The Incredible Joy of Easter

 

The familiar words

become alive as we pause and listen ...

and year by year, new layers of understanding

come to our hearts and minds.

Though we will not even be able to contain

all that Easter brings us, for it will take an eternity

to comprehend the joys, the blessings,

the never-ending love of God towards us.

Our faith in Jesus

transfers God's righteousness to us,

and He now declares us flawless in His eyes.

This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace

with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus,

the Anointed One, has done for us.

Our faith guarantees us permanent access

into this marvelous kindness that has given us

a perfect relationship with God.

What incredible joy bursts forth within us

as we keep on celebrating our hope

of experiencing God's glory!

Romans 5:1-2 TPT

Thanking Him for a new layer of understanding and joy with reading these familiar words from Romans 5 in a new translation. How can we even comprehend that He sees us as flawless in His eyes, and that we are recipients of His unending marvelous kindness and love. Beautiful beyond description. All because of Jesus.

Happy Easter!

These "stay at home" 
coronavirus days/weeks
have slowed us down.

Have pulled our hearts
back to the basics, the
essentials, and the most
important of all.

Have caused us to be still,
and to look more intently
at what matters the most.

It has done this for me;
has this been true for you?

I'm re-learning in deeper
ways than ever before ...
of what my heart longs for,
what I am made for.

For I am made for eternity.
Life is not about us, what
we accomplish, what we do.

Why do we hurry about?
When we can rest, trust,
and enjoy His presence, 
His daily gifts of grace.

Aligning our hearts to His,
reading His Words, turning
our thoughts to Him each day,
all through the day, today.

Reflecting His love, and 
creativity in all I do ...
loving our family, our friends,
writing, cooking, capturing
memories in photos, encouraging
others, creating a warm home.

Each of us in our unique ways,
resting, living, breathing,
creating, soaking up His words
and His love, serving others.

And watching Him at work;
for He is God. And we are not.
And He will be exalted. And He
is exalted even in a pandemic.


"Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
(Psalm 46:10)

May you overflow with joy
this Easter 2020!

Every Little Thing

It is almost

too precious to even

begin to comprehend ... 

we can bring everything

to Him, and He cares 

about every little thing.

"So whether you eat or drink,

or whatever you do, do all

to the glory of God."

(I Cor. 10:31)

Every thought I think,

everything I do -

my waking, my sleeping,

my in between.

My eating, my cooking,

my laundry, my decorating,

my creating, my writing ...

my everything.

The tasks that wait for me,

the special holidays, the

easy things, the hard things;

it all matters.

Time spent with family,

times of routine and of work,

vacation days, at home days;

He cares about it all.

It is simply beyond my

wildest dreams that our God

cares, and that we have the

unbelievable joy of living

every moment for His purposes.

It all matters to Him.

His love permeates every

little thing in our lives.

This kind of living is ...

"expressed not just in 

the religious dimension

of our lives, but in

every aspect of our existence."

(New Morning Mercies)

The Lord directs

the steps of the godly.

He delights in every 

detail of their lives.

(Psalm 37:23)

All because of Easter,

all because of His life

sacrificed for us,

bringing us new life;

new life with a purpose,

and filled with His love.

Credit: Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash

Happy Easter Week!

May the God of HOPE⠀

fill us with all JOY and PEACE⠀

as we trust in Him today,⠀

and all through this Easter week.⠀

And may our hearts and lives⠀

overflow with HOPE by 

the power of the Holy Spirit.⠀

⠀

All that we long for;⠀

all because of Jesus.⠀

⠀

Happy Easter Week!⠀

⠀

40 Days: A Time to Prepare

It has been

a long, cold winter.

Snow, ice, the bitter winds

have covered our land.

A longing for spring

envelopes our thoughts;

a deep heart-felt yearning.

And I feel it stirring

in my heart.

It's time to dream,

it's time to ready 

 my heart for spring.

It's time to stir up

the hard ground,

and prepare my heart

to listen anew, to hear,

to receive new life.

How do we hear more

clearly, how do we listen

from the heart?

How do we prepare

the soil, how do we prepare

for spring, for new growth?

It's a quiet focus ...

a purposeful preparing;

pausing, listening,

welcoming His Presence.

Preparing our hearts

to receive from Him.

