Barbara Rainey's Blog, page 15

Silent Saturday

“Silent Saturday” says it all.

The hopes of all Jesus’ disciples were completely dashed. To watch the brutality of any crucifixion was difficult. To watch the One you loved and worshipped crucified and murdered unjustly was traumatic.

As they mourned at home, it was the Sabbath, so no work was being done. Those who were there at the crucifixion replayed the shock and horror of it all. The disciples probably berated themselves for not doing something … anything … to stop the injustice. They wondered how they would go on with life without Jesus. Death always makes those left behind feel insurmountable despair.

And so we too on this day must sit with the emotions of lost hope. We too have felt what the disciples and His followers felt. Even though we know Sunday is coming, resist rushing past this day of loss.

Wait with the disciples in spirit.

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I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life

“I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6

This trinity of names illustrates well the message of the Cross.

There is one way to God: Jesus the Messiah.

There is one Truth: Jesus the Messiah.

There is one Life Source, one Creator, one pre-incarnate I AM: Jesus the Messiah.

Today, Good Friday, is a day to remember and reflect on what Jesus endured for you. Go to a church service. Reread the story of the crucifixion in the Gospels. Allow yourself to feel the anguish and abandonment Jesus felt alone on the cross. Read Isaiah 53, which is a prophetic description of those hours.

It is important to go near His death, to imagine His every feeling as a fully human yet completely sinless man. Going near grows our gratitude for His sacrifice and prepares our hearts to worship and celebrate with abandon on Easter Sunday.

Go near Him.

Gaze on His sacrificial body, given for you.

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I AM the True Vine

“I AM the True Vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
 … I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me
 and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:1, 5

Horticulture is the symbol for this name Jesus speaks about Himself. The application is obvious: where are we planted? In the True Vine of Christ or in a counterfeit vine?

Not so obvious is our root system which is always below the soil of any growing thing. Are we sending roots into unhealthy poisonous soil or into soil by “streams of water that yields its fruit in its season” (Psalm 1:4)?

This is the call of Jesus to us every day: Pay attention to your soil, notice where you are abiding. The word abiding means to draw your life source from. The True Vine invites our full complete connection in Him.

May it be so especially this Holy Week.

Soak in His life-giving Truth. It is food for your soul.

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I AM the Good Shepherd

“I AM the Good Shepherd.
I know my own and My own know Me. … 
I lay down My life for My sheep.”
John 10:14-15

Leaders are shepherds.

Parents, teachers, coaches, mayors, governors, employers, pastors, priests, and every other titled position of authority implies a responsibility of caring, of shepherding the welfare of others.

The entire chapter of Ezekiel 34 is a pronouncement of judgment by God against those who shepherd His people with neglect, malicious intent, and evil acts. The history of God’s people is replete with bad leaders.

Have you followed bad shepherds in your quest to find meaning and fulfillment? Most of us have at some point in some way.

So when Jesus declared Himself the Good Shepherd, He was creating a contrast between Himself and every other shepherd in history.

Over whom do you have a shepherding responsibility?

Are you a good shepherd like Jesus is?

Only God is good, but in Christ we can become good in our leadership.

Will you follow Him?

He waits for you.

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I AM the Door

“I AM the Door.
If anyone enters by Me, He will be saved
and will go in and out and find pasture.”
John 10:9

Doors signal an entrance.

Since the Garden of Eden’s passageway was marked by the cherubim and flaming sword entryways have been noted by man-made doors. Fashioned of stone or wood, leather or cloth, adorned with gold and formidable or crudely assembled and decrepit, passageways are marked, but not all are visible.

Yet God in His great kindness told us the portal to eternal life is His Son, Jesus.

Not only is He the entrance to salvation, but He also is the Source of everything we need on our pilgrimage to our eternal home.

Peter, who walked on water then sank, who betrayed Jesus then repented, wrote a letter near the end of his life confidently telling us Christ “has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” He added that through the promises of God we can become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3,4).

Do you need a taste of the divine nature in your life today? Are you struggling with emotions, feelings, desires that are anything but godly? How many doors have you tried in your quest for fulfillment?

Oh, that you would run to and through the Door! Jesus is the entrance. He will give you everything you need today and in every circumstance yet ahead.

Walk with Him and experience the peace of living in His pastures.

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I AM the Light of the World

“I AM the Light of the World.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

This second declaration of “I AM” during Holy Week was made in the temple, a place full of people and priests busy with the business of church. Most of those present that day felt enlightened in the knowledge they were God’s chosen people. Those of us today who have been born again believe we now see clearly. But knowing truth can lead to arrogance which quickly blinds like an ever-thickening cataract.

