What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Friday, April 15, 2022

Friday Foto Friends, It's Good Friday...(Revisited)

Note to my readers: I have posted this same post twice today...one was the repeat of the old, and the other was a new copy w/o the old comments. Sorry if that is confusing to you...I wanted a 'fresh copy' to post on my church's facebook page. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for posting it twice in one day! Thank you for understanding. I should have done the new one first, but as usual, I'm slow to think these things out.  Have a blessed an prayerful "Good Friday" my friends.



This is another repeat of a previous year's Good Friday post.  As I re-read it just now, I was so touched by the message that God gave me here in 2018, that I wanted to share it with you again. Many of you may have already commented on it in previous years, but I hope you will appreciate the wonder of this day with me once again as we reflect on God's great sacrifice for our sins today.


Original Message 3/30/2018:

Dear Friday Foto Friends...Please bear with me as I share these pictures with you and tie them into Good Friday...a very sacred and Holy Day...The day our Lord was crucified for our sins...so that we might live forever with Him in heaven one day! What an amazing day this is...

Sunday morning as we went forward to take communion, I knelt before the altar to pray, and I was struck by the emblems displayed there on the communion table...the whole of Holy Week was right there before my eyes...The palms for Palm Sunday,  The Bread and the Cup for the Last Supper, and the cross with the crown of thorns that Jesus wore...

 and upon a closer look, I was shocked to see the nails that pierced His hands and feet, and the whip of cords that struck His back and body over and over again, and the money bag with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying our Lord...


These items took my breath away...I wasn't expecting to see them there...and it brought me face to face with the agony that our Lord endured that week on my behalf...and as I ate the bread and drank the cup, I prayed that God would forgive my sins and make me worthy of His shed blood...I am only worthy because of His shed blood...His sacrifice that made me whole and declared me to be holy...what a humbling and beautiful experience...such joy in knowing Christ died for me...because He loved me! And He died for YOU, too, because He loves YOU.  I hope you know this to be true in your own life...

Earlier last week during one of our walks I noticed this thistle plant growing alongside the road...look at those thorns...can you imagine the pain of bumping into this plant?  Now imagine having a crown of thorns forced upon  your head...and nails hammered into your hands and feet...No, I can't imagine how painful that must have been...

"Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of dry ground.



He has no form or comeliness;
and when we see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him.
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isaiah 53:1-3


Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.


All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Isaiah 53:4-6

A few days later we passed by this same thistle plant, and look!!! Out of something so wicked and evil as these thorny thistles came a thing of great beauty...All of these beautiful butterflies were drawn to this prickly plant to find food and sustenance for their lives!  There were so many they had to fight each other for a place on the flowers to sip its nourishing nectar and live...


Who would have thought that out of something so full of "sorrow" as this thistle would come such life giving food?


Isaiah 53:10-12
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul and offering for sin,
He shall see His seed,
He shall prolong His days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper  in His hand.


He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
for He shall bear their iniquities.


Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
and He was numbered with the transgressors,
and He bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors."



Thank You, Lord, for Your sacrifice for my sins. Out of Your suffering and great sorrow came new life and extreme joy.  Thank You for the beautiful gift of Your grace and salvation...and food for our souls so that we might live, and that more abundantly.   Amen.




Have a Blessed and Glorious Easter, my friends!

25 comments:

  1. Your posts are such a blessing to me, Pamela! I look forward to them.

    "...and He bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors."

    Us and our enemies too. How's that for powerful grace? :)

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    1. Powerful Grace indeed! Yes...we are so blessed to have such a Saviour. There can be no other who has conquered death and given us life eternal. We are truly blessed people. Have a glorious Easter day.

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  2. Have a blessed Easter, Pamela!

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    1. Thank you, Glynn, and I pray the same for you and your family as well. He is Risen!!

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  3. Great post and photo's, Pam. Have a wonderful Easter!

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    1. Thank you, Sylvia. May your Easter be filled with God's joy and blessing in every way.

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  4. Loved these remarkable photos, Pamela, and the scripture from Isaiah, foretelling the suffering that had to be endured by the Messiah before He could save us. Perfect thoughts to ponder today as we give thanks to Jesus for loving us so much that He chose to die to save us.
    Blessings!

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    1. I find Isaiah's prophecies so amazingly accurate...only God could do that...
      Praying you and your family will have a peaceful and blessed Easter time together. Thank you for taking the time to visit, when I know you are "out and about" finding rest and peace this weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Carol, and a Blessed, Happy Easter to you as well.

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  6. Pam, I truly love the way you can illustrate Bible verses and find understandable analogies to share with us. Easter blessings on you and yours!

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    1. Thank you, Terri. I have to say that God puts these things together...I can't explain it any other way. I take the pictures, and He provides the message...and somehow they come together. It has to be from Him. Praise God, and Happy Easter!!

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  7. Happy Easter to you and your family my friend.

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    1. Thank you Annie, and the same to you and yours as well. I hope you are feeling better...

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  8. So beautifully written sweet Lady. Oh what a Savior! I hope you have an Easter full of blessings and joy! 💜

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    1. Thank you, Debbie. Yes, "What a Savior!" Indeed! We are so blessed and so loved. Praise God.

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  9. Pam: I recently read that the thorns in Jesus' crown were 3" long. I find that thought very sobering. I echo the others in always enjoying your blog and pictures. Happy Easter to you and yours. Praying for Rose.

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    1. Thank you, Cecelia. So hard to imagine the thorns being 3" long...oh what excruciating pain that must have been for our precious Lord to endure...not to mention all the other pain from the beatings and the nails. And yet, He did it willingly for you and me...because He loves us so much. Praise God! Thank you also for your prayers for Rose. I know she appreciates all the prayers. It has been a difficult week for her. Have a blessed Easter.

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  10. Stopping by for the first time, I am now following you! your post of the HOLY WEEK brought tears to my eyes as I felt the pain of those awful thorns and nails.
    Very interesting the pieces on the table. Love the thistle and the butterflies
    amazing how GOD always provides food from the evil.

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    1. Thank you, Harley Chick. Welcome to my "Open window". Praying that you will be blessed with the joy of the resurrection on Easter. He is Risen!!

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  11. Pam, I'm sorry to be reading this so late. My hunch is that we could all benefit from deeply reflecting on all Jesus endured for us. Good Friday is only good because of Sunday morning. Hallelujah, Christ is alive for evermore!

    Blessings!

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  12. Beautiful! Sunday is most definitely coming!!

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  13. Yes, beautiful. As Christians, we live Easter every day. A wonderful Easter weekend to you and yours.

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  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gx6_rGLz20 I watch this every year to relive the Friday experience.
    Have a wonderful Easter.

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  15. The photos certainly make us stop and think of what Jesus endured.I am just so grateful for Him and I am so thankful I was raised with such fauthful parents and we celebrated Easter Week . Such wonderful memories although with our own kids we made many new ones too. Thank you for this.

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