Thoughts on my heart as I long for and wait for spring. Especially after an exceptionally long, cold winter. The white blanket of snow still covers the hardened ground, and I long for the fresh newness of spring. And it is the same with my heart. An even deeper longing, this yearning to hear more, to listen more closely, to have the soil of my heart soft and ready to receive all that He has for me.

May my heart, your heart, be tilled and prepared for a new harvest. May these 40 days leading up to Easter, to spring, be a time to prepare for fresh new growth. Click here for one of a multitude of sources to use as we prepare our hearts for Easter, for new life.

  

 The freshness of spring

is calling, the time for

new flower beds, for beauty

of blossoms, for new life.

"Let your roots grow down

into Him, and let your lives

be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong

in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow

with thankfulness."

(Colossians 2:17 NLT)

On My Heart: Because of Today

Because of today,

it all can change for us;

Because of today,

we can be made new.

We can try to fix ourselves,

try to perfect ourselves;

not once, but over and over.

Always falling short ...

But there came a day in time,

in real time here, on our earth,

when there was One who came

to remedy our sin, our imperfection.

For when we put our trust

in His work on the cross;

His sacrifice, freely given -

then we are perfected forever.

We become His own, dearly loved -

we are declared righteous,

without fault, complete;

we become beautiful in His eyes.

"I am overwhelmed with joy

in the Lord, my God!

For He has dressed me with

the clothing of salvation

and draped me in a robe

of righteousness."

(Isaiah 61:10a)

Thank You, Lord ...

Because of today,

I am forgiven, I can live

deeply loved, fully accepted;

I am declared righteous -

all because of Jesus.

(Sharing the thoughts on my heart Easter Sunday 2018)

Is Repentance a Lost Practice?

Maybe sometimes we need to be reminded of where life comes from. For we can find ourselves reaching for all the wrong things to find peace for our souls. 

Maybe instead of trying to fix things ourselves and find our own answers to our problems, we need to live our lives with an attitude of repentance. An attitude of humility before God. Of acknowledging that He knows best, and we do not.

Maybe we need to pray this prayer. Not just once, but every day ...

Search me, O God,

and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends You,

and lead me along the

path of everlasting life.

(Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

And as we continually, day-by-day, live out a life of repentance, and surrender ... we will find that we are on a pathway to freedom. And to real life. 

Finally, I confessed all my sins to You

and stopped trying to hide my guilt.

I said to myself, "I will confess

my rebellion to the Lord."

And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

(Psalm 32:5 NLT)

Instead of living a life of defeat and of guilt, we experience life on the best path.

The Lord says, "I will guide you

along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you

and watch over you."

(Psalm 32:8 NLT)

Thankful for these words and thoughts as I am reading through She Reads Truth: Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross, leading up to Easter. I needed to be reminded of repentance. Day by day repentance. 

(Credit to SRT for the photo above - 

and click here to read their whole devotional on repentance.) 

A Focused Remembering and a Deeper Surrendering

Today marks the beginning of an annual time of remembering. Though we as followers of Jesus read His Words, and remember why He came, maybe we need to set aside a focused time to remember in deeper ways than before.

Maybe in the busyness of our lives, and in the caring for our everyday needs, we tend to forget. And just as Jesus came with a focused determination, setting His face towards the Cross - maybe we need to be reminded to purposefully set our faces towards Him. 

Maybe these 40 days and 7 Sundays leading up to Easter can be days of purposely remembering, intentionally setting our faces towards Him. Remembering the Cross, why He came, and responding in surrender, pursuing Him with everything that we are.

Jesus resolutely set His face towards the Cross.

How can I set my face towards Him,

pursuing Him as my first priority, 

my First Love, my ultimate goal?

Lord, help me to fix my gaze on You in deeper ways than before - 
Remembering why You came, why You went to the Cross ... 
And may I respond in deeper ways than before - 
Surrendering, and wholeheartedly following You.

- - - - - - - - - -

Last year during this season leading up to Easter, I read through the book Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die - click here. This year I am planning to go through "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross", the current reading plan (starting today) with She Reads Truth. (Also available on She Reads Truth App.) And there are others, one by Ann Voskamp - click here. Whatever we choose to use - immersing ourselves in His Words, focusing our hearts on Him, repenting anew, and surrendering.

How do you set your face towards Him this season?

The Writing and Recording of Thanks

"This writing down - 

it is sort of like - unwrapping love ...

And if all these gifts are what God gives -

then isn't my writing down the list like ... receiving?

Like taking with thanks."

