Try as we might, we can never replicate the events of Palm Sunday, for they are followed by the cataclysmic events of the crucifixion. The joy that was expressed in the streets of Jerusalem when people waved palms and threw their garments on the ground, is not the same as our joy, for ours is augmented by the knowledge of the Resurrection.

Nevertheless, the crowds who celebrated Jesus’ entry into the city were a foreshadow of the parades and demonstrations that would continue for thousands of years in Easter celebrations. In those precious moments of Jesus’ journey are shown the spirit of a people in recognition of the presence of their God in the person of His son. It was a spontaneous display that even the disciples did not foresee.

“Centuries earlier, though, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. . . and the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.” (Isaiah 40:3&5)

The incident we now call “Palm Sunday”, when people cried out, “Hosanna to the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!” (Luke 19:38), remained in the consciousness of Christians everywhere since the scriptures were written. It has enduring meaning because God intends it to have eternal meaning.

When Isaiah wrote “Make straight a highway for our God” he wasn’t calling on the government to build more roads, but upon believers to open their hearts and minds more fully to the divine life of their God.

Jesus knew the importance of the celebration of his presence in the midst of his people. He said, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:40).

Palm Sunday starts the roller coaster of events of Holy Week at a high place, only to plunge into the somber events of the Last Supper , the arrest, and Crucifixion of Christ. Palm Sunday is a distant glimmer of Jesus’ identity and greatness, intended to cast a light on all subsequent events, and for us and all believers to see in the palms and branches the prophesy of Isaiah and the promise it contains for all generations. It’s a long light that reaches into both the past and the future. Like all else in Jesus, it draws us toward his own eternal life.

Love in Him,

Prue

Never Dated

Reclining in the dentist’s chair watching a home renovation program on his overhead T.V. , I learned that the kitchen back splash, identical to the one in my own kitchen, was “dated, and had to go”. It was in good condition, as is mine, but its “datedness” made it impossible to live in the house. It was a shock to see it and process the thought that my kitchen, of which I’m quite fond, is utterly unacceptable as a living space, because the back splash is out of date. I had been living with the comfortable illusion that some things were inherently good, and that my back splash was one of them.

I began to think that “datedness” could be an evil that could be applied to virtually everything around us: our clothes, hair styles, furniture, choice of books and entertainment, cars, houses, and especially our Bibles!

There is unlikely to be an older book in our collections than the Bible, and there is probably a mindset that considers its age an entirely disqualifying fact. After all, what can possibly be gained from reading (and re-reading) material that is thousands of years old, even before the age of indoor plumbing?

What would it mean to encounter the mind of a bronze age man such as Abraham? What would it mean to worship the same God that he worshiped? What would the unfolding of the stories of centuries of individuals who followed and communicated with the same God that we Worship? Would we have a perception of timelessness, that would make a difference in our lives? Every voice in the Bible says that it does: “You believe in Him, and are filled with an inexpressible joy” (1 Peter 1:8). “I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. (Song of Solomon 2:3&4). “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you” (Psalm 63:3-5).

The voices of those who have faith in an eternal God are never “dated”, for they come from the Spirit that is timeless, and always new. “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5) The newness of God is eternal and for believers it is the promise of a lifeline to Him. Instead of being “dated” in Him, we are eternally loved.

Love in Him,

Prue

Open the Book

On Easter Sunday much of the Christian world will stand and sing the hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, a song written by Charles Wesley in the 18^th century.

Charles Wesley was a Methodist minister who wrote in his journal of his own conversion: “May 13, 1737. I waked without Christ, yet still desirous of finding him.” He continued by telling of a visit of some friends to his apartment, as he had been ill. He and his friends practiced the custom of “opening the book”, which amounted to literally opening the Bible at random, and reading the first passage on which their eye rested. On Charles Wesley’s second attempt his eye rested on, “He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:3) “I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ,” he wrote in his journal. “My temper for the rest of the day was mistrust of my own great, but before unknown, weakness.”

The fruit of this conversion was six thousand , five hundred hymns, including “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, composing an average of three hymns a week for the rest of Charles Wesley’s life.

Both Charles and his brother John Wesley were preaching from Christian pulpits before their conversions, without experiencing the peace and joy they observed in others, and even discerned in the Scriptures, Their conversions were remarkable by human standards, but the fruits of them testify to the presence of a supernatural God who shared His very Spirit with both brothers. Charles’ songs joyfully testify that Christ shares his life with us all. The morning after Charles “opened the Book” he wrote:

He left his Father’s throne above

(so free,so infinite his grace!),

emptied himself of all but love,

and bled for Adam’s helpless race.

”Tis mercy all, immense, and free,

for, O my God, it found out me!

( “And can I Be”, vs. 3)

The history of salvation is rich with the richness of creation itself, for each soul is uniquely known to God. Charles Wesley demonstrates the truth of Jesus ‘ words, “Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

(Matthew 7:7)

Love in Him,

Prue

“Now then”,said Joshua, “Throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God out Israel” (Josh. 24:23).

