Eastertide

In the churches there has been a tradition of celebrating the resurrection of Christ, not just on one day but an entire festal season right to Pentecost Sunday, after the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven and the promised Holy Spirit was given to the disciples. I challenge you to worship the Lord Jesus for His powerful sacrifice on our behalf. His resurrection power lives in us. Let us praise Him for the entire Eastertide this year!!The song lyrics below capture that in so many ways for me!

What A Beautiful Name by Hillsong Worship

You were the Word at the beginning 
One with God the Lord Most High 
Your hidden glory in creation 
Now, revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is, what a beautiful Name it is 
The Name of Jesus Christ my King 
What a beautiful Name it is, nothing compares to this 
What a beautiful Name it is, the Name of Jesus

You didn’t want heaven without us 
So Jesus, You brought heaven down 
My sin was great, Your love was greater 
What could separate us now?

What a wonderful Name it is, what a wonderful Name it is 
The Name of Jesus Christ my King 
What a wonderful Name it is, nothing compares to this 
What a wonderful Name it is, the Name of Jesus 
What a wonderful Name it is, the Name of Jesus

How sweet is Your Name, Lord, how good You are) 
We love to sing in Your Name, Lord, love to sing of who You are

Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You 
You silenced the boast of sin and grave 
The Heavens are roaring the praise of Your glory 
For You are raised to life again

You have no rival, You have no equal 
Now and forever, God, You reign 
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the Glory 
Yours is the Name above all names

What a powerful Name it is, what a powerful Name it is 
The Name of Jesus Christ my King 
What a powerful Name it is, nothing can stand against 
What a powerful Name it is, the Name of Jesus

You have no rival, You have no equal 
Now and forever, God, You reign 
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the Glory 
Yours is the Name above all names

What a powerful Name it is, what a powerful Name it is 
The Name of Jesus Christ my King 
What a powerful Name it is, nothing can stand against 
What a powerful Name it is, the Name of Jesus

What a powerful Name it is, the Name of Jesus 
What a powerful Name it is, the Name of Jesus

Written by: Ben Fielding, Brooke Ligertwood

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
    and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night,
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:5-8 NRSVUE

My Younger Friend

I just love that I have gotten to know a much younger neighbor who is also a Christian. We share quite a few things from encouragement for our journey to recipes. Last summer we shared leadership during a summer Bible study group. Kassie brings a much younger version of faith into my life. Her videos have skateboards and jeans with split knees! The song in her post called Fear Not is one that I had to put on replay about 17 times. Such comfort to our souls.

She is a school teacher and is enthusiastic with her students. I have yet to visit her classroom, though I want to very much. She also writes a blog and has given me permission to re-post her writing from the week after Easter. Enjoy!

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In the Stillness

In the Stillness

Take a Rest

When I got home from work today and finally sat down to eat dinner, I knew I was down for the count for the rest of the night. I was thinking darn…I really wanted to get _________ done and I really needed to _____________. Then I thought to myself, why?? I am tired! All I want to do is rest, and that is okay!

This verse immediately came to my mind. It’s been bringing me a lot of peace lately, reminding me to not only rest, but to rest with God and to bring Him my burdens and worries. The song below has the scripture in it and is a reminder I need often.

When my troubles are a little too heavy
Who I can turn to, to share the weight?
When my mind is cluttered and cloudy
Who can I turn to, to clear the way?
Who can I turn to, I turn to You

You said Your yoke is easy
You said Your burden’s light
So I’ll let You
Lead me
For all my life

Some days are long, some work is tough
Whatever I lack You make it up
Your yoke is easy, Your burden is light
You gave me life, You give me love
Whenever I’m dry You fill my cup
Your yoke is easy, Your burden is light

I feel a little lighter just listening to that! I love the line…I will let go and follow empty handed! That’s what rest helps us to do. To remember that even if we take a break, things won’t fall apart…and even if they do, we can pick up the pieces tomorrow 🙂

So I took to google images to find a quote on rest and calling it quits for the day…I found this one that I liked…

Then I found this one that was a little too relatable!! Same quote, whole different kind of mood! Haha

I just wanted to quickly write this for anyone else who like me, needs to hear that it is not only okay, but it is necessary to rest!

