I love Faithful Fridays! Friday is just a good day anyway and every day is a good day to share our faith! :) My daughter, Joy, started Faithful Fridays several years ago as a way for us to do just that...... by setting aside one day a week to share something from our Christian walk so we can encourage and bless one another!
This week I've had a song on my mind a great deal. Maybe it's because Jason had it on replay and I heard it a zillion times while we were working on repainting our hallway. And then it seems every time I got in the vehicle to go somewhere, it would play on the KLove. That's a good thing though. You know the first time I hear a song, the tune and beat get my attention. And THEN I focus on the words. And this song has great lyrics! It speaks volumes! And it's yet another one by Mandisa.
In this world, we get down. We go through stuff. We tend to let circumstances pull us down. It's human nature.
But thanks to Jesus, we don't have to stay there! We don't have to stay at the bottom or go under. God is there to pull us up and He tells us that we are overcomers because of Him. He has overcome the world and because of that we can rise above any of our circumstances, trials, or tribulations. We can have peace and even joy because WE are overcomers through Jesus!
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
John 16:33
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.
1 John 5:4
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Romans 8:37
Just know you're not alone! We've all been there. I've been there many times. We had some low times this past week. You might be there today! It's not hopeless! You ARE an overcomer! Don't quit. Don't give up! Hang on to His promises! He is faithful!
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**Note** This must be something God really wanted to be shared because without knowing it, Joy and I posted on the exact same subject. And then again, this song and these scriptures have blessed us this week and strengthened us! :) I love when God works like this!
I’m a day late with Faithful Friday, but I decided to do it anyway. :) Jason’s dad is not doing well and several of Pawpaw’s brothers and sisters have come in to see him while he will still know them. With company here and lots of trips to the Hospice House (which is one hour away from us), our schedule has been a little hurried the past few days. But….I figure better late with a Faithful Friday post than to not do it altogether!
Anyway, when I received this in an email this week from a sweet homeschooling friend, I knew I wanted to share it on my next Faithful Friday, especially since we just celebrated Easter. I’m not sure how I ever missed reading this somewhere along the line but it was very interesting, informative, and exciting that Jesus took time to leave a small gesture to reveal His promise to us!
Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this....
The Gospel of John 20:7 (YLT) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.
The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'
Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see... The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.
Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this
tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he
made sure that it
was exactly the way the master wanted it.
The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.
Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'.
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,
because.........
The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!' **********************************************************************************
Be sure and stop by and visit Joy’s Faithful Friday too. We invite you to join us for Faithful Fridays (usually on Friday, not Saturday).
I could hardly wait until Friday got here to share this with you! It’s been a long week of waiting. I’ve known since Monday what I wanted to share for this week’s Faithful Friday!
Some of you may recall that Joy and I (and sometimes Luke) love to visit a local nursing home. We have made many friends there and they are precious to us!
Well one man in particular, Mr. C., captured our hearts from the beginning, which has been about three years ago. He served as a cook in the army during the war. He cooked for Patton and Eisenhower! Oh the stories he tells with such passion, and we do love to listen! He is a spunky man with a contagious smile, and Joy claims him as a grandpa and he most definitely claims her. Actually, he claims us all and has our family photo posted on his wall.
Okay, on to my story for today. We try not to let much time get away in between visits. We take little things to our friends that they want sometimes or may mention they’d like to have, and sometimes we just go visit. Sometimes it is just a quick pop-in just to say hi. Sometimes we go and help do the ladies’ nails or help with bingo. Joy has even gone to knitting class with them. Well three weeks had gotten by since our last visit there. As I said before, life has had us busy, and especially so with the string of birthdays. Well, Joy had a dream that Mr. C. had lost a lot of weight and didn’t know us. This really upset her. When she woke up and shared that dream with me, it was obvious she was really worried. It upset her to the point that she kept telling me we needed to get up there. This was a couple of days before we actually went. So we rushed through school the day I told her we would go (last Thursday) and headed up there. When we got there, we discovered that Mr. C. was indeed very sick and had been in the hospital with pneumonia, but had returned to the nursing home. He was lying in his bed (which he usually isn’t doing unless he’s taking his afternoon nap) and was wearing an oxygen mask and definitely not the full-of-life-spunky-Mr. C. that we knew. But when he saw us, we did get that smile from him that lights up the room, even through the mask! We visited with him, but when we walked out of the room, Joy couldn’t hold back the tears. She was heartbroken, especially because of her dream. And I had a huge lump in the back of my throat trying to hold back my emotions too.
So we’ve been praying for him. But the thing that really had Joy (and me) concerned was whether he was a Christian or not. We never really knew for sure from our talks with him. But this is the good part!! On Monday, when we visited him, he accepted the Lord and prayed the prayer of salvation with us! This time when we walked out of the room, Joy was smiling (as was I)!
Heaven is truly rejoicing. Can you imagine? Here’s a 94 year old man accepting Christ! So needless to say, we’ve kind of been floating on clouds this week! :)
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 (NIV)
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7 (NIV)
We did visit Mr. C. yesterday afternoon and he doesn’t look well. He didn’t talk as much and when he did, he didn’t make a lot of sense. He may very well be in his last days. But one thing we know is that we will see him in heaven! I smile when I think about what he told Joy the day we prayed with him…..he said, “I’m going to get out of here and you and me are going to have us a good ole time”. And you know what, one day we will! It may not be here on this earth, but we will!
