Ascension Day

High and Lifted Up!

Scripture tells us that forty days after Jesus resurrection, that is, forty days after Easter, He ascended to heaven. This means that Ascension Day 2014 is this week on Thursday, May 29th.

The Scripture account in Luke reports:

Luke 24:50- 52 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continuously at the temple, praising God.

The Ascension of Jesus is also reported in Acts 1. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus met His disciples on the Mount of Olives. Imagine their excitement, believing that now Jesus would establish His kingdom on earth and fulfill the great promise the Jews had clung to for centuries. Christ would be king, not just of Israel but of the whole world. Then the moment was upon them; their beloved Jesus was with them. Acts 1:6-12 then reports:

They asked Him,” Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times of dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood before them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

We need to take note today of this amazing event in history. Barclay says, “The Ascension was an absolute necessity. There had to be a final moment when Jesus was taken back to the glory that was his.” He notes that the end of his resurrection appearances had to come to a definite end rather than just peter out. Also he says, “If Jesus was to give his followers unanswerable proof that he had returned to glory the Ascension was absolutely necessary.”

There is much to ponder about this amazing event in history when Jesus returned to glory.

Blessings, Dottie

This post originally appeared here on Faithnotes.

The Red Words in Scripture

 THE MERCIFUL WILL BE SHOWN MERCY.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7 You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being care-full, you find yourselves cared for. The Message

What is merciful? It’s not a word we use much today but it occurs many times in the Bible. Lloyd Ogilvie says merciful is his favorite word to describe God’s nature. There are so many synonyms for merciful. They include: compassionate, forgiving, kindly, gentle, gracious, sympathetic, unselfish. These are all aspects of God’s nature. Think about this: God became mercy incarnate to show us his loving heart. Do we get this? Psalm 103 gives quite a description of God’s mercy. Here’s a section of it.

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being praise his holy being, praise the Lord O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:1-5

Barclay says the practice of mercy unites us with God; the failure of mercy separates us from God. So the ending of this beatitude is both a promise and a warning. Wow!

THE MERCIFUL WILL BE SHOWN MERCY.

Father,

You are a God of mercy. You’re not remote or aloof. You know us, love us and care for us. Your compassion knows no bounds. Your mercy is unending. From the beginning of time we have disobeyed you, ignored you and abandoned you over and over again. Then you came to earth as Mercy Incarnate. You came and lived with us and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. You showed us the merciful heart of God.

Even so I walked away from you for decades – yet you were merciful and forgiving and welcomed me back. I don’t deserve forgiveness. I don’t deserve your favor. Yet you shower me with it. Your mercy, forgiveness and grace inspire me to be merciful to others. Show me any area where I am not compassionate or forgiving. Help me see others as you do and be merciful.

Blessings, Dottie

Teen Advice: Graduation Fears

Q. I'm a senior in high school and I can’t believe my high school days are almost over. I dread losing my high school friends. I know some of us will keep in touch but it will be different. I had lots of fun and free time in high school and I won’t have that any more. I also have no idea what I want to study in college. My friends say they’re worried but they seem more settled than I am. Are my feelings normal? What can I do to get over my graduation fears? (My Mom says I should be excited about graduating and trust God about my future.)

A. The graduation fears you’re experiencing are normal. Graduation from high school is a major transition point in life. Any major change may cause anxiety, and confusion and even depression in some young people. Often students are on edge when graduation is near. The expectation that they will now have to take on adult responsibilities is a scary reality. The student wonders can I make it in the “real world”? 

     

It’s good you are aware of the losses this change will bring into your life. Many deny their feelings or pretend all is fine. Change will impact all graduates. Even if you keep in touch with close friends after high school, there will not be the daily contact school affords. It’s normal to feel sad or unsettled about the changes, especially the loss of close friends. Your uncertainty about your college major is also common. Many students are undecided about their major even after a year or two of college.

Talk about how you’re feeling with a parent or a close friend. This will give you another perspective on your issues. Talk with a student advisor at the college you will attend to help you decide what courses to take. In most colleges you do not need to declare a major immediately. Many students change majors or seek a job after college in an area not related to their major. Even if you choose a major that doesn’t work out, it won’t be the end of your life. Many employers will train employees on the job. 

     

Have you thought of the positive side of the changes you face? Begin to think of college as a new and exciting adventure in your life. You may lose touch with some high school friends, but you will be meeting new people and making new friends in college. Though you will be busy and have to work hard, you will learn and grow from these new experiences. 

Take one day at a time as you go through the final weeks of high school and the weeks that follow graduation. You can’t solve all of the issues facing you at once. Take time to have fun with your friends during your last weeks together. 