The song below has been my absolute favorite for the last week. It is so beautiful and it is Scripture!

Isaiah 41:10 KJV “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

We fear not because God is with us. We can rest because we have God. He strengthens us and helps us…He alone holds us up and rest is an act of surrender!

Enjoy your rest…I’m off to rest too ❤

The Work of God

This book is a collection of psalms and prayers with the subtitle ‘A Benedictine Prayer Book.’ I have owned it for a while now, but just recently began using it again. If you need a reading discipline you can cover Proverbs in one month with a chapter a day. You can cover the Psalms in a month with about 5 chapters a day. I broke Psalm 119 into smaller daily sections as it is so very long by itself! Below is my Psalms chart should you want an idea of how I do it.

DayPSALMSPsalm 119DayPSALMSPsalm 119
11-41-81675-79129-136
25-99-161780-84137-144
310-1417-241885-89145-152
415-1925-321990-94153-160
520-2433-402095-99161-168
625-3041-4821100-104169-176
730-3449-5622105-109 
835-3957-6423110-114 
940-4465-7224115-119 
1045-4973-8025120-124 
1150-5481-8826125-129 
1255-5989-9627130-134 
1360-6497-10428135-139 
1465-69105-11229140-144 
1570-74113-12030145-150 
1675-79121-128   
     

After covering the Psalms for a couple years I moved on to other devotions. So coming upon “The Work of God is rather like a refresher course in the Psalms . While reading one section with Psalm 115 and Psalm 116 I thought I would like to blog about it.

Compiled by the Revered Thomas McKenzie, Obl.S.B.

Psalm 115 begins with “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your Name give glory; because of your love and because of your faithfulness.” Then it goes on later to command Israel and the House of Aaron and “You who fear the Lord to trust in the Lord; he is their help and their shield.” I was taught that when something is written repeatedly in Scripture we are to pay attention to the repetition! Trust in the Lord, He is our help and our shield.

Don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get. When I am feeling weak and needing strength to get through each day I need to trust the Lord and know He is my help. He is my shield.

Why in 2023 would we need a shield? Most often we think of a shield in terms of warfare and combat. Do you realize we are at war every day because we trust and rely on the Living Lord? The enemy of our souls does everything in His power to undermine our trust in God. He began in the garden of Eden by having Eve and Adam question what God said to them. He continues to this day to bombard us with doubts, fears, unrest about God our Father. Yes, we undoubtedly need a shield about us. You, LORD, are my shield.

The next verses declare:

The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
The small together with the great.

Psalm 115: 12-13 NASB

The final verse in this Psalm says “But we will bless the Lord, from this time forth for evermore. Hallelujah!

Psalm 118

In verse 22 we read “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

There are interesting definitions for cornerstone. Here are two of them.

  1. A stone at the corner of a building uniting two intersecting walls
  2. An indispensable and fundamental basis.

Jesus is the cornerstone of faith uniting the wall of Judaism and Christianity. He was and is their Messiah. The builders of Judaism rejected Him as the chief cornerstone. He is our Risen Lord and on this rock we build our faith.

Psalm 118:22 was quoted by Jesus in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Acts 4:11 says the same. Ephesians 2:20 says “You are built upon the foundation of prophets and apostles with Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.”

Is He your cornerstone? For everything you do? Is He truly your indispensable basis for life? Does He join your earthly life with your spiritual being? Can you truly declare that you believe “I am an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.”

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

One video re-enactment I saw showed four or five men rolling the stone in front of the grave Joseph of Arimathea donated to Jesus. (I love the statement that He borrowed the tomb because He would not need it for long!) A huge stone in front of that tomb. I wonder if those men knew He was the stone the builders rejected? Did they realize He was the chief cornerstone?

Are you aware that He is a living stone and God considers you one, too?

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 2:4-5 NIV

The Revised Standard version reads “LET yourselves be built into a s piritual house.” Let – allow, yield.

