sin
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).
Fulfillment of God’s Law
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
Our holiness
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him (Colossians 1:21-22).
Change of life and focus
He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:15).
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Victory over death and its fear
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15).
The new covenant
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15).
Assurance of His provision
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32).
Opportunity to live with Him
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him (1 Thessalonians 5:1).
Eternal Life
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Crucifixion was one of the most painful and humiliating deaths possible. In that sense, it seems strange to be thankful for it, despite all it accomplished for us. I love how Chris Anderson captured this in his song, “My Jesus Fair”:
O love divine, O matchless grace— That God should die for men! With joyful grief I lift my praise, Abhorring all my sin, Adoring only Him.
As we contemplate the cross this week and beyond, may we respond like Chris wrote above and like Isaac Watts wrote in “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed“:
Thus might I hide my blushing face While His dear cross appears. Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, ’Tis all that I can do.
I have a fairly short list of good reads to share with you this week:
In What Way Is Jesus the Way? “Jesus is the Way to God. You can’t get there by being kind, by being the church lady with all the casseroles, or even by teaching Sunday school for fifty years (as good as all those things are!) He is the way because he is also the truth and the life.”
One of the Most Urgent Biblical Commands for Our Day. “One of the most urgent biblical commands for our day—and perhaps for any day—is to speak the truth in love. Different people at different times tend to overemphasize one of the two factors and underemphasize the other so that some lean away from truth while others lean away from love. But the Lord expects that we will do both without competition or contradiction.”
Valiant and Virtuous: Celebrating Single Women of the Bible. “Singleness can be a challenging yet rewarding season in life. Society often emphasizes marriage and relationships, and navigating this path can sometimes feel isolating. However, the Bible offers a powerful message of hope and purpose for single Christian women.”
In flight, HT to Challies. “We have a long flight ahead. Fourteen hours or so. Beforehand, I’ve asked for a heart attentive to His prompting. And for willing availability, boldness to share the gospel. It’s not my first thought on airplanes lately, to be honest. I’d rather chill in my own little world. Enjoy the extended “pause” from daily tasks. But as he’s seated, I pray for wisdom. To listen and obey.”
The Introvert, HT to Challies.. “We live in a noisy world, do we not? Deafening, in fact. A chaotic culture with throngs of people highly uncomfortable with silence. It is considered prestigious to fill up one’s time indiscriminately, often to the neglect of one’s soul.”
“The vulgarity of the cross is the vulgarity of the sin that erected it—but the cross flames with light, the light of the glory of the grace of God, Who took sin into His own heart and cancelled it by the shedding of blood.” —G. Campbell Morgan
I often remark how the week has flown by, but this one seemed faster than most. I often keep a running list of what to include in each week’s Friday’s Fave Fives. Somehow I didn’t this week, and I am scrambling to remember what actually happened. 🙂 That’s one of many things this exercise is good for: encouraging us to stop, consider, remember, and be thankful. I’m grateful for our hostess, Susanne, at Living to Tell the Story.
1. Strands, another once-a-day game from the NY Times in the same family as Wordle and Connections. It’s sort of like Boggle or Ruzzle in that you find words in a grid of several letters. But each letter is only used once, and all the words have a common theme. Jesse, my youngest son, introduced me to it. I like these things not only because they’re fun, but they’re good brain exercise.
2. Taco or pita holders. My husband made these with his 3-D printer. I told him he should make more and sell them on Etsy.
The one on the right holds two, or it can be turned over to hold three.
3. Another quiet week. Some of the spring-break-canceled activities were back this week, but otherwise, there were no events or appointments til this weekend. I enjoy activities once I’m actually there, but I *love* quiet weeks. I’ve got some medical appointments over the next three weeks and had several earlier this year, so it was nice to have a couple of appointment-free weeks.
4. Our writing critique group. I may have mentioned this before. We meet every other week via Zoom and take turns offering our edits and critiques on one person’s work each session. Then we added a fifteen minute free-time extension for those who could stay just to talk about writing or publishing, ask questions, etc. I’m so inspired by the discussions, no matter whose work we’re discussing.
5. Prayer. Some in our church are going through rough times. It’s such a blessing not only to pray for them, but to hear the care and concern as people ask about them.
Susan May Warren’s Christiansen family series centers on six fictional adult siblings and their parents and friends in the small town of Deep Haven, Minnesota. The family runs an old-fashioned resort (cabins but no Internet).
Though all the family plus several side characters appear in each book, each focuses mainly on the story of one sibling.
When I Fall in Love is the third in the series, about second-oldest sister Grace. Grace loves cooking and wants to go to culinary school. But she’s also a homebody who doesn’t like to venture out of her comfort zone.
When she caters her oldest brother’s wedding, the family thanks her by pitching in to surprise her with a three-week trip to a cooking school in Hawaii.
But Grace is not pleased. She’s terrified.
Her sister’s fiance, a hockey player on the professional team in Minneapolis, chose this particular school because his teammate, Max Sharp, is going there, too. He asks Max to keep an eye on Grace and help her out.
