Month: March 2026

You don’t have to wait for the End (Last)! I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this? John 11:25-26 The Message

In the second chapter of John, the master of the banquet at the wedding in Cana says of Jesus, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and saves the cheaper wine until everyone has had too much to drink! You have saved the best for last!

I love the idea of that! About two weeks ago, Randy helped me celebrate my birthday by taking me to a really nice restaurant for dinner. When we were seated, the waiter came over to wish me a happy birthday and tell us what special items come with the celebration dinner.

First, he offered us a glass of champagne. Then he got down to business and began to describe the desserts from which we could choose at the conclusion of our meal! The choices were three of my very favorites! He saved the best for last!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner, and as he cleared away our plates, he asked, “Have you decided on your dessert?” Now, this was an extremely important decision for me because I do love dessert! I asked him to give me another minute to make up my mind.

We continued talking and enjoying, and the waiter came back again. I asked for just one more minute! The next time I looked up, he was standing at our table with not one, not two, but all three of my favorite desserts with a candle on each one!! In my opinnion, the best really was last!

We are in the midst of Holy Week where all the events of this week lead up to the crucifixion of Jesus. The Palm Sunday celebration and cheers of “Hosanna” are a distant memory, and they are being replaced this week with the words,”Crucify Him.”

During this week God brought His plan to a dramatic close. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus gathered his disciples together in the Upper Room for The Last Supper. It was during this time that Jesus told His disciples that one among them would betray Him.

When Jesus left the Upper Room on that night, He took his disciples and went into a Garden. Judas, the betrayer, skipped the garden, and went instead to meet a group of Roman soldiers and temple guards who represented Caesar.

Judas accompanied these soldiers and guards to the garden, and with a single kiss, he betrayed Jesus. In answer to their questions our Lord identified himself to them when He said, “I am the one you seek!”

Friday came and Jesus endured a mock trial, a crown of thorns, carrying His own cross to the hill, being nailed to that cross, and suffering a slow and excurciating death. Before His death, He uttered the words, “Father forgive them,” which offered us the hope of forgiveness.

The disciples said that he was dead, and they laid him in a borrowed tomb and sealed it with a stone. Mary arrived to prepare the body, but the stone was rolled away. The disciples came to see, and when they saw, they believed. They ran home and locked their doors in fear, but Mary stayed. At that time, Jesus appeared to her.

Mary recognized the voice of Jesus when He asked her, “Whom do you seek?” She went back and told the disciples who she had seen, and Jesus came and stood in their midst. He showed them His hands and His side, and said, “Peace be with you.”

In modern times, the Great Houdini promised he’d come back from the dead and talk to his friends. Some of his friends actually consulted medians to see if there was any word from him from beyond the grave! There wasn’t. Only one man who promised to rise from the dead kept His promise. Jesus!

After all the horrors of Good Friday, God sent Easter. It is His way of saving the best for last. Jesus rose for you and me, and He gave us the great gift of peace! On the cross, He offered us redemption and forgiveness. The resurrection gives us the power of His peace and the evidence that His love is a forgiving love that loves even the unlovable while His peace surpasses all comprehension. He has given us a sense of love and peace even among our fears!

Most of us would probably opt to skip the images of torture, pain, suffering. and death that comes with Good Friday, but without it, Easter would be hollow. We’d start to forget how much Jesus sacrified and even start to believe there can be victory without that sacrifice.

God’s definition of “good” far exceeds our own. It is the resurrection that gives us the victory! He always saves the best for last!

Happy Easter!

For you created my inmost being; you wove me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13

In our small town, the four siblings in my Daddy’s family all settled down with their families within blocks of each other. Our family lived next door to my Daddy’s brother Wallace, and his wife Joanne. They had three boys, and my mom and dad had us three girls!

Joanne was quite an accomplished musician and seamstress, but none of her boys wanted to participate in those activities, so she came looking for one of Daddy’s girls who would join her. I was the oldest, and thus, the obvious choice.

She began to give me piano, organ, and voice lessons, but one day she insisted that I learn to knit! I sat with those needles in my hand while she knitted across from me reminding me to knit and purl. As we “knitted” together, she decided that I should have a project! As a result, I attempted to make a sweater for Daddy for Christmas, and the saga began.

Let’s just say something horrible happened to the sleeves I wove, and one sleeve was exceptionally longer than the other. We had no time to adjust, so she put the project together, and I gave it to him “as is” for Christmas. As bad as it was, bless his heart, he wore it! Sometimes the things we weave don’t turn out as we expected.