The Light of the World sees everything. Luke 8:17 tells us, “Nothing is hidden … that will not be known.” And Psalm 11:4 says, “the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

On this Monday of Holy Week, will you acknowledge your blindness? Are you willing to see that you can’t see?

Elijah prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant to see the invisible army of God. Today is the day and now is the time to ask God to show you what He sees in your heart. First we must see our sin, our inability to heal ourselves. Then we will see Jesus, the Light of the World.

He waits again today for you.

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I AM the Bread of Life

Holy Week is the most important week of the Christian calendar. To help you appreciate these last earthly days of Jesus’ life and to guide you into an experience of wonder and worship, I’ll be posting a short devotion each day here on the blog.

My greatest prayer in the last eight years has been that we, the children of God, would appropriately value this season above all others. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

N.T. Wright said, “This is our greatest festival. Take Easter away and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have Christianity.”

I hope and pray you will grow to share my passion for making much of Easter every year, that the world might know Jesus as King and Lord.

Barbara

 

———

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. In those days a king who came to a city in peace rode on a donkey. And so Jesus in this moment fulfilled yet another prophecy spoken hundreds of years prior: “Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey …” (Zechariah 9:9).

In remembrance of this day, churches around the world sing the story of Christ’s entrance and the worship and honor He received from His people. The hymn, “All Glory, Laud and Honor” was written around the year 820 A.D., and the first stanza, below, is often sung when all the children walk in waving their palm branches:

“All glory, laud and honor
to Thee, Redeemer, King!
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.”

As Holy Week officially begins … as the Lamb of God arrived to present Himself as our sacrifice … let us pay attention to His declarations of deity found in the Gospel of John.

“I AM the Bread of Life;
whoever comes to me shall not hunger …”
John 6:35

For what are you hungry today, this week, this season of your life?

Is there in your soul an ache, a pang of hunger for affection, attention, acceptance? Notice what is there within you and name it in prayer to the Bread of Life who longs to feed us with Himself.

All our attempts to feed our God-created soul needs will be only temporarily satisfying. Only the Bread of Life can feed us with nourishment that will last.

Come to Him today with your needs. He waits for you.

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The Barbara Rainey Podcast: How the Passover Foreshadows Easter

Easter is just around the corner! As you’ve heard me say many times, Easter is about a LOT more than pastel colors, the Easter Bunny, and new clothes. And as the mother of six and grandmother to many more, I have often pondered how to raise the bar, so to speak, when it comes to Easter.

On today’s episode of The Barbara Rainey Podcast, I talk about the many connections between Easter and Passover. I also discuss the Resurrection Day devotion cards I created a few years ago that look at how Passover tells the story of Jesus and the Crucifixion. Reading these stories with your family, even with young children, helps them begin to understand what Christ did for us over 2,000 years ago.

I encourage you to listen and see how you can make your Easter weekend more meaningful.  You can listen here or on major podcast platforms. The Resurrection Day Devotions cards are available here.

Also, today with your gift of $250 or more, we would love to send you an Easter tablescape to help you make your Resurrection Sunday table more about Christ. In this bundle, you will receive eight napkins, printed with the Resurrection Day Devotion stories, that unveil Jesus’ journey to the cross. They are designed to be read before, during, or after your meal. Also included are eight placemats, each with a “Hallelujah” phrase about Jesus’ victory. And finally, the tablescape includes a 13” Redeemer Cross. It can serve as a centerpiece for your table. There are only a few of these bundles available, and with Easter in just a few days–make sure you request your tablescape today!

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7 Ways for Your Family to Experience the REAL Easter

Did you know that bunnies and chicks have nothing to do with Easter?

What a surprise!

Yes, I know that they are the focus of most Easter celebrations. They are comfortable and cute … unlike the cross and death at the center of the real Easter.

What Jesus accomplished on the cross is the pivotal moment in all of history, the greatest victory of all. As Easter week approaches, here are seven ways to make Holy Week and Easter Sunday meaningful, memorable, and worthy of the attention and celebration the Resurrection deserves.

1. Have your kids reenact Palm Sunday.Help them cut out fabric or construction paper for costumes and palm branches. Make a Hosanna banner to hang across the mantle of your living room stage for the performance. Review the story in Matthew 21:1-11 to find roles each family member can enact. Then have an adult read the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry as the children act it out, and end with a prayer of gratitude.

