The Saturday Before Easter

Can you even imagine what must have been going through the minds of those that followed Jesus on this day long ago? There is no evidence that a single one of them expected the resurrection. Not Peter, not James, not John, they all ran and hid. Not even Mary Magdalene, who loved Him without question and was brave enough to go to the tomb the next morning which is more than you can say for her male counter-parts who were hiding in fear but she did not come to the tomb to celebrate the resurrection, she came to give him a proper funeral. Not even Mary his mother was looking for His appearing…even though she had heard Angels speak her grief had overcome her memories even though she knew He was not born as others had been born.

All of these had seen his glory, witnessed his miracles and heard his words. And yet it was if they said it was a good campaign while it lasted but we just didn’t get him elected Messiah! But before we get too judgmental how about us; do we live in a state of expectancy? Does it surprise you when God acts or would it surprise you if He didn’t? Do you believe this risen Savior can raise up your marriage, deliver your child, protect you from the storms of life, or when life gets tough do you forget that He lives?

It has always amazed me that I have this incredible ability to forget. It seems we live in this cycle of remembering only after the fact that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I pray that you and I will not cringe in fear in a room of our own making but will proclaim with boldness that there is no situation that God cannot handle, no problem beyond His power, and no day that should be lived in fear. Tomorrow we will once again proclaim that the tomb was empty, let's live like it!

There is no Easter without Good Friday

Mark 15:34

Then, at the time Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why would God the Father turn His back on Jesus as He hung on the cross of Calvary? Had He not been obedient even unto death? Paul explains it this way…

Galatians 3:13 (Message)

Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the Cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse.

To save us Jesus had to become us. He became a curse so He could bring the cure. Often we want to rush from Palm Sunday where the crowds are shouting Hosanna, to Easter where people are bowing before Him. This avoids the messiness of crucifixion, the horror of a crown of thorns, and the guilt of our sin. But there is no Easter without Good Friday and to believe sin has no price is to ignore the cross. There is no possibility of repentance without sacrifice, and only the sacrifice of God’s Son was sufficient for the accumulated sins of humanity.

Perhaps Max Lucado says it best in his book “When God Whispers Your Name.”

To see sin apart from grace is despair. To see grace without sin is arrogance. To see them in tandem is conversion.

When our eyes behold the cross we see our sin and our salvation; our worst and God’s best; we see the consequence of sin and the power of grace. We see the curse become the cure and the condemned become the Savior. How can the one sentenced to death be the one who brings life? The problem and the solution are all rolled into one divine event.

Why Pray?

I often get asked this question, why pray? I mean if God knows all that is going to happen, if He even knows what I am going to ask Him before I do, why pray? My wife often responds to some question I pose to her, well you know the answer to that before I answer, as if I should be some type of psychic. But you know most of the time she is correct I do know what she is going to say. We have been together for so long that I know her. I know her sad faces, excited faces and confused ones. I know what she loves, what she fears, what she dreams about, I know her. How do I know her so well? I know her because we spend a lot of time together. You see we are one of those old fashion couples who truly like being with each other.

The same is true with God I get to know Him by spending time with Him. I do this by spending time in His Word and by spending time in prayer. You see I think most of us think that prayer is simply us putting in our wish list or concerns for others in front of the Master. But prayer is God speaking to us. God may know what I am going to ask or request or tell Him about but I am afraid I am not that knowledgeable concerning Him or the future. There are times I really need guidance that goes beyond what I know from His Word. There are times I need to know how to apply that Word to this particular situation.

So don't think prayer is a waste of time, in fact many people's time on this planet is wasted because they don't pray.

He is Risen!

It is difficult to believe that Easter is just a few days away. Our hearts and minds will turn toward Jerusalem. We will remember a Passover meal that turned into a farewell address and a new beginning for all of God’s people. We will remember the Lord washing feet and teaching by being what He taught. We will remember betrayal and denial. We will hear a crowd shout Hosanna one day and crucify him the next. We will endure the brutality of a cross and the humiliation of our Lord. But praises be unto our Lord we will also celebrate the resurrection, claim victory over sin and death, and proclaim Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will once again proclaim the tomb to be empty and our hearts to be filled with the presence of our Lord.

