A mother’s impact

May 12, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

A mother’s impact

Exodus 2:1-3 NIV‬
[1] Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, [2] and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. [3] But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

Moses’s mom doesn’t get enough credit. She hid her baby. She could have been killed.
She trusted God enough to put the baby in a river and know God would take care of him. She even dared to go and care for him in the house of the man who wanted him dead because God had delivered Moses to the one woman who could save him, Pharaoh’s daughter.

Exodus 2:5-6 NIV‬
[5] Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. [6] She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
We think because she was Pharoah’s she was safe taking the baby in, but she could have been in deep trouble for taking the baby.

‭Exodus 2:7-10 NIV‬
[7] Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” [8] “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. [9] Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. [10] When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

God used the courage of a baby’s mother to begin one of the greatest stories in the Bible. She never saw her baby deliver her people out of slavery. She never saw the pillar of fire of cloud. She never saw the red sea parted. She never set foot in the promised land. But she had a baby and he was hers. She loved him enough to risk everything to keep him safe, and she trusted God enough to keep that baby dry and protected in a basket in the river as he floated toward the next woman who would be used by God to help him get to where he needed to be so he could say to Pharaoh, “let my people go!”

We all get to leave an impact on the lives of the people around us, but what kind of an impact will we leave? Will we be Anna’s or Debra’s or Hannah’s or Anna’s will we be the mother of Moses? Will we be Pharaoh’s daughter? Or will we turn it all aside and be selfish and think of no one else? What impact will you leave? What Memories will your children have of you? Will you be the supporting power that through prayer and faith in God you have the ability to stand behind your kids and say I love you no matter what. Will your memories be what keep them going? We need you strong mother’s. Brave women of Valor. We need you to stand and when you can’t stand fall in the arms of the Savior. He will support you.

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · searching · still fighting

God always keeps His promises

April 29, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

God always keeps His promises.
‭Genesis 8:6-12 NIV‬
[6] After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark [7] and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. [8] Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. [9] But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. [10] He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. [11] When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. [12] He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
I love ravens. I love ravens because of my friend ravens who live in our yard and I love them because of the raven on the ark. No one ever remembers the raven. We all like to smile and think of the dove. The dove is lovely and soft and small. The dove brought back the branch to Noah. Everyone remembers the dove.
But what about the raven? Ravens are big and black and people call them omens of bad luck and accuse them of making terrible screeching. But really, ravens are blue and black and purple. They don’t mean bad or good luck. They make many sounds, some are very beautiful, and they will talk with you if you speak to them. They follow people the like. And as Phallen (my dog) found out, they will chase those they don’t appreciate. Most importantly, a raven was the first bird sent out from the ark. But because it was not time yet, it did not find anything. Due to that, it is forgotten. (Also recalling that the dove took several tries before it found land)
When we have been waiting a really long time for something amazing to happen, something God has promised and it keeps not happening, we lose hope. We eventually give up and move on and leave our dream behind us. We forget the raven. We chase doves that fly around with answers in their beaks and never remember the raven again. Until one day. The raven found nothing to bring back because it wasn’t time. But eventually he too got to fly over green fields and feed on olive trees. God will bring us to shore. If He has promised it, then it will come to pass. We just have to wait on His timing. The dove’s time came sooner than the raven’s, but the raven’s time was on its way. He just had to be patient. So do we.
Trusting God is hard. Especially when all you see around you is water, but His promises are true. And then, a rainbow.
‭Genesis 9:13, 15-16 NIV‬
[13] I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
[15] I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. [16] Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

The rainbow has lost it’s meaning in society. But you will often find a rainbow in the church. On a wall in the Sunday school usually. Why? Because the story of Noah is amazing and a favorite for many. More importantly it’s because the rainbow was and is the sign of God’s judgement followed by His grace. He destroyed the earth because of its sin. But He would not destroy it completely because He still had one man who served Him with all His heart. Rainbows in the skies show God’s promises are true.
They always have been.
So when things are dark. Turn on your headlamp and follow Jesus.
When the answers seem impossible, keep marching and blow your horn!
When the water swells around you and the raven is still flying back and forth finding nothing, wait for your ark to hit land.
When you doubt because of the storm, look for the Rainbows because God keeps His promises. Trust Him.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · Love · no longer lost · power of God

His LOVE is mightier than the waves

April 28, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 93:4
Even mightier than the waves of the sea is His love for you.

