EASTER BUNNIES AND THE CROSS

 Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate the risen Christ. Over 2,000 years ago God's promise of a Savior was fulfilled; Jesus died an agonizing death on a cross. At that moment of death, Jesus paid the price for our sin. His last words were "It is finished". He was laid in a tomb and the tomb was sealed.  Then, something amazing happened three days later, He came back to life, actually 'rose again'! Over 500 people saw the risen Christ. You can read an account of this in the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and I Corinthians 15.

There was a period of darkness over the world the day Jesus died on the cross. Jesus was 'the light', and the light was gone. But when God the Father resurrected our Lord, we who believe had evidence that we also would rise again and live eternally with God in heaven, as  He has told us. How are we able to understand a truth such as this? According to the Bible, only the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, can reveal this to our human mind. 

I Corinthians 2 - The apostle Paul told a group of people in the city of Corinth (modern Turkey) that he spoke to them "in weakness and fear with much trembling." He didn't use wise and persuasive words, he wanted to demonstrate the Spirit's power so that "your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

If we know this truth, that God has chosen us, we have not been so wise as to choose Him, we cannot find fault with those whose main focus of Easter is bunnies and egg hunts. 

I Cor 2:9-10 

                "No eye has seen, 

                     no ear has heard,

                no mind has conceived 

                      what God has prepared for

                            those who love Him

But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

Quite simply, Paul goes on to say that the man without the Spirit of God cannot accept the things that come from the Spirit, they are "foolishness" to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (understood)." See I Corinthians I.

I did some research on the Easter bunny recently. One theory of how the rabbit came to be a part of Easter is from a pagan tradition - the Festival of Eastre. Eastre was a goddess of fertility, and her animal symbol was a rabbit. The Easter bunny first arrived in the United States in the 1700's when German settlers came to Pennsylvania. They taught their children a myth about an egg laying 'hare' (rabbit) called an 'Osterhase'. Children would make nests in which this animal would lay colored eggs. The custom spread across America and included chocolate and candy in decorated baskets instead of a nest.  

Eggs have long been the symbol of fertility and new life. They also became a symbol of the resurrection. . .the empty eggshell a metaphor for Jesus' tomb. Another interesting metaphor. . . in ancient times the hare was thought to be a hermaphrodite having both male and female genitals, which means they could reproduce on their own. Some early Christians thought the 'hare' to be a symbol of the Virgin Mary who conceived a child (Jesus) and remained a virgin.

I am always reminded when I dig a little into history how God has planned, He cannot be manipulated, and His plan will work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be firstborn among many brothers, and those He predestined, He also called, and those He called, He also justified; those He justified He glorified. You can read these words for yourself in Romans 8:28 -30. This is a finished work God has done; He began it, and He will complete it. That is why Jesus said, "It is finished" as He died on the cross. 

Thank you Lord that we can share your Gospel with full assurance that you have given spiritual ears to those you have chosen. 

                    

BECAUSE GOD IS SOVEREIGN

 Many, many years ago, before I started studying the Bible and learning who God is, 'sovereign' was not a word I used very often. I remember looking up a dictionary definition, "A supreme ruler possessing ultimate power," said the dictionary. This is the definition of 'God'. The spelling of this word didn't come naturally for me. I focused on the ending 'reign' and could associate that with a monarchy. A king or queen 'reigns'. One day I stumbled on the verse in Ephesians 1:11. . .     

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."

I realized I became a believer not because I was 'good' or super intelligent, or made the choice to believe, but because God choose me to be His child. And he had a purpose, a plan and the power.

Over the ups and downs of life, good times and trying times, I've always focused on the fact that God is sovereign - even though I sometimes try to come up with my own plan. As we grow in the knowledge of the Lord, we realize more and more that faith grows and peace comes only when we consciously are aware of God's sovereignty. Whatever happens is what our Lord has planned. He doesn't need to explain why things are the way they are - God answers to no one!  As humans, we may desire to be the one in charge and have full control, but isn't that a scary idea that we could determine all outcomes? 

The Lord knew we would struggle and no matter how hard we try, we'd fail to be 'perfect'. Only perfect people go to heaven, so God came to earth as a man, fully human, and fully divine. He had chosen "before the creature of the world" - Ephesians 1:4, a group of people who would be called 'sheep' and they would follow the Messiah, Jesus Christ who was with God from the beginning - John 1:1, and walked among us - John 1:14. Jesus is our good Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, he said "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father", John 14:9. 

