The Resurrection is the most mysterious event in the history of the world. Its mystery is enhanced by the many eyewitnesses to both the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. For forty days following his Resurrection Jesus was seen by over 500 believers.

(1Corinthians 15:6)

There is an overwhelming amount of truly pertinent information that we could not have imagined before Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the morning, and on the evening of the same day, to all his disciples meeting behind locked doors.

Perhaps the most mysterious meeting was on the road to Emmaus, that very same day, when Cleopas and another disciple were walking in the sad conviction that Jesus was dead. They were joined by a “stranger,” who asked what they were discussing. They answered that their hopes in a messiah had been shattered by the death of Jesus, and the stories that he had risen only amazed and confused them: He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”. . . And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

For a long time I was puzzled over what purpose Jesus had in walking in disguise with two of his real followers. Then I remembered That Jesus had told the disciples at the Last Supper that he would be sending an “Advocate” from the Father to be with them, to companion them, to remind them of his, Jesus’ words and life, and to “open the Scriptures” to them: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” ( John 14:26)

These are the very things that the “stranger”did for the disciples, causing their hearts to “burn within them:” Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) I believe that Jesus himself was modeling the Holy Spirit for the disciples so that they could receive him after Jesus returned to Heaven. As a stranger, Jesus showed the two disciples that he could still be with them, though they wouldn’t always recognize him physically. Jesus needed his disciples to experience the reality that he and the Holy Spirit are one, and that through this Advocate, Jesus would be present with them always even if they didn’t always recognize him. How can that be? Because He is Risen! Hallelujah!

Happy, Happy Easter!

Love in Him,

Prue

The remains of the cell where Paul was confined in Philippi

There are two things about St. Paul that astound me whenever I read the book of Acts or his letters. The first one is that Paul was such an intense persecutor of Christians. He displayed not the slightest human compassion for individuals who had done nothing at all to him personally: Saul (later, Paul) began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in jail. (Acts 8:3) In addition, Saul approved the stoning of Steven. The ‘milk of human kindness’ appeared not to exist in this particular Hebrew man. Nevertheless, this is the man who wrote 1 Corinthians 13: Love is patient, love is kind. . . It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres; a definition of love that more than two thousand years later is still read at many wedding and anniversary celebrations throughout the world. Something very deep, high, and wide must have happened to the man Saul for such a change to occur in him. He is a living testimony to the grace and power of God Himself, and to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The second thing about Paul that still astounds me, is that, while for some time after his conversion on the Damascus road, he believed that Jesus’ physical return was immanent, and would happen in his own lifetime; yet when he learned that in fact, he, like Jesus, would have to die, his faith in Jesus never wavered for a moment. It is one thing to love a God who will ensure that you will not die, and another thing to know that you will, in fact be executed, and still love your God: We who are still alive will be caught up together with the others in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1Thessalonians 4:17)

Later, to Timothy, Paul in prison wrote, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2Timothy 4:6-7) Paul was enough filled with Jesus’ Spirit to know that death itself would not separate him from his God. He lived in that knowledge and it made him strong and courageous.

These two things about Paul are life altering things that give us a vision of what the Christian walk could be for an ‘ordinary’ person who experiences the presence of Another Person in His life whose character is entirely holy and just. Like David of the Old Testament, Paul received an anointing which changed his inner and outer self. He wrote exquisite passages about Jesus, as David wrote exquisite psalms. Neither time nor space has marred their messages from God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you , and just as you enter it, you will find a (donkey ) colt tied there, which no one has ever r1dden. Untie it and bring it here.” (Mark 11:2)

Jesus’ encounters with people of all types high and low, r1ch and poor, are so fascinating that we almost overlook the smaller roll of animals in Jesus’ life on earth. He was born in a stable, probably surrrounded by animals; and the announcement of his birth, heralded by angels was sent to herds of sheep as well as their shepherds. Nevertheless, Jesus’ most celebrated interaction with an animal, is the event of Palm Sunday, his procession into the city of Jerusalem on the long prophesied colt of a donkey: Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly, and riding on a donkey. . . He will proclaim peace to the nations.