Have you ever been there? Seen it? A winter ocean storm. Not to be confused with a summer storm which is nothing compared with winter, not where we go in BC at least.
Growing up I loved winter. Winter meant Christmas, snow, sledding, skating, and best of all, big wave season.
I would have on a full dry suit with gloves and hood and I looked like a little purple, red, blue stripes on black back drop navy seal. I would take my board and be in that water until I couldn’t feel the sand when I returned because I was too cold. That was wonderful, but better still were the storms. Bundled by a fire in the all season gazebo, hot chocolate in hand, honey cake close by and just watch as the ocean showed its wild side. It would grab full trees and yank them into it. It would score and scar the sand and destroy rocks. Hail was nothing compared to being pelted by spray off of the waves during a winter ocean storm. Your skin would have red dots from the barage of tiny H2O bullets even from a fair distance away. In those moments watching the ocean rage I truly thought no element on earth could ever match its power.
Yet here in Psalms David is saying that God’s (not wrath) love is mightier than the ocean.
An ocean that can decimate a city, rush rock, sink big ships, drag trees into its depth, my God loves me in such a powerful love that it is greater than that. Maybe the artist who said God’s love is like hurricane and I am a tree wasn’t so far off base as we tend to think.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus

Even in the darkness, He is more than enough

April 23, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 23:4 NIV‬
[4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Has anyone here ever been caving?
Caving is so much fun! If you are not afraid of the dark.
We imagine caving as we see it in movies. Big open spaces with luminescent moss and rocks. It’s usually not like that though. Every time I have been caving except one the caves were small and tight and there were the longest insects you have ever seen in your life on the ceiling, and it was dark, very dark.

I was in one cave once that was so small you could not turn around. Once you started you had to continue until the end or else stay there forever.
Life is like a cave. Once you are born there is no going back. In the beginning you often have more good days then dark days, you’re a child in a child’s world, every pony was once a unicorn, every speck of dust a faery, then you begin to grow up and the cave gets darker. You start to see bits of this world that you would rather not. It can seem like the older you get the more dark you see. Bad times and hard days come and you wonder if it’s possible to turn around. But it’s not.
The most important thing you carry when caving is your flashlight. Or headlamp in most cases.
You know where this is going.
Jesus is our headlamp. When the doctor wants you for more tests. When the news seems like it can’t get bleaker. When you lose your job. Your family is hurting. You feel lost. Don’t forget your headlamp.
Those without Jesus will fall and get going down the wrong tunnel because they have no light. Those with Jesus will find their way to the end. You have to remember to turn on your headlamp.

Sometimes you are going through a bad time and you know you are going to have to fight, and you call out to God and He tells you to March and sing. One loop around a wall and then blow a trumpet and you think, ‘this is nuts.’ But you do it. And nothing happens. Then the next day God calls you to do it again. So you do it again. You do it for six days! Then day seven comes.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God

Lose your life to save it? Isn’t that backwards?