Getting Old Ain't For Sissies!

Here lately I have been thinking that the amount of time I spend trying to keep the old body going is increasing by the day. Exercise to keep the heart ticking, pill to keep the collestrol low, pill to keep blood from forming clots, beta blocker to block beta I guess...well you get my jest. I look in the mirror sometimes and ask who is that masked man I used to be handsome, well maybe not but I looked better than this! At least I had hair and it had color, I was never tall dark and handsome but I have always been dark due to my Italian roots. It is when the outer man begins to fade that I remember the scripture I memorized in Sunday School that the inner man is being renewed day by day.

Recently I was watching one of those morning news shows when an eleven year old boy who had died and was brought back after more minutes than is suppose to be possible described heaven. He said everyone was young, and healthy and wise and content. There was no disease or sadness, murders or pain. He didn't say so but I would imagine no pills or that matter pill counters to help you remember if you took the pill. I used to think I would like to live to be a hundred or more but now I am grateful that when I have been there ten thousand years bright shinning as the sun, I will have no less days to sing God's praise than when I first began!

Government Cannot Save Us

Well I awoke this morning to the news that our leaders had come to a compromise and the government will not "shut down" after all, though some think they have been shut down for years. So you can go to the National Park in your area today and things will be normal. Our military personnel will get paid and hundreds of other government workers will not have an unplanned vacation. And yes I am glad they reached an agreement. But here is the deal government is not the solution to all of our problems!

One has to wonder whatever happened to each family taking care of their own, Oh I guess the answer to that one is there are not too many families that stay together long enough to know who their own are. And whatever happened to neighbors being there for each other when tragedy struck, Oh I guess one has to know the names of their neighbors for that to be possible. When did we start looking to the government to solve all our problems, to feed all the poor, to take care of all the elderly, when did the church and the family stop being the church and the family?

Well here at ClearBranch we are determined that once again we will be that presence of Christ in our neighborhoods and communities; that we will take care of our own and offer help to whoever desires a hand up. I am glad the government did not shut down but I will be more delighted when we need them less to do what we the people should have been doing all along.

A Tradition Like No Other

Well today is one of my favorite days of the entire year, today is the opening round of the Masters. I just love to hear that music they play as they come on say "A Tradition Like No Other...The Masters!" Just gives a golfer chills! What makes it so special you may ask, well I suppose it is the fact that the greatest golfers of all time have put on those green jackets, Palmer, Snead, Hogan, Nichlas, Woods, and Mickelson have all won it more than once.

Well let me tell you about another tradition like no other, we call it Easter. Every year with great anticipation we head off to church to hear about a risen Savior and an empty tomb. We realize once again that we do not define the resurrection, the resurrection defines us. We are who we are because He lives! So make your plans to be part of a tradition like no other and come out and worship THE MASTER!

Storms

Last night here in Springville, Alabama the winds blew. At times the lights blinked but never stayed out for very long. The satellite dish would go out and have to "reboot" as they say, which was annoying as I tried to watch the worst shooting NCAA Final in history. Yet this morning all was calm and cool. The winds had disappeared or more correctly gone somewhere else to blow.

Those fronts that pass by weather wise remind me of life in general. There are calm and cool days, days that do not produce any earth shaking memorable events. I guess you would call them normal if there really is such a thing. You know you get up read the paper or for you young ones check out the net; you eat a bite, shower, and go to work or school. Then there are days that are memorable. Some of these are remembered because towers got flown into by planes or presidents got shot by assassins or space shuttles blew up as they took off. Others are memorable because your team won the national championship or you got that job you wanted or you got accepted into that school you applied to or that girl you love said yes she will marry you.

