In the Dark

I spent some time last weekend with Jennifer Rothschild at one of her Fresh Grounded Faith conferences. I first became aware of Jennifer many years ago and was so impressed. Jennifer and I actually have a lot in common, even though we don’t know each other personally. We both love strong coffee and dark chocolate. And we share a love of God and his word. 

If you don’t know Jennifer’s story - or as she might put it, “in case we’re new friends” - Jennifer has been blind since the age of 15.

And that’s what this book is all about. Lessons I Learned in the Dark  is Jennifer’s story of learning to navigate blindness. But more importantly, it’s the story of spiritual lessons learned. It’s a story of learning to live in the joy of the Lord in spite of circumstances.

Reading this book is like sitting down and having a conversation with Jennifer over a cup of tea or coffee. It’s an easy read. And it’s an encouraging read.

If you have ever read anything she has written, listened to any of her podcasts, or done any of her Bible studies, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, you should. Jennifer is an encourager. And she has a gift for making God’s Word come alive. Even through telling her personal story. 

This is a book I highly recommend. Because through these pages you will get the message she shares over and over again. In this book. In last weekend’s conference. And over and over in between.

“Even when it is not well with our circumstances, it can be well with our soul.”

Lessons I Learned in the Dark is available on Amazon or from www.jenniferrothscild.com.

Preferences

Preferences. We all have them. Yesterday I wrote about some of the things I like and some of the things I don’t particularly care for. Most of those things are a matter of personal preference. Our personal preferences don’t all agree. And they don’t need to. Because that’s the nature of personal preferences. They are personal.

After I had written that post, I picked up a devotional book I had recently purchased and turned to the first chapter. There I was confronted with that very thing - personal preferences.

The scripture verse for that devotional was Romans 14:13 - Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother [or sister].

The devotion pointed out that these words of the Apostle Paul are warning us not to judge other Christian’s preferences.

Our preferences might have to do with some of the things I wrote about yesterday. Or about which Bible translation we prefer. Or what we watch - or don’t watch - on television. About whether your kids attend public or private or home school. About what kind of worship music you like.

“When we feel judgmental toward another believer, when we dislike their choices or convince ourselves they are somehow less spiritual than us because of them, isn’t a preference usually to blame? By contrast, God’s Word urges us to extend grace, not judgment, toward one another.” (From “Living Out the One Another’s of Scripture”**)

This may be one of the more difficult of the “one another commands”. We like our preferences. We want to hold on to them. We dig our heels in over the things we like.

We need to get to the place where we can distinguish between a deeply held conviction and a personal preference. 

I have some deeply held convictions about the Scripture. About who Jesus is. About worship - what it is and what it isn’t. 

But I also have some personal preferences. And many of these differ from those of my friends.

We won’t part company over preferences. We might have to part company over a conviction.

It’s important that we know the difference. 

Something to think about.

**Living Out the One Anothers of Scripture, Revive Our Hearts Ministries, Niles, MI

Catching Up

These past few weeks have been very busy. Quite a whirlwind, in fact. We ended March on a fabulous river cruise down the Rhine River through The Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland. 

We have just returned from our J.O.Y. Club trip to the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum in Kentucky. If you haven’t been there yet, add that to your bucket list!

In between, I had Covid. Again. Which meant I spent the Easter weekend quarantined in my bedroom, with Al masking up to bring me food and medicine.

I slept a lot during those quarantine days, since that was all I really felt like doing. When I was awake, since we don’t have a television in our bedroom (by design), I scrolled through Facebook and I spent a lot of time thinking. I didn’t have the energy to read.

But as I was scrolling, and as I was thinking, I came to some conclusions. 

I realized that there are a lot of things I really like that many people don’t. I love classical music. And pipe organs. Traditional choral music. Hymns. Inductive Bible study. Expository preaching. Black Coffee. Dark chocolate. Just to name a few. 

And I also realized that there a lot of things I don’t really care for that other people find appealing. Country music. Jeans with holes in them. Countdown clocks and prerecorded announcements in church. Praise teams. Awards shows. Wine. Avocados. Raisins. Oysters. Just to name a few.

But besides all these (mostly) trivial things, I had a lot of time to just spend thinking about God. Thinking about His love and His grace and His goodness. Thinking about how very blessed I am. Even with my health issues and my limitations, I am a blessed woman. 

And as I sit here in my chair this morning, looking out at the beauty of this spring day, I am reminded again of the goodness of God. 

Each of us could probably make a list of things that frustrate or discourage or aggravate us. But how much better to make a list of all the ways we have been blessed by God. Of all His grace gifts to us.

As I spent time last week being overwhelmed by the enormity of the Ark and by God’s plan and provision, and overwhelmed by God’s perfect design in Creation, I have to pause and give thanks in adoration and wonder. We serve an awesome God.

Why not take some time today to find a quiet spot and reflect on His goodness. His mercy. His love. His grace. 

“For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16 ESV)

Easter Reflections

Yesterday was Celebration Day. Resurrection Day. Yesterday we celebrated that Jesus did exactly what He said He was going to do.

This Resurrection Day was a little different for me. Because I am in Covid quarantine, I celebrated alone. But that gave me the opportunity to do a lot of thinking. A lot of reflecting. And to hear several really good Easter messages. 

The events of Easter are familiar to us. We know what happened that Sunday morning in Jerusalem so many years ago. It's important to know what happened. But it is also important to know why.

We know from the Old Testament than sin was dealt with by a system of sacrifices. But the New Testament tells us that the sacrificial system was not sufficient to restore the relationship between God and man. 

"For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:4)

And so Christ died.

"Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit." (1 Peter 3:18 NASB)

On that Friday of Passover week, Jesus - our Passover Lamb - died to take away the sins of the world.

But He didn't stay dead!

Friday tells us that the sacrifice was offered, the once-for-all payment for sin was made. Sunday tells us that the sacrifice was accepted. And that is the message of the empty tomb. 

The sacrifice has been made. The sacrifice has been accepted. It. Is. Finished.

That's the point of Easter. No matter which translation we read from or which Gospel we read from, the message is the same. And that message is not confined to the Gospels.


"When He [Jesus] had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3b NASB)


"But He [Jesus], having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."
(Hebrews 10:12 NASB)


"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:2 NASB)


What do these verses have in common? He sat down.

What's the significance of that? He sat down because His work is completed. The sacrifice has been made. The sacrifice has been accepted. It. Is. Finished.

Matthew's Gospel tells us that "toward dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave."  There they encountered an angel of the Lord, whose first words to them were "Do not be afraid." (Matthew 28:5 NASB)

The women had arrived at the tomb in despair. But the angel told them not to be afraid, and reminded them that "He is risen, just as He said." (v. 6)

The angel reminded the women that Jesus had done exactly what He said He would do. And that's a good reminder for us as well. It's easy to not be afraid, to believe God, when things are going well. But sometimes we get a little forgetful when the tough times come. 

The crucifixion was not a surprise. The resurrection was not a surprise. God had it all under control. And He has all the current circumstances under control too.

There's one other nugget from this passage for us to keep in mind today. In Matthew 28:8-10, as the women were leaving the tomb, they met Jesus! And what did Jesus say to them? Go tell.

The challenge of Easter for us is the same as it was on that first Easter morning. Go and tell. Because once you have met Jesus, you just have to tell somebody!

The news of Easter is the best news ever! Even though we live in a world that doesn't know or care about the news of Easter, we still have the same responsibility to tell. The same commission.

A great price was paid for us, and with that price comes great responsibility!


"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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." 
(1 Corinthians 15:56-58 NASB)

From Top To Bottom

 

  

Yesterday was Good Friday, the day Christ Jesus died. The day He paid the price for your sins and mine, for the sins of the whole world.

"And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit."  (Matthew 27:50 ESV)

On that day, according to the Gospel of Matthew, another important event occurred. “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:51 ESV)

In those days there was a temple in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount, in the place where the Dome of the Rock now stands. That temple had been constructed according to the pattern given by God in the Old Testament. There was an outer court where the altar was located. There was a Holy Place, which contained the altar of incense, the table of showbread, and the golden lampstand. And there was the Holy of Holies, where the Mercy Seat was, on the Ark of the Covenant.

The Holy Place was separated from the Holy of Holies by a heavy curtain. sometimes called a veil. This veil was more than twenty yards high and more than four inches thick. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

But on Crucifixion Friday, that heavy curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom!  

What's the significance of that?

"Through His own blood, [Jesus] entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:12 NASB)

"Therefore we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh." (Hebrews 10:19-20 NASB)

Because the veil was torn, because Jesus gave His life for us, we can now go directly into the Holy of Holies. We now have access, through Christ, directly to the Father! All because of what Jesus did for us!

Because it is true that the veil was torn, and because it is true that we can now confidently enter the holy place, and because of what Jesus accomplished for us, what are we to do?

We are to draw near: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."  (Hebrews 10:22 NASB)

We are to hold fast: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."  (Hebrews 10:23 NASB)

We are to consider: "Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24 NASB)

We are to encourage: "Encouraging one another."  (Hebrews 10:25 NASB)

We are to assemble together: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together….” (Hebrews 10:25 NASB)

The veil was torn.

It was torn from top to bottom. That means it was not torn by man, but by God.  

The veil prevented men from access to the Holy of Holies, the symbol of the place where God dwelt.

The veil was torn, allowing access to the Holy of Holies. It was torn at the precise moment that Christ died on that cross.

Christ's death allows us access into the Holy of Holies! Christ's death allows us into relationship with God the Father through the blood of Christ the Son.

And that is a reason to celebrate! Not just on Good Friday or on Easter Sunday. But every day!

Because of Jesus, we can boldly approach the throne of God!  Hallelujah!