(Ann Voskamp)

The writing down and the recording of gifts - a way of giving thanks to God, of acknowledging all the gifts that He gives. Each day. Through words in my journal (now up to 681 on my daily lists of His gifts for 2014 so far - counting just for fun), and through photos and words on my digital scrapbook pages (preserving memories and preserving my thanks for His gifts) ... a record of His grace, mercy, and love through all of life.

From Easter Week ... special gifts and memories preserved through a digital scrapbook page. Amidst a busy, full life (sometimes becoming almost so full that I can miss the gifts, and the giving of thanks) ...choosing to pause and give thanks, and seeking to live in the moment. With thanks. Preserving memories of His gifts to us ... His love - never ending, new each and every day.

(Credit for digital scrapbook supplies - Page Template: Scrap Girls - ABR_SSLOAlb_Ser5; Paper: Digital Scrapper June 2013 Premier, We are Family by Dianne Rigdon)

Celebrating Easter

It is impossible for us to fathom all that was accomplished when Jesus gave His very life for us on the cross. Each Easter season we, as His followers, give extra time and focus to fix our minds and hearts on His great sacrifice. This year I read through the book by John Piper, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, during the 50 days leading up to Easter. Deeper insight was gained, and my heart is full of thanks for what He did for us, and for what this means for our every day, our moments, and our eternity. 

Some of the things I learned in a deeper way led me to write the following posts during the weeks leading up to this Easter weekend ...

The Greatest Love

Never Forget

Without a Single Fault

The Promise of His Presence

To Bring Us to God

Jesus, Thank You for all that Your sacrifice covered, all that it provided for us - making a way for us to be forgiven, to come to You. May we never take this for granted; may we be in awe of You today, tomorrow, and forever. And may we live in freedom, in love with You, and filled with You, reflecting Your love to all those around us. All because of  You, and all for You. 

Wishing you and those you love

a wonderful and meaningful

Easter weekend!

Linking up with:
Faith Filled Friday

Without a Single Fault

Help me to cease from striving, to rest. 

For I am already holy, 

and I am also becoming holy. 

By Your Grace and Mercy, 

being molded by You, into what I already am. 

Privileged to live and breathe in Your Presence, 

holy and blameless, without fault. 

Today, and forever.

"One of the greatest sources of joy and endurance for the Christian is knowing that in the imperfection of our progress we have already been perfected ..." (John Piper)

Thinking on these words as I am reading through

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die - 

thankful, and in awe that He sees me as holy and blameless. 

Linking up with:

Sunday Stillness

A Quiet Journey of the Heart

Sometimes to gain ground, to take steps forward, we need to step back. To pull aside, to push the pause button. Especially in this fast-paced world that we live in.

For when you love someone deeply, you need to take time. Undivided, focused time. To purposely listen intently, to hear their words above the noise.

It works that way as a couple - even a married couple as my hubby and I ... married for 42 1/2 years now. If there is no pausing, no time of focused sharing of hearts together, no listening, no times of retreat ... then there is likely no progress, no deepening of relationship.

And in this busy life, deepening our relationship with God - our most important of relationships - calls out for times of focused connection where we purposely listen deeply. Purposely setting aside time, for more time to listen ... 

It starts with a yearning for more, 

a quiet cry from the heart, a longing. 

"You, God, are my God,

earnestly I seek You;

I thirst for You,

my whole being longs for You,

in a dry and parched land

where there is no water ...

Because Your love is better than life ... "

(Psalm 63:1-5)

Though it is true that I have not always set aside the weeks leading up to Easter as a time to pull aside for deeper connection, I have often longed to do so. Just as many of us participate in special Advent readings leading up to our Christmas celebration of the Birth of Christ, it seems even more important that we take time to focus more deeply on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus as we journey through the weeks before Easter Sunday. 

For Lent is ...

"first and foremost about the gospel 

making its way deeper into our lives ... 

Lent is about Jesus." 

(Journey to the Cross)

So, again, as I have started doing in recent years - I am praying that these weeks leading up to Easter Sunday will be like a retreat, a pulling aside, a time to focus more intently and more deeply ... on Jesus. I am thirsty to learn more, to fall more deeply in love with Him. For I am in need ... of Him, of a Savior. Every single day.