No, I do not mean a plant as featured on the site The Spruce. “Living stones (Lithops spp.), also known as pebble plants, are unusual little succulent plants that have evolved to look like the pebbles and rocks of their native habitats in Africa. These plants hug the ground and grow extremely slowly.” Made me laugh!

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
    and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
    and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

Isaiah 51:1-2 NIV

Isaiah is referring to the ancestors Abraham and Sarah, but we can rightly apply the same verse to our LORD Jesus Christ. We are, in a manner of speaking, ‘chips off the old block.’ As we follow Jesus we are to be like him, a living stone, chosen by God and precious him.

He will use us to build a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood. Oh so much to learn about “offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Absolutely none of that can be accomplished until we accept Jesus as the chief cornerstone of our faith and life.

The Shepherd, His Sheep

Seems this did not post correctly the first time, so here it is again!

I recently purchased a note card from the Printery House as Conception Abbey in Missouri. The image is the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep. the back reads:

The image of Christ as Good Shepherd is deeply rooted in the Gospels: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? (Luke 15:4, cf. Matthew 18:13). The symbolism is of this icon hinges on Christ’s saving Passion. This image of a shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders, borrowed from secular art of the Greco-Roman world, is now combined with the imagery of the Paschal Mystery: the resurrected Christ, who bears the marks of the nails, brings back sinners who were lost and now are found. The cross is seen in the background as a sign of Christ’s victory over death. Jesus is not only the shepherd, but as the Passion symbolism indicates, he is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Conception Item CA8056
Here is the link if you want to purchase the card https://www.printeryhouse.org/searchresults.asp?q=ca8056

About the same time as the card arrived I was looking through a devotional called Forward Day by Day. For many years I used this as my morning devotional guide. The Scripture readings for each day are listed and a short meditation written by various different authors each month. This page read as follows.

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.

At historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestertown, Maryland, where I served years back, someone installed an oversized window with an image of Jesus carrying a sheep around his neck. I never liked that window. It did not fit the space stylistically, historically, or size-wise, but also, I had never been a fan of the passive image of Jesus as Good Shepherd.

That was the case until I visited the sheep ranch of close friends. They invited me to watch the annual sheep branding, which you will be relieved to know is by spray paint. The sheep also receive oral inoculations for various diseases. The shepherds funnel the sheep from a holding pen through chutes, but because sheep are antsy, the shepherds sometimes must wrestle a few. The sheep will fight and buck and wriggle and strain.

The passive sheep around Jesus’s shoulders has surrendered, given himself over to a shepherd that he trusts will lead and guide and even carry when necessary.

MOVING FORWARD: Have you surrendered or do you still fight and buck and wiggle?

Rob Geizelman Forward day by Day Wednesday March 29, 2023

If you would like to hear the devotion read, here is a link https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/fdd/2023-03-29

I really like the MOVING FORWARD question: Have you surrendered or do you still fight and buck and wiggle? What sort of sheep are you? Have you surrendered to Jesus? Do you ever allow Him to carry you?

O’Keeffe

At the Cincinnati Art Museum we recently saw a collection of photographs by Georgie O’Keeffe. I was struck by this quote from her. If you have ever seen her paintings of flowers you will have a better understanding of the quote.

“Well – I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower – and I don’t,” O’Keeffe scolded. For the artist, her renderings of flowers were about detail, light and shade, and formal juxtaposition. though many critics read other meanings into these works, O’Keeffe maintained that they signified only the artistic potential not with pencil or paint, but with her camera.

2006.6.1074, 2006.6.1071, 2006.6.1072 on museum wall

200 paintings of flowers and over 2,000 paintings during her career.  “In the 1930s, she wrote of her desire to paint the humble flower enlarged and up-close. “I’ll paint it big, and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it,” she wrote. “I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”

Her first quote was proven true by my visit to this exhibit.

What is it?

For years and years I saw this painting and believed it was a morning glory. This exhibit set me straight! It is actually a Jimson Weed.

So when I paste it in with it’s automatic caption you can see it is listed as

2014.35 Georgia O’Keeffe Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932 Oil on canvas 48 × 40 in. (121.9 × 101.6 cm) Framed: 53 in. × 44 3/4 in. × 2 1/2 in.