April 12, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

‭Luke 17:33 NIV‬
[33] Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
Often what Jesus said feels backwards. Death is gain, to lose your life will save it. It all sounds backwards. But that’s because Jesus spoke from the lense of Heaven, where we see everything through this world. It’s funny to think of other cultures sometimes. There are so many things our culture does that a different cultures wouldn’t understand and vise versa. It makes me think of when I was in school and one of my friends was from a different country. When I was kid, giving your friend a friendly pat on the arm was a form affection. If you weren’t friends it wasn’t, but I was used to a friend walking up and giving me a pat on the shoulder or arm, it was just a thing you did. Replaced rather soon by the high five and then the fist bump.
I recall a day when I gave my friend a gentle pat on the shoulder when I said ‘hi’ and passed her in the hall. In no time at all I found myself face to face with a teacher and my friend who was crying. I was very confused. My teacher got mad at me for hitting her. I was horrified and couldn’t figure out why my friend had made up this lie. Then it came around to that morning when I had patted her on the shoulder as I walked past and said good morning. It was not something they did where she was from. It was culturally inappropriate in her original country and seen as an act of violence.
I repeat. We all did this. It was a friendly gesture. But not in her country. She was new to our land. She didn’t understand our ways. And if I’m being honest, this particular friend never did understand our ways and we all who spent time with her had to walk on eggs shells so we didn’t accidentally do something that was not okay where she was from. That made life a bit complicated. She very soon only had myself and one other who would still be with her at lunch because she would run to the teacher about everything and anything we did. I consider that it wasn’t simply cultural but perhaps just her personality, but I’m getting off topic.
We see everything through the lense of this world, this place we live and been raised in. But God sees everything through His world. Heaven. He also sees this world the way it was supposed to be and the way it is now thanks to our sinful ways. Because God speaks in a way that is different from the way we expect things to be, we easily get confused or angry. Many rear up at the ‭Mark 8:[35] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. Statement. Why? Because to our culture it makes no sense. We are a self love, self serve society, being told to do anything for anyone else is heresy to us. Then we become offended and run to the teacher saying we’ve been hurt. But God is speaking from right perspective. His. If we die to ourselves and lose our lives to serve Him better to push His word further forward, then we are living correctly. Because if we live only for Jesus we will find ourselves more satisfied then if we live to serve us. It seems backwards. But that’s because we are still learning how to live as citizens of Heaven and not of thos world any longer.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus

In the hospital zone

April 7, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

In the hospital zone

It makes me laugh when people complain that they have been hurt by people in church or offended by people in church. It makes me laugh because most of the people in church are broken, hurting people who need Jesus. People go to church and assume they’re going to meet a bunch of perfect, put together Saints. And then when they don’t and they meet bad mouth, rude, aggressive, sometimes very offensive people. They are shocked. But Church isn’t a health club. It’s a hospital. And it’s not even a big hospital with all the proper equipment, it’s more like a hospital in the trenches in Afghanistan. You ever seen Mash think of church as a Mash unit. It’s the place where those who have been wounded, where those who are sick, where those who nobody else wants, go. Because church is the place where they can be healed and loved by the few there who are there as representations of Jesus. By the few who have already been healed. I remember seeing recently a little comic strip with a little dinosaur. And the dinosaur was saying to his friend, I feel really sad today. And the friend said well why don’t you try yoga. So the little dinosaur went to try yoga but there was a big sign on the door that said no bad vibes welcome here. So in discouragement the little dinosaur went away. And I wanted to shout to him come to church. Bring your sadness and your hurt, we want all of that. Bring your disease your pain your need. Come to church where you can be healed. Jesus is the only one who can fix you. I was standing there going like “bring it in here for the real thing little brother.” Have you ever been to yoga Club? It’s not a place you go to be fixed or healed from your pain or your illness. And now I’m not talking physical at this moment. There are few more put together people then you will find at a yoga Club. Not because yoga has helped them heal from their trauma. Because they were already pretty good to go and a few deep breaths just made it even better.
Church is where you need to be to be fixed. No I’m not slamming yoga for physical stretching and toning. I do yoga myself for toning and stretching. I was simply using it as an example. Church is where you go, not to be amongst a bunch of perfect people who can show you how to be perfect, but to be around a bunch of unperfect people who show you the love of Jesus. Once you know Jesus, once you’ve come to know him, then even death will not scare you anymore. Because once you’ve given your life to him, once you have chosen which side you will stand on, the sides of the world or the side of Jesus, then you will have someone who will be with you even past death. Heaven is reserved for those who love the savior. And not just those who know him or know of him or trying to be good people, but those who have given their lives to him those who have prayed and said please Jesus Take me out of this life I’m living and change me so I can live like you. We’re all on a ladder trying to climb rung by rung through this life. But are you on the ladder that will eventually lead you into Paradise or are you on a ladder that will lead you nowhere. Christians know which ladder we are on. And even better some of us helped put runs into the ladders on either side of us to help those around us reach Jesus. You need to remember that Jesus loves you too because until you know Jesus you’re not going to get very far. This world and this life is a poor substitute for heaven and Eternity.

