Tag Archive | resurrection

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 337

Dec3

   Day 337—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year and studying The ACTS of the Apostles with the LETTERS of the Apostles.

Day 337 – 1 Corinthians 15 – 16 (Resurrection of Jesus and believers, Offerings for the needy, End talk)

1 Corinthians 15.

Paul now addresses another problem in Corinth. Some had stopped believing in the physical resurrection of the Lord and of those who died (or will die).

He reminds them that at their conversion, when he was first in Corinth, they had believed in the Gospel, which teaches how Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY, all according to the Scriptures.  Paul then mentions many who SAW the resurrected Jesus: the disciples, 500 followers, James, and at last, Paul himself.

Therefore, if “Christ raised from the dead” is part of the Gospel that saved them, how can they question it?  Indeed, their faith is in VAIN if Christ has not been raised.

He tells them again that Jesus is the FIRST FRUITS of the resurrection.  He first, then all who believe shall be made alive at His coming.

The Corinthians also asked what a resurrection body is like.  Paul reminded them of growing plants.  You plant a withered, brown seed in the ground, and in due time, a glorious, fruitful plant grows. And so, a dead body is sown in dishonor, weakness, and natural form. At the coming of the Lord Jesus, it will be raised in glory and power as a spiritual body. “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven (Jesus).”

It’s a mystery, Paul agrees, but flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  We will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet sound.  The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. When that happens, it will fulfill Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

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!

1 Corinthians 16.

Now for the mundane.  Paul is heading to Jerusalem with an offering for destitute believers in the famine-stricken city. He has already collected from Galatia, Macedonia, and Achaia, but now he asks them again. They were to put aside money on the first of every week, and when he arrived, he would collect it all.  It was to be a free-will offering of love.

He says a few words about their beloved teacher, Apollos, who will return to them again when he has the opportunity. Meanwhile, they are to be watchful, standing firm in the faith. He reminds them of what he said in chapter 13, that all they do should be done in LOVE.

He sends greetings from all the churches in Asia, and from Aquila and Priscilla (who were there when he first planted the church). He gives his final blessing: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 319

Nov15

   Day 319—We are in the ELEVENTH month of Bible reading and the final day of studying the Gospels.

Day 319 – Luke 24, John 20 – 21 (Thomas restored, Road to Emmaus, Great Commission, Ascension, and John’s epilogue)

Two of Jesus’ followers decided to walk home to Emmaus after the excitement that Sunday. They’d heard the women say the tomb of Jesus was empty, and Mary said she’d even SEEN Jesus.  Peter and John confirmed the tomb was empty, but no one knew what to think.

In the seven-mile walk, these two discussed all that had happened that week concerning Jesus.  Then casually a stranger joined their walk and asked what they were talking about.  They explained, and He said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”  Then He began with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

When they got to their house, the two invited Him inside. When they sat to break bread, Jesus opened their eyes to recognize Him.  Then He vanished.  They were amazed and immediately started back to Jerusalem with the news that they, too, had seen and talked with the risen Jesus.

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The first time Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room and ate food with them, Thomas was not there. He vowed he could not believe in the resurrected Lord until he saw and touched Jesus himself. Now, Thomas IS present when Jesus appears. “Thomas, put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  The astonished Thomas falls to his knees  and worships Him, saying “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus encourages us by saying, “Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet have believed.”

(John puts in an editorial note here: “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.”)

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Jesus once again goes over everything that “was written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms that had to be fulfilled.”  Then, He opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  YOU are my witnesses of these things.  Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you (the Holy Spirit). But stay in the city until you are ‘clothed with power from on high.'”

Then, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them.  While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  The disciples worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

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(John again writes an epilogue to his book in the 21st chapter.)

  He takes us back to when Jesus met some of His disciples in Galilee before he ascended…as He said He would.  There is the story of them deciding to go fishing, catching NO FISH at all, and then catching more than a boatload of fish at Jesus’ suggestion. John and Peter immediately recognize Him and rejoice. They all have a warm breakfast that Jesus made.

But the real reason for this incident is for Peter’s sake.  Remember his boastful attitude and proclamation that he (unlike all the others) would NEVER leave or deny Jesus, only to do just that THREE TIMES that night before the rooster crowed.  Remember his agony of remorse at the realization when Jesus looked at him.  Peter had run off into the darkness (of night and of soul), weeping and distraught.  Later, Jesus made a point to have others tell this disciple in particular that He had risen. (Mark 16:7)

Now, Peter needed to be reinstated in the group as their leader, as well as, in his own eyes.  Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter answers ‘yes’ in humility. He is so different.  He knows that in himself, he can do nothing.  It is all Jesus. Three times, Jesus tells him to feed and care for His sheep.  He is still their leader, but he is a servant too, just like Jesus.

Jesus also warns Peter that he will indeed DIE for His sake.  He will be a martyr, but his eyes are to remain on Jesus.  “You follow me!”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 318

Nov14

     Day 318—We are in the ELEVENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

Day 318 – Matthew 28, Mark 16 (Jesus resurrected, guards bribed, Mary Magdalene & women, messages of the angels, Peter & John)

Today’s reading of the resurrection and the following events is similar to tomorrow’s, with different details. Some overlap.

