Lake Pacawa, Plover, WI. Picture by Sandy
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of Holy Week
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Emphasis mine, Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34
We are now at the start of Holy Week. This is a very special week for me because it is when Jesus, the Son of God The Father, climbs up on a Cross and takes with Him all of our sins.
Who would ever consider any god showing this type of Love? The Outrageous Love of The Triune God is way over the top, and this is the grand finale, you might say, of Jesus’s life.
If you consider all that Jesus did, prophets in the Old Testament did many similar acts.
Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and Elijah fed the widow of Zarephath for three years during a famine (Luke 4), to mention two examples.
But
No prophet or god conceived by man ever climbed up on a cross and took all of our sins with Him.
I have been talking with people unsure about who Jesus truly is. I feel sorry for them because they are missing out on the most significant act in human history.
That act being the forgiveness of our sins!
All we have to do is honestly believe that we are forgiven, and our world changes. We change from fear or wondering what will happen when we die to knowing that we will be welcomed into Heaven.
Sunday, at a communion service at the V.A., Mike, a son of a veteran, commented that he met a man who was dead for twenty minutes on the operating table, and when he came back to life, started telling everyone, “There is nothing to fear in death.”
That is exactly what we have been saying.
Question
Who puts the fear of death in you?
satan!
It’s satan who tells us we aren’t good enough; it’s satan who tells us we haven’t done enough; it’s satan who tries to get us NOT to believe the Last words of Jesus.
“Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Lk 23
And, to the man who said Jesus was innocent and he was guilty, “Remember me.”
Jesus said,
“Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” Lk 23
Wow!!
The Man on the middle cross said he, the man on the right, could come to Paradise.
Knowing all of this blows my mind and fills me with Joy. As a lowly one, I am Glad.
Daily Prayers for the Sixth week of Lent: I am Fantastic, Thank You, Father say this prayer all day long as God the Father takes care of you. Weeeeeeeee, say this prayer every time you and the Holy Spirit interact in your Job, relationships, projects, etc. Thank you, Father, for the difficulty of ……..Name difficulty… I know you will take care of me and say this prayer repeatedly until you smile. (satan can’t smile) “Get behind me, Satan, Come Holy Spirit.” AND Pray the “Nine.” Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.
Join Team Jesus:
We suggest starting every day this quarter with, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Sidebar:
This lent has been fascinating to me.
Why?
When we started Lent, we suggested six prayers over six weeks, for you to learn and pray daily.
This is Holy Week, and I thought saying I am Fantastic didn’t fit in with the tenor of the week.
I, yes, I was wrong!
Why?
If Jesus didn’t climb up on the Cross, there would be NO Reception of the Holy Spirit in our Souls, there would be NO “Spirit World” to live in, Mary would be trumped by Eve, and the evil we encounter every day would only be greater.
Think we’re kidding. Read the Old Testament and what the Romans did for games with the Christians.
No!
Jesus won!
And because Jesus won, I AM FANTASTIC!
Because we are FANTASTIC, we infect others with our enthusiasm and get people thinking about why they aren’t FANTASTIC.
Preaching the Gospel is easy because your actions speak louder than your words.
When people see that big smile on your face, they want to join you. We have changed the attitude of some people we have met while walking.
We have a request: If you said the prayers we suggested this Lent and now realize you are FANTASTIC, would you write a comment that we will share in later blogs that just might encourage someone who listened to satan and did not say the prayers to consider trying what we suggested.
Our request is for the Glory of God our Father.
You changed!
Now, help others.
A third-party comment has spurred me to change my thinking in many areas.
Thank You.
We had to pass this along. Tim Gray The Formed 3/19/223. I, for one, had never connected all of these dots.
Interesting facts about St. Joseph:
- St. Joseph and Joseph of the Old Testament dads were named Jacob.
- God communicated with both Josephs through dreams.
- When the Angel spoke to St. Joseph through dreams, the Angel called Joseph “Son of David,” acknowledging St. Joseph’s royalty – Son of David.
- St. Joseph was given the honor of naming Jesus.
Picture:
A picture of beautiful ice patterns on a small lake in our town. Lake Pacawa, Plover, WI. Picture by Sandy
Please keep Snapping!
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
By submitting a picture, you agree to let us include it in our next God Thoughts 2024 book.