When something is woven, it is made from a number of interconnected items, such as in a story or in a fabric. Just like a fabric that is woven together, the Palm Sunday story in the Bible is woven together according to God’s plan.

On that day, as Jesus rode a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem, everybody in the crowd had heard of him because he had just raised Lazarus from the dead. People were calling him Hosannah and King of Israel while laying their garments on the street at His feet.

The disciples were aware that something big was happening, and they wanted to be a part of it. They began to have discussions on who would sit on His left and who would sit on His right. Jesus tried to tell them that they had the wrong idea about the kingdom. He had come to create, but they continued to weave their own story.

In order to drive home his point, Jesus called them together and began to wash their feet, but “Kings don’t do that,” they said, so the disciples wove other theories about how this story should be told. He told them this His kingdom would be one of service, and then He served them communion. He began to weave the story of how He would be crucified, and on the third day, He would rise again. “That can’t happen,” they said, and they went on about weaving their own story.

Just like my knitting, sometimes the way we see things is not at all the way God has it planned. We are weaving, but we can’t see the entire picture.

In Corrie Ten Boom’s book, “Reflections of God’s Glory,” she tells a story about how God looks at things from an entirely different perspective than we do. In giving her talk to groups of people, she would slowly unfold a cloth with hundreds of different strings pulled through it and tied in knots. It all looked very random and didn’t make much sense. As the audience pondered the significance of the cloth, she would explain that we often see our situation in life just like this – a tangled mess!

We sometimes question God about how he is weaving situations in our lives. For instance, “why do we sin or falter, or why has He allowed bad things to happen to us?” In reality, Corrie would explain that we have a limited perspective of God’s plan, and we can’t always see what He’s weaving in our lives.

Corrie would then turn the cloth around to reveal the other side. There was a beautiful tapestry of a crown of gold with multicolored jewels. This is what God sees, a beautiful weaving of our lives. When our life is the messiest, we need to trust God the most. Both during the best times and the darkest times in our lives, God is present weaving a beautiful tapestry.

It is said that Jewish mothers traditionally wove one piece garments for their sons who were leaving home. These garments symbolized behavior and character. Jesus wore this robe, which was seamless from top to bottom, to Calvary to indicate that He had always been directed by the mind of God.

There are those all around us who can literally weave and knit items for others in need which remind them of God’s constant plan in our lives! The women of whom I speak are a group called “Woven in Grace” who have a mission of making “prayer shawls” for those of us who need to feel God’s hand weaving a course in our lives. Those who receive them are forever grateful for these weavers.

On this Palm Sunday, we can celebrate with the crowds the recognition of Jesus as King and Messiah. As we await the week ahead, God weaves the story of redemption and grace.

Jesus said to the blind man in Jericho, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “On your way”, said Jesus, “Your faith has saved and healed you.'” In that very instant, he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. Mark 10:51-52

Helen Keller was inspiring in the way she dealt with her blindness and deafness. She once wrote a magazine article entitled: Three Days To See. In that article, she outlined what she would like to see if she were granted just three days of sight.

On the first day, she said that she would like to be able to see her friends. The second day she said that she would like to be able to see the nature around her. Lastly, she said that on her final day, she would like to spend her time in her home city of New York watching the busy city and seeing the bustle of people going about their day.

She concluded her article with these words: “If I who am blind can give one hint to those who can see, it would be; Use your eyes today as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind.

I am convinced that being able to see is one of the greatest things we take for granted in this life. For those of us who have always been blessed to see, we don’t know what it’s like to live day to day without that blessing. Someone once said to Helen Keller, “What a pity you can not see.” She replied, “Yes, but what a pity that so many have sight but cannot see.“

It is said that if one cannot physically see, the other senses such as hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling become a way to “see”. I am convinced that a person who has lost their sight becomes more attuned to the feelings of others – they sense the pain, the heartache, even the joy of others, and they are some of God’s most perfect ministers.

Our friend, Will, is a great example of a person who sees with his heart. When Will was a young boy, a surgery for another condition left him blind. He could have become bitter, retiring, and withdrawn, but he did just the opposite. He’s funny, quick witted, and sincere.

I didn’t know Will then, but I’ve known him for the past thirty eight years, and he is a tower of strength. He loves His Lord, makes beautiful bracelets with a cross on each one, sings in choirs, and attends functions at church.

When you are with Will, you can’t help but feel his caring, his concern, and his love for the one speaking with him. It’s never about him, but rather, he always asks about the person with whom he’s speaking. He never fails to say, “It’s good to see you!” I believe he truly does see the heart of others. Can you see like that?