(Zechariah 9:-10b)

Both Mark and Luke report that this animal had never been ridden before, and Jesus chose it specifically for his triumphant, noisy, crowded entry on a street of the bustling city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover celebration. When I thought about this, it seemed to me that Jesus was displaying only to those who knew him well, the same power over the natural world that he displayed when he stilled the storm, and when he walked on water, but only the two disciples knew about the colt. The colt fulfills the ancient prophecy, and that would be sufficient for many people to connect Jesus to the prophesy, but Jesus wanted at least two, and, undoubtedly, all the rest of the disciples, to see even more than a human king in this eventually. He wanted you and I to know him as God’s son, the eternal one who would be able to give eternal life to us.

The donkey’s colt perfectly fits the prophesy, and fits the conveyor of peace to the whole world. With the colt, Jesus is identifying himself as the one that Israel longed for. Palm Sunday is a powerful celebration for Christians. What it meant to Jesus, his disciples, the crowd, or the Pharisees is not entirely known, but what it means to us will grow and expand every year that we know our God better. The event appears in all four Gospels. It was a vital part of Jesus’ ministry. It held many meanings to the people of his time, and even more meaning to us, who take a long look from different perspectives and grow deeper in our relationship with the God/man who rode a donkey’s colt into Jerusalem more than two thousand years ago.

Love in Him,

Prue

There is a small roadsid diner/cafe in Mineral WellsTexas., I will call “Jake’s”. Jack and I stop there some times coming or going to the lake. Jake and Clara, his main waitress, now recognize us and we’re warmly welcomed when they see us come through the door. Last week we stopped for lunch on the way home from Possum Kingdom Lake, and I headed for the rest room, which turned out to be locked. I mentioned it to Clara, and she loudly speculated that someone from the kitchen must be using it. When another woman asked the same question Clara pointed to me from across the room , and announced, again loudly, “That lady is waiting for the restroom, too. We’re trying to find out why it’s locked!” I received many sympathetic looks from almost every table, as Clara’s voice carried throughout the diner. Jack asked me if I would like to leave and maybe return later, but I declined, as we had already ordered lunch. Eventually the door was unlocked and the other lady was told, also loudly, “That lady (indicating me) was waiting first!”. but it fell on deaf ears. Eventually it was my turn and everyone in the place returned to their lunches. As we finally left, I received more understanding smiles from men as well as women.

I did silently pray during this fiasco that I might disappear by some supernatural means, but I dimly recalled a scripture from St. Paul: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3;12-13)

I knew that I had nothing to forgive, for no one had acted with malice toward me; and that I had no reason to be resentful. Also, I had no reason to avoid Jake’s on future trips through Mineral Wells. After all, this was the one and only time that I had ever had an uncomfortable time in the diner. The promises of God came to mind, and I knew again that they are true: The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your soul, and live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

I knew that St. Paul’s heart had been circumcised , or he could not have been the spokesman for God’s son that he was.

Humility is painful to learn. It will be quite a long time before I return to Jake’s Diner, but I feel sure that I will return.

Love in Him,

Prue

Among the many passages in the Old Testament that reflect Christ, there are two passages that, with a little light from the New Testament, lead us directly to Christ. The first appears in Deuteronomy : If any of your people–Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. . . but if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Deuteronomy 15:12-18)

The second appears in a psalm of David: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but ears you have dug for me—burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am. I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will my God. Your law is within my heart.”

When I first read “ears you have dug for me”, I couldn’t understand the psalm, but one day I remembered the peculiar passage in Deuteronomy describing a person willingly entering service to another, and declaring a desire to stay for life in servitude. To the other. It was the word love, that resonated, for the whole relationship was wrapped in enough love for the servant to choose to make it permanent.