This brings me to another point. Speaking of talking to folks about the Lord or witnessing to them, we have been watching a lot of videos of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (remember the actor from Growing Pains). They are wonderful! If you want to learn how to be more at ease with speaking to people about this and finding the right words, you really should watch these. You can find many of their videos on youtube. They are real life examples of them walking up to folks and jumping right into a conversation (with all kinds of people). It helps with knowing how to respond to the many different replies as well. Just look on youtube for The Way of the Master or go to their website here. We are trying to watch some everyday. Our goal is to become so comfortable with doing this (which is not in my nature) that it just feels natural to do it and strange to not do it. They make it look so easy!
Another great website is Fish with Trish. She has mini videos that show how you can share Jesus everywhere you go. One is even at the fast food drive-thru. Joy and I did this on Tuesday, and it works and it feels so good! As Trish says, it forces you to not be focused on yourself but to be looking for opportunities to think of others and share! She gives many examples, including even the gas station (we haven’t tried that one yet)! If you want to equip yourself with how to share the Gospel, check her site out! And I'm not sharing this to say what "we did" because this was a first for us, but I just got to thinking that if people reading my blog from different cities could see this and possibly give it a try, just think how much we would all be sharing God's love and what He did for us!
And that, my friend, is what I’ve been so excited to share with you this week. If you would, please also remember Mr. C. in your prayers. We know he’s ready to go should that be the case, and he’s lived a long full life, but we’d love to have him around a little longer if the Lord sees fit.
Faithful Fridays was started by my daughter, Joy. It’s just one way to make a point of sharing our Christian faith or an experience from our Christian Walk in blog land once a week. We invite you to participate as well. Just leave Joy a comment on her blog, Doodlebug, letting her know you are participating, and we’ll come visit! And if you just stopped by to read today, that’s okay too and we thank you for that! Be sure and stop by Joy's blog to expand a little more on this topic. Our thoughts for Faithful Friday were very similiar this week! Have a great weekend! :)
I recently read Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman. Mary Beth is the wife of Christian recording artist, Steven Curtis Chapman. What a wonderful thought provoking, soul-stirring, emotional and inspirational book it was!
For those of you that aren’t familiar with this family, they were suddenly thrust into the nightmare of living life after the tragedy of losing their five year old daughter, Maria, through an accident in their driveway that also involved their precious 17 year old son, Will.
Mary Beth is very candid and honest about her feelings. She unveils the emotions and thoughts as only a mother experiences. She relays how God gets them through the hard times. This family has allowed God to use what was meant for evil and what could have destroyed their family to be used for good and for God’s glory. They chose to see what God can and will do.
My heart just felt ripped in two as I read the events that occurred that day and the days that followed. I can’t imagine living through what they experienced. In addition to losing a child, helping their son through the guilt he experienced, they were also faced with the fact that Maria’s two sisters were in the backyard with Maria and witnessed the accident.
There were so many similiaries between Mary Beth and myself.....age, time we were married, personality, family, etc.. Especially dear to my heart was their adoption experiences. You see not only did they have three children by birth, Emily, Caleb and Will, but their three youngest daughters were adopted from China: Shaohannah, Stevey Joy, and Maria. Stevey Joy and Maria were virtually twins (both five years old). Mary Beth tells the story of how each one came to join their family. And what a beautiful family they are!
In this book, Mary Beth tells of her struggles to allow God to write her life’s story. She addresses the questions like “Where is God when things fall apart? Why does God allow terrible things to happen? How can I survive these hard times?
Mary Beth learns that her family can do hard through God’s help. She shows that even in hard times, there is hope if you choose to see.
I wanted to share this song, Cinderella, by Steven Curtis Chapman, which most of you have probably already heard many times. This song always makes me tear up anyway every time I hear it on the radio, but especially knowing the Chapman family’s loss of sweet and spunky Maria. Steven wrote this song after being on “bath and bedtime duty” for the three youngest Chapman girls. He was experiencing a very busy night and was in a rush to get the girls to bed, wanting them to hurry through their baths, say their prayers, and get tucked in. Through the rush of it all, the girls aren’t cooperating and get out of bath and put on their dress up clothes and say they’re going to a ball. He says “No, you’re not; you’re going to bed.” He manages to get them rallied again, baths completed, and tucked in bed. Then God spoke to his heart. He spoke one word, “Emily”. That’s his oldest daughter…his grown daughter. God reminded him how quickly time passes and to cherish each moment. That’s the story behind this song. What a beautiful one it is. It was also little Maria’s favorite song by her daddy.
This book and this song serves as a reminder for me to stop and enjoy the simple moments. One day my house will be quiet. The kid will be grown. I won’t be so busy one day, but I will wish for those busy days again. I want to cherish these times.
I hope it does the same for you.
