Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Flowers remind us of bright, sunny days. We give them to our friends and family to bring them joy. But any joy we have from flowers pales in comparison to the joy we have in Christ Jesus. At Easter we have no other response but to rejoice for our King has come.
Prayer Great and Mighty King, We bow in gratitude for our hearts are filled with joy at your coming. Amen
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I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. There are several overlooks built on the rock walls of the canyon from where you can see the power and beauty of Yellowstone’s Lower Falls. Without these there would not be a safe and secure way to see these powerful waterfalls. It would just take one step on shaky ground to plummet into the the canyon, from which rescue would be impossible.
When you face difficult and dangerous times, wait patiently for the Lord and he will set your feet upon a rock overlooking canyons of despair and destruction. It isn’t easy to wait, but it is only when we wait that we have time to see the beauty. As you walk with him, as we walked on the trails in the Canyon of Yellowstone, he will make your steps secure and you will see his power and beauty. Prayer Jesus My Rock, Sometimes I run ahead of you almost to the point of destruction. Teach me to wait on you and trust you to show me the way and make my journey safe and secure. Amen The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3, ESV The bright colors of the fall leaves signal the coming of the cold and darkness of winter, but the muted colors of trees in spring signal new live. The buds come on the barren branches and the trees put on their summer garments like garments of praise after times of darkness.
In the days and weeks after the resurrection the disciples' understanding of what Jesus meant when he talked about the kingdom of God grew. I wonder when the disciples remembered that day in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus said that these words from the prophet Isaiah had been fulfilled in him. Now they were to spread they word that Jesus came bring freedom to the captive and to give us garments of praise instead of faint spirits. Prayer Jesus, Giver of New Life, When I face difficult times, help me to look to you and remember your promise to replace my faint spirit with a garment of praise. Amen The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. If you have read my blog before you will have seen several pictures of this ancient oak tree in the cove. When I go to the cove, I always stop at the Lawson place to see it. God has taught me a lot of things through this tree and it has become a special place of worship for me.
We all have people in our lives who are like this oak tree; people who have taken the time to show us God’s love; people who have served the Lord and weathered strong storms for many years. They stand now as oaks of righteousness. Though probably never famous, they have bound up the brokenhearted, comforted those who mourn, proclaimed liberty to the captives, and lived lives that have glorified the Lord they serve. Be grateful for those people in you life and realize that in your everyday life you may be one of those oaks of righteousness for someone who is looking at the way you life your life. Prayer Lord God, Bind up our wounds so we can bind the wounds of others. Free us from our bondage of sin so we can proclaim liberty to the captive. Comfort us so that we can comfort those who mourn. Plant us in your love so that we may glorify you. Amen This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. When I opened the front door to the Caldwell house the back door swung open and light flooded the dark hallway. With the light through the doorway I could see the beautiful woodwork that makes this house so different from the other homesteads in the park. And just like this open door dispels the darkness and reveals the beauty in the Caldwell house, Jesus dispels the darkness of the sin in our lives. He bids us walk in the light with him and when we do we find forgiveness. With the light of God we are able to see the beauty all around us.
Prayer Father of Light, Open the door to our hearts and let your light flood our lives. Forgive our sins and dispel the darkness. Shine your light in our world so we can see your beauty. Amen Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” It is a beautiful thing to watch a sunrise - to watch the world move from darkness to light. I have come to see sunrise as more of a process than an instantaneous event that happens at the exact hour and minute given on the weather app. When you purposefully watch a sunrise you see the sky gradually become lighter until the moment the sun comes over the horizon. Then comes the golden hour, the time when the sun is low in the sky and the light is more golden then the blaring white of midday.
The disciples came to understand and accept Christ’s resurrection much like sunrise happens. It wasn’t an instantaneous process. They began in darkness and fear in locked rooms. Most of them that is. For some reason Thomas wasn’t in that locked room the first night. Even a week later when Thomas was with them, they were still cowering in fear in a locked room. They all were still doubting. When Jesus appeared to the disciples this time, note that he didn’t reprimand them for not believing, even Thomas who had the courage to say he would only believe if he saw Jesus with his own eyes. Instead he gave them peace and spoke directly to Thomas. I think maybe this was because Thomas was brave enough to speak his doubt. We all face doubt, not just once but again and again. We all have to see Jesus with our own eyes. Our belief in Jesus can not be based on what someone else believes. We must all come to a time of believing who Christ is for ourselves. We must speak our doubts and Jesus will show us who he is, just like he did to Thomas and the disciples. It may not be in a miraculous physical appearance but he will come in just the way we need to see him, to dissolve our doubt. Then, like Thomas, we will bow and acknowledge Jesus as, “My Lord and my God.” And like the golden light after sunrise, we will find the peace only Jesus can give. Prayer My Lord and King, I kneel before so great a love. Thank you for coming to me when I doubt you and revealing yourself to me in unexpected ways that bring peace. Amen Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Psalm 133:1, ESV If you want to find wildflowers you must walk slowly and look carefully all along the trail, as all the other hikers pass you by. As I walked along the trail on my first wildflower hike of the spring, I saw these two little flowers, a trillium and a hepatica, growing so close together that they looked like they were one plant. Even though both species of these flowers can have different colors, both of these specific flowers were white. There they were both sharing the same ground and the same color, living in beautiful unity, unique and special because they were growing so close to each other.