For a long time I believed that Joshua was asking too much of his people to adopt tunnel vision in relation to their God and turn away from all the “souvenirs” they had collected over the years from Egypt to their entering the Promised Land.. Those objects undoubtedly brought comfort and familiarity to a homeless people for forty years.

Then I read, “He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your hear and all your soul and live.”(Deut.30:5)

It seemed to me that in light of this promise, that giving up “other gods” was like giving up a pasifier in the process of. Growing up. So many things that we cling to tur out to be “other Gods”: relationships, entertainment, games; it’s Impossible to list all the “other gods” in our lives.

The amazing thing about Joshua’s order to “throw away” is that God has prepared the way, and turned the command into a promise.

During Lent we can throw away those things that blurr our vision of the Lord who promises to “circumcise our hearts”, enabling us to love Him.

Even the smallest movement in our spirits toward the God of the Old and New Testaments is noticed and welcomed by God: “ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God’”. The young man’s “wisdom” lay simply in agreeing with Jesus that the most important command is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” ( Mark 12:34).

When there is the smallest movement toward yielding to such a command, we, too, “are close to the Kingdom of God.” Every day in Lent we get closer to Easter Sunday when we celebrate the fulfillment of all these promises. We are not far away.

Love in Him,

Prue

The “mind of Christ” is displayed most clearly in Jesus’ conversation with Satan after forty days of fasting in the wilderness. It is there that logic and persuasion are employed by Satan in order to sway Jesus to transfer his loyalties to himself. The powerful tool the enemy uses is the Scripture itself, and Jesus responds in Scripture. It is a wonderful display of the mind of Christ in opposition to the mind of Satan, but more importantly it is a window for us of the mind of Christ: “It is written that man shall not live on bread alone,” and, “It is also written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test,’ and “For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

The “mind of Christ” that Paul tells us belongs to all Christians (1 Corinthians 2:16), is full of the Word of God in Scripture. It is Scripture that Jesus resorts to when he is alone and weak and hungry. Scripture fills his mind and provides him with the strength he needs to fend off Satan. It is the priceless gift of the written Word of God that is the “mind” we can share with the son of God.

The Scriptures have never been more accessible than they are today, and perhaps they’ve never been more neglected. Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “ Yes, the heart is to be a library of the Word of God, uttered in the Scriptures.” (In God’s Hands, the Spiritual Diaries, Pg. 172).

In Christ both his heart and mind feed his spirit through the scriptures. The Scriptures ground him in his ministry as they form the framework for his appearance among the Hebrew people. Jesus quotes Scripture even on the cross. (Ps. 22:1, Ps. 31:5)

Lent is the time to draw close to Jesus by reading Scripture, sampling the passages we love, reading and re-reading the Psalms to drink in the written word. As Holy Week draws near we can re-visit the events of the crucifixion as all four gospels give us accounts. When we try daily Bible reading we find that our Lord wants it of us even more than we do. Scripture is a strong link to our God, and it is written for us.

Love in Him,

Prue

When I took violin lessons I learned more about life than I did about the violin. My teacher said that I must learn to focus, concentrate, and relax, simultaneously. I argued that concentrating and relaxing were mutually exclusive. She answered, “Nevertheless, you must achieve this, or you will never play the violin.” As she was an accomplished violinist I had to believe her, and so I launched myself on a program of self discipline that I hoped would achieve my goal of successfully playing the instrument.

What I really learned was that many, maybe most of the limits we place on ourselves are truly artificial.

“My Father’s house has many rooms. . . (John 14:2). In the same way our souls have many rooms. We’re only dimly aware of the contents of those rooms until we undertake something new. Then we learn of some of our own weaknesses, selfishness and strengths. When we open those rooms to the One who also has many rooms, and who loves us more even than we love ourselves, the parameters of the limits we place on ourselves are shifted, and we grow.

St. Paul wrote, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love”

(1 Corinthians 13:12&13) Three of the rooms that exist in all Christians are these three. During Lent we can visit each room and witness the shrunken parts and be forgiven for the withered, dusty rooms that we have neglected, knowing as we do, that the light and fresh air of Easter lay ahead of us.

Our Father also allows us to see the flashes of grace in each room, and recognize that He has been present in our rooms of faith, hope, and love. Our time to to stay in the wilderness of Lent is shorter and shorter. Now is the time to visit the many rooms of our inner lives and prepare for the expansion and light of Easter.

Love in Him,

Prue

Once when I was sitting on a bench in a nearby park I met a young man from Bosnia. He was accompanying his two nephews who were playing nearby. He had immigrated after the Bosnian war and spoke very clear English.

He told me that, though the park wasn’t really like his home, it reminded him of home and he enjoyed coming there frequently. He showed me pictures on his phone of Bosnia, of beautiful forests and a waterfall. This young man had escaped from some great horrors that had happened to his own family. Visiting the park seemed to help him. He had a buoyant spirit.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1&2).

