Fear Not

"Fear not."  It's probably the most common phrase in the Bible, usually coming from God himself or from one of His angels, and yet fear is probably the most common issue we face day-to-day.

Fear of not making enough money. Fear of the future or the unknown. Fear of pain. Fear of losing someone. Fear of pretty much everything.

Obviously, judging by the amount of times He tells us to "fear not", God doesn't want us living like this. We'll miss all He has for us when we live life cornered by fear. I think God also recognizes how much we tend to default to fear, or He wouldn't feel the need to repeat Himself, but He wants us to default to Him instead.

Around Christmas time, Baileigh memorized what the angels said to the shepherds when Jesus was born. And now at Easter, she learned what the angels said to the women at the tomb. She's gotten them a little mixed up at times because they both begin with the same "Don't be afraid." So she's come up with a blending of the two holidays,but it still works.. "Don't be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Jesus, who was crucified, isn't here!"

Amen! The first words of each original holiday begin with "don't be afraid" (or "fear not"). I know it's obviously because an angel has just appeared out of nowhere to them and I'm sure they were shaking in their boots. But also, with both announcements, Jesus being born and risen, it's assuring them (and us) "you don't need to live in fear anymore- and this is why."

Research shows that the emotion of fear "triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses, and activates more than 30 different hormones and neurotransmitters" (Dr. Caroline Leaf). Fear is also the root emotion behind all stress, and stress can actually marinate our bodies in toxic chemicals. Clearly, fear is even dangerous to our health. So where does this powerful, unhealthy, negative emotion of fear come from? Well I know where it does not come from..

The Bible says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:7

This verse has been playing in my head for weeks now - when I feel the fear start creeping in, I am training myself to say, "Nope, God has not created me with a spirit of fear." And then replace the fear with thoughts of power, love, and calmness. All things that God's Word and His presence are overflowing with. But fear, that is never from Him. He desires that we don't live in fear, but in Him. And only in Him do we have the power to deny fear and replace it. Even if it's every second of everyday at first.

"Fear not." It's in God's Word many, many times. But even if He only said it once, it would still be enough for me.

Thank You for the Cross

I love the crazy range of emotions that this week brings. This past Sunday brought excitement and anticipation as we remembered Jesus triumphantly entering Jerusalem, then Thursday comes with reverence as we reflect on the Last Meal and His final hours. Friday is a somber day, focusing on the cross and His death. But isn't it awesome that we only have to wait until Sunday to rejoice and celebrate!!

It's easy to want to skip right to the fun and joy of Easter and not think about the hard and deep emotions of what happened just days before. But how much more can we celebrate Sunday morning when we remember what was actually done for us! While the cross brings about intense emotion, it still all comes down to love. Believing that I'm someone worth dying for needs to come hand-in-hand with believing that He is risen. I can rejoice for my life being resurrected this Sunday also because it's finished. It's already been accomplished. For me and for you. 

"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." says 1 John 2:2.

On Good Friday in 2004, my whole family went out to dinner and then went to the movies to see The Passion of the Christ. When we left, I was sobbing so hard I could barely stand up. With every gruesome strike and blow to Jesus, I said to myself, "That was for me." 

1 Timothy 1:15 summarizes my personal reminder, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst."

While the visual depiction of the type of torture that Jesus endured is painful to watch, sometimes a tangible reminder is needed. I made a tradition of watching the film every Good Friday, as an annual visual for me to keep in mind. I often laugh remembering my mom's response to the film and my tradition. "That is the most depressing movie I've ever seen," she said. "I don't know how you watch that." And while it may be graphic, intense, brutal, saddening, and overwhelming, the overall message is the very opposite of depressing. It is the joy, freedom, love, redemption, and life that came out of it all. 

A Jewish couple from our church back in NJ shared that they actually walked into the the film for a casual movie night and came out believers. For the first time, they felt the tug in their heart that this was Truth and it happened for them. I try to remember that tug in my own heart every year. As a visual person, a depiction of the crucifixion can give that to me. My husband - not so much. We went to see a Christian-themed ballet a few weeks ago, and at one point they actually displayed a dancer up on a cross. As they raised him, Doug said under his breath to me, "Oook. They're really gonna do this, huh?" While I can appreciate the depiction, he'd just rather not see a human performance of His Savior. 