David, too , must have known the earlier rule, and experienced a relationship of service to his God that allowed him to feel that he actually belonged to God, and recognized the scriptural pierced ear as a sign of God’s ownership of himself. “Who”, I asked myself, “came willingly into servitude, and loved the ones he served so much that he chose to remain a servant forever, if it is not the Lord Jesus, himself?”

More than a thousand years after the words of Deuteronomy were given to the Hebrew people , the apostle Paul wrote about ownership of our own bodies and selves: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit whom you received from God? You are not your own: you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) In two short passages authored in different times and by different people, we can see a loving relationship that transcends time and place, that chooses love above everything else, and that gives us a picture of our God, for the Holy Spirit of Christ has come to stay.

Love in Him,

Prue

9

Sitting near the gate at the San Antonio airport, waiting for a flight to Mexico, I discovered that I had left my Kindle in the security check bin, and went to retrieve it. At the desk I was asked the title of the book I was reading, to make sure I was really the owner. When I answered, the security officer never looked at the Kindle, but handed it to me.

I returned to the gate in time for our flight, thinking about the Kindle, and remembering that several years ago my older brother had told me that “some day” I would be able to carry a whole library in my purse. I had thought, “Why would anyone want to do that? It’s a foolish notion.” Now I was carrying a library onto the plane and feeling very glad at the thought of having retrieved it.

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt. . .where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drink rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

(Deuteronomy 11:10-12)

The changes that the Spirit of God brings into our lives make our lives different from what they were before. Until those changes come, we cannot imagine what they will be, just as we cannot imagine what a difference a new friendship will make in our lives. In Deuteronomy God carefully explains some of the changes in store for the people who had come from being slaves in Egypt. He outlined the kind of differences they would experience when they placed their relationship with Him at the center of their lives.

The apostle Peter expressed the new life that comes with a relationship with Christ: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. (1Peter 1:3-4) God told the early Hebrews that their new life would not be like their old life. The new life would have the Person of God in Christ at its center: Behold! I make all things new! (Revelation 21:5)

Love in Him,

Prue

God is not stupid. He knows that He is invisible to His people. It was one of the issues between Moses and Himself: Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my glory to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, ‘The Lord’ in your presence. . . But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:19-20)

God knew that His being invisible to the people He was bringing out of Egypt would be a problem for them for centuries, as they would be living surrounded by idol worshipers, who would seem to be flourishing in their idolatry. He also knew that “seeing is believing” was in the minds of many.

In their forty years of moving about in the wilderness they received visible and constant proof of God’s presence in the fire overhead at night and the cloud in the daylight, that kept them together and mostly united. God isn’t stupid. He knows the pull and attraction of the man idols from the beginning of time and today. He knows and understands the struggle to remain faithful; and He knew that His people would ultimately need to see Him, and Jesus knew it, too: The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. (Luke 11:31)

St. Paul, who heard Jesus’ voice after the resurrection, testified that , The Son of God is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15), and, My goal is that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2: 2-3)

In the Scriptures we have the “Image of God in Christ,” a thing that even Moses and Elijah came to visit on the Mount of Transfiguration. We think there are things that God does not understand, but there are none.

Love in Him,

Prue

Birthday Cake

The cutting of the birthday cake of our four year old neighbor was a big occasion, and Jack and I were happy to be invited to the ceremony. Michelle, the birthday girl, sat in a high chair while the rest of us sat around her at the dining room table. The cake was decorated with gum balls and candies and flowers made of icing. When Michelle blew out the candles , a chorus from her older brother, Jeffrey and sister, Lindy, went up, “Michelle, can I have a gum ball?” asked Jeffrey; “Michelle, can I have a rose?” from Lindy, and the requests didn’t stop there. “Yes”, said Michelle, “Yes”, over, and over again until the decorations were nearly depleted. She seemed delighted to say “yes”, and never once complained that they were taking all the “good” parts from her cake. I was impressed at her unassuming graciousness. Nothing was denied. Everything was cheerfully handed over.