There will be cause for celebration when you graduate, in spite of your feelings. You will have made it through high school - an achievement not everyone manages. You can feel pride and a sense of accomplishment in this. As your Mom said, be excited about graduating and trust God  for your future.

           

Congratulations graduate! Commencement doesn’t mean the end, it means a new beginning!

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 

Blessings, Dottie

                                                                                                                                                             

UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATING MOTHERS

Q.  We have three children, ages 6, 8 and 10 and my wife works full time. The problem is she seems stressed out constantly even though I help her a great deal with the children and the chores. The children are affected by their mother’s moods. When she’s out of sorts, the children are at their worst. What can we do to have a happier, calmer family life?

A. Often mother’s moods set the tone for the family. This is because mothers usually have more responsibility for child rearing and a closer emotional tie to their children. In other words, it’s because mothers are so important to children. Mothers who work full time outside the home are faced with the formidable task of scrunching a full time job into the hours they are at home. The job at home is never done. There are always meals to prepare, laundry to be done, housecleaning needed, bills to pay, and child care.

Child care includes helping with homework, settling disputes, setting limits, supervising baths and bedtime routines, chauffeuring to activities, answering questions, deciding on requests, arranging medical and dental care. The list is endless. The mother of the family is expected to be cook, housekeeper, nanny, chauffeur, paramedic, policeman, interior decorator, purchasing agent, budget director, teacher, laundress, cheerleader, finder of all lost items, and dispenser of hugs and kisses.

         

Although most fathers, like you, are now helping a great deal with the child care and chores, the mom, in most instances, carries the major responsibility for making things go well at home. She is the one planning, organizing, remembering and scheduling the many tasks and activities of the family. 

         

Usually she is the one who is most torn between her duties at work and the needs of her children. This is because women are naturally care givers. They are sensitive to and focused on relationships. Men are able to compartmentalize their thoughts and feelings and be more focused on the task at hand. Men are naturally less emotional. In other words a mother’s moods are due to her more emotional nature and to the weighty job she manages as a mom.

         

There are a number of things husbands can do to help their wives and to make the family life run more smoothly. Don’t judge or criticize her. Instead, ask her what you can do to help ease things. Listen carefully to her answer and try to see things from her point of view. Plan together ways to simplify the tasks at home and make things easier and calmer for all of you. Recognize that a mother’s moods may be signs of exhaustion. She may be overwhelmed - at the end of her rope. When your wife is moody be comforting and affectionate. Offer to take over with the children and insist that she rest and unwind. 

         

A clever unknown author has suggested that mothers should be entitled to a complete overhaul every five years to keep them running smoothly. The author suggests that though most mothers can “run indefinitely on cheap fuel - coffee, pizza and hamburgers, an occasional gourmet meal in elegant surroundings will add to increased efficiency.”

         

The author goes on to say that a mother’s motor is very dependable. “She can start and reach top speed from a prone position at a single cry from a sleeping child. To keep that motor at peak efficiency regular breaks are recommended. A leisurely bath and nap every 1,000 miles, a baby sitter every 10,000 miles will do wonders.”....“Batteries should be recharged regularly. Unexpected gifts often do the trick.”...“Mothers need regular tune-ups. Compliments are both the cheapest and most appreciated.” 

         

Mothers are the heart of the family. Our mother’s love has shaped each one of us. This Mother’s Day let’s show our love and appreciation for all mothers. 

“Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:10 NLT

Blessings, Dottie

This post originally appeared on Taber’s Truths.

THE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY WILL BE SATISFIED

The Red Words in Scripture

I'm continuing my study of the promises of Jesus recorded in Scripture. These will continue every three or four weeks. 

Study notes in a couple of my bibles say that todays promise that the hungry and thirsty will be satisfied is not to be taken literally in a physical sense. There are many Christians today who are poor and lack food or who live in famine starved regions of the world or don’t have adequate water. In fact, Jesus was speaking at a time when food and water were scarce. Starvation and extreme thirst often plagued people then. Those who hungered and thirsted physically did so with desperate need. We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for Him, with a similar awareness of our desperate need for Him. When we hunger and thirst passionately we will be satisfied. We are to invite Jesus into every aspect of our lives, feed on him and drink of him. Not only will we be filled to over flowing but we will also have eternal life! Here are the passages about this.

Matt. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Matt. 5:6 You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. The Message

Luke 6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

John 4:13-14 Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 6:35 I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:48-51 I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate manna in the dessert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.

John 6:54-58 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that comes down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.