Christianity · Devotional · free · guidance · Jesus · lent · Love

Today He dies, Sunday He comes back

March 30, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Sever skin from bone

-Snap- the screams echo through the halls. It’s dark and dry. Thirst. Need. Fear. Pain. -Snap- another shriek. Your turn next.
Trembling. Is this an illusion? A nightmare? No. The tearing at your skin from the rats shows that’s not true. Is anyone out there? Someone to save you. -Clink- Doors open. “Leave!” Gruff voice. Daylight. Tears. Relief.
Screams.
Not yours. Out comes a man. His face is twisted and he drags his body as he walks. You run over just in time to catch Him.
“Sir. Are you alright?” Blood soaks your palms. A weak smile. Sweat. More tears.
A whisper. “For you, I did this.” Death.
3 days. Arms lift you up and spin you around. ALIVE! RISEN! FREE!

I hear the best torture professionals could sever skin from bone with a single lash. Have you ever had a cut bone deep? I have; it’s agonizing, I still have the scar.
Imagine 49 of those covering your body.
They spare some details in the movies because I am sure that Jesus wasn’t free standing, He most likely was tied to something to hold him still when they beat Him. Also. He probably threw up blood till He couldn’t anymore. The screams and cries of anguish, (anguish we should have bore) would have been sickening to the audience. It would not have been anywhere near as gentle as we see it in our minds.
Image one hundred billion names or more tattooed on the end of the whip. Look closely. There is your name. No! Don’t look away! Watch as it drives itself into your savior’s back. That is why we serve Him.
I know most people will walk away from this and shake their heads and try to remove these images. But don’t. Lest we ever forget that Jesus SUFFERED and died. Those lashes were yours, and mine.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · power of God

Majesty of God- part 3

March 28, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

.‭Ephesians 2:6-9 NIV‬
[6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [9] not by works, so that no one can boast.

So, after the last section I am sure there were many who went, ‘you’re preaching that I have to live a pure and flawless life. You’re saying I must not sin ever, you are saying that my mistakes are condemning me.’
No.
I’m preaching that we need Jesus! We are saved by His grace alone. Yet, we still need to do our best everyday to live as Jesus did.
If you have given your life to Jesus, then you will want to live differently because you love Him.
No person can get to Heaven through her or his own goodness. We are sinful by nature. We are not naturally good. Some are more prone to goodness then others but we aren’t going to get into psychology today. God made it so that only His grace could save. Anyone who boasts about how amazing or spiritual they are has missed the point. If we were saved by being super spiritual and awesome then only those who had given up everything and gone to live on a mountain to reach a closer knowledge of God would be the ones getting into Heaven. Thank God He makes it so that His grace is all sufficient!
We are saved by grace, but once we know and love Jesus we will want to change to serve Him better, because your works as a reflection of Christ play a part too.

Christianity · Devotional · free · guidance · lent · no longer lost · power of God