And it would also be wonderful if we could all remember the Chapman family in our prayers! They are healing, but every day is a struggle! I pray God will use their entire family in a mighty way and I know God has BIG plans for their Will Franklin and I can’t wait to see what that is. And I know Maria will be smiling down on her big brother, whom she adored, when that plan unfolds.
Thanks for stopping by today for Faithful Friday. We would love for you to join in as well. Just stop by Joy's blog and leave a comment letting her know you are participating, so we can stop by!
Where to even begin on this post? There have been some events in my own experience these last couple of weeks that especially press heavy and make this post all the more special to my heart.
How often I rush through my days, when I’m out and about, right past people, as I drive through the fast-food drive-in window line, in the check-out line at Walmart, past people on the street, even through the online world.
Well this song hit me hard. As I mentioned before, music lyrics have a special way of speaking to me, whether that be encouragement or conviction.
This song does a little of both.
It’s called, “Give Me Your Eyes” and it is written and sung by Brandon Heath, a wonderful Christian artist. Many of his songs really inspire me. But this one…….this one just might be an all time favorite. I think I’m going to get it for my ringtone as a constant reminder to see through the eyes of Jesus.
I hope as you listen to the song that you will really listen and take the words to heart.
So many times, I am quick to anger, criticize, or draw my own conclusions with or about people. After listening to this song and thinking of all the people with whom I come in contact, it made me really think and wonder just where they’ve come from, what they’ve been through, or what they’re enduring now. Am I seeing the hurting people who just need me to show a little compassion, a kind word, a touch of encouragement, or just a smile? Or am I seeing the rude sullen-faced employee, the filthy mouthed teenager, the gruff dirty man that just walked in and sat down at the booth next to us at McDonalds, or the person leaving ugly comments? There are so many “broken” people surrounding me every day and everywhere. And what am I doing about it? I just want more. More of Jesus reaching out to meet these people where they are……seeing them as Jesus sees them. But in reality, I see how just how often I fail in this area!
God told us in His Word how He looks at people. When God told Samuel the guidelines to use to find the next King (after Saul), He said:
“The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Well you know the story here. David is the one chosen to be King and he’s just a shepherd boy…..but a shepherd boy who knew with God’s help, he could defeat the giant, Goliath. Everyone else looked at the outward appearance, but God looked at David’s heart.
I want God’s eyes so I can see the heart. I just might see that the rude employee’s actions are her only way of coping because her husband just walked out on her that morning. My compassion and kindness just might be what she needs. I mean, how hard would that be? Lord, help me remember.
I want to look beyond the prejudices, the put-downs and see the potential of that person who has been made in the image of God (just like me).
And in the Bible, what about the woman at the well? Remember the woman that came to draw water during the hottest part of the day (probably because she couldn’t come when all the other women came because she wasn’t welcome among them)? She found Jesus there. I mean she really found Jesus there. She came for water and went away with so much more…..living water. Jesus already knew (before she told him) that she had been married five times and was living with a man who wasn’t her husband at the time. She left that well a new person, excitedly proclaiming about this man who knew all about her.
Seeing through Jesus’ eyes means looking past failure(s) and giving another chance. Maybe that person just needed a kind word that day.
Paul mentions how we are to see through Jesus’ eyes when he speaks in Corinthians:
“From now on we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away.” 2 Corinthians 5:16
So if I am a Christian, I have a new way of seeing people. I should no longer see them “from this human point of view”, but instead from Christ’s point of view.
I want to see with compassion like Jesus did with the blind (since birth) beggar. Jesus’ disciples were asking (just like something we could probably be heard saying)….I wonder who sinned to cause this….the man or his parents? Here the disciples were ……not even feeling real compassion about this man that never had the privilege of taking in God’s beautiful creations or the faces of his loved ones through seeing eyes. They were involved in the legalism and theology of it all. But Jesus said neither one (not the sin of either).….but to bring glory to God. And Jesus proceeded to heal this blind beggar.
I want to see the suffering person and not wonder what happened to them or what caused it, but to see them with compassion….true compassion with a desire so strong to help them that I can’t rest until I do. I want to see suffering through Jesus’ eyes. Lord, help me remember.
I don’t think this is going to "just happen". I’m going to have to make the choice. I’m going to have to choose to see through the eyes of Jesus, and not those of the world. I want to be constantly alert and learning from Jesus who truly knows compassion. I want to see past the superficial and see deeper. Lord, help me remember.
We (Joy & I) just got finished reading Kisses from Katie together, by Katie Davis, the 21 year old girl that is amazingly seeing through the eyes of Jesus in Uganda and just allowing Him to use her. It’s a testimony to just what God can do if we choose to see through the eyes of Jesus and allow Him to love through us. What an inspiration and a conviction! (I will have to do another entire post on her book, because people……you need to read it! It is a true eye opener, and a heart opener)!
If you visited here today, I know it was meant to be so and I hope that just as this song and these verses encouraged, inspired, and convicted me with the desire to see through the eyes of Jesus, that it does the same to you. Just think if we could all do that......what a difference we would make!
If you would like to participate in Faithful Friday, we’d love it! Just leave a comment here or on Joy’s blog letting us know and we’ll come by and visit!
Be blessed! Have a great day and wonderful weekend! :)