Our faith is not based on what we've done, but on what God has done for us. By His grace, He has given us the gift of faith. In some ways walking by the law is easier than walking in faith. If we don't walk by faith, we are often fearful. Christians don't need to fear 'tomorrow' - God is the same today, yesterday and forever. When we fear, Satan is absolutely delighted! God has allowed Satan to roam this earth but he has set boundaries for Satan. Read the book of Job who went through some awful stuff but God always was in control of what was happening. 

I'd like to share a poem written by Carol Hopson, a good and faithful Bible teacher.

FAITH vs FEAR

Did you know that fear and faith

     cannot exist as one?

For either you have faith in God

     or Satan's fear has won.

For God has said, "Be not afraid!

     I will take care of you.

Whatever comes into your life

My grace will see you through."

"So please show Me you love Me,

     and trust my sovereignty.

Then peace you cannot comprehend

     will set your spirit free.

Walk in faith rather than fear, this is what your heavenly Father wants for you. Because we know God is good and a loving sovereign Father, we never need to walk in fear. . .of anything!

Thank you Lord for showing us this truth.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

This a photo of my husband Mike and I - I am a romantic soul and sometimes I look at him and think "He's too good to be true!" I bet you have things in your life like that. . .a new baby, a great vacation, a fantastic job, a new puppy. The Lord shows His love for us in many different ways, sometimes in ways you wouldn't expect. 

And then, we 'hit the wall', something very stressful happens, we're at a loss as to how to 'fix it'. If you not only read, but study the Bible, you will be amazed how in touch with God you'll become. And the result of being in touch with the One who knows your every circumstance is that you will feel at peace. In fact, you'll have a peace that surpasses understanding. Philippines 4:7 "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We are always 'safe' in Jesus. Sometimes we don't feel safe, but by faith we can know we are.

Do you know that right now those who believe are "seated with Christ in the heavenly realm", Eph 2:6, and that we are his workmanship, and we are complete in him, Col. 2:10. I love the fact that I am a "saint" Eph 1:1, and if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you too are a saint!

Romans 8:1 says that there is "no condemnation" for those who believe. You know why? When we accept God's son as our Savior, God sees Jesus in us, not as we are in the human state. All sin of mine and yours was erased on the cross of Christ. 

The more you read, the more you learn, and you too will no doubt come to the conclusion that 'This is too good to be true!'

We are leaving tomorrow morning for a car trip up the coast of California. We have no set agenda but know the Lord will take us to wonderful places, and best of all, we will be able to rid ourselves for a time of being on a schedule and will savor this time with the Lord and each other.

As always Lord, we will trust You to lead us to special places and a special time together. We ask that you keep us safe and protect our family when we are gone.

YOU HAVE SOMETHING RESERVED FOR YOU IN HEAVEN

"Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."   1 Peter 1:1 -5 

This is a very bold statement that Peter makes. I first learned this verse many years ago in King James Version which uses the word "reserved" for our inheritance. Every time I read or think of this verse I am reminded that 'reservations' are important. You may have plans to go to a certain restaurant for dinner but then find out, without a reservation, you are out of luck. Same goes for many things, airline reservations, hotel, golf time, etc. 

So, assuming you would like to go to heaven when you leave this earth to spend eternity with God, what do you have to do to make sure that happens? 

This is a test. . .true or false

1.  Go to church every Sunday

2.  Read the Bible, God's Word, every day

3.  Tithe - give 10% of your income to the church

4.  Never swear, drink alcohol or smoke.

5.  None of the above

Questions 1 - 4 are false although many believe this describes a Christian. 

Only #5 is true. If this be so, what then do we need to do to claim our inheritance that has been reserved for us in heaven. Notice this inheritance has been kept for us through faith and shielded by God's power. We cannot claim any credit for our salvation.

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourself, it is a gift of God, not by works, so no one can boast."  Ephesians 2:8.

In Romans 4 we read we are never justified by our 'works' - then we'd have something to boost about. Rather, we are counted as 'righteous' because we believe God. . ."Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."

God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to become our righteousness before God. Jesus went to the cross and died for the sin you and I commit daily and if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we will never have to pay the penalty for sin because it's already been paid for.

