And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 24:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness

Zechariah 13:1

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Matthew 28:20

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 15:19 - This is how GOD answered me: "Take back those words, and I'll take you back. Then you'll stand tall before me. Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining. Then, but only then, you'll speak for me. Let your words change them. Don't change your words to suit them.

 

 

 

Running on Empty

 

With gas prices rising, there are probably more gas hands closer to the E than the F than ever before.  An empty gas tank is a dilemma we don’t like to face.  Anything found empty instead of full usually produces some sort of inconvenience.  Empty milk jugs and empty ice trays in the refrigerator produce headaches that cause us to reach for the Tylenol bottle that is also usually found empty. Alas the burdens of this life we must deal with.

Is being found empty always a negative thing?

 Very early one morning long ago some women went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.  They were overcome with fear and confusion until an angel reminded them Jesus had told them on the third day He would rise again.  Part of God’s plan was an empty tomb.  If the tomb had been found full instead of empty where would we be now? Facing burdens and small inconveniences of empty containers are nothing compared to the enormous burdens our Lord Jesus Christ bore for us before He rose to leave the tomb empty that once contained His body.  Thank God for the empty tomb

 

 

Deep and Wide

 

Deep and wied, deep and wide, there's a fountain flowing deep and wide.  Have you ever heard those words?  On Easter Sunday, as I heard a group of children sing the song,  I thought of how deep and wide God's love and forgiveness is for us.  There are hand motions that go along with the song.  Each child tried to make the deepest, widest, fountain possible.  No matter how wide they spread their arms, or high they stretched, they could not adequately demomstrate the vastness of God's great flowing fountain of living water.

As the children's worship service came to a close, they were asked to sing Amazing Grace loudly if they knew the words.  They knew the words and sang loudly.  It was amazing.  As they sang, God's presence flowed in the room.  We felt how deep and wide God's love is for all of us.  Listen closely and you can hear the sound of  God's fontain of living water flowing sweetly to cleanse use from all sin. IT flows to find the lost and open blind eyes.  The fountain forever flows deeper thant the ocean, wider than the sky.

 

Never Alone

 

A young boy waited on the school bus with his dog by his side.  The yellow bus drove up.  The dog walked the boy to the bus door.   The boy patted the dog on the head to say good-bye.  The dog went happily back back across the street, head held high, practically leaping, completely content to wait for his master's return.  The dog though appearing to be abandoned and alone certainly didn't seem lonely.

Alone is defined as seperarted from others. Lonely is defined as a sad feeling of bleakness, or desolataion.  Lonely doesn't automatically happen when we are by ourselves.  Feelilngs of bleakness and desolation don't have occur when we seem to be abandoned by those around us.  Maybe we could learn from the contented dog who appeared to be alone, but not lonely.  We too can happily hold our heads high and be content.  We can each take comfort in knowing we are never alone.  God is always with us.  He will never abandon us even during those times when feelings of loneliness try to surround us.

 

 

Say It Ain’t So

On a TV weathercast a meteorologist gave the forecast-gusty winds, hail, and maybe, just maybe an isolated tornado. Anyone who heard those words spoken most likely believed he was hopeful an isolated tornado might form.  Of course I am sure that isn’t really true, he seemed to be a nice enough guy.  He just misused his words a bit, seemed to place the emphasis toward hoping for, instead of toward hoping against, toward the slim possibility of the negative, instead of toward the greater possibility of the positive.

How often do we as Christians find ourselves doing the same thing? If there is just a slim possibility of something negative, do we make that slim possibility seem to be something we are almost hoping for?  We are called to be light to a dark world. We are called to be a positive charge in a negative world.  The world is watching. When we are faced with a slight negative possibility we should strive to demonstrate hopefulness for the negative to disappear and the positive to appear..  Just as negative things can be spoken into existence, they can also be spoken out of existence. Say it ain’t so.   Use your words truly and well.