2. Buy seven 3-inch pillar candles and then download the DIY candle wraps in our ETSY store to apply to the candles. Arrange them down the center of your table or along a fireplace mantle or on a tray in your kitchen.

During Holy Week follow these steps for meaningful daily devotions beginning on Palm Sunday:

On Palm Sunday light all the candles (1-6) except the seventh that says I AM the Resurrection and the Life. On this day read John 6:35 and 51. Then talk together about what it means that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Then blow out all the candles.On Monday, light candles 2-6 (everything but the Bread of Life and not the Resurrection and the Life). Read John 8:12 and talk together about why it’s important that Jesus is the Light of the World. Pray and then blow out the candles.On Tuesday, light four candles (3-6), then read John 10:9. Talk about doors and why we need them and how Jesus is like a door. Why did He describe Himself that way? Then blow out the candles.On Wednesday, light three candles (4-6), read John 10:14-15 and talk together about Jesus as our Good Shepherd. Pray and extinguish your candles.Thursday’s Scripture is John 15:1 and 5. After lighting two candles (5-6), talk about vines, how grapes grow on vines, and what they need to flourish. How is Jesus like a vine? Pray again together and blow out the candles.On Good Friday light the remaining candle and read John 14:6. This verse contains a trinity of names Jesus uses for Himself. Talk about what they all mean to us as His disciples. Pray together and blow out the candle. It is a somber day worth our honor and remembrance.On Resurrection Day light all seven candles and read John 11:25. Make this a day of celebration and joy for the greatest miracle of all time has accomplished our salvation!

3. Use Resurrection Eggs to help your kids learn about Easter. God has used this resource to help millions of children understand the Easter story.

4. Watch the film Jesus together to feed our image-driven minds a picture of the awe-inspiring life of Jesus as He taught, loved, healed, and then died for you and me. The film is free for streaming online at jesusfilm.org. 

5. Attend a Good Friday service. If your church doesn’t have one, go to another local church’s services. Gathering with other believers in a time of reflection and truth of what Jesus did for us the day He died on the cross will add greatly to your Easter experience. 

6. Make Silent Saturday a day of mourning. Keep your blinds pulled or lights off all day to remind everyone that the Light of the World was extinguished on the cross. Cover your Holy Week candles with a black cloth for the same message. Help your family feel a sense of the loss and devastation the disciples felt the day after their Savior had died. 

7. Celebrate BIG on Easter Sunday! Wear all white to remember our heavenly attire one day and to symbolize we have been washed white as snow by the blood of the Lamb.

Plan a beautiful table scape setting an all-white table and using the seven candles mentioned in idea number two above. Use lots of red rose petals on your table to represent His blood during Holy Week. Then on Silent Saturday remove the red petals and prepare vases of white roses or tulips to place on your table early Sunday morning to declare “Christ is risen” to everyone present!

End your Easter gathering with friends and family for a party with lots of balloons, sparklers, music, or any kind of festivities you can imagine.

Resurrection Sunday is the greatest celebration of all for believers in Jesus. Without the cross we would have no hope and Christmas would be meaningless. Because of what Jesus accomplished for us, let’s celebrate and worship with exuberance so all the world knows Jesus is alive forevermore!

Be sure to visit our Etsy store for different Easter resources to help you focus on the real Easter!

Barbara shares some additional Easter ideas in “20 Ways to Celebrate Easter.”

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The Barbara Rainey Podcast: Making Much of Easter

If you have followed me for very long you are already well aware that Easter is my favorite holiday and, in my view, the pinnacle of all our holidays as believers. Our life would be meaningless if Christ hadn’t died and purchased our salvation. Listen in today and hear how we have elevated Easter despite it not falling in line with our culture as we see happen with Christmas.

On today’s episode of “The Barbara Rainey Podcast,” I talk about our Easter traditions over the years and how important it is to make sure Easter gets the attention it deserves. This year our Easter will look a bit different. We won’t have any of our kids home with us on Easter weekend, and with the busyness of my schedule of balancing Ever Thine Home and seminary courses, I’m sad to say I have very few Easter things out around our home! But I will! And we will honor this day together, just the two of us, with the same excitement and humility before the Lord as in years past when many of our crew were gathered around the table.

You can listen to the podcast here or on popular podcast platforms. 

Ever His, 

Barbara 

P.S. With your gift today of $50 or more, we would love to send you a set of Easter devotional cards. I talk more about them on the podcast, so give it a listen! There are only a few sets of cards in stock, so be sure to request your set now!

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