HE HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD

That is how much He loves you

'I could ask my Father for thousands of angels...and he would send them.' MATTHEW 26:53

The cross is a universal symbol of Christianity; it's almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing it on a steeple or headstone. How did an instrument of torture come to represent forgiveness and hope for so many? After all, we don't wear little gold guillotines round our necks, or display replicas of firing squads on our church walls. The answer can be found in the cross itself. Its horizontal beam symbolises the breadth of God's love; its vertical beam symbolises the depth and height of His love. It's why God can be just and kind without lowering His standards, why He can dispense truth and mercy, and why He can redeem us without sanctioning our sin. John said, 'God loved the world: He gave his...only Son....that...by believing in him, anyone can have...lasting life' (John 3:16 TM). Thankfully it doesn't say God loved only the wealthy or the famous or the beautiful or the sober or the successful, or we'd all be in trouble! No, if you live in 'the world' you're included by God. Jesus didn't have to die, He chose to! He told His captors, 'I could ask my Father for thousands of angels...and he would send them instantly...But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what is happening now?' As Max Lucado says, 'The force behind the hammer wasn't an angry mob...the hand squeezing the handle wasn't a Roman infantryman...the verdict...wasn't decided by jealous Jews. Jesus himself chose the nails...Had the soldier hesitated Jesus himself would have swung the hammer.' That's how much He loves you.

From: THE WORD FOR TODAY at http://www.ucb.co.uk/index.cfm?itemid=88

JESUS DID THIS FOR YOU

There was a man, who actually endured this horrific torturous death. His name is Jesus, and he did this for you. Now what are you going to do about it? Believe it or reject it?

John 3:16 -18 (The Message)

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Accept the truth that Jesus died on that cross for you, and it will change your life forever.

Good Friday Forgive because you are forgiven!

'God put his love on the line...while we were of no use whatever to him.' ROMANS 5:8

Telling of his experience as a prisoner of war, Ernest Gordon related how after work one evening a guard noticed a shovel missing. Insisting one of the prisoners had stolen it, he screamed for the guilty party to come forward. Then he prepared to kill them one by one until someone confessed. Suddenly a Scottish soldier broke rank, stood to attention and said, 'I did it.' The guard beat him to death on the spot. When he'd exhausted his fury the other POW's picked up their friend's body along with their tools and returned to camp. At that point the shovels were re-counted. The guard was wrong. None was missing.

What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn't do? Christ! 'We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for...how someone...noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his son...while we were of no use whatever to him' (Romans 5:7-8 TM). Think about it, 'God...piled...everything we've done wrong, on him' (Isaiah 53:6 TM), hence the only 'Mediator who can reconcile God and [man]... Jesus' (1Timothy 2:5 NLT). A mediator reconciles differences and negotiates agreements between two parties. At Calvary Jesus stood between God's anger and the punishment for our sins. Having lived the life we couldn't live, then taking the punishment we couldn't escape, He freely offers us redemption we couldn't afford.

Now the question is: if He so loved us, can we not love each other? Having been forgiven, can we not forgive? Having feasted at the table of mercy can we not share a few crumbs?

From: The Word for Today at http://www.ucb.co.uk/index.cfm?sectionid=3

In the Garden of Gethsemane

Before the dawn of Easter

There came Gethsemane . . .

Before the Resurrection

There were hours of agony . . .

For there can be no crown of stars

Without a cross to bear,

And there is no salvation

Without faith and love and prayer,

And when we take our needs to God

Lets us pray as did His Son

That dark night in Gethsemane ~

"Thy will, not mine, be done."

Helen Steiner Rice

LORD, TEACH ME TO PRAY

Lord teach me to pray Spirit-filled, Spirit-lead faith based prayers, instead of prayers that are panic-based, carnal and soulish from my mind, will or emotions.

Lord teach me how to pray for my inner life, for the condition of my heart, my spiritual growth, my attitudes and my motives, rather than my outer life, my circumstances, the activities I'm involved in and the things that happen around me. I pray that You Lord, will strengthen me internally and help me to live out of a pure heart from the right motives. I know then Lord You in Your grace, mercy and loving kindness will take care of all the 'external' matters.

Amen

SUPERNATURAL

Some songs just say it so well. These are some lyrics from SUPERNATURAL by DC TALK. As far as I am concerned they totally hit the nail on the head.