There are those in life who cannot see, but there are also those who refuse to see. The blind man in our scripture had been blind since birth. He probably heard stories of Jesus and knew that he was a great teacher and prophet sent from God. When Jesus came to Jericho, he simply said, “Jesus, I want to see.” His faith healed his blindness.

The story is told of a father who was trying to read a magazine, but he was being bothered by his little girl, Jessica. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his magazine on which was printed a map of the world. Tearing it into pieces, he handed it to Jessica and said, “Go into the other room and see if you can put this together.”

After a few minutes, she returned and handed him the map correctly fitted together. The father was shocked and asked her how she finished so quickly. “Oh,” she said, “on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where he belonged, the world came together.” Can you see like that?

The Lenten season is halfway over, and I wonder can we see? Can we see the things in our lives that need to be changed in order to see with our hearts and not just our eyes? Can we see physically but refuse to see the needs and hurts all around us? Can you see how to get Jesus back where He belongs?

I love the words of Amazing Grace that say: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound; That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, But now I’m found; Was blind but now I see. John Newton

Can you see like that?

If you’d like to see the talents of many, including Will along with his bracelets, come on over to Grace Resurrection and attend our Artisan Show on Saturday, March 28 from 10-4!!

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Without God it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Mark 10:27

The story is told of a Father and his six year old son, Mickey, who were fishing near a bridge when a woman lost control of her car, slid off the bridge, and hit Mickey at a speed of 50 mph.

When the sheriff, who was also Mickey’s grandfather, arrived on the scene, he feared the worst. He left immedately and when he arrived at Saint Joseph’s hospital, he rushed to the emergency room. To his great relief, he found Mickey conscious and in relatively good spirits considering the severity of the accident.

“Mickey,” he asked, “what happened?” “Well,” replied Mickey, ” I was fishing with Dad and some lady runned me over. I flew into a mud puddle, broke my fishing pole, and didn’t get to catch no fish!”

As it turned out, the impact had propelled Mickey around 500 feet over trees, down an embankment, and landed him in a mud puddle. The only injury he sustained was a leg which was broken in two places and was repaired with surgery and pins. When he came out of surgery, all the boy could talk about was his broken fishing pole. In order to placate him, his grandfather went to Wal-Mart and bought him a new fishing pole to have while he was in the hospital.

The next day when the two were visiting in the hospital room, and Mickey was casting his new fishing pole into the trash can, he said matter of factly, “Gramps, did you know that Jesus is real?” Taken aback, his Gramps relplied, “Yes, he is real to those who believe in Him.” “Nope,” said Mickey,”Jesus is REALLY real. I know because when that lady runned me over and broke my fishing pole, Jesus caught me in His arms and laid me down in that mud puddle!” As the story spread through the town, the people there were in awe, and many were heard to say, “It”s a miracle!”

We hear a lot about miracles today, but sometimes we tend to use the term “miracle” loosely. We can call anything from a win in a close football game, to finding a lucky penny, to common everyday occurences a miracle. Conversly, sometimes we tend to take the everyday miracles all around us for granted. We ignore a rainbow, a hummingbird, a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a good health report, or a feeling of peace.

A true miracle is defined as a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, and is therefore, considered to be the work of the divine agency.

During the ministry of Jesus, the Bible records many miracles perfomed by Christ. The story of Jesus turning the water into wine was the first recorded miracle He ever performed, and it was through this miracle that He shows us His unlimited power and strength in situations. Comedian Mark Lowry said, “I think that it is great that Jesus’ first miracle wasn’t raising the dead or giving sight to the blind, rather His first miracle was one ‘just to keep the party going.'”

The New Testament records 37 miracles performed by Jesus ranging from healing the sick and casting out demons, to calming storms, and raising the dead. He takes the most complex situations, transforms them, and accomplishes things beyond our conception.

All of us, at one time or another, have come or will come to a point in our lives when we need and pray for a miracle. It could be the miracle of physical healing for ourselves or someone we love. It could be the miracle of a new beginning in our lives. It could be the miracle of a career change when most needed, or it could be the miracle of relief from stress, worry, and frustration in our lives.

I find great comfort in knowing that nothing in our lives takes God by surprise. There is nothing that limits His ability to intervene in our lives and accomplish miracles beyond our conception.

Albert Einstein says, There are only wo ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. This perspective emphasizes choosing to see the wonder in everyday existence and His divine hand in our lives.

It is only because of God’s love for us that He sends miracles into our lives. Take time today to look around and see all that God has done. It’s a miracle!