What do you think and see of her flower?

How does this relate to Christian life? Throughout the old and new testaments we are referred to as similar to flowers. But if a flower is captured on a canvas it does not fade like a real flower.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:22-23 NIV

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]

Flowers and grasses do what the Scripture says, but we are born again from IMPERISHABLE seed. We are not like those real flowers or flowers on canvas. We are born again through the living and enduring word of God. That is what the word says. Who am I to argue with it?

Poetry and Pain

In church one morning I was drawn to the cry of a baby some place in the congregation. I did not get upset or distressed by it. I seem to be naturally drawn to all babies everywhere. This baby spoke to my soul. Here is the verse that followed that hearing.

Tiny Baby in the Background© 2014 Molly Lin Dutina

Tiny baby in the background
crying, crying
and I am drawn to her
as the tiny baby inside me
cries write it, write it

Struggling under the fog of constant pain
drugs, drugs, 
distraction to nth degree
rock that baby and hold her
comfort her, rock her

Unconditional love and kindness
will prove again the victor
as, given time,
the words will come
Be at peace

I am not usually drugged in order to cope with the chronic pain. Obviously I was that day in 2014.

The Shepherd, His Sheep

I recently purchased a note card from the Printery House as Conception Abbey in Missouri. The image is the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep. the back reads:

The image of Christ as Good Shepherd is deeply rooted in the Gospels: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? (Luke 15:4, cf. Matthew 18:13). The symbolism is of this icon hinges on Christ’s saving Passion. This image of a shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders, borrowed from secular art of the Greco-Roman world, is now combined with the imagery of the Paschal Mystery: the resurrected Christ, who bears the marks of the nails, brings back sinners who were lost and now are found. The cross is seen in the background as a sign of Christ’s victory over death. Jesus is not only the shepherd, but as the Passion symbolism indicates, he is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Conception Item CA8056
Here is the link if you want to purchase the card https://www.printeryhouse.org/searchresults.asp?q=ca8056

About the same time as the card arrived I was looking through a devotional called Forward Day by Day. For many years I used this as my morning devotional guide. The Scripture readings for each day are listed and a short meditation written by various different authors each month. This page read as follows.

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.

At historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestertown, Maryland, where I served years back, someone installed an oversized window with an image of Jesus carrying a sheep around his neck. I never liked that window. It did not fit the space stylistically, historically, or size-wise, but also, I had never been a fan of the passive image of Jesus as Good Shepherd.

That was the case until I visited the sheep ranch of close friends. They invited me to watch the annual sheep branding, which you will be relieved to know is by spray paint. The sheep also receive oral inoculations for various diseases. The shepherds funnel the sheep from a holding pen through chutes, but because sheep are antsy, the shepherds sometimes must wrestle a few. The sheep will fight and buck and wriggle and strain.

The passive sheep around Jesus’s shoulders has surrendered, given himself over to a shepherd that he trusts will lead and guide and even carry when necessary.

MOVING FORWARD: Have you surrendered or do you still fight and buck and wiggle?

Rob Geizelman Forward day by Day Wednesday March 29, 2023

If you would like to hear the devotion read, here is a link https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/fdd/2023-03-29

I really like the MOVING FORWARD question: Have you surrendered or do you still fight and buck and wiggle? What sort of sheep are you? Have you surrendered to Jesus? Do you ever allow Him to carry you?

Resurrection Sunday

Sometimes when I was growing up I got to go to sunrise service on Easter morning. I think my favorite one was held at French Park in Cincinnati. The weather was often chilly and even at times rainy, but we were determined to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord as the sun came up!

My mother worked for many years at a flower shop in Norwood, Ohio. One year she brought home some purple hyacinths and plucked each flower off, wrapped it in wet cotton, wired and taped it. Then she assembled them as an Easter corsage for me. To this day the fragrance of purple hyacinths remind me of her. Though she lived a troubled life I believe her faith in Christ took her to be with Him when her life on earth ended.

None of these things help my soul celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as much as my gratitude lists. When Ann Voskamp wrote One Thousand Gifts I wonder if she knew how the practice would revolutionize the American Christian church? Certainly it changed her life, but do we ever truly know the impact our writing will have upon others? I wonder.

Have you practiced writing down the gifts in your life that Christ Jesus has bestowed upon you? Have you given Him thanks this Easter? Here are some of my thanksgivings.

  • Sunshine
  • Rain in due season
  • Salvation for my soul
  • You give strength to hearts that are true to You
  • Your righteous shall live by faith
  • our home
  • the longevity of my marriage
  • Justice that rolls down and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream
  • God with us
  • You know the hairs upon our heads
  • The Convent of the Transfiguration
  • my sisters in Journey Together in Stitches
  • crochet and knit group at senior center
  • Your Spirit that gives me life
  • Your breath in our lives
  • My children
  • My grandchildren
  • Laundry now on first floor
  • small gardens to delight my soul
  • the bluebirds at the office window
  • rabbits in Angela’s yard
  • THE BEAGLE
  • Grogu to make me smile
  • Noodle the Corgi that makes me smile
  • music
  • music memories from over the years
  • The Holy Spirit speaking in my soul
  • My Bible and Bible Gateway tool
  • Rheude’s small group
  • Lucky learning to play with her toys
  • Cooking
  • Great Smoky Mountains and spring wildflowers there
  • Medical care
  • freedom of religion
  • clouds
  • spring peepers
  • gifts
  • dark chocolate
  • coconut!
  • travels we have done
  • travel planned to Hawaii
  • blogging friends
  • New Mexico friends
  • Neighbors who are friends
  • running water in our home
  • crocheting
  • sewing for our home and others
  • museums of art
  • Cincinnati Nature Center
  • red winged blackbirds
  • butterflies
  • armor of God
  • Abraham’s example of faith and obedience
  • Andrew Peterson’s music
  • Learning to be a living sacrifice
  • loving husband
  • forgiveness
  • the Great I am
  • firemen
  • police officers
  • electronic books from the library
  • my sister
  • pinwheels
  • soap bubbles
  • even to old age He will keep me
  • black licorice
  • Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead LIVES in us
  • I can entrust my soul to my faithful creator
  • iPad with keyboard
  • ear buds for listening while walking the dog
  • Living Water
  • Seashells
  • heating pad
  • ocean sounds
  • He walks with me and talks with me
  • rainbow in the sky reminds me of rainbow around the throne
  • the Psalms
  • friends serving in Nepal
  • New Covenant in my mind and on my heart
  • Jesus is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption
  • “Pajama church” when you can’t make it to service
  • His still small voice
  • Bob’s sense of humor
  • a good fresh salad
  • piano music
  • people I know I can ask to pray – knowing they will do it
  • cellos
  • live drama performances
  • good ham salad
  • music by Brandon Lake
  • writing poetry
  • Mizithra cheese sauce on angel hair spaghetti
  • broccoli slaw, just yum
  • Spirit of God helps me write

That is my partial list. How about you? Get a little notebook and begin to list your praises and things you are grateful for! It will work wonders for you 🙂

Death could not hold Him!

Holy Saturday

This day is another time for reflection before the Resurrection Celebration. According to Britannica “The observance commemorates the final day of Christ’s death, which is traditionally associated with his triumphant descent into hell.”

The Apostles Creed says”He descended into hell and on the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven.”

He rested on the seventh – God rested.

The video below linked with Andrew Peterson’s music really touches my spirit.

Many churches celebrate an Easter Vigil with prayers and baptisms, lighting of a fire, etc. I think I prefer Peterson’s reflection. I am unaware of anyone making music about what Jesus did when He descended into hell. We know from Scripture He set the captives free.

Whatever you believe about His death, what He did before He resurrected, how His ascension takes place, I pray you will put your trust in Him. He is able to prove Himself to you, even you.

Here is an animation of one person’s idea of Holy Saturday. Yes, it is six minutes long, but I think they captured the ideas wonderfully. Hope you will watch it.

May this last day of Holy Week provide time and quiet for you as you prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus!