Aches and Praise Four Hundred & Ninety Seven

Posted on 2021-03-19 in English |

March 19, 2021
 
 

Dear friends,

                                                                                                                                                           
It’s beginning to look a lot like … Spring! When I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour at the age of 17, I learned a song that began: “What a wondrous time is Spring, when all the trees are budding; the birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming. That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it. You want to sing, it’s fresh like Spring, you want to pass it on.” You can hear an instrumental version and see the lyrics at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCjR4dlY33k. This song expressed my joy as I began to read the New Testament and discovered more about God’s love for the world.
 
In recent weeks, I have been blessed by the writing of Jon Deming, who was in the wedding party of our daughter, Candace, and Richie Pendred at Parkside Ranch in Orford a few years ago. Jon serves at Camp Spofford in New Hampshire and writes a blog entitled: “Going With the Grain.” His latest post is:

In Max Lucado’s Devotional Bible, he tells a story about the Roman emperor Charlemagne: “The pole of power is greasy … Legend has it that he asked to be entombed sitting upright in his throne. He asked that his crown be placed on his head and his scepter in his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and an open book be placed in his lap.

That was A.D. 814. Nearly two hundred years later, Emperor Othello determined to see if the burial request had been carried out. He allegedly sent a team of men to open the tomb and make a report. They found the body just as Charlemagne had requested. Only now, nearly two centuries later, the scene was gruesome. The crown was tilted, the mantle moth-eaten, the body disfigured. But open on the skeletal thighs was the book Charlemagne had requested – the Bible. One bony finger pointed to Matthew 16:26, ‘What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?’ You can answer that one.”

One of the verses of “Pass It On” includes these words: “I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I’ve found. You can depend on Him no matter where you’re bound.” As we all know, life can change quickly. Where you live or what you do in life is far less important than who you are. If you are not a disciple of Christ, why not? The Lord Jesus invites us all to love Him and live for Him with all of our heart. If you don’t know Him, I urge you to begin to read the Bible and ask God to reveal Himself to you.

Scripture for the weekend: “Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.’” Luke 10:23-24 (NIV)

Thought for the weekend: “Jesus did not come to make God’s love possible, but to make God’s love visible.” – from the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah9AbLXXiMw

 

By His grace,
 

Steve

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