Max is less than thrilled. He goes on a cooking vacation each year somewhere where he’s not known. He gives the bulk of his year to hockey. For that one month, he just wants to get away by himself and do something different.
Grace is not happy, either. She doesn’t want Max to feel he has to baby-sit her.
But when they meet on the airplane, each not knowing who the other is at first—well, this is a romance novel, so you know they are going to be attracted.
The problem is, Max never planned to be attracted to anyone. He’s the carrier for a disease that killed his father early and will probably take his life as well. He can never ask a woman to be part of his life knowing what she will have to go through, only to end up alone.
Grace tests his resolve, though.
In the subplot, Grace’s friend and coworker, Raina, had helped cater Grace’s brother’s wedding. She’s fairly new to town and has had a hard background. Her only remaining family is her aunt Liza in Deep Haven. Raina is not religious, but she attends church because her aunt requires her to.
Grace’s brother, Owen, seeks Raina out after the wedding, making Raina feel special. But she doesn’t know that Owen is in a downward spiral. He was a rising hockey star, only to be sidelined by a devastating injury. The fame and money had gone to his head, and the injury and loss of his career has sent him further to the wild side. He only uses Raina for a one-night stand.
Raina is bitter against all the Christiansen men. But when she gets to know Casper, the college-aged brother home for a semester, she finds he is much different from Owen.
I liked the themes of getting out of one’s comfort zone and trusting God with the unknowns in life.
I didn’t like so much the family pushing Grace out of her comfort zone. Older sister Eden, in particular, comes across really pushy and bossy here. I hadn’t gotten that vibe from her in the book focusing on her (It Had to Be You). Not only does she propel Grace into the trip, she wants Grace to cater her wedding with Hawaiian food–as if cooking in Hawaii for three weeks makes Grace an expert. The fact that Eden didn’t listen to Grace and kept insisting really bothered me.
Plus, the author has God answering Grace directly several times when she prays about something.
Also, though we’re spared a bedroom scene with Owen’s indiscretion, we’re still shown more than I would have liked.
Even with those caveats, though, I found much to enjoy in this story. Just like in real life, we get ourselves in messes. But God offers healing and redemption.
I had listened to the audiobook, which unfortunately didn’t contain any of the author’s notes about what inspired this story. However, I did find a bit of background on Susan’s site here.
In Be Skillful (Proverbs): God’s Guidebook to Wise Living, pastor and Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe notes, “We are living in the information age, but we certainly are not living in the age of wisdom” (p. 11, Kindle version).
The book of Proverbs is one of the Bible’s wisdom books. Of course, we can gain wisdom all through the Bible, but Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, are grouped together as wisdom books.
Wiersbe goes on to say, “It isn’t enough simply to be educated and have knowledge, as important as education is. We also need wisdom, which is the ability to use knowledge. Wise men and women have the competence to grasp the meaning of a situation and understand what to do and how to do it in the right way at the right time” (p. 16).
“Biblical wisdom has little if any relationship to a person’s IQ or education, because it is a matter of moral and spiritual understanding. It has to do with character and values; it means looking at the world through the grid of God’s truth” (p. 17).
“Biblical wisdom begins with a right relationship with the Lord. The wise person believes that there is a God, that He is the Creator and Ruler of all things, and that He has put within His creation a divine order that, if obeyed, leads ultimately to success” (p. 17).
“The first essential for an effective study of Proverbs is faith in Jesus Christ so that you can honestly call God your Father. You can’t make a life until you first have life, and this life comes through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3: 16, 36)” (p. 26).
The bulk of Proverbs is made up of individual sayings. “Proverbs are pithy statements that summarize in a few choice words practical truths relating to some aspect of everyday life. The Spanish novelist Cervantes defined a proverb as ‘a short sentence based on long experience'” (p. 20). But these proverbs are not just clever sayings: they are God’s inspired Word and profitable for doctrine, correction, reproof, and instruction just like the rest of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Normally, Dr. Wiersbe’s comments follow the chapters of the book of the Bible he is discussing. In this commentary, however, he groups his remarks as to the categories in Proverbs: the contrast between wisdom and foolishness, diligence and laziness, the virtuous woman and the “strange” woman, etc., and characters like the drunkard, glutton, the simple, scoffer, fool, king, parents and children, and so on.
As to why God directed the writers of Proverbs to lay out the book this way, Wiersbe has a couple of suggestions. Most people didn’t have their own copies of the Scriptures. Short, pictorial statements would have been easier to remember that a lecture. Plus, “Just as the Bible itself isn’t arranged like a systematic theology, neither is Proverbs. What Solomon wrote is more like a kaleidoscope than a stained-glass window: We never know what the next pattern will be” (p. 22). Some make a practice of reading a chapter of Proverbs each day of the month. They receive wisdom on a variety of topics to carry with them throughout the day.
It had been a while since I had read Proverbs. I enjoyed thinking through it again along with Dr. Wiersbe’s insights.
Stray Thoughts 