Holy Week - Strength in Scripture

Holy Week – Strength in Scripture 

Sorrow

With my illness I often find myself wallowing in sorrow. Sorrow for the lost, sorrow for what was and what is to come, physically and spiritually, literally and metaphorically.

Deut. 28:65 “And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:”

Esther 9:22 “As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.”

Job 6:10 “Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.”

The Holy Spirit is my comforter during these trying days. As people hurry around buying their Easter Sunday dresses, scramble to have a feast for their family, sorrow fills my heart for those who struggle to have bread, for those who seek but do not listen. It is with sorrow my heart is heavy.

Job 17:7 “Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.”

Pss. 13:2 “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?”

Pss. 18:4 “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.”

Pss 39:2 “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.”

Pss. 69:29 “But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.”

Pss 127:2 “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

I pray for my family to know the love in my heart for my heavenly Father and not to remember me for the sorrows that haunted me. I sleep eight hours a night of peaceful rest. May they know when eternal rest comes I’m not bearing sorrow but eternal peace will fill my being of light.

Prov.10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

Prov. 14:13 “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.”

Prov. 15:13 “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

This verified illness is upon me as so many hidden illnesses encapsulate me. I cannot tackle one without the other and the sorrow from the heaviness overwhelms me at times with loneliness.

Ecc. 5:17 “All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.”

Ecc.7:3 “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.”

Isa. 14:3 “And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,”

Isa. 35:10 “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Dan. 10:16 “And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.”
I longingly give you the fruit of the Spirit as I’m guided. My Holy Week will conclude and my New Year will begin. Even if it is only I who acknowledges the New Year it is mine to begin anew. A new breath, a new day, a new flame to my fire!

Jer. 31:25 “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

Hos. 8:10 “Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.”

Matt. 24:8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

I gave all I could give and have nothing more to present. His Word has wrapped around you and shown you the sorrows but the blind cannot see. I will not walk in the shadow of death, I will rise to see a New Year; a new day dawning. Man will taste sorrow.

Mark 13:8 “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.”

John 16:22 “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

2 Cor. 2:3 “And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.”

Rev. 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

May the Grace and Glory of God

be with you all

Lent: Day Twenty-three ~ Obedience

 Heb 5: 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Obedience ~

I woke up this morning and thought wow day 23. Maybe I’ll skip a post. I need a break. WHAT? Skip a post? Break?

Can you imagine God waking up and saying, “I think I’ll skip answering that prayer. I need a break!” ???

Well as you’re reading this, you can see I shrugged that silly thought under the rug. I made a promise and I’m sticking to it. Just as God makes promises and sticks to them, we have a duty to stick to our promises to Him.

1 Cor.15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

I get tired too. I sometimes just let off steam and rant my loose lips and just want to give up. But it is momentary, I’m telling you, I am an obedient servant of God and as I go through my day I watch as people say they are obedient Christians be anything BUT obedient to Christ. “Is all this in vain Lord? Why do I seem to be the only obedient one here?” I feel alone in the world sometimes and then a small sliver of light shines down in way of another obedient Christian. I see them, embrace them and for a moment I feel hope wash over me like a rain shower on a warm spring day.

Galatians 6:9-10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

That was it, I had a momentary lapse of weariness. I felt overwhelmed with a task; I felt isolated and alone so I did ask God, “Is this all in vain?” He assured me that any task for Him wasn’t and gave me a shoulder of His to rest on so I would feel revitalized today and as ready as ever to move forward.

I think what is happening in the world is that men and women don’t look down at their moral compass often enough. They go on with their day, make sure they put their mask on before being seen in public, and go about their day lusting, wanting, needing, fulfilling their need to satisfaction and asking for forgiveness day after day, sin after sin. Why not, God is a forgiving God after all.

To me, obedience is nurturing the spirit. And I do mean nurture not just feeding my body of all that it craves. Sometimes depriving the body is just the right tool to move you into an obedient spirit.

Say you’re a chocoholic. You crave chocolate daily and every day you give into that craving and eat a piece here and there. No harm, no foul? You are satisfying YOU. Deprive yourself of that urge every single day for a month or two. You are now nurturing you and satisfying the spirit.

Now some of you will cheat and say, “I can’t afford to eat chocolate every day, so a month with none is pretty easy for me.” That is cheating. And who are we cheating? Our soul!

You need to find something that you get the urge for on a daily maybe even an hourly basis. Like say coffee? Can you obediently deprive yourself of coffee for a month? I know, you think I’m insane. Why in the world would you do that, willingly? Sometimes to nurture our spirits and become obedient to Christ, we need to deprive ourselves of urges we get and sacrifice them for the Lord.

I’m not saying ‘you’re going to go to hell’, I’m not saying ‘oh look at you, you’re a bad Christian!’ What I AM saying is that to nurture your soul, to hear God speak to you personally, sometimes we need to be willing to sacrifice for HIM to draw closer to Him.

A lot of times I hear people say, “God doesn’t talk to ME!” like they’re offended or something because I hear Him talk to me. Maybe because I don’t consume to satisfy ME. I don’t ‘click’ to satisfy MY urges. I don’t purchase things for ME! I’m not about ME, I’m about being an obedient servant. I’m about guiding my moral compass in the right direction and staying on that direction. I’m not about giving up, taking breaks and resting from my duties, I’m about fulfilling my promise to God knowing full well, He will fulfill His promise to me.

Ephesians 6: 7-8 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

Poetry Sunday ~ Daggers

"Then followed that beautiful season...Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

***

Daggers
*
Through my skin they slice,
away at my heart for a price.
Blood drips endlessly down
seeping, sawing  I wear a frown.

Words are like deepening daggers
everlasting gifted swaggers
Push the button until it pops
pain is ceaseless it never stops.

I cry for love to whisk me away
futility has its hard earned play.
I’m fighting death as it grips me
let it now be lost at sea.

I’ll wander the wonder of it all
stand erect not one to fall
All those daggers I send right back
Truth I hold, no random slack.

My God with all His glory hold
My life his balm, my veins unfold.
I’ll carry on without a mask
Face this life a daunting task!