Jesus’ blood never failed me yet

It’s Holy Week. The time leading up to the highest celebrations and remembrances of Easter. We take time to reflect on the gravity of what Jesus allowed Himself to go through so that we could come into a restored relationship with Him. From a triumphal entry (Palm Sunday) to the Last Supper, to Jesus’ death on a cross and resurrection from the dead three days later. It is truly a full week of expressed love.

 

The sermon from yesterday made reference to a song that they played while we took communion. What a simple yet profound chorus to have reverberate through your day. Take time to listen through till music joins in the humble singing of an elderly man sharing this tune:

“Jesus’ blood never failed me yet, never failed me yet.

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet.

This one thing I know, for he loves me so.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkC_leNM7M

I pray your heart is touched by the depths of Jesus love, as he suffered and died to bring us to Himself, ultimately conquering death to set us free.

Time for a Scripture break

I remember being a camp counselor, many good memories over many summers. There was one point during a summer, I just couldn’t do it any more. I’m realizing those moments happen as a mom (and all other titles) as well. Thankfully, then, I had someone who could take my cabin of girls for an hour while I disappeared with my Bible. Then, as now, there are a couple passages of Scripture I’m drawn to to help redirect my attention back to God and off of me.

One is from Matthew 11 when Jesus says the following:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

This one always makes me stop and think, after taking initial comfort from the fact that Jesus will give us rest. We are not to just come and unload, we are to exchange the wearisome yoke of unnecessaries for His perfect and loving yoke. He’s a gentle and humble teacher, only giving us what He knows we can handle and providing strength and grace to endure. (1 Cor 10:13, 2 Cor 12:9)

Another passage I come to for solace at times like this is John 10. I love the imagery of being shepharded by One who loves us so incredibly. We may be pretty dumb sometimes, wandering away from the fold, but He comes to our side, sometimes carrying us back, sometimes poking us back in line. He knows us, by name, and we know Him and follow him, the sound of His voice. Oh that we may remain close to hear His call of direction and loving care.

The last one that helps me come back to a right mindset – off of myself and back to God – is Psalm 73. It is a beautiful honest reflection of perspective on the world around us and how it affects us. When we look inward, it all seems so unfair. Why work at keeping ourselves pure while those who don’t are even more prosperous than us? Our minds wander this way at times. If we return to God however, take time to come to His Temple (be in His presence), then we gain Heavenly insight about the bigger picture. God has always had us in the palm of His hand, caring for us, and guiding us. We need to come give thanks and praise to Him, keeping Him the focus of our attentions.

Confession: I may be camped out in these parts of the Bible for a few days.

What is a passage of Scripture you come to when needing “recharged” or “redirected”?

hunger

I don’t like being hungry. I kind of knew that already, but I didn’t realize the lengths to which I’d go to avoid that feeling. The sugar fast I’ve been doing has made me so much more aware, not only of what I’m consuming, but just how much I eat or drink.  Being hungry in and of itself is not a bad thing. It can be awkward, and moods can be affected if you’re not getting enough. However, there’s a difference between mood altering hunger and not being full.

The fast has reiterated through a number of their daily devotionals that sometimes we need to be aware of our physical hunger to help us understand what we’re really craving – more Jesus.

It’s been eye opening to realize I head to my pantry when my heart is really wanting me to take a moment to pray, or soak in God’s wonderful Word. Though slow to admit this to myself, and here, it’s been a step in the right directly of growing my relationship with Jesus more intentionally, rather than figuring out what snack is healthy enough to not feel guilty over.

I can’t deny I’m looking forward to allowing a treat now and then when these 40 days are up. I am very grateful for the opportunity to reset, repent, and continue my journey of transformation into His likeness.

 

An excerpt from today’s devotional from Christie Thomas on the 40 Day Sugar Fast Team.

“This week my 3 year old heard the parable of the lost sheep, and he told it to me with gusto (while stumbling over most of the words). I asked him what the shepherd did when the sheep got lost, and my looked at me like it was the dumbest question in the world. Without hesitation, he told me, “He found da sheep.”

Friend, you and I can get so lost, even during this fast. Just this week, I lost myself to complaints, grumbling and wishing that I hadn’t gotten myself into this crazy-fast yet again. But even in the midst of my bad attitude, God gently drew me back toward himself.

There’s more than one way to be lost. We can get lost in our bad attitudes and apathy, lost in our addictions (like a food addiction!), or lost in pain. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. None of us is content to sit in the fold all the time. But our Maker and Shepherd doesn’t even hesitate.

He finds us.

We may not always want to be found, and we may not always turn around to see the Shepherd beckoning to us. But that’s what this fast is all about. We’re finally aware of just how far we’ve wandered and just how lost we are. “I got a little lost in sugar-land” is all we can mutter, when we realize that the Shepherd has been right here with us, gazing fondly at us the whole time. We didn’t recognize Him — and that makes us different from true sheep! They recognize the shepherds face, and His nearness.

…We often laugh about the silliness of sheep, but at least sheep know their master’s voice and face! We prefer to tune out the soft voice of our Shepherd, choosing instead to live out of our own strength or out of our addictions. But God’s promise is that He will always find us. He will “find da sheep”. We just have to turn around and run into His waiting arms.”