Majesty of God – part 2

March 26, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Revelation 5:13-14 NIV‬
[13] Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” [14] The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation really brings together the Majesty of both Jesus and God being one. In Revelation the elders give praise and worship to God and Jesus in the exact same way. Now, we must remember that John is trying to make all he is seeing understandable to those who have not seen them because things were so amazing and frightening that they were beyond human description.
The Majesty of Jesus is very important. We treat Him like our best friend, and He is, but we also then tend to forget that He is Holy. He is equal with God. He is king. Only the Lamb could open the scroll. His glory so great that John feared he would die simply by looking upon Him. So many do the, when I get to Heaven all my sins will be read and Jesus will walk up, put an arm around my shoulders and say ‘it’s all good’ and take me to Heaven, thing. But Jesus isn’t opening the doors to a rave, He’s opening the doors to the most holy place. Yes, if you have accepted Him your sins are forgiven, but that doesn’t mean that you can keep on sining. It also doesn’t mean that Jesus is going to stand there, fist bump you and wave you through. There will be a trial. We will stand before the seat of judgment. God will call out all we are accused of and the devil will stand there like the prosecuting attorney laying out all our failures and sins and mistakes. If we do not have Jesus, then that’s it, we’re sentenced to life in the eternal fire.
Yet. If Jesus is our defense then He will walk up to the throne and show God His hands, feet and side, and say, “this one I’ve paid for.”
We are payed for by His grace.
Jesus Himself never used the word grace, He is the grace. Without Him there is no hope. With Him there is always reason to hope. But people get so caught in the crevice of grace setting us free that they act like deserve the grace, they act like Jesus is our concierge bringing us what we are owed. We get to he place where we treat Him like a servant.
He is Holy. He is worshiped by creatures we cam only imagine, and the way to be with Him is narrow. You have to throw this life away. To die to yourself every day. And that is hard, and it’s not fun. And there are days it will feel unfair. But in the face of Heaven. In the face of being released from our punishment, then isn’t it all worth it. We are saved because of His grace, grace we don’t deserve and can’t buy or earn. Grace that changes us to want to be more like Him and to leave our old selves behind for the new life Christ offers. Grace that makes it so when we fail we haven’t lost God. Grace that makes it so when the devil is calling for our blood because of our sins and failures Jesus claims us out of his hands because we are now His. It was my sin that held Him to the cross, it was His love that made Him choose to stay until it was accomplished. You don’t have to accept Him, but someday we will all see God, who do you want as your advocate? Because if you only lived for yourself, then the only one to defend you is you. Nothing you have done will ever be good enough to pay for your faults. Only the blood of Jesus washed across you, cleansing your failures, not covering them up, but washing them away, will be enough to pay your Ransom.

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God

The body – part 6

March 25, 2024 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

‭‭Luke 24:3 NIV‬‬
[3] but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
This. This right here. They entered the tomb but did not find the body of Jesus. Why? Because He had risen. Jesus rose as He said He would.
Have you ever lost something? You know you put it right there. Yet when you go back it’s gone.
The deciples knew they had left Jesus’s body in that tomb. They knew that it took a good four, strong men to roll the stone away. Yet, there the stone was, and there Jesus was not.
It must have taken a long time for the deciples to wrap their heads around that one. He was there. Now He wasn’t. The ladies had told them that there was an angel (mistaken for a gardener) who told them that Jesus had risen as He said He would and to go tell the others, but to accept that. To look and go. Huh, he really isn’t here. You know where you left Him, He was in a safe place right? No way He could go missing. But now He’s gone.
I know I’m making this a little funny. But I can just see the perplexed looks on the faces of Peter and John. I can see them stare at the tomb, then each other, then back at the tomb.
The crucifixion was so horrible that they were still raw. Nothing could cleanse that pain. And then Jesus’s body dissappears. They saw Him dead. They mourned Him. They were still mourning. Now. How do they recall Christ’s words and joy in His return? First. They must have been so very confused.
Then Jesus comes and shows Himself. We have the upper room, we have the road to Damascus, we have several places Jesus appeared to show, “Yes I am alive.”
Then just as the deciples got their feet under them, Jesus ascends to Heaven. Never again in this world would they touch Him or laugh with Him. But God.
Jesus sent His Holy Spirit do the deciples and now we, can know Him better and serve Him through His own Spirit.
The body is gone guys. I know people still search for it, wanting to find it, wanting to prove that it’s still there. But as the angel said, “He is not here, He has risen. Just. As. He. Said. He. Would.”

As we end this series I want us to remember the journey. Because we followed part of Jesus’s journey. We are always walking slowly on a path following the cross. Because, of we aim for the cross, if we aim for Jesus. We get all we have ever dreamed of, simply by having Him.