Delightsome Land

Jesus was crucified. The Creator took the fall for the created. The Innocent One bore the punishment for the convicted ; and the Saviour of all mankind spread open His arms in love for you and I, when He died on the cross- lifting the heavy weight of our sins onto Himself. Hellelujah the story doesn't end there... Three days later, He rose again and from that day on, the cross we are asked to carry is no longer heavy. I've heard it said before that the nails didn't hold him to the cross... Love did. So when you listen to the Easter story this year and pass over the name 'Simon of Cyrene', remember this:  "My yoke is easy and my burden is light"... Matthew 11:30 I pray that this Easter season for you and your family is filled with stories of salvation, with a revelation of the significance of the cross and the incredible depth of His love.

What Can We Learn From The Final Week Of Jesus? It's almost Palm Sunday....the day Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  It's also the beginning of Jesus' last human week. He's on His final journey.   Join bestselling author Max Lucado in an exploration of the final days in the life of Christ.  Relive the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion, from the foggy garden of Gethsemane to the incandescent room of the resurrection. Draw near to the Savior and walk with Him on His final journey as you prepare to celebrate the greatest miracle ever conceived. Experience The Final Week Of Jesus You can tell a lot about a person by the way he dies. In the last week of his life, Jesus deliberately sets his face toward Jerusalem—and certain death. This is no ordinary week. Even the angels are silent as they ponder the final days of Jesus Christ. This is no ordinary walk. Jesus doesn't chatter. He doesn't pause. He is on ...

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  — Genesis 12:1-2   Sometimes when circumstances get too big or seem to be different from what I want, doubts start creeping in.  What if this isn’t the right thing? What if I heard God wrong? What if I’ve made a huge mistake? What if I’m totally screwing up my child and she ends up living in a van down by the river? I get scared. I realize this doesn’t make me different from anyone else. We all like to feel in control of every aspect of our lives, and it’s hard to surrender that control. It’s hard to say, “I trust You” — no matter what. One of the few constants in life is that things will always change. And I, like many others, hate change. It leaves me feeling unsettled, unsure, and insecure as I try to find new footing in different c...

Romans 8:28 tells us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Yet it is hard to believe lines like this when we witness baffling, horrific events. The primary Old Testament illustration of Romans 8:28 is Genesis 50:20. In that story, Joseph’s brothers betray him and sell him into slavery. Decades later he tells them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). The Case of Joseph With Joseph, God does more than just make the best of a bad situation; he uses it for ultimate good (compare Ephesians 1:11). Five chapters before declaring that, “God planned it for good,” Joseph said to his brothers, “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:8). We see two wills at work here: Joseph’s brothers successfully perpetrated e...

Cloudy with a Chance of Quail I love miracles, and I love food, so I really love food miracles. And while there are multiple food miracles in Scripture, the day God provided quail meat in the middle of nowhere may rank as the most amazing. When the Israelites exited Egypt, a quailstorm was definitely not in the forecast. The people of Israel also began to complain, “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” The Israelites were complaining. I know, shocking! Instead of manna, they want meat to eat. And as a hardcore carnivore, I understand that. If you haven’t eaten at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse, you aren’t ready to die yet. But talk about selective memory! The Israelites longingly remember the free fish they ate in Egypt, and forget the little fact that the food was free because  th...

Much like a disorganized closet, our children’s journey of faith can look cluttered and messy.  We would love it if our children came to faith in Christ as young boys and girls and lived to serve God all their lives.  Unfortunately, this is not the reality in many of our homes. We all have brothers or sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers that have walked away from the faith they once claimed as unshakeable. What about our little ones?  They may be small right now and the biggest decision they may have to make today might be whether to have Fruit Loops or Cheerios for breakfast.  But ten years from now?  Twenty?  Where will their hearts be? Providing our children a solid foundation in Christ when they are young is imperative.  All we can do as parents is to remain faithful to the call of what Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am co...

It’s been a tradition in Christian families for years to us plastic eggs to teach children the meaning of Easter and the story of Jesus’ resurrection. While there are many Christian stores that sell the Resurrection Egg (TM) kits, I’ve found that making them on your own is fairly easy if you have the time and resources. It’s like an advent calendar for Easter, counting down the days to Resurrection Sunday and retelling the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. E very year I end up making these again and again as some of the parts go missing over the holidays. Making these eggs with your kids is a fun craft project and using them to tell them about Jesus makes these lessons accessible to even the smallest kiddos. Making the Eggs Materials: An empty egg carton 12 plastic eggs 11 story starters, as described below Instructions: An egg carton holds 12 eggs, right? So let’s go with 12 parts to our story. Number your eggs from 1 to 12. After a lot of research, ...