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Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and some other women went to Jesus’ tomb. Their plan was to add spices to the burial garments that Joseph and Nicodemus had hurriedly prepared three days earlier and to anoint the body of Jesus. They discussed who they could get to roll the stone away. (They probably didn’t know about the seal and Roman guard stationed at the tomb.)

However, before they arrived, there was a great earthquake and an angel of the Lord came down and rolled the stone back.  The 16 soldiers “guarding” the site fainted for fear and lay as “dead men.”  When they got up and saw the stone had been moved away, they panicked and went straight to the chief priests in the city. The priests assembled the elders, discussed the problem, and gave the soldiers a sufficient amount of money to spread a false tale – that the disciples had come and stole the body of Jesus. (Right! From 16 trained Roman soldiers!!)  The elders told them they would make it right with Pilate (more bribes), and the soldiers did as they were told.

Meanwhile, the women–also terrified–got instructions from the angel(s). “Don’t be afraid. I know you seek Jesus. He is not here, for He is risen as He said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then QUICKLY, go, tell the disciples–AND PETER–that He is risen.”  So, with both fear and joy, the women ran to where the disciples stayed. Jesus met the ladies on the way with “Greetings!” They fell at his feet to worship Him.

It seems that Mary Magdalene had lingered at the tomb (maybe inside it), so when she saw a man through her tears, she assumed He was the gardener. “Where have you taken my Lord?” she asked.  “Mary…” came Jesus’ voice with love, and she instantly recognized Him and fell at his feet in worship.

Meanwhile, the other women told the disciples what they had seen and heard at the tomb, but the men did not believe. However, John and Peter decided to investigate and ran off to see.  John arrived first, bent down at the door, and peered in. Peter, who arrived seconds later, plunged inside and gazed at the empty shelf where Jesus’s body should have been. Only His folded linen burial clothes were there. John then came inside, and instantly, he believed Jesus had risen.

As they told the other disciples, still waiting in the room in fear, the despondent Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”  All ten yet-to-be-courageous men waited in fear, doors locked to see what would happen.

Two others decided to return home to Emmaus.

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Continued tomorrow…

Stories of Missionary Life in Africa for Children (#7) “Just Pretending”

Nov2

mk-story-coversThis story is the SEVENTH in the Missionary Kids Stories about the Matthews family who live in Malawi, Africa.

Each story is written in the form of a letter from one of the Matthews’ children. There are seven children, (but the baby can’t write yet!).

I write these stories so young readers can learn about missionary life in Africa. The MKs (Missionary Kids) will tell stories about cultural differences (and similarities) such as eating DEAD MICE in the first MK story, or why guard dogs are necessary in Malawi as in BIG BLACK DOGS (the second story). They will also show how they face the same temptations, emotions, and problems that all kids everywhere do. I hope to entertain and inform the children, but mostly I want to quietly teach them truths from the Bible, God’s Word, as it pertains to their everyday lives.

So, here is the next story!  (If you are new here, scroll down, or check the list on the side bar to begin the with the FIRST story and meet the kids and their idiosyncrasies in order.)

“Just Pretending”

Hi kids,

This is Melody again. I know it’s my sister April’s turn to write to you. You will like her. She’s cute and smart and was born in April…of course.

She loves to read books – any books just about. She even likes to read cookbooks!  And she likes Kids’ National Geographic Magazines that tell about other places in the world, and animals and insects and snakes – which there are a LOT of here in Malawi.

In fact… she was reading that magazine on the day after the big rain Julie told you about, when she almost fell into that old deep well in our backyard. She was reading and NOT paying attention to where she was going.

Pssstt! Don’t tell anybody, but that magazine ended up at the bottom of the hole when Marshall grabbed her to keep her from falling in!  Later, after she got over being scared, she was mad because she hadn’t finished reading it!

April has also read the whole Chronicles of Narnia series. Did you ever read those?  We ALL did. Dad has the complete set in his library, but he lets us read them any time we want. He has a Pilgrim’s Progress book with pictures too

The thing is…. when April is reading a book, she really gets into it and doesn’t want to stop (like right now!).  And … sometimes she acts like she is one of the characters, and talks like them for days. Once, when she was reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, she pretended that our dog, Gideon, was Aslan, and called him that for a week. (He didn’t care.)

Oh, here she comes…finally!

I got to warn you – her eyes are staring off into the distance and she is walking slowly, so I know she is still thinking about something she was reading.

“Hey, April!  The kids are waiting for you. Just start writing….

 

Hello there!

Yes, I am April, and I do like – no, I LOVE – to read. When I am reading, it is like I am right there inside the story. Do you ever do that?  And when the book is done, I am sad.  Sometimes I start reading it all over again.

Let’s see….. I think I will tell you about what happened last April, soon after my birthday, which is the day after April Fool’s Day. I am SOOOO glad I was not born on April Fool’s Day. (Thank you, Mom!)

Well, of course I got BOOKS for my birthday, also a new set of 50 colored markers, and a big, thick sketching pad. Besides reading, I like to draw pictures. Sometimes I draw pictures from the books I read.

