Good morning!
Thoughts in preparation of celebrating Holy Week and finally Resurrection Sunday. How do you connect to what, how and why Christ walked through the suffering leading up to his crucifixion? Have you been pondering the perfect sacrifice that was given us through Jesus?
Here are some of my thoughts from the past and present as we approach Resurrection Sunday:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Psalm 62:7, “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.”
For me, the time leading up to Resurrection Sunday is a reflective time of year. I look forward to this time. This morning, as is often the case during this time of year, I even turn off the music and talk radio – mostly for me found on KTIS and MyFaith Radio. Even when being on a Christian station like KTIS, this still represents, in some ways, the noise of life. Shutting that input off provides me quiet time, reflection time, really most important time with God, with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Prayer time.
I fill this time with thoughts of two journeys – one a subset of the other – the first journey is that of Jesus Christ and His three year ministry starting with His 40 days in the desert (see Matthew 4:1-11) and temptation by Satan. The second journey starts in my reflection with Jesus sitting down with the apostles for the last supper (see John 13) – so many little things shine the light of God’s beauty (and complexity) when considered.
During His ministry and during the last day before He was crucified, we see many of these moments of light, all bringing a taste of God’s love to us – which we should embrace. Have you experienced those moments at this time of year? As you reflect on how much God loves us, is there anything that stands out for you personally? The verses above key into some of the qualities of God’s love that the apostles experienced during the long journey and during that last day before Christ was crucified…
So today, for each of us, through Jesus Christ, and the presence in us of the Holy Spirit, we have the same assurances from God and the same love from God. And because of this, we have been prepared to share God’s love in our living both - in the work we do and outside of the work we do – to pour out the same love we receive from God to others. As shared in 2 Corinthians 1:4b “…, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
We learn to comfort others in their troubles as God comforts us in our trouble. We learn to love as God loves us so we can share that love with others.
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us going into this weekend is that each of us can find time to reflect on all the beauty that You, Lord God provide during this special time of year. Because despite the painfulness of this part of the Good News, You, Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy spirit, share in Your love in amazing ways and we can see those ways if we just pause, take time to reflect. Please, go, pick up a Bible and read some of the journey of Jesus Christ – God’s love will shine! Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
Thoughts in preparation of celebrating Holy Week and finally Resurrection Sunday. How do you connect to what, how and why Christ walked through the suffering leading up to his crucifixion? Have you been pondering the perfect sacrifice that was given us through Jesus?
Here are some of my thoughts from the past and present as we approach Resurrection Sunday:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Psalm 62:7, “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.”
For me, the time leading up to Resurrection Sunday is a reflective time of year. I look forward to this time. This morning, as is often the case during this time of year, I even turn off the music and talk radio – mostly for me found on KTIS and MyFaith Radio. Even when being on a Christian station like KTIS, this still represents, in some ways, the noise of life. Shutting that input off provides me quiet time, reflection time, really most important time with God, with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Prayer time.
I fill this time with thoughts of two journeys – one a subset of the other – the first journey is that of Jesus Christ and His three year ministry starting with His 40 days in the desert (see Matthew 4:1-11) and temptation by Satan. The second journey starts in my reflection with Jesus sitting down with the apostles for the last supper (see John 13) – so many little things shine the light of God’s beauty (and complexity) when considered.
During His ministry and during the last day before He was crucified, we see many of these moments of light, all bringing a taste of God’s love to us – which we should embrace. Have you experienced those moments at this time of year? As you reflect on how much God loves us, is there anything that stands out for you personally? The verses above key into some of the qualities of God’s love that the apostles experienced during the long journey and during that last day before Christ was crucified…
- Father of compassion
- God of all comfort
- With us in all our troubles
- His comfort enabling us to comfort others in their trouble
- Our salvation is provided through Jesus Christ
- Our mighty rock
- Our refuge
So today, for each of us, through Jesus Christ, and the presence in us of the Holy Spirit, we have the same assurances from God and the same love from God. And because of this, we have been prepared to share God’s love in our living both - in the work we do and outside of the work we do – to pour out the same love we receive from God to others. As shared in 2 Corinthians 1:4b “…, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
We learn to comfort others in their troubles as God comforts us in our trouble. We learn to love as God loves us so we can share that love with others.
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us going into this weekend is that each of us can find time to reflect on all the beauty that You, Lord God provide during this special time of year. Because despite the painfulness of this part of the Good News, You, Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy spirit, share in Your love in amazing ways and we can see those ways if we just pause, take time to reflect. Please, go, pick up a Bible and read some of the journey of Jesus Christ – God’s love will shine! Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
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