When God created the earth he pronounced it “very good!” (Genesis 1:3), and from then on, men and women have recognized “goodness” in the natural environment. When we receive a restorative spirit, a movement toward goodness or joy in nature, however dimly , we are in touch with the Creator of that nature, the reality of goodness: “ He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:4).

Believers and unbelievers both experience the restorative quality of nature. It is a powerful reality. Some have stopped short of recognizing the Creator and have worshiped His creation. Nevertheless, for those who know the Creator, nature becomes one of the great evidences of His presence and His healing and restorative character.

“Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28-30). As nature was declared good, and we experience good from it, we participate in the very character of God when we receive the restoration nature affords. That goodness we experience catching a breeze on a hot day, the sweet smell of fresh air, the sight of hills and trees and water, birds and animals, extends to us the timelessness of God. We experience a glimpse of eternity that both restores our souls and gives us rest. Jesus reminds us that it is his work toward that end. During Lent, allow the fresh air to speak of Him.

Love in Him,

Prue

For forty days Israel and her enemy the Philistines were at a stalemate, the two armies facing each other across a valley with a stream running through it. Aggressive arrogance on one side met fear and trepidation across the valley. It was a forty day stand-still that was close to erupting when young David approached Goliath and , undeterred by the giant’s taunts, answered, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands,. . . all those who are gathered here will know that it is not by sward or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” (I Samuel 17:47).

The enormity of David’s words and action could hardly be measured. Not only did he secure a great victory for Israel and freedom from the Philistines, but he successfully reaffirmed the presence of their God in the midst of their lives as a nation and a people with a history of God as their very identity.

This story is thrilling for children and adults alike. It touches the yearning we all have of participating in a wholly righteous cause and successfully reaffirming that righteousness.

From the time when Samuel anointed David, and perhaps even before, David had “tunnel vision” (I Sam. 16:13) , the capacity to focus so thoroughly on God that he saw God in circumstances that others found obscure. David never doubted who really enabled him to kill bears, lions and Goliath. He saw through almost every tunnel to the light at the end, and he recorded this in his many psalms: I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my

fortress, and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I

take refuge. (Ps. 18:1-2).

David’s love for the Lord sank deep into his spirit. In the rest of the forty days of Lent we could imitate David’s “tunnel vision”, and seek God in the most adverse times and conditions. It won’t be hard to find such conditions in our world; the challenge of Lent is to seek out the “tunnel” and find the light that lights our paths today. Simply reading David’s words daily in Lent is a good way to reach for the light.

Love in Him

Prue

“I have had enough, Lord,” he (Elijah) said. “Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under a bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by the food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. (I Kings 19:4-9).

On our journey through Lent, it is well to contemplate our own mortality. Elijah feared for his life and asked God to let him die, a prayer that God denied, as Elijah is one of only two in the Bible who, in fact, never died. (2 Kings2:11).

As the Israelites walked forty years in the strength of the manna that God supplied, so Elijah walked forty days in the strength of the bread and water supplied by the angel.

As we walk through Lent we go in the strength of the “bread of life” that came from God to us in Jesus. It’s true for every one of us that we could not make the journey without it, for as the angel said, “ Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” It is indeed too much for us to reconcile a world full of contradictions, denials, and separations. It’s too much for us to seek vainly for peace within ourselves.

There is only one peace that passes understanding, (Philippians 4:7), and it comes as food to our spirits: Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (Jesus of Nazareth, John 6:35).

We are well into our forty days of Lent; there is nothing preventing us from tasting the food of our God in scripture throughout the rest of the time, and afterward as well. The forty days are a gift of time; the food is a gift of eternity. During Lent we have only to remember that the journey is too much for us without the food.

Love in Him,

Prue

Type 

Forty Rainy Days

“Aslan, said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”

“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” ( Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis.)

I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. (God’s words to Noah, Gen. 6:18).

From, the moment that Noah heard God’s voice and purposed in his mind to obey, Noah grew larger in spirit. When he finished the ark and worked patiently to fill it with food and animals, Noah grew, and when he watched and waited forty days and forty nights while the rain poured down without an end in sight, but the words of God in his mind,he grew yet again. Noah, like Lucy, in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, was a child of God; in fact he was the only child of God in a hopelessly corrupted world when he began his adventure with his God. None of it was easy, but Noah ( and Lucy) grew into relying on God and walking in His way.

I have heard it said that “God will never love you any more than He loves you right now.” Whatever truth there may be in that, the Bible and life display a different experience for the children of God. Noah obeyed and talked with God through colossal experiences and was rewarded with a spirit of communion with his God, and an unbreakable covenant sealed with the rainbow.

As we grow in Christ, Christ grows in us. People who know the Lord grow in love, and find an ever larger supply of love waiting for them. Perhaps the supply does not “grow”, but the experience of the love indeed does.

More than two millennia after Noah watched forty rainy days, the apostle Peter wrote to fellow believers, You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. (I Peter 2:9)

During Lent let’s wait with Noah doing God’s will in preparation for the wonderful light of Easter.

Love in Him,

Prue