Happy Easter, happy Resurrection day.

Happy resurrection day to you all, friends and visitors! At the end of my Scripture Union bible notes, in today's reading, the author, Derek Tidball asks these two questions: what would you think if it were you who found the tomb empty? Does this help you in sharing the message with those who don't believe in the resurrection? For me, the whole Christian faith hinges upon the resurrection as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians  15:20-28 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

Here is the beautiful passage that brings confirmation that we can trust Jesus-Christ completely and that what he said was the truth and what he did for us fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy and many other prophecies. Isaiah 53:8, 11 [8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. [11] After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 700 B.C.

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. John 20:1-9

Blessings, N.

Jesus arrested

Jesus Arrested

18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Jesus, the servant King

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him,and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus knew who he was. That enabled him to humble himself. "He did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit". (Phil 2:6) 

Refiner's fire

This is one of the hymns we sang last Sunday at Weston church and one of my favorite. 

Refiner's fire

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire My heart's one desire Is to be holy Set apart for You, Lord I choose to be holy  Set apart for You, my Master Ready to do Your will

Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within

The love of God, the love of Christ

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

I have lots of favourite verses and these I have just quoted are very dear to me for lots of reasons. They are encouraging, reassuring, and somehow empowering, enabling us to concentrate on our walk with Jesus in our journey that may or not be perilous and full of ambushes. However, i remember that the Lord in his goodness is holding my hand and is guiding me. May the Lord bless you. Yours in Christ. N.

 

Memorizing the Scriptures

The other day, one of my friends mentioned that she was trying to memorise various verses of the Bible but found it slightly difficult as she'd just started doing it.  I agreed with her that it was hard.
The following week-end, I happened to revisit R.E Torrey, The person and work of the Holy Spirit and I stumbled on this passage!

One who was preparing for Christian work came to me in great distress. He said he must give up his preparation for he could not memorize the Scriptures. “I am thirty-two years old,” he said, “and have been in business now for years. I have gotten out of the habit of study and I cannot memorize anything.” The man longed to be in his Master's service and the tears stood in his eyes as he said it. “Don't be discouraged,” I replied. “Take your Lord's promise that the Holy Spirit will bring His words to remembrance, learn

one passage of Scripture, fix it firmly in your mind, then another and then another and look to the Holy Spirit to bring them to your remembrance when you need them.” He went on with his preparation. He trusted the Holy Spirit. Afterwards he took up work in a very difficult field, a field where all sorts of error abounded. They would gather around him on the street like bees and he would take his Bible and trust the Holy Spirit to bring to remembrance the passages of Scripture that he needed and He did it. His adversaries were filled with confusion, as he met them at every point with the sure Word of God, and many of the most hardened were won for Christ.

Have a blessed evening. N

One beautiful photo!

in my opinion I

Did you say Lent course?

As it is Lent, would you be tempted to attend a Lent course? A what? you may say. I never knew there was such a thing as a Lent course. Be reassured, a Lent course gives you the opportunity to meet with other Christian, ask questions, listen to others, express your views, discuss the things that come to your mind during a service but somehow you dare not ask after the service and ultimately figure out where you are in your journey of faith.

This year, we are using the Lent course written by Churches together in Britain and Ireland 

I quote their introduction. Lent is a time when we think about the story of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt, miraculously crossing the Reed Sea, struggling through the wilderness for forty years, and, at last, entering the promised land.

Christians have always told stories: we tell and retell the stories of Jesus and of the early church. These are stories which help us shape our lives, to see ourselves as ‘disciples'. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we talk about all the things that have happened to us. 

Lent is a time, when we say ‘This is our story': the story of the Israelites, the story of Jesus, the story we can tell about our own ‘journey of faith'. We each have a story to tell and every story is different.

So why don't you give it a go? Blessings. N.

Women's world day of prayer 2013

I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25: 35-36

Last night, my friend Geraldine and I went to Weston for the Women's world day of prayer and I was a bit nervous as I was asked by my friend Vivienne to do the talk. I only found out about this very special day when we arrived in Staffs so for those of you who do not know about it, I have done a bit of research on their website.

It was in 1928, at an international missionary conference in Jerusalem, that Scotswoman Grace Forgan first learned of the world day of prayer and brought the news to the U.K.

THE FIRST SERVICES WERE HELD:

1930 in Scotland. 1932 in England 1933 in Wales 1934 in Ireland.The Second World War was a time of great growth - drawing women together in prayer and fellowship.

In 1941, the WWDP office in London was bombed. There was no loss of life and minutes recovered from members enabled the bare bones of the first 9 years to be preserved. Often the planning committee in London met in an air-raid shelter but every year Orders of Service were produced and supplied to the rest of the country.In 1982 the service was prepared by the women of Ireland, both north and south.In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are now over 3,000 branches holding 5,000 services every year. It is from such roots as these that WWDP has taken its present shape- a worldwide ecumenical movement of Informed prayer and Prayerful action.

 Last night, the service was written by French women. It emphasised the importance of welcoming strangers.

“‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19: 33, 34. 

In between the Bible verses and French hymns, we read first negative life stories and then positive life stories of foreign women who moved to France and settled there.

We also heard the parable of the sheep and the goats, Matthew 25:31-40 . It depicts the Last Judgment, where the King is separating out the nations gathered before his throne on the basis of the lives they have led. The ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ express surprise at the King’s words. What have they done or not done for him? The King goes on to explain that whenever they cared for, fed, clothed, welcomed or visited someone in 

need, or neglected to do so, they in fact did, or failed to do, these things for the King himself. So it is made clear that whenever we welcome a stranger from another country, it is God himself whom we are welcoming.
I'd love to know if you have attended a women's world day of prayer in your country, so do let me know. Have a blessed week-end. Yours in Christ. N.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.