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No”. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ. . . was not “Yes” and “No, ” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)

As extraordinary as a little four year old’s generosity was, the words of St. Paul express an almost unknown level of graciousness toward all humanity, “As surely as God is faithful.” This faithfulness is limitless, and Jesus describes it in several passages: Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move. (Matthew 17:20-21)

The faith that Jesus expressed to his disciples was not a faith in an empty void but a faith in the person of the Christ. Jesus told those who asked about the works that God requires: The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent. ( John 6:28)

This is the childlike belief that Jesus extols in Matthew, Luke, and Mark: He said to them (the disciples) “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

If a four year old child can be free with her birthday cake, Is it possible that our God is not true to His promises?

Love in Him,

Prue

Sitting in our veterinarian’s waiting room with our cat secure in his carrier, I started a conversation with the woman next to me, who had a very large male rottweiler sitting quietly on the floor at her knee. He was on a loose leash, and when he turned his face to me, I could see that he was blind. The woman noticed my surprise, and said, “Yes, he’s blind, but he hardly notices his blindness. He was trained in German and in English and in sign language, but he’s retired now. We never knew him when he wasn’t blind, but he’s so confident, that he can still run. He runs to our voice, outdoors; and inside, he has memorized the furniture and has no trouble moving around. He’s a wonderful companion, and we’re even fonder of him than of the smaller female, who keeps us running all the time. Of course, she’s much younger.”

I was awed that this big, beautiful, obedient dog could still run and not even “notice” his own blindness. Apparently, his training had been so thorough that he had complete

confidence in the voices of his newest owners. It had created an affectionate bond with them.

Throughout the Old and new Testaments God seeks a loving bond with His people. He delights in David: I have found David,son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do. (Acts 13:22) Isaiah the prophet quoted the Lord:As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55: 9-11)

Everywhere we look there is evidence of the character of God in our fallen world. The word of God observing the rain and snow; the word explaining the great difference between God and man; the dog who overcomes his blindness through an obedience that brings him mobility and new life, are only a few. God sought David for the love that David would have for God, and for David’s ability to embrace unreserved obedience to Him.

The rottweiler’s ability to obey enabled him to overcome a potentially debilitating blindness. I believe that God seeks that ability in all of His children, and when He finds it, there rejoicing in Heaven.

Love in Him,

Prue

One of the many specific commands that God gave the ancient Hebrews when He was first shaping them into a unified nation, was the command about their clothing. They were to wear tassels attached to the hem of their robes for a very special reason: Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments , with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember. . . to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. (Numbers 15:37)

More than a thousand years after this instruction was given to Israel, Jesus of Nazareth was walking in a public area when a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years saw the blue cord on the tassels of his garment, and touched the fringe of his garment and immediately her flow of blood ceased. (Luke 8:43-44)

God had not promised healing from the tassels, but consecration and connection to Himself. For all those many years, His command had stayed buried in the minds of His people so that the very connection that God sought with His people would survive through generations. Jesus’ identity as His son would be recognized by the humblest of His people.

This incident in the New Testament is full of insight into Jesus’ character as well as the power of God’s earlier action in the creation of the unified nation to be His own people. In spite of the wandering away, the turning back; in spite of the times of faithlessness and of exile, the light of faith was never extinguished. Sometimes, the light was very small and hard to find, but it was never lost.

The woman who touched Jesus’ garment was afraid to be discovered, and Jesus’ response, “Who touched my clothes?” shows that the seed planted in the law of God bore fruit in the woman without Jesus even knowing her need. At last Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go In peace, and be freed from your suffering.”( Mark 5:34)

For over a thousand years before God presented His son to the world, some souls in Israel retained a Spirit that would waken at the footsteps of Jesus. I believe it happens to us as well. The woman was healed for her lifetime. In the risen Christ we can be healed for eternity.

Love in Him,

Prue