But whatever your preference might be, we need to take time this week to reflect on what was done for us through the cross. Only then will we be able to fully celebrate the Good News this Easter morning. Through reading, prayer, art, quiet time, films, music, dancing, church services, not eating meat, or whatever - remember the cross this week. Experience the range of emotion that it comes with. And rejoice with all your heart this Sunday.

 Happy Easter!  

Spring has Sprung

I love the first day of Spring. Mostly because FREE RITA'S of course, but I also love the anticipation of watching new life spring up all around. The beauty of the sunshine, budding trees, and blooming flowers makes me happy in a certain unique way. New life is beautiful, hopeful, and here.

My husband told me last night, "I can't wait to get out this weekend with the sprayer and finally get rid of all those weeds around the house. Anything green is getting sprayed!" "No!" I yelled back in an unnecessarily dramatic way. "Didn't you see all the daffodil plants coming up through the weeds?"

We moved to this place last June and missed most of the Spring blooms. By the time we settled down, the house just looked covered in an overwhelming amount of weeds. My husband has literally been talking about taking on these weeds for almost a year and is more than ready. But these unexpected daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are coming up all through the junk. With each colorful bloom I get ridiculously excited. Flowers give me much joy, but even more comes from the reminder of new life!



Throughout the season we're surrounded with bunnies, blossoms, eggs, and chicks, and while they may have become a bit commercialized, each one of them reminds us of life - thriving, beautiful, new life.

The Bible says that everyone who belongs to Christ is a new creation - the old has gone and the new life has begun (2 Corinithians 5:17).  Only through Christ can beauty spring out of pile of junk, a beautiful flower blooming out of the weeds. God has the ability to make all things, in every season, NEW. 1 Peter 1: 23 says that because of Jesus "you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."


This resilient daffodil is a beautiful visual of the new life we have in Christ. Not just in the Spring, but everyday, no matter what comes our way, we can stand imperishable through the living word of God.

"You turn winter into spring 

You take every living thing 

And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again 

You made the sunrise, day after day after day 

But there's a morning coming, when old things will all pass away 

And everyone will see 

You make all things new 

Come redeem and come transform 

Come renew and come restore "

-Steven Curtis Chapman, "You Make All Things New"  

Lent: A Forty-Day Fad Diet?

As a kid, Lent was super strange to me. I always had tap rehearsal on Wednesday nights, so once a year my Catholic friends came in with their black, ashy foreheads, my Jewish friends could giggle at them, and I would just be confused. There was a smeared black cross on their face and they weren't allowed to eat meat. Well actually that was just on Fridays. But fish was always OK. So no filet mignon, but lobster tail is approved? And some gave up sweets too, so no dessert for them. What was with all these 40-day no-no's? I didn't get it.

As I grew up, physically and spiritually, I slowly came to really appreciate the season of Lent. I even look forward to it. While society has seemed to make it into some sort of religious, fad diet, Lent simply comes down to sacrifice. Small, temporary, personal sacrifices in order to prepare our hearts to commemorate the Ultimate Sacrifice made through Christ. So if cutting out soda is really what it takes for you to reflect on the Cross for a few weeks, then go for it! But maybe we can actually gain something and glorify Him through this tradition of "giving up" something. Here's just a few ideas, feel free to add more in the comments



     Sacrifice       ----------------------       To Gain

 - Time on Facebook                                     - Time reading the Gospels

 - 15 Minutes of Sleeping-In                           - 15 Minutes in Prayer

 - Listening to Mainstream Radio                    - Praising God with Christian Music

                         

 - A favorite television show                           - Quiet time with your spouse

 -Your Daily Starbucks                                  - Extra cash to donate

                        

 - Going for Seconds at Dinner                      - Appreciation for our abundance

Let's remember also that Jesus said to keep these forms of  "fasting" between God and ourselves, not on display for show or merit. Matthew 6 : 16 -18 says, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

I pray we can commit to some small sacrifices over the next few weeks in order to gain intimacy and the ability to grasp (or re-grasp) what has already been sacrificed and accomplished for us.  Love to you! :)

Honeymoon  in Nicaragua -"In Jesus We Trust" Monument 

Hard-Boiled Hubby

Ever since we dyed Easter eggs this weekend, my husband has been on a hard-boiled egg kick. He's like Rocky in the morning putting back a few at a time. Well now that we've run out of pink and blue decorated ones, he has taken to the kitchen to keep his egg routine on track.

