It is Saturday and yesterday was good Friday.  Here I sit and ponder the deep, dark sacrifice of Jesus.  Maybe such talk is new to you, but I would invite you to join me in this act of remembrance.

The sacrifice of Jesus, suffering and dying on the cross, all because of our sinfulness, is the only hope we have for reconciliation with God.   We are called to repent and publicly profess Jesus a Lord of our life.  Yet the cost of this great gift was great.  Jesus not only suffered and died but then He spent 3 days not just in a grave, but He descended into the place of the dead and experienced time fully apart from the Father. 

My lord suffered, died, was fully separated from His Father and then after three days He was raised back to life.  Not only did He fully pay the price for all my sin, but in his resurrection victory we can also find victory through Him. 

Today let us remember the great price that was paid and tomorrow let us celebrate His victory.

Preacherman

A snowy day, a good latte and time in the hot tub = worship.  No really, as I sit here and write this I am thrilled that God allows me to suffer with chronic pain so that I want to sit in the hot tub for some relief, and as a wonderful spinn off I get to enjoy some coffee with snow falling on my face.  God is amazing!

Like most people I can find reasons that I feel are justification for complaining about life.  Yet my life, all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly, the painful ... all of my life should be in worship to Jesus.  I need to be reminded that because of Him I can live each day with joyous worship because I am forgiven by His blood. 

And so today I worship and make a concious choice to find joy and live a life of worship, no matter what my circumstance is.

Let us rejoice in the lord today ... amen

Preacherman

Today the power seems to be out in a lot of our city.  Because of this there are a lot of issues - meetings cancelled, schools closed, businesses closed, medical appointments cancelled, traffic lights stop working, even coffee shops were affected.   Seems that when the power is cut off, disconnected or disrupted, things get crazy and problematic.  Maybe this is a reminder and an opportunity?

When we do not regularly keep our connection healthy with God.  When we stop praying, when we ignore our Bibles, when we decide to live in our own ways and not in and through the Holy Spirit, then life gets Spiritually disrupted and messed up.  But just like the electricity being out does not affect the gas being out, so our regular living is not affected by this Spiritual disconnect is it?  But maybe it is?   Sure the gas is on but my furnace fan will not operate without power so my house will get cold.  Similarly our Spiritual state of being will have an effect on other parts of our lives.

We are called to live as disciples of Jesus, fully following Him.  Part of this is our responsibility to stay connected with our Lo

Today I have been reading and meditating on some of the psalms.  A theme that has stuck out to me has been the Lord is my source of strength.  For example we have Psalm 71 where David is both calling on God for help and protection but also Praising God for His strength, care and provision.   So often we find ourselves "defending ourselves" when others are unjustly attempting to bring us down.  Yet I believe that David was in a place where he knew God was the only one who could set things straight.  I feel a sense of conviction today that I need to be more like that.  I need to rely on God to be my defender and while I await His defense (in His time) He is my source of strength.

Lord Jesus, please work in my heart so that I would seek you first to be my defender and protector.  I thank you for the promises you have given us in Christ that we are secure and safe during times of trouble.  I want to praise you for your faithfulness to be my strength and comfort through times of pain and difficulty.  In You oh Lord Jesus will I ever place my trust and confidence.  May Your Holy Spirit continue to mould and shape me to