For those of us who are Christians the challenge is to live all of these days in faithfulness. For we believe God is God on all of these days. The "good days and bad ones." For you see the wind is always blowing somewhere, this morning it is just blowing east of here and someone Else's lights are blinking. There is always someone who is happy about the yes they received from their girlfriend and the wedding date set for the future. So here is the key, seek first His Kingdom and then regardless of what today may bring your anchor will hold.

Faithful Jesus

Have you ever been betrayed by a friend that you thought you could depend on regardless of circumstance; abandoned by someone that had always been faithful? There is perhaps no greater pain than this, the pain of being forsaken by a friend, betrayed by a companion. Many of us can relate to this scenario. Maybe it was a spouse who betrayed us, or a friend who deceived us. Jesus also knew this pain. One disciple betrayed him and another disciple denied that he even knew him. While he died on a cross they ran for cover; while he forgave their sin they pretended that they had never known his love. And yet when the smoke cleared his love remained. Recently someone told me that there was nothing I could do to make God love me anymore and there was nothing I could do to make God love me any less. His love for me went beyond my ability to always be faithful to Him. This indeed is good news.

If You Stay Close You Can’t Fall Away

John 16:1

I have told you these things so you won’t fall away. (NLT)

Occasionally I will ask Luann if I have told her lately that I love her. She always says tell me again! Luann and I have a commitment to each other. We have a date once a week. We spend a day together once a month and we spend a week together once a year. We are intentional concerning our relationship, the most important relationship on this earth.

I am also intentional concerning my relationship with Jesus. I journal every morning, which helps me focus my prayers; I have always been in an accountability group with other Christian men which helps me stay on track. I study the word with regularity, go to worship without fail and stay in a book written by an author that helps me see the truth of God’s word. I do this not to make God love me but because I know He loves me and I desire to stay close to Him.

Not long ago a friend told me he had “fallen out of love with his wife.” He was disappointed that I could not relate. How can you fall out of love with someone you love? Well the answer is you fall away by being away. You forget because you do not constantly remember. Jesus warns us in this passage, the prophets warned us by telling us to always teach these things to our children, God constantly warned His people by the way He introduced Himself…I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the house of bondage…never forget…always remember…don’t fall away, lest you become guilty of losing your first love. Maybe we should each ask God…Lord have I told you lately that I love you.

I Want to Know what Love is!

Simply defining what it means to love someone is not easy, if you do not believe that try it! Ask people, "tell me what does it mean to be in love?" Most will struggle. Song writers have wrestled with the concept also, writing songs like, “What does love have to do with it” or “More than a feeling.”  The group “Foreigner” ask the question in their hit song, “I want to know what love is.” That is the problem do we know? Listen to part of the lyrics…

“I gotta take a little time, a little time to think things over, I better read between the lines, in case I need it when I get older…I want to know what love is, I want you to show me…I want to feel what love is…I know you can show me.”

Interestingly enough Mark Jones the lead guitarist for Foreigner wrote this song as he was going through a crisis in his own life. The lyrics lead one to believe that Mark finally decided that only God could answer the question…Speaking about God’s love he writes I’ve got nowhere to hide it looks like love has finally found me.

He with the rest of his generation has been crying out…I want to know what love is. For it is as simple as this if we do not know what it is we cannot give it and probably will not recognize it when someone offers it to us. Not long ago I worked an event called the "Walk to Emmaus." At one point on that weekend a person came to me and said "there really isn't a catch is there?" When I responded with a puzzled look they said they had been waiting all weekend for the catch, for what we wanted, but had finally decided that God's love, His true love was unconditional.

You see the truth is this, you cannot do anything to make God love you any more, nor can you do anything to make Him love you any less. He loved you so much He sent His Son to die for your sins how much more can He love you? And while He may be disappointed at our actions, like us with our children, nothing they do makes our love go away. So if you really want to know what love is look to Jesus, you will not be disappointed!