It's Good Friday-But Sunday is Coming!

It's Good Friday, the day our Lord was crucified on the cross for our sins.

Perhaps one of the most revealing prophetic descriptions of  Christ's death is found in Isaiah 53, which was written some 800 years prior to Christ's life and death here on earth. I won't quote the whole chapter here, but commend it to your reading.  Just these particular verses stand out to me this morning:

Isaiah 53:4-6

4.  "Surely He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5.  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.

6.  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."

It was for my sins that Christ suffered and died on that cross. 

Have you ever asked yourself why? Here's the best answer I can find:

"For God so loved the world

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

That's the answer in a nutshell. Because God loves us that much. He desires for us to be with Him forever in heaven...and because we were filled with sin and without hope in our own merits,  there was only one way to get us there...through the death of His perfect, spotless Lamb of God, Who took away the sins of the world...

"Behold! The Lamb of God 

who takes away the sin of the world!" 

John 1:29

Praise God for this spotless Lamb of God, Who has taken away my sin!

This past week there have been a couple of special things going on on Facebook that have meant something to me.  One is the "Faith over Fear" movement in our area, which is spreading to other parts of the country as well. People are displaying crosses in their yards or in their homes, to show that they are choosing to have "Faith Over Fear" in light of this current pandemic we are enduring.
Our sweet son, the carpenter, built this beautiful cross for me this week at my request.

There are many verses regarding having faith over fear in the Bible. The one I have chosen is

Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? 

Be strong and of good courage;

Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, 

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

It is good for us to remember that our God is with us during this battle against this invisible foe, the Covid 19 virus.  He will fight for us and He will see us through.

Another movement has been the "Red Door  Ribbon (corrected) Movement", based on God's message to the children of Israel in Exodus 12 to take the blood of an unblemished lamb (see verses 1-13), and to

7.  "Take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it."

And then read on in verses 12-13:

12.  "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: 

I Am the Lord.

13.  Now the blood shall be a sign 

for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you;

and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."

Yes, this is the Passover story. And this week is not only the Christian Holy Week, but also the time of Passover.  Our land is currently enduring a type of plague. Many people are praying for God to spare us from this disease and death. The Red Ribbon movement is a way of expressing that we are praying for our families and loved ones, and claiming the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ the spotless Lamb of God, to cover our homes and protect our families. As a believer in Christ, we are already covered by His Blood, but this is a way again, like the crosses in our yards, to be a witness of our faith in Christ over fear.   I know I don't have to do these things to be covered by God, but this was something I felt led to do to share our faith with our neighborhood as well as a kind of offering up to the Lord.  The Lord knows each of our hearts, and that is the most important thing.

The best part is...Sunday is coming! We know the beautiful end of this story!  But more about that later...

On to a couple other things from this week's photos:

The lovely Great Blue Heron showed up again. He hasn't been to Still Waters Pond in a while, maybe because of all the goose activity, but he came a few times this week and I was happy to get a good picture of him before he flew over to the other side of the pond:

I sat outside and ate my lunch one day, and these two Cardinals flew in to join me so that I wouldn't be alone:

And this squirrel hopped in for a drink as well...

Our son blessed us by weed whacking the growth of weeds along the shore of the pond this week. They were starting to get way overgrown and we were concerned about snakes, so he took care of it for us. He works for a Golf Course doing lawn maintenance/landscaping, which is considered "essential" during this time, so we are thankful he is still employed, and he also can use his skills to help us!

I hope and pray that you are safe and having a blessed Holy Week, even with all of the restrictions. Let us rejoice in that Easter is coming! And with that new hope we also look forward to the continued waning of this current plague...praying that soon the virus will be on its way out and we will be able to resume our lives...hopefully with a new peace in our hearts and an assurance that God is working in the midst of all of this. Praying for those who are still suffering, whether it be physically or financially or otherwise. May God be with you...and may our faith rise over our fears and give us peace.

Click HERE for a link to my 2019 Good Friday message.

2017: Reflections At the Cross