This worlds a tortured place to be

So many things to torment me

And as I stumble down this road it takes a toll.

These days and nights I turn to you

No human hand can pull me through

No cosmic force or magic brew will ever do.

Beyond this physical terrain

Theres an invisible domain

Where angels battle over souls in vast array.

But down on earth is where I am

No wings to fly, no place to stand

Here on my knees I am a stranger in this land.

I need an intervention

A touch of providence

It goes beyond religion

To my very circumstance.

But I can see it coming

Youre not so far away

cause I can feel your power

Surging through the whole of me.

God is there and he is watching

He tells me all is well (its supernatural)

God is there, theres no denying

Hes supernatural (its supernatural)

Supernatural

In six days, the universe was made

Supernatural

And from the dead a man was raised

Supernatural

They say he walked across the waves

Supernatural

And I'll believe it to my grave.

Some things just cant be explained

JARS OF CLAY

We are jars of clay, chipped and blemished, fragile by God’s design in order to show the glorious light of God shining through our cracks and crevices. People should look at us and say, “What’s this? That plain jar of clay isn’t creating such a glorious light; it must be the light of heaven contained within. The peace and joy and love I see in that light must be from God.”

THE “TUGGING” OF THE SPIRIT

Paul assumed that the Spirit is a very active agent in the life of the believer. For he went on to say,

Since by the qualities of the Spirit you are being led or prompted, you are not at all under law (Galatians 5:17)

What this is saying is that a partnership has been created for us by God the Father with the Holy Spirit. We are expected to take areas of our life into the Fathers presence to sort them out. As we do so the Spirit of God will be ministering to us.

Immediately someone reading this will think and maybe even say, “Certainly I feel the impact of the flesh in my life, it’s very powerful, but I not sure at all that I feel or sense the prompting of the Spirit of God.” What that person needs to remember is the flesh is a “mugger”. It just comes and starts beating us up. A beating is hard to miss. On the other hand, the spirit is a “tugger”. We may be so overwhelmed by the mugging that we miss the tugging.

Also we have to understand the two different goals that the flesh and the Spirit have. The fleshes goal is to enslave us; the goal of the Spirit is to teach us our freedom in Christ.

Some of the ”tuggings” of the Spirit may be ridiculously simple such as prompting us to pray instead of focusing on a desire, or to read the Bible instead of watching TV, or reading the newspaper or to talk to a friend instead of isolating oneself. These promptings have to come softly so that we can partner with the Spirit and participate intelligently. Possibly some may want the Spirit to show up with a bullhorn and electric cattle prod. It won’t happen, because that is how the Devil and the flesh do things but not God the Father.

Ephesians 6:14 (The Message)

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Romans 8: 31-38 (The Message)

So, what do you think?

With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way!

Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. (Psalm 4:22)

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Prayer for Self Control

So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.

2 Peter 1:5-6 The Message

Heavenly Father,

I pray Dear God that you will plant self control in me that will help me grow up like a tree of strength. I pray that you will help me rein in my passions, desires and emotions and make them subject to your Spirit. Please give me the self-discipline I need.

Amen.

Prayer for Gentleness

Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

James 3:17 The Message

Heavenly Father, I pray I can be as gentle and meek as Jesus.

Amen

Prayer for Faithfulness

Heavenly Father.

I pray that Your faithfulness Lord, will continually grow strong in me every day that I am alive. I pray my faithfulness will strengthen not only me but everyone I touch and inspire others to greater faithfulness too.

Amen.

Prayer for Goodness

Heavenly Father,

Help me please to abide in You so that Your goodness will grow in me.

Amen

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart...

Matthew 12:35

Prayer for Kindness

"Put on tender mercies kindness, humility, meekness. and long suffering"
Colossians 3:12

Heavenly Father,

I pray Lord, that your brand of kindness will grow in me so that I can lay down my life for others with acts of kindness too.

Amen

Prayer for Patience

Heavenly Father,

I pray that your patience be so established in my soul that nothing that I ever have to endure will uproot it.

Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Heavenly Father

I pray the presence of The Lord planted in my life will provide peace that is beyond comprehension. I pray peace will grow strong and prevail no matter what my circumstances. I pray you will help me to know your peace in such a powerful way that it brings peace to those around me.

"Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:7 NLV

Prayer for Joy

Father in Heaven,

I pray the Joy of the Lord will be so planted in me and manifest through me that the crop I reap will spread like wild-fire and overtake the fields around me.

Amen!

Prayer for Love

Heavenly Father

I pray that you will plant your love in me in such a profound and powerful way that I am able to fully experience it and that your love will flow through me to others. Help me to be obedient to you, so that nothing will keep the fullness of Your love from blossoming in me.

I ask this, in Jesus name.

Amen.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Psalm 23 ~ A Friends Interpretation

The Lord is my Counsellor
I shall always be heard

There is peace in His presence,
Calm to explore.

This tangled mess becomes integrated

Because of His great reputation

Even if I expose this fearful darkness within

I am not overwhelmed

You keep in touch, protecting.

In the middle of it, You prepare to serve
Your body, broken,

Your blood, poured out.

You treat me as Royalty

You will continue with me indefinitely
Eternally.

PRAYER ENLARGES YOUR HEART . . .

Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and to keep him as your own. Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation. It is not what we do but how much love we put into it....

Mother Teresa

Somewhere In The Middle by Casting Crowns

Somewhere between the hot and the cold,

Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be,

Somewhere in the middle,

You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right

Somewhere between the darkness and the light,

Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me,

Somewhere in the middle,

You'll find me.

Just how close can I get Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?

Fearless warriors in a picket fence,

reckless abandon wrapped in common sense,
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle,

With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is,

But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle.

Somewhere between my heart and my hands,
Somewhere between my faith and my plans,

Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves.

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar,

Somewhere between the altar and the door,

Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more,

Somewhere in the middle You'll find me.

Just how close can I get Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side,

Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle.

Psalm 23 (NLV)

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

If you have a couple of minutes to spare, please watch ALL of this right to the end.

It is incredible.

This is EXACTLY what it's like to have God in control of your life.... I speak from years of experience.

This moves me to tears every time.

This is the God, my Father that I know, and I love Him with all my heart.

Psalm 51:1-9 (NCV)

God, be merciful to me because you are loving.
Because you are always ready to be merciful,
wipe out all my wrongs.
Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again.
I know about my wrongs, and I can't forget my sin.
You are the only one I have sinned against;
I have done what you say is wrong.
You are right when you speak and fair when you judge.
I was brought into this world in sin.
In sin my mother gave birth to me.
You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom.
Take away my sin, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness;
let the bones you crushed be happy again.
Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt.

Ecclesiastes 7:13 (The Message)

Take a good look at God's work.

Who could simplify and reduce creation's curves and angles to a plain straight line?

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Hebrew 4:12-13 (The Message)

God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV)

Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up.... Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.



A rope made of three cords is hard to break.

My days are better. Overflow

These Lyrics were sent to me by a good friend...

Sometimes the past comes back to haunt me
Sometimes the future seems unknown.
But today has enough worries of it's own.
Sometimes I'm deep in the valley.
Sometimes I'm high on the mountaintop.
But today none of that matters.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that I've got You and You're all I need.

My days are better, my days are better with You.
Everyday I wanna see, more of You and less of me.
My days are better, my days are better with You.

Sometimes I feel just like a hero.
Sometimes I feel like I have let you down.
But today, I wish those days would disappear.
I know You've been through the valley.
I know You've been on the mountaintop.
But today, Lord You know I need You here,

Oh Lord,

I can't help but wonder why You never gave up on me
I am nothing more than a desperate and in need.

I know You're the One who set me free.

Ephesians 1:11 The Message

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

RECONCILIATION

So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:11 NLT

Friendship

As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.

Proverbs 27:17

Attitude is everything.

You simply cannot be beaten if, at the end of the day, some tiny part of you can still whisper,

"I will try again tomorrow."

Everyone Needs Someone

People need people and friends need friends,

And we all need love for a full life depends

Not on vast riches or great acclaim,

Not on success or on worldly fame,
But just in knowing that someone cares

And holds us close in their thoughts and prayers -

For only the knowledge that we're understood

Makes everyday living feel wonderfully good.
And we rob ourselves of life's greatest need

When we "lock up our hearts" and fail to heed

The outstretched hand reaching to find

A kindred spirit whose heart and mind
Are lonely and longing to somehow share

Our joys and sorrows and to make us aware

That life's completeness and richness depends

On the things we share with our loved ones and friends.

Helen Steiner Rice