We judge one another based on our human behavior. We can't see into people's hearts. When you become a Christian, you want to behave in a way that will make others see 'good' rather than 'bad'. This is why God has put His Holy Spirit in those of us who believe. The Spirit reminds us who we are in Christ. I have often said, you may never get your friend, family member, neighbor, etc. to study the Bible, but they will study your life! We become a living testament to others. I am not talking about being 'religious' - in fact, it was the 'religious' people of His day that Jesus most often spoke against. He could tell the difference in those who followed Him and  those who followed religious laws and sacraments. 

Reach out to Jesus and claim the inheritance reserved for you in heaven. This has become a scary world during the last couple of months - life is changing, fast!  We must go to our creator and Heavenly Father and know that even though we can see the suffering of the Ukrainian people on TV every night, the price of gas and groceries going up, border control out of hand. . .God is still in control and has a plan and a purpose for everything He does.

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."  Ephesians 1:11

Paul who wrote this letter to the Ephesians also tells them that God has done this so those who have hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory.

Many blessings to my readers and wishing you, no matter what your circumstances, a blessed 'Resurrection Sunday'.

Keep the faith,  Bobbe

Thank you Lord for dying for our sins so we could be righteous in God's eyes and live in heaven eternally.

MY DESTINY

 It's been over a year since I wrote my last blog, but I never stopped thinking of my readers or stopped blogging in my head. So much has happened this past year. After being a widow for over 5 years, I remarried! We first met in a creative writing class in September 2018 and soon found we enjoyed each other's company and begin to spend a lot of time together. I smile when I remember the day he walked through my door and said, "I am so happy to have you in my life!" New Year's Eve 2020, Michael proposed to me. We had Chinese food for dinner and he buried his proposal in a fortune cookie - it simply said "Bobbe, I love you, and only you, will you marry me?" I was very ready to say 'Yes!'

Shortly after, we both came down with Covid and were very sick. A planned foot surgery was delayed until February. We both made it back to good health and married in June. The end of July my husband had a hip replacement. He made a fast recovery and in October we spent over two weeks back east with lots of friends and relatives. I am now officially a part of the family. 

I think we all wonder from time to time what our destiny will be. I'm a very positive person no matter what is going on around me. I think this is true because I know I am a child of God and He will be faithful to help me through the storms of life that come my way. I've written this many times, 'what we think or how we feel doesn't matter unless it's based on Biblical truth.'

As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish. . .so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which it was sent."

When I come to understand what God has said, I feel very safe and secure and it isn't easy to rob me of my joy. God has a plan for my life; the plan has existed since the creation of the world - Ephesians 1:4-5 - He choose us before the world to be holy and blameless in His sight and he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for His pleasure and good will. 

God loved me before I was born! I can understand that, I loved all my children before they were born and before I ever saw them. Some of us have trouble understanding God's sovereignty but once you accept this critical part of Biblical doctrine, it brings peace knowing the God who created you has also designed your life. I know life often appears to be far from perfect but know this, God is perfect and He knows what He is doing.

Many of us around the world are busy are busy putting our Christmas decorations away until next year. It's a comfort to know that the child born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago was, the child prophesied to come in Isaiah 7:14, was called Immanuel which means "God with us" - Matthew 1:23 Jesus was not just a prophet, He is God in the flesh. Jesus said in John 10:30 "the Father and I are one". He also said that if you have seen Him, you've seen the Father. Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the light and anyone who believes in him, will never walk in darkness.

In order to understand spiritual things you need to be born of the Spirit - flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. This is why Jesus said we must be "born again." The gospel of John is a wonderful study. I know from the beginning of creation that Jesus was going to be my destiny. I was going to believe that He is my Lord and Savior, I would teach His Word, I would write about Him, and most important, love Him. Ultinately, I will live in heaven with Him for all eternity. I won't be there because I'm a good and perfect human being, I'll be there because Jesus has paid for all my sins and now God looks at me as perfect as His Son.

I wish you a New Year that will grow you, comfort you, and bless you in more ways than you ever thought possible. 

Jude 24. . . "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. . ."

Thank you Jesus for being my destiny.

A THRILL OF HOPE

Merry Christmas to all my unseen friends. We, who believe the Messiah came to rescue us will live eternally with God in heaven. This is our hope, and it's thrilling!

Home seems where we ought to be this time of year, but I must confess it has been a desire of mine to travel through the world visiting other countries during the Christmas season. That would be an amazing experience to realize that I share my faith with others from all over the world. Believers are bonded together, we are a family because of God's love for us. 

As we all have learned these past few months, God has made us resilient, and we can adapt during difficult times. That's good to know, don't you think? There will always be some drama and chaos to deal with; if not Covid 19, something else. Thanks be to God, and President Trump, that we now have an effective vaccine for this persistent virus. We hope this will be distributed all over the world and we will be rid of what has caused pain.  

I received a Christmas card recently that said, "The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices." These words are from my favorite Christmas hymn - 'O Holy Night'.

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining till He appeared and the soul felt its worth". 

This verse says to me that only when God appears in our life can our soul feel its worth. If we don't value ourselves and don't feel worthy as a person, we're headed down the wrong road and surely trouble will come - you'll be depressed, maybe eat or drink too much, breakdown in relationships - all bad stuff. It's easy to go astray in this world but the truth is, that when we follow Jesus, we'll always wind up in the right place. 

"Led by the light of Faith. . .by His cradle we stand. . .The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manager; in all our trials born to be our friend."

Jesus - born to be our friend. When we grasp this truth, we will have the 'thrill of hope'. The birth of Jesus is spoken of many times in the Old Testament. The prophets knew He was coming and foretold the event.

"For unto us a child is given,. . .And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6-7

These verses refer to Jesus. Micah 5:2 tells us that Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. The words were written over 500 years before the birth of Christ.

"But you Bethlehem . . .out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

Micah seemed to understand that God had planned to send a Savior before time began. Micah knew Jesus would come for him. Do you know that Jesus will come for you? God never rejects anyone, never turns anyone away who comes to the Savior, asks to be forgiven and accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Next Christmas you may not be living, so do it now and have the peace and the thrill of hope that comes from knowing you are a child of God. For those who already have a relationship with the Lord - this Christmas may you see and know anew how great His love is toward you.

My oldest son Kraig passed away in September. His father, my late husband, has been gone for five years now - 12/20/15. The first thing that came to my mind when told of his death was there would be a joyous reunion between father and son in heaven - I have no doubt of that, and this brings me great peace.

Lord, thank you for sustaining me, thank you for being my 'everything'. 

HOW MANY MASKS DO YOU HAVE?

I have many masks, all colors, some plain, some printed, all constrict my breathing and fog up my glasses. My friends and I are planning  a bonfire party and asking everyone to bring their masks, we'll burn them and they will be gone! Of course we'll wait until the vaccine is officially out and everyone has been innoculated. We don't want Covid to stay around, so we try to follow the rules.

This is a bit like our sinful nature - if we don't confront it and smash it dead, you can be sure it will reappear in our lives. There is only one way to remove our sin. God didn't send us a vaccine, He sent us Jesus. We need to accept Jesus who died to pay the penalty for our sin so we can be "holy and blameless" in God's eyes.

Jude 24 - 25 "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!"

These are such powerful verses. Notice that we don't keep ourselves from falling (failing) 'him' refers to Jesus. Because we've been reconciled to God through Christ, God our heavenly Father sees us as perfect. He sees his son Jesus in us, not our flesh that continues to want to sin. We are no longer under a law of behavior - Jesus fulfilled the law so now we live according to God's grace. We don't keep the law to be a Christian, we keep the law to our best ability because we are a Christian. We have the Holy Spirit living in us and this is where we get our strength to resist a sinful life. 

Romans 8:  "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness". vs.29 "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son..."

Amazing, isn't it? God gave us his Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness and He has predestined us to be like Jesus! From my very practical experience of living as a believer for so many years, I know this will not completely take place until we are in heaven with the Lord.  But, in God's eyes it has already happened. Amen!

The more we see ourselves through God's perspective, the easier it will be to 'behave'.  When we lift each up instead of being critical and mean-spirited, we are encouraging others to 'walk in the Spirit' and be who we are - a child of God; nothing can be better than that. 

Our American holiday of Thanksgiving won't be the same this year due to the Covid pandemic. This is a world-wide problem so you all are suffering the restrictions. We do the best we can and praise the Lord for allowing us to find a vaccine. The U.S. will be sending it all over the world as I understand.  In spite of our problems this year, we can find something to be grateful for - first on my list is being loved by God. I can handle anything if I remember that. Many blessings to all of you readers.💗😇

Thank you Lord for sending many requests my way to continue writing my blog. I will be faithful in doing that.