John 7:37 If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

Jesus certainly said a lot about hungering and thirsting for him. The Psalmist did also: Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water so, I long for you O God. I thirst for God, the living God. NLT

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. NLT

THE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY WILL BE SATISFIED

Father,

Thank you for this promise that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, for Truth, for You, we will be satisfied. Do I hunger and thirst for you with all my heart? Am I passionately seeking you daily? Forgive me, Lord. Many days I don’t do this. Help me, Lord. Help me consistently and urgently seek you in silence, in prayer and in your Word. I know that you fill all my empty, hungry places inside and you quench my thirst when I turn to you. Increase my desire to feed on you and to drink from your water. I thank you that streams of living water flow from within me when I listen to and obey your Spirit. Help me seek you with a consuming passion. 

Blessings, Dottie

Will Church Help Our Marriage?

Q. My husband and I are having some disagreements about going to church. We have been married seven years and have two children. I believe joining to a church will strengthen our marriage and help us to be better parents. My husband believes in God but doesn’t see any need to join a church. What do you think? How can we solve this difference of opinion?

         

A. Joining a church will support and strengthen you and your marriage. Church attendance creates a regular, structured time to think about the meaning and purpose of life and to worship God. Though we can worship Him anywhere, we strengthen our faith and that of others through group worship. When couples worship together it strengthens their bond with each other and with God.

         

Church attendance keeps us honest with ourselves before God about the way in which we live our lives. It takes us out of our self-centered concentration on our own needs and encourages us to give to others and to serve others. It encourages our spiritual growth.

         

Marriage cannot meet all our needs. Scott Peck in his book, Further Along the Road Less Traveled says, one of the greatest problems is that “We look to our spouse or lover to meet all of our needs, to fulfill us, to bring us a lasting heaven on earth. And it never works.”  Church attendance offers us community. The church is ideally an extended family. When you become actively involved in a church you form close bonds with others, seeing them week in and week out. The friendships, the feeling of belonging and support, lift our spirits and feed us so we have more to give to our marriage.

         

The church teaches us the traditions and suffering of those who kept our faith alive through the ages. This puts life in perspective and teaches us to take ourselves less seriously, an important lesson for most couples.

         

The church celebrates the special or holy days of our faith. We need symbols and rituals and a worshipping community to mark the passages of life: births, marriages and deaths. The worshipping community helps us keep our vows to each other and to God and helps us mourn our losses. 

         

Life is difficult. We will all face some problems, struggles and even tragedies in our lives. The church provides support through these times.

         

The church teaches our values and beliefs to our children. If we want our children to know God and to know the great truths of the Christian faith we must be active in a church. Our culture does not provide this teaching elsewhere.

Most importantly the church teaches the Good News of Jesus Christ. As we grow in Christ we are transformed. Without the church we drift away from God.

         

The church has many flaws and is not perfect. Many have been scarred by a church that shamed or judged or frightened them. Perhaps your spouse had a bad experience in the past. If this is true for your spouse talk over your past experiences with church. Listen carefully and encourage him to tell you about this in detail. Then tell him about your positive church experiences and about the reasons you would like to go to church together.

If he remains unwilling to go to church, go alone. Don’t beg, push or preach at your husband about church. He may be willing to attend occasionally with you. In time, as he sees how a community of love and faith affects you, your partner may join also.

“A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12

Blessings, Dottie

Resurrection Doubt? No, He's Alive!

Christ the Lord has risen! He's alive! Do we believe this? The disciples spent three years with Jesus, traveling with him and learning from Him. They saw the healings and the miracles and believed He was the Messiah. But they didn't expect Him to die. They witnessed His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, though some ran away and hid. Some helped bury Him. Then they hid together and grieved.

Three days later they saw Him! Can you grasp the surprise, amazement, and yet belief in their voices?

Mary said, "I have seen the Lord! (John 20:18) She knew it was Him!     

The two men on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Him until He broke the bread and revealed Himself to them. They said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32) Their hearts burned within them even before they recognized Him. Does your heart burn within you in His presence?  

Thomas wouldn't believe the reports of the other disciples until he saw Jesus a week later. Then he said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) I imagine he said this with a hushed and humble voice. He may have even bowed before him. Wouldn't you? Do you now?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most essential doctrine of the church. Any who don't believe this truth are denying Jesus, Christianity and Scripture.     

He said He was the Son of God. (Luke 22:70) He said He would rise from the dead. (Luke 18:33) And He did. He said He would return and He will. (Matthew 24:30) What a marvelous faith we have.  

Blessings in the Risen Christ, Dottie

This post originally appeared here on Faithnotes.