Sometimes I even make up stories with the same characters that are in the books.  These stories I keep secret in my journal. I would be embarrassed for anyone to read them, especially Melody who teases me about reading so much!  SHE likes to go outside and DO things.

Oh, sometimes I show my teacher a story that I wrote, if we have an assignment or something. That’s different, and I get graded… usually an “A”.

Anyway, last April I got two really wonderful books. Melody says I got “super cuckoo crazy” about them and I guess I did.  But, I learned a really important lesson from them too. I still get the shivers when I think about that time.

Here’s how it happened.

The two books I got for my birthday, were Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea.  Have you heard of them?  They are really good, and in fact there are MORE of them in the series that I don’t have yet. I don’t blame what happened on the books. No…. it was all me.

mk-stories-anne-of-green-gables

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Melody was sitting at the kitchen table that day doing some homework for Mrs. Molenaar’s class when I came in to get a glass of water from the water purifier bottle on the counter. I had been reading the first “Anne”  book (for the third time). I so love Anne!  I wish I could be so smart and fun as she was. That’s why I…..

“APRIL, what did you DO???” Melody yelled, standing up so quickly her chair fell back. “You are SO going to get into trouble!”

That’s when she came over and tweaked the two braids that I had made in my hair… the braids that I had “colored” with some of my new markers to match Anne’s in the book.

“Please call me Miss Aprile…with an e,” I said.

“What? Are you kidding me?” Melody said. “April doesn’t have an ‘e’ in it.”

“It does now!” I said with my teeth grinding.

Just as my hero Anne in the books didn’t want to be plain old Ann with no “e”, I didn’t want to be plain old April any more.

“Okay, April, I’m leaving before Mom comes,” Melody said. “And you’d better not use that stupid “prim-missy” accent on her. Just be yourself. It’s good enough!”

Well, that’s when I got into that “pretending” that Melody talked about. I practiced sitting up very straight with my hands folded in my lap.

I said aloud, “I AM myself. I’m Aprile Grace. I’m an orphan who was adopted by this nice Matthews family because they needed a girl to help clean the house and cook and do the washing.  I lived in an orphanage till I was six years old and was afraid no one would EVER want me.

“The Matthews family didn’t want me at first either. They wanted a boy. But they changed their mind because I am so funny and  entertaining.  Now I live here, but I have to behave and do all my chores, and say all my prayers, or else they might send me back to the orphanage….”

“APRIL GRACE MATTHEWS, what are you saying???”

“That’s Audrey Matthews,” I said aloud in my Anne voice. “She’s my adopted mother–”

“April, stop that right now!  You are not adopted. You did not come from an orphanage. And you know very well that Asala is our housekeeper.  Let me see that book!”

I had to give her my Anne of Green Gables book. I slowly took my finger out of the mark where I had been reading when I came to get that glass of water. I’d read the whole book before, like I said, so I knew what would happen, but I didn’t want to lose my place!  Still, I had to obey, so I handed it to … Audrey.

“April, we need to talk again about your pretending to be one of the people in your books. I know you love to read, and that you really “get into” the stories you are reading, but…”

“But Mom!” I said with a pout. (I knew she really WAS my mother). “They have such fun in their lives, and do exciting things and have “bosom” friends and go on picnics and eat ice cream….”

“April.  We had ice cream after dinner last night.”

“But…”

“No buts, April. You have to stop this. It is lying.”

“Pretending….”

“Lying. When you say things to people that are not true, April, it is lying.  Someday, some person is going to believe your “pretends” and it will get you in trouble.  It might even get us ALL into trouble. Do you want that?”

I shook my head.

“I’m going to put this book away for now,” she said. “You may not read it…. or any other book except your Bible, for two weeks.”

“But, M-o-o-o-m-m-mmmm…. please don’t do that!” I cried, and got real tears in my eyes. (At least I tried really hard to make them real.)  But she shook her head and took my book with her and went out of the kitchen.

“And you’d better hope that marker comes out of your hair!” I heard her say from down the hall.

“Told…..you…..” said another voice is a quiet whisper.

“Be quiet, Melody!” I yelled. “You shouldn’t have been listening.”

My sister giggled and then ran across the living room, her sandals making flap-flap-flap sounds on the marble tiles. The door slammed and I knew she was outside.

Well, I didn’t care if I did get into trouble for coloring my hair orangey-red with markers. I thought it looked pretty! (Too bad you couldn’t have seen it. I know you would like it.  Maybe.)

I wished I really DID have red hair instead of plain brown hair like all my brothers and sisters. (The boys all have dark brown hair like Dad’s, Julie’s is almost blond, and Melody, June, and me have dumb old “nothing” brown hair. June says it is like brown sugar or caramel, but I think it is like… muddy water!)

I wanted to be special… instead of just plain April with blah brown hair.

There IS one way that I am special, but I didn’t think of it back then.  I am the first in our family to be BORN in Malawi.  Melody says she became Malawian when she ate a mouse (ewww).  But all I had to do was to get born.

Of course, Gus and Deek – when he’s older – could say the same thing.  We three – and Freddie who died – were born in Malawi, but I was FIRST. It makes me happy to think of this now, but back then, all I could think about was ME and how plain I was, compared to all those wonderful people in my books.

I forgot so fast that I had just had a birthday, and that everyone had given me presents, and I had eaten my favorite cake, and had worn a birthday hat, and had everyone sing to me. I forgot to have thanks in my heart.

Since I only had my Bible to read, I read all of Jesus’ parables in Matthew. (I like that Gospel book the best, because my last name is Matthews!)

Jesus’ parables made me think of the stories I wrote in my journal. They were parables too, right?  Mine were mostly about me, of course, and how fun or smart or pretty I could be. And they didn’t have a lesson at the end, like Jesus’ stories did.

mk-stories-sower-seeds

Hmmm… how could I write one with a “moral” at the end?  I would have to think about that.

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Easter came in April that year, so I also read about the resurrection of Jesus in all four of the Gospel books.  I especially liked Mary Magdalene. She was so beautiful (I imagined) and so sad to believe that Jesus had died and she couldn’t even find his body to put spices and things on.  I loved her scene where she thought Jesus was the gardener!

That made me think about Ngunda, our gardener. Could I write a story about him and me that had a moral?  I would have to think about that too.

I was so excited the next week when my class decided to put on the Easter play at our church, and I was picked to be…. Mary Magdalene!!!  Wow!  I knew just how dramatically to play her.  I could really be HER because I had so much practice being other characters in my books. (See, Melody! Na-na-na!)

I memorized all her words from the Bible and thought about adding some more to make her even more special, but the teacher said “No, way!” and gave me a verse in the book of Revelation to read – 22:18, I think.  (I told her I would read it, but didn’t get around to doing it right away.)

I practiced Mary’s words and decided how I would act when I saw that the tomb was empty (overcome with sadness), how I would jump back to see the angels (Oh, My!), how I weep (that means cry) and then fall at Jesus’ feet when He said my name…. Mary…,  and how I would hold on to His feet to keep Him from leaving again.

And then the way I would get up, my face shining (somehow – maybe have some lotion on my hands?),  and run away so excited to tell all those unbelieving, scared disciples that Jesus really WAS alive.

Oh, it was going to be so good!

We got the costumes – pretty simple, so I added a fancy sash, which my teacher wouldn’t let me use. I guess Mary WAS in mourning, so she wouldn’t dress like that….okay, I get it.

Anyway, every day I walked around our house or the yard outside practicing her words and actions. I got Gus to play Jesus once, so I could practice falling down and grabbing his feet. But he said it felt weird and wouldn’t do it again.

Finally the Sunday came. It was the day of my great part in the Easter play. Mom took me early so we could practice in the church’s main room (it’s called a sanctuary). Someone made a big rock-looking tomb out of cardboard with a cut-out for the door and a big cardboard circle for the stone that was rolled in front. It was pretty good!  I think my brother Marshall worked on it too.

Everyone had on costumes, including head scarves over the girls heads. I tied mine on so you could see my face good.

The angels were in white bathrobes (really??), and Jesus…. Well, Jesus was…. He looked really amazing!  Somehow they had put glitter or something on his white robe because it kind of sparkled.  I wasn’t going to have any trouble falling at his feet, but… to pretend I thought he was the gardener…, well THAT was going to take some good acting.

Maybe if I sort of covered my eyes with my scarf – no, I didn’t like that idea. I would have to cover my eyes with my hands, leaving a little space so I could see where I was going.

I was SO excited! The crowd – which was huge on Easter Sunday – was really going to love me.

I played my part perfectly (and only added a few words of my own, to clarify which Mary I was). Daniel M., who played Jesus, looked a little startled when I said, “Teacher!” then added, “Yes, it’s me, the one You cast seven demons out of!” But he’s a good actor too, and went on with his lines perfectly, sending me off to tell the disciples the good news.

mk-stories-mary-m-jesus

The rest of the play was about Jesus meeting with the disciples and having them touch his wounds and telling them to “Believe, and then to go tell the world about what He had done.”

People really clapped at the end!  I was smiling so big when I took my bow. Wow, it felt so good!  I thought right then that I might become an actress when I grew up!  It felt amazing to be so special and admired.

Well, I pretty much floated through the rest of the day. Dad preached on how important the resurrection of Jesus was from 1 Corinthians 15, I think.  Then we had a big pot-luck lunch with the Floreens and the Ayers and the Kopps at our house.

Abby said SHE wanted to play Mary next year, but I secretly thought that “I” had that role sewed up for a few years.

Zoe thought Jesus was so wonderful in his white shining robe. She said she loved His words about going to all nations to preach the Gospel.

“That’s why my family moved to Africa,” she said, “so we can tell Malawi people the good news about Jesus.”

Well, THAT was why MY family came there too. Duh!  And the Ayres. And the Floreens. And Pastor B and Mrs. B. We were missionaries, right?

But my part in the play!  Wasn’t it great?

JoJo and Titus really liked how I fell down at Jesus’ feet.

“Did it hurt?” JoJo asked, adjusting his glasses.

Caleb told how he would have done it. “I would have fallen down, rolled over twice, and spread my arms out wide, and crossed my eyes.”

BOYS!

Melody said, “Why didn’t you color your hair blue, April? Or purple? You would have gotten noticed even more!”

Melody is so mean.

What’s weird is, Mom and Dad didn’t say ANYTHING about how I played Mary Magdalene. I know they SAW the play. They talked to my teacher afterwards. Why didn’t they say how they liked me in it?

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In our family devotions that night Dad read about John the Baptist, how he said Jesus must increase while he (John) wanted to decrease. What did THAT mean? I guess it was good that he wanted Jesus to have more followers than he did – especially since he was going to get be-headed pretty soon.

But why read this on Easter night?  And why did they have ME read that one section about Jesus being the bridegroom and John the Baptist, as His best man?  Did this have anything to do with Jesus turning water into wine at another wedding?

I just couldn’t THINK of that right then. I wanted to think about that scene in the garden by the tomb where I…..

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All the next week after Easter, I replayed my words from the play and acted out my scenes whenever I went outside to play in the back yard. Julie was pushing Deek on the swing one of the times I was pretending to be Mary Magdalene again.

“Where have you taken His body?” I said loudly, weeping, to an imaginary gardener/Jesus.

“Body!” repeated Deek.

“Oh, April, you and your missing “body!” Don’t you get tired of doing that over and over a hundred times?” She gathered up Deek and went inside the house.

“No, I don’t,” I said to no one, and flung myself on the ground as if to plead with Jesus to stay and not go away again.

“Miss April! You all right?”  It was Asala, our housekeeper, coming out of their little house at the back of our property. She was carrying her little baby boy named Praise on one hip and a laundry basket on the other. She looked worried and started toward me.

I laid there without moving for a minute longer, enjoying the impression I was making. She hurriedly put down the basket, and rushed toward me.  At the last minute I moved and sat up, smiling. “I’m fine, Asala,” I told her. “I was just begging Jesus not to go away again.”

Asala stopped dead still, her eyes wide open, squeezing little Praise until he started to whimper. “What you talking about?” she asked, looking all around.

“I’m Mary,” I said, “and they took the body of Jesus away. That’s what I first believed, but then I saw Him and fell at his feet!”

“You, April, not Mary,” she said, easing up a little but still looking around cautiously. “Not good to play-act about dead bodies!”

So…. to tease her, I stood up and “became” Anne again. “Oh, please don’t tell Audrey, Miss Asala! She will send me back to the orphanage!”

“Orphanages are no good places to play-act about either,” said Asala, turning and picking up the basket. She swung Praise around to her back in that sling thing she wears and started hanging up the wet clothes, all the while watching me.

So…. I pretended to be a bunch of characters in my books and in the Bible, one after the other. Why not, with such a good audience?  It was such great fun. But when I came to the story of Lazarus walking out of his tomb like a zombie at Jesus’ command, she quickly picked up the empty basket and went into her house.

I decided to make some drawings in my sketching book and brought it and the markers out to the back yard. It was so nice there on the grass after I put a blanket down, that I drew maybe about six pictures before I heard a loud rumbling of men’s voices from behind our back wall.

It was in Chichewa so I couldn’t understand even one word. It kept up and then the back, chained wooden gate rattled a little. And one voice got louder.

What was it? I was about to go inside, when Asala came out of her house and went to the gate.  She spoke in the native Malawian language, listened awhile, then came running to me, her face serious.

I got up quickly.

“Miss April,” she panted, “please to go tell your mother that those men… they say they need her help.  There is a dead body behind the wall.”

“WHAT?” I cried. I looked toward the wall and heard the voices.

“Please to hurry,” urged Asala again.

A body behind our wall?  A dead body?  How had it gotten there? Had those men… killed someone? Were they going to come into our yard?  Where was Ngunda?  Then I remembered that he had gone with Marshall to take the dogs to get their vaccinations. That meant…. no guard dogs either!

I was scared. This was not like play-acting!

“Go, tell her come!” repeated Asala.

I ran into the house, so panicked I could hardly breathe.

“Mom, MOM!” I screamed. “Someone killed a man behind our back wall. There are men wanting to come in and kill us too!  Asala said to call the police!”

Mom got scared too. “What, honey? What are you saying about a murdered man? Behind our wall?  Oh, this can’t be happening when your Father and Ngunda and Marshall are all gone!!”

“And the dogs!” I whispered.

“What? Oh, yes, the dogs are gone too!”

She went to the side door and stepped out to the patio. You could clearly hear the men’s voices from there.  She ran and got her cell phone, pushing an automatic call button.

“HUDSON, You have to come home right now! Call the police and hurry home. There is a mob behind our back yard and they have killed someone already. They are trying to get in!  OH, HURRY!”

By that time, Julie, Melody, June and Gus were in the room too, their eyes wide with fear. Deek, being carried by Julie, started to cry, repeating the new word he had learned, “Body…body…body!”

“Let’s pray, children,” said Mom. We huddled together and she prayed for our protection, for wisdom about what to do, about getting Dad home quickly from ABC, for the police to come too. “O God, You are our refuge and strength. We will not fear. What can men do to us without Your  knowledge?”

We all heard a car honk at our fence in the front and Melody ran out to let in Dad. Amazingly he had a policeman with him, the one who was stationed at the new crossing gate at the end of our street.

“Audrey, tell me what is happening?” Dad said. The policeman cocked his head toward the rumbling in the back, but waited to hear.

“Asala told April….” Mom started. “Oh, April you tell it.”

“There was a rumbling of voices outside our back wall.” I said. “I thought I heard someone scream for help, and then sounds like sticks or rocks hitting somebody’s head. And a big thud to the ground.” I demonstrated how I thought it might have happened, but didn’t fall all the way down.

“Then there was a pounding on the back gate. I thought it was going to break right down!” I cringed to show how scared I was.

“Asala came out, but she was very afraid to go near the wall, so she called from way back and told them to go away. They talked in loud voices to her in Chichewa and she answered back. Then they talked more and louder, and she came to me and told me to run and have Mom call the police, that they were all going to come in and kill us too! And I did what she told me. Oh, Daddy!!”

The uniformed man took out his club and went immediately around the house to the back wall.

“Go inside everyone,” Dad said and followed the man.

We all went to the back of the house where Mom and Dad’s room was and peeked out the curtains. The policeman was talking to Asala. Then he put his hands on his hips and looked back at the house. Dad came up to them, and the policeman and Asala talked to him.  I saw him relax his shoulders and take a big breath.

What was the matter with them? Couldn’t they see we were all in danger?

All three walked to the back fence. Dad unlocked a tiny little peek-hole door in the gate and spoke through the opening.  He listened. Then he talked to Asala; then to the policeman. She nodded and the policeman shrugged.

Then Dad did something amazing!   He took out his big wallet and shoved a wad of Kwacha through the little door in the gate. WHAT???

icash

Oh! I get it. He must be paying blackmail or something! Giving them money to make them go away.

Then he closed the little door and re-locked it.  Asala went into her house, and Dad and the policeman walked to our back door.  By that time we were all crowding out to hear what he had to say.

“Did you pay them a ransom for us, Daddy?” I asked, scared but in an exciting way.

“April,” he said, “this officer wants to say something to you.”

mk-stories-cop-and-matt

“Missy,” he said, eyeing me like I was a criminal or something. “Do not lie again or I will have to come and take you to Maula Prison.”

He stared at me for a minute, and then he turned and walked out our front gate.

“I ran to Mom and hugged her tight. “What does he mean? What does he mean?”

“Come inside, all of you,” Dad said.  We all went into the living room and sat down. “April you have told one pretend story too many.  And you are going to be punished.  Asala told us the real story. She said that those men needed our help, and that you were to go get your mother.”

“But the dead body, Daddy—-”

“Hush. You are not to say a word.  Yes, there is a dead body back there. Yes, there is a crowd of men. Yes, they did want to get our attention…. BUT.”  Here he looked at me very sternly. “You imagined all the rest. This was a funeral procession.  The dead body is in a wooden box carried by four friends.  It is the custom in Malawi for poor people to go to the fences of nice homes and ask for a donation to help cover the cost of burial.

mk-stories-funeral2

They were asking for our HELP, April, and we nearly had the police take them to jail for…. for murder!  Do you understand what this would have meant for us?  For our witness among the poor people in our community?  What would the Malawians at church have thought of their pastor sending a funereal party to jail?

“How about the ridicule or expensive fines from the authorities – it will be bad enough when Banda tells our story around – although I asked him not to. April—”  Here my Dad sighed and put his face into his hands.

After a while, he raised up and said, “See what your pretending, no, let’s call it what it is, what your LYING has nearly cost us?”

I felt bad and sorrier than I’ve ever felt before. I didn’t have to pretend, I started crying for real. What had my pretending done?  It was getting so that I believed my own made up stories!!  Would I get so that I didn’t know the REAL truth at anymore?

Dad must have heard my thoughts, because he said, “Lying is just like any other sin, April.  When you do it over and over, pretty soon you don’t feel bad about it.  You get better at sinning.  And your conscience can’t be heard any more.  It’s like you turn off God’s voice in your heart. Then the Evil One can have his own way.”

“No, Daddy! I am really sorry. I don’t want to preten- to lie again!  I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want God’s voice to be turned off in me. Oh, Daddy, what can I do?”

It was here that he quoted 1 John 1:9. I knew it by heart already.

” ‘If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ “

“April, God is holy and He can’t just overlook sin. Do you know HOW He can forgive us when we sin?  It is because He put all of every true believer’s sin – ALL of it – on Jesus on the cross. Jesus had no sin of his own, only ours. Then God – who hates sin above all else looked away and crushed His only dear Son to death. Our dear Savior paid the wages for sin that WE were supposed to pay. Death.

“Then Jesus rose again… on Easter… (Here, he gave me a long look.), proving that God accepted His Son’s payment for sin IN FULL.

“You know your Mom’s favorite verse, don’t you?” He turned to Mom. “Audrey, say it, please?”

“‘For God made Him who knew NO sin, to BE sin for us, that WE might become the righteousness of God in Him.’  2 Corinthians 5:21,” she said softly.

Dad nodded to her and she gathered the rest of my family into the other room.

Daddy and I kneeled down right there. (He groaned a little when his bad knee touched tile floor.”

“Go ahead, April.”

“Dear Heavenly Father,” I began. “Thank you for being such a good God, for making a way that I could be forgiven for my sin. It must have hurt You a lot to kill your own Son. I am so sorry for that!  And I am sorry for… lying.  I know it is sin. You say so in Your Bible. So I did sin today. And I have sinned by lying a lot.  I don’t want your voice to be shut off in my heart. I want to hear You when you tell me not to do something. Please forgive me, for Jesus sake, for what He did.  You said You would.”

I know I was forgiven right then. I believed what God said in 1 John.

Then I added a PS to my prayer. “And dear Heavenly Father, I confess my other sins too…for being mean to Melody when she was trying to set me right…for thinking I was SO great in the Easter play, even better and more important than Jesus!  Oh, dear God!  If Jesus had not come back to life, then… then… then You could never forgive my sin…. ever!  I made my role of Mary Magdalene bigger than Jesus, when HE is the most important. I bet SHE never would have thought like that in real life. I am so sorry.”

After that, Dad got up and hugged me. We sat on the couch and both of us had a “good” cry. Then he went back to work at the College, and I sat by myself for a long time. I was one of God’s adopted children. Adopted forever, with no threat of being sent back to any “orphanage.”  I WAS special to God. I didn’t have to pretend to be anything different than that.  I took a big happy breath and let it out.

I felt like laughing. So I did!

 

Well, that happened six months ago. I still like to read books and can’t help getting “into”  the stories I read. But I don’t want to BE the people I read about….. except Jesus. I am a daughter of a KING!  How could I be better than that??

Love,  April Grace

Wow! I just realized what my middle name really means – it’s how God saves people!

 

“Come, my young friends and listen to me. And I will teach you to honor the Lord.”  ~~~ Psalm 34:11   Good News Bible

God’s Perfect Timing

Feb4

My Bible reading today was John 11:1-55, on Martha, Mary and their baby brother Lazarus.  It’s a picture of God’s Perfect Timing, among a lot of other things. If you are like me, you are impatient when God doesn’t move when and how you expect or desire Him too. Always it is for our own good when things don’t work out to our liking. God’s ways are so much higher and better than ours! If we will just trust him quietly we would see. But, no… that’s not in our nature. Well, not in mine.

~~~~~

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (11:1-3)

mary-martha-lazarus-1104310-galleryThe sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was REALLY sick. (It was just a statement, but it went with the unspoken assumption that Jesus would come quickly and heal him “before it was too late.”)

Jesus did not come.

In fact He waited two more days after receiving their message before announcing to His disciples that Lazarus was dead. It took a few more days to head back and finally arrive. By that time, the brother had been the grave four days and had begun to rot. (stink)

MARTHA (going out to meet Him): “If you had been here our brother would not have died.”

MARY (falling at His feet, weeping): “If you had been here our brother would not have died.”

RELATIVES & NEIGHBORS (whispering): “Could not He who opened the eyes of the man born blind also have kept this man from dying?”

If only! Oh, if only He would have come! Things would have been so different! Why did He delay till it was too late?

(Do YOU ever feel that way? I do. That if Jesus was HERE RIGHT NOW, my illness would be cured? If He was here, He could just say the word, lay hands on me, or let power flow from his robe when I reached to touch its hem…. But He didn’t come when I prayed. He was silent. My situation got worse. I wasn’t healed.)

Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in His spirit.  Seeing the grief and pain and unbelief and death that the wiles of the devil had caused to His creation through deception and sin, Jesus wept angrily.

“Where is he buried?” He demanded.

“Roll back the stone!” He commanded

“Father, I ask this so that the people around may believe that YOU sent me (to bring life and resurrection power over sin and death).” He prayed as He looked to heaven.

“LAZARUS, COME OUT!”  He shouted.

It was a shout of victory over sin and death, much like his own cry from the cross, “IT IS FINISHED!”

And… “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (11:44)

Three days after His crucifixion and burial, Jesus also would rise from the dead, though the grave clothes would not cling to Him.

“Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:22-24)

“I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus said to Martha and now to us. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?” (11:25-26)

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

~~~~~

And so….. because of the delay of a few days (so misunderstood and maligned by the sisters) a greater miracle brought glory to Christ and to the Father, and many believed. It was a crescendo of God’s power displayed, to remind them, and all of us, and perhaps even Jesus, of that ultimate miracle which would take place on Resurrection morning.

If you are desperately praying for God’s intervention right now. If you can see no way out. If it is almost too late. Remember this story.  God sees and knows exactly your circumstances. His plan for you is good. Trust Him. He is totally trustworthy.

“We Three (gifts of the) Kings”

Dec19

3Kings.moonMy favorite Christmas carol has always been We Three Kings, written by John H. Hopkins, but I know it’s not one of the most popular Christmas songs. I think everyone gets hung up on the “O-o-o, star of wonder” part, or maybe even the minor key in which it’s been written.

But the words! It’s the words that sell it for me.

The Bible does not say how many “kings” or “wise men”  or “Magi” came to worship Jesus. It only mentions the three gifts they brought; valuable tokens of their esteem, and very useful “cash” for Joseph & Mary to use as they fled with Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous madness.

Herod, as you recall, was very jealous to hear that a new King had been born, and so inquired of the visitors when they first saw the star. Using that time frame he ordered all boys – age two and under – to be killed. Killed! Innocent babies, precious sons, destroyed!

But by this decree we can be pretty sure the visitors from the East did not make an appearance at the stable, but came to a house in Bethlehem, “where the Christ child lay.”  That’s where they presented the gifts, on bent knees. Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh.

And this is where THE WORDS to the carol, We Three Kings come in.  They explain what these3Kings.silohoet gifts represented; what they told of the life of Jesus, the Messiah.

  1. We three kings of Orient are; bearing GIFTS we traverse afar,  field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

Refrain: O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect Light.

Okay, now let’s look at the GIFTS presented to the Christ child:

  1. Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, GOLD I bring to crown him again, KING forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.

GOLD to represent Jesus as King, the promised descendant of King David, one day to be hailed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

  1. FRANKINCENSE to offer have I; incense owns a Deity nigh; prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping GOD on high.

FRANKINCENSE was used in the worship of Almighty God, the Holy One of Israel. Not only is Jesus KING, He is also GOD

  1. MYRRH is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom;  sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

MYRRH was a very costly ointment used to mask the odor of a body when it is buried. When Mary Magdalene broke an alabaster jar of it and poured it over Jesus as an act of extreme love and devotion, Jesus said she had “anointed Him for burial.” Now look again at where verse four leaves Jesus: crucified and buried in a “stone-cold tomb.”

But hallelujah! Praise God!  See how verse five brings us to His resurrection!

  1. Glorious now behold him arise; KING and GOD and SACRIFICE, Alleluia, Alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies.

 We Three Kings is a carol of worship and praise. It’s why I love it. Jesus, my King, my God, my living Sacrifice for sin. The visitors traveled half way around the world to worship Jesus. Let US open our hearts and let our praises rise to the skies!

Star

 

Oh, and don’t get hung up on the Star of Wonder – wondering perhaps (sorry for the pun) if it actually moved before the travelers, or if it was a juxtaposition of several stars that alerted them to the birth, or if it was maybe a comet, or a “shooting star.”

If it bothers you, just remember that Jesus is called the Morning Star in Revelation 22:16, the Day Star in 2 Peter 1:19, and the Light of the World in John 1:5-9 and 8:12. Could it have been Jesus who drew these “wise” men to Himself?  A thought.

 

Lazarus, Come out!

May30

Today, my Bible reading was John 11:1-44

My first amazing insight came from verse 5, about Martha and not Lazarus. It gladdened my heart because I am so much like Martha.

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”

Martha – concerned with many “things,” irritated, jealous, self-pitying Martha; Jesus loved her. Bossy, critical, no-time-for-sitting-and-listening-to-Jesus-because-of-all-the-things-that-needed-to-be-done Martha; Jesus loved her. Martha – resentful, accusing Jesus of not loving them enough to come to them in their need; Jesus loved her. Prickly, unyielding, yet willing to believe and obey Martha; Jesus LOVED her. He loved Martha!

(But Martha will have her day in John 12.)

 

So a certain man, Lazarus of Bethany, was ill and his sisters sent to Jesus to come help (heal) him.  Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus’ illness did not lead to death, but that it was for the glory of God, so that the Son of God would be glorified through it.  And He lingered by the Jordan River for TWO MORE DAYS.

Then he told his disciples, “Let us go to Judea again. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep and I go to awaken him.”

Hey, he’s sleeping, he must be getting better, thought his disciples.

Nope. Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for YOUR sakes I’m glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.”

Martha met Jesus as they were coming. “Lord, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE my brother would have not died!”

“But… even now,” she conceded, “I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you.”

Jesus: “Your brother will rise again.”

“Yes, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus: I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die”

How would Martha, in mourning for her little brother, respond to this?

In faith. “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Then, seeing their sorrow & weeping, and the compassion & question of their fellow mourners, Jesus came to the tomb.  “Take away the stone.”

Practical, realist Martha said, “Lord by this time he stinks for he has been dead four days!”

lazarus3b“Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the Glory of God?”

So… Martha told them to take away the stone.

After looking to heaven and thanking His Father… Jesus shouted, “LAZARUS, COME OUT!”

And the dead man heard and came out, his hands and feet bound with linen burial strips.

“Unbind him, and let him go,” said the Creator and Sustainer of life.

Oh, Lord, command that I be unbound too, from worldliness, from love of things, from selfishness, self-righteousness, vainglory and pride! Jesus, command that I be let go, freed from these things that weigh me down and keep me from abundant life in You!

(Hmm…were Lazarus’ hands and feet bound individually? Were they bound tight together like a mummy? Did Lazarus rise as a single form and… float out???)

Regardless of how, Lazarus HAD to obey Christ’s command. And if Jesus had not specifically named Lazarus, ALL the dead would have come forth from the tombs!

And one day they will.

I Thessalonians 4:16 says of Jesus’ second coming, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command… And the dead in Christ will rise!”

O glorious day!

_______________________________________________________________

Colossians 2:13-14: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling out the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting LIFE.”

For victory over death and the grave, and for eternal life, thank You, Jesus!