"Lent is a time of returning to God. It is a time to confess how we keep looking for joy, peace, and satisfaction in the many people and things surrounding us without really finding what we desire. Only God can give us what we want. So we must be reconciled with God ... The season of Lent, helps us in a special way to cry out for God's mercy." (Henri Nouwen)

A few of the tangible ways that I hope to focus more intently on Jesus (amidst busy days and weeks of home, family, and Cru ministry together with my husband) are to set aside time here and there throughout the day (a few moments here, a few moments there) to spend time in close connection with Him. In addition to my early morning times ... giving Him more of my time. 

• reading through a book by John Piper - Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die (click link for a free download of this book)
• re-reading the book Draw the Circle to use together with my prayer time
• possibly also reading parts of The Journey to the Cross (click link for free download)

Not a ritual or an obligation, but a cry of the heart ... for Jesus.

How is God calling your heart during this season?

Linking up with:
Tell His Story
Faith Barista Jam
Faith Filled Friday

New Life and a New Month

Starting out a new month quietly, with a photo and some words. Reflecting on the life and love that Jesus offered up for us. Offering us freedom from self; giving us the opportunity to live for Someone and something higher than ourselves.

These words are what captured my heart in a deep way while I was in my teen years (many years ago!). And I was reminded, again, over Easter, what life-giving words they are. As the years go by, I become even more aware of how much I need Jesus. How much I need His grace and mercy. Yes, received initially when we place our trust in Him. But also, needed every day. Every. Single. Day. And to think that He loves us, and desires to give us all we need to live for Him, instead of living self-centered lives - that is worth celebrating at Easter, and all through the year. And it is only by His grace and mercy that we can walk in this New Life.

I am thankful ... for New Life, for this new month to walk in His grace and mercy, for the gift of family, for four grandkids here overnight on Friday (helping their parents out), for a little grandbaby girl walking now (so cute), for a Family Easter Brunch Saturday morning (beautiful, delicious food - and time with our family, the sweetest company in the world), for a son home from CA (so blessed to have him here), for a phone call from another son (nearing the end of his fish processing job), for the last two episodes of "The Bible" that we viewed yesterday (so very powerful), for a short visit with my 91 year-old father after church, and for time to relax over the weekend with my sweet husband.

And looking forward to a new month of New Life ...

Linking up with:
Multitudes on Mondays

The Heart of Easter

"Yes, everything else is worthless
when compared with the infinite value

of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

(Philippians 3:8a)

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for Me will find it."

(Matthew 16:25)

"The course of our life is determined more by our decisions

than by our circumstances."

(Pastor Jacks)

Happy Easter Week! 

Wishing you a meaningful week,

filled with the love of family and friends.

With time to reflect on the Heart of Easter.

It will be quiet here on my blog this week

as I do the same ...

(You're invited to visit my Pursuing Heart facebook page - link on sidebar - for interaction as we quiet ourselves to listen to God's heart this Easter week, and every day. I would love to see you there ... )

Linking up with:

Thought Provoking Thursday

Time to Listen {Heart Connect}

Could this be said of you? Could it be said of me?

"He (she) prayed regularly to God."

These words were written of Cornelius in Acts 10:2 (parentheses above, my word). A Roman officer, captain of the Italian Regiment, and a devout, God-fearing man. And one day while he was praying, God spoke and told him to summon a man named Simon Peter. This meeting with Peter changed the course of history, and opened up the way for Gentiles, as well as Jews, to hear the message of Jesus' death and resurrection. 

"You never know when or where 

or how God will invade the routine of your life ... 

God is always preparing us and positioning us for divine appointments. 

And prayer is the way we discern the next move. 

The plans of God are only revealed in the presence of God. 

We don't get our marching orders until we get on our knees!"
(Draw the Circle)

And of all the things we can busy ourselves with during a day, prayer is often crowded out. Could it be that this is the most important - to take time to read, listen, and share hearts. Connecting our heart with His - waiting, listening. 

These 40 days leading up to Easter - the perfect time to ask God to deepen our habits of seeking Him, of listening, of opening up our hearts to Him. Click here to read about some great tools to use for these 40 days, recommended by Ann Voskamp. And see the link on my sidebar to read of another tool that I am using - Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge (and from where the quotes in this post have been taken from). 

"Our job is to hear His voice. His job is to establish our steps."
(Draw the Circle)

Click here to read previous posts in this series.

Heart Connect: Living a Life of Prayer
The connecting of hearts - our heart to God's, and His to ours. 

Linking up with:
Faith Filled Friday