You would think "hard-boiled eggs" possess a pretty self-explanatory name for how to make them, but not for my hubby wubby. He has asked about 36 questions in just the last hour of how to accomplish a hard-boiled egg. Some include:

"Babe... is this enough water? No really, look."

"Does boiling technically start when you see bubbles or when its like rolling?"

"Is it better to leave it in too long or not long enough?"

"How can tell if it has been successful?"


Lol... he just caught me writing those after asking the last question, claiming it isn't a bad question because I didn't have a good answer. Let me also say that his Droid has had a running clock taking up the entire screen for the last 20 minutes. Actually...longer than that because he learned he'd have to wait to start timing til the boiling begun. So he had to reset. Lol  I was in such a irritated mood just from watching him be so crazy about boiling an egg... but writing this down and letting him see for himself how ridiculous and meticulous and borderline OCD he is sometimes makes me laugh soo much.  Haha 

I guess the answer to his last question will be answered tomorrow morning at breakfast :)

Palm Serveday

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, BUT TO SERVE, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  - Mark 10:45

 This entire weekend our church "shut down" forcing its congregation to serve God outside of the comforts of church and sending the message that Jesus came to serve everyone, and so should we. Well I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed that I wouldn't be celebrating my favorite "holiday" in my usual way. Since I became I Christian, I've always loved Palm Sunday. There's something exciting about getting a palm branch and waiting the whole service to finally wave it around in the air dancing and shouting, "Hosanna! Hosanna to the King!" And on such an important/entertaining holiday I could usually convince my family to come along and would wack my brother over the head and tickle his ear with the palm  lol. 

But not only would I not be able to do that this year, but there would be no church services at all???

After I got over my initial disappointment, I let the message of this bold statement sink in. I was reminded that Jesus did not come to make fun traditions, He came to serve. He sacrificed all for me, and the least I can do is sacrifice some for Him and for others. He tells us that is the way to truly live - by loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength AND by loving your neighbor as yourself  (Luke 10:27).

Our church lives by the C-WoW philosophy... that is a Church Without Walls which strives to remember:

• A church is not a building; it is a people who have become the body of Christ. 

• Our goal is to become great servants of the Lord and of others.

• We are called to be a life-giving movement with a mission to serve.

So this Sunday as we remembered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem my family was able to SERVE the community instead of secluding ourselves within the walls of our church surrounded by fellow believers and comfortable rituals.

"Hosanna" is the Hebrew for "please save us"; today I was saved of my selfishness by being forced to serve.

 

Easter is...

I decided to take Baileigh to have breakfast with the "Easter Bunny" this morning, but before we went I attempted to explain to my sponge-minded daughter  that Easter isn't actually about a big rabbit at all. So with the help of an entertaining Veggie Tales movie we watched in our pjs this morning, I told her that Easter is about Jesus and God's love; the candy-filled eggs and the like are just a fun way to celebrate. 

She seemed to get it for a bit, and then got wrapped up in the show which was about a girl who wants to put on a spectacular easter musical featuring a giant robot bunny and an American Idol star in order to impress and inspire people. By the end, she is able to learn for herself how to truly serve people and what Easter is really about. It was a great little movie ending in a gospel tune that had Baileigh and I up dancing and clapping.

When the movie was over I turned to her and said, "So, Easter is really about....?" 

"ROBOT BUNNIES!"  

she said proudly with her arms thrown up in the air. 

Oh, well. Breakfast was good and I still have a few more weeks left I guess. :)