I think these two little flowers are a picture of what it should be like for us as Christians to live in our world, a world filled with fear, isolation, and individualism. We have all been washed clean and white by the sacrifice of our resurrected Lord. We all take strength from the same soil, the word of God. Yet sometimes we seek our own way and fail to love each other. Living in unity means we will have to let go of “rugged individualism” that our society seems to value so much. We will have to take the focus off of ourselves and look hard for ways to meet the needs of our brothers. And when we do we our field of view will grow beyond ourselves and we will be filled with peace from the beauty we see. Prayer Loving Father, As we move through our world today open our eyes to the needs of our brothers and show us ways to meet those needs. Broader our field of view beyond ourselves so we can live in unity. Amen And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Looking in one direction you see the clear blue skies and the promise of a joy-filled day in the the mountains. Looking the other direction you see the dark clouds and a possible storm that will send you running for cover. For the disciples, the days after the resurrection were like this. They had lost their Messiah on a Roman cross and they marveled at the stories of a risen Jesus. They thought they knew Jesus after three years of being with him every day. They thought he was the Messiah that would release them from the bondage of Roman captivity and set up an earthly kingdom. He wasn’t that Messiah, but he was the Messiah that would release them from the bondage of sin in a kingdom that would last forever. Now they had to come to know Jesus in a totally different way.
Who is Jesus to you? Do you sometimes disbelieve with joy like the disciples? Have the stories of Easter become too familiar? Do you need to know Jesus in a new and deeper way? Speak your disbelief to him and just like he did with the disciples, Jesus will make himself real to you again and will turn your disbelief into joy. Prayer Risen Lord, Forgive us when we forget to marvel at who you are and try to keep you safely tucked away as just a story to tell on Easter. Show us your wounds, walk with us, and bring us joy in serving a risen Lord. Amen And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:31-35, ESV I have been on this road many times but would you know where I took this picture if you didn’t read the caption? Where does the road go? What is around the curve?
Cleopas and another unnamed follower of Jesus were on a familiar road that Sunday after Passover. It had been a difficult time seeing the one they thought was to be the Messiah crucified. Now on top of all the grief, they had heard stories of Jesus being risen from the dead. What were they to think? As they walked the 7 miles on the road to Emmaus, Jesus came beside them and opened their mind to understand the scriptures about him. He tells them that what was written about him has come true; things he had not taught them before. Jesus came to these two followers just when they needed him, just when they needed to understand who he was and the road ahead. They rushed back to Jerusalem to tell their story to the disciples in the upper room - another 7 miles and mostly in the dark. Here Jesus appeared to them along with the disciples and taught them the scriptures. This was just the beginning of their journey from doubt to understanding, from heart-broken followers of a crucified Christ to witnesses of the risen Christ. In a few weeks at Pentecost they would need to understand all these things as they proclaimed to the world who Jesus was. Look for Jesus to join you on the road you walk. And just like he did to the followers on the road to Emmaus, he will give you what you need for the journey he has planned for you. Know that he will teach you everything you need to share the Gospel with all those you meet on the road ahead. Prayer Risen Savior, Open our minds to understand who you are like you did for your followers on the road to Emmaus that day. Give us the knowledge and courage to share the wonderful joy we have in following a living Christ. Amen When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. Mark 16:1-2, ESV The only way to see a sunrise is to get up while it is still dark. The women who followed Jesus were up and ready to go while it was still dark for they had a job to do. It wasn’t going to be an easy job and they had no idea how they were going to do it. They had only been able to begin to properly prepare Jesus’s body for burial on that Friday. They had followed the command and rules for the Sabbath and could do nothing more that day or the next. I wonder if, in their shock and grief, they had eaten or slept any since they were forced to leave their job undone. When you actually leave in the dark and get to a place to watch the sunrise, there is a rush of joy as you see it come over the horizon. For these women, finally the sun was up and they had no idea the joy that was to follow. For when they got to the tomb, Christ was not there. Unbelievable! It took several trips to the tomb and seeing the risen Christ for his followers to begin to understand what had happened. He is Risen ! Rejoice! Prayer
Risen Savior, Fill us with joy this Easter Day. You have walked through the long dark night and conquered death for us. Remind us that true joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Give us the courage to share that joy with the world so that all may know the joy we have in you. Amen |
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan