Easter Sunday Message

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Like the way Thanksgiving is my favorite celebrated family holiday, so are the moments of Jesus for which he gave us all, leading up to Easter Monday - these are the 'Time' for which I am most thankful.

The Bible is poetry to me in the way Shakespeare is poetry to many. Have you ever considered the same about the Bible? It really is so beautiful. Sometimes I become so overwhelmed by how sensible and aware their minds back then when I see the meaning in the words of the Bible. It really is not hard to understand and a lot of it requires an intuition you may not even know you surely have. I am sure everyone would love it. Here's a great website and resource, Bible Gateway, where you can read and research scripture online all in the language or translation of your choice! I also love Billy Graham and his website... he reminds me so much of my Grandfather and the way he used to share the gospel.

Some of my favorite Biblical Phrases from King James' Version I've included below from the Bible given to me by my mother, which my Grandmother gave to her - and I will pass down for generations to come. It is the only thing of this earth I keep as all other material things I've ever owned have never been important to me and I always give away to someone else in need (and forgive me to say, toss!).

Have a beautiful and memorable weekend everyone...

The lad Jesus in the temple
Luke 2: 49
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?


Sins of the natural man
Romans 1: 16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God
for the salvation of every one who believeth.

The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6: 9-13
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever.
Amen.


A Psalm of David, the Twenty-Third Psalm
Psalm 23: 1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


Creation of Man. The Seventh Day. Eden. Creation of Woman.
Genesis 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.


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The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-17
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt now bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.


Sermon on the mount
Matthew 6: 19-21
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.


Jesus pays tribute; teaches humility
Matthew 18: 2-6
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted; and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.


On faith and prayer
Mark 11: 23-25
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.


Jesus and the Jews: his claim
John 9: 5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.


"If ye love me, keep my commandments. Love one another, as I have loved you."
John 15: 9-17
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.

In Loving Memory - I Want To Give

I Want To Give; a love that smiles, and I know the will of…

In looking back, a young woman discovers her ‘years to come’ and sees her future.

It begins with the sadness of her Grandfather’s passing, takes her back to the memories they shared, and then leads her to rediscover her strengths and instincts as a child when she recalls a single verse [see Luke 2:49]

In loving memory of my Grandpa.
He showed me the Lord.

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God
for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16

‘‘I Want To Give just like my Grandfather gave to so many others and myself; a love that smiles, and I know the will of God and ‘life and work’ of my Grandfather - and both call me here.

~

A Personal Short Story and Memoir:

I Want To Give ~ In Loving Memory & A Single Verse

Her Grandfather passed away last year. She remembers him as always working and smiling, and he loved to laugh out loud. He cared about people and always had a lot to share with them.

On her last visit…

His face and spirit still like a shining star. It always started out she felt inspired; they ate together, caught up on the family-tree, and looked at old photographs.

Grandpa loved to share the gospel. He had a way with speaking out. He was the kind of man to welcome a child on his knee and tell Bible stories. As she got older, she read the Bible and he listened. In all those years, and every time she saw him, he would say, “Jesus loves you.”

They had fun playing board games Backgammon and Scrabble, and when they competed in Croquet they could always count on each other to say, “Let’s go again!” If she were to add the hours they played their favorite card game? It would be a better surprise to count the number of times they charged at the challenge to see who was the fastest; and jumped across the table to reach the last pile, and exclaimed as loud as they could “Dutch Blitz!”

She listened when he talked about his life and work. They were ‘cut from the same cloth’ in the way they shared an understanding for respect, especially for listening and learning.

It was during their last visit, she sensed there was more to their connection…

And, so began the subtle power of God’s enduring grace.

One day in her reminiscence…

Her mother told her of the day she was born: said she was “unusual” in the way that she smiled a lot and was content; Grandpa would always say she had a “beautiful spirit.”

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She saw her Grandfather much in the same way, and perhaps inevitable…

Soon, every time she ran to the corner store she was greeted with “Smiley!” by the storekeeper. But the storekeeper was not the only one inspired. She remembers it struck her somehow, as if to say she was so grown up and her smile would surely lead to her destiny.

At five years old, she arrived home from summer Bible Camp - a children’s camp founded by her Grandfather, and ran up to her mother in the kitchen with a very big smile and cried out in glee “Guess what, I asked Jesus into my heart!” She somehow knew that in her heart and in her life Jesus would always be.

She felt him in the way she felt her spirit now.

Now she knew God's love.

She then came to learn more of what Grandpa was all about…

Times would come when she would help with the Newsletter - a native gospel newsletter also founded by her Grandfather, and sort stacks of ‘little green paper’ on many tables where together they put them in numerical order and then folded them in half like a book, and she was already excited to know the inspiration books could bring…

Holding her breath, she would always go down the dark, cold basement steps to Grandpa’s library study, at the same time anticipate what she would find next down there - always a new world to explore.

On this day, she found a heavy volume of big, blue children’s books that talked about Jesus and his many journeys. A story in particular, when Jesus was just a boy and went to the Lord’s Temple where he had to be about his Father’s house - and listened and talked with the many scholars there.

It would stay with her ‘for years to come’.

Was God speaking to her there?

With an innate knowledge and respect for leadership and principles she works to share that with people too, and lives to influence people to listen within and to welcome their own spirit so they can see others need theirs too; and shares compassion.

Could it also be, that reading about Jesus and his journeys, and learning from her Grandfather’s influence, is why no matter where she is, even in a cold and dark basement, it always feels like home?

God is serenity. She remembers that summer on the beach and sitting on a rock, and it occurs to her now: she does not remember her thoughts before that moment or who she even was, but she remembers how she felt during that prayer, and ever since then, and that is to always consider God before everything she does and to look after her spirit - she never feels alone - she has never felt lonely.

She knows God is everywhere. He speaks to us all the time. She wants to share that, for she sees there are many people who feel alone or get lonely.

The rock is symbolic; of, no matter the weight we carry, God will always hear us and respond with a smile…

And we will surely feel it.

Now at a time in her life when she is making another life-changing decision, she sits on the rock she founded…

She goes back to her last visit with her Grandfather, and speaks with him once more; at the same time she feels a deep aspiration to change the direction of her work…

Indeed, God has spoken. It was as she sensed before.

Then she hears Grandpa say “Hello Smiley! Bring my work up from the basement and let’s take it to the store!”

Her Grandfather had a sense of humor and he always made her laugh! He also loved candy! But she was not scared to go down the cold, dark basement steps, and do you know why?

Because at the end there would always be a part of him that she would find…

For she had to be about her Grandpa’s house.

He lived to share God’s grace…

Now she works to serve God.

To bring the mysterious, enlightening and wondrous works of God upon her as a small child, and the dedicated ‘life and work’ of her Grandfather - to share their grace and love through her passion for stories and writing that will inspire ‘for years to come’.

To let others know God is speaking to us all the time.

The final step she takes...

She will look back on her ‘years to come’... and happy to see ‘life and work’ are one and the same.

And she knows it is the way it is to always have been - with God.

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‘‘I Want To Give; a love that smiles, and I know the will of God.

~In Loving Memory~

‘‘I had to be about my Grandpa’s house.

In reference to his library study and his ‘life and work’ and a single verse she remembers as a child in a story that stayed with her ‘for years to come’ [see Luke 2:49]

• What story, children’s book or single verse ties in with your fondest childhood memories ‘for years to come’?
• What personal discovery is found?
• When will your adventure unfold? How about now!
  

Read more about...
I Want To Give and the vision behind ‘for years to come’ in her biography.

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