Soul Sister Time

            Jesus’ heart was troubled because Judas was to betray Him (John 13:21).   Evidently hopeless eternities are worth a troubled heart.   Later on that same night He tells the disciples not to allow their hearts to be troubled and gave them a reason why not.   Read His words from John 14:1-4: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going . I read these words with a troubled heart, and I realized Jesus was speaking these words to people who would all face an untimely and painful death, undoubtedly troubling experiences.   In the huge scope of spiritual reality these words are amazingly true and even somewhat understandable.   The reason Jesus gave fo

            Yesterday was the most holy day of the holiest week of the year.   It is so important to experience Easter each year.   Every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, but Easter Sunday is the day we take it all in on a deeper level.               Now that it has been experienced for this year, it is time to integrate the joy of Easter Sunday into every day that I live.   What does it mean today that Easter Sunday really happened over 2000 years ago?   How does the resurrection of Jesus Christ affect how I live today, and for the coming year?               There remains a lot that doesn’t make sense to me about God, His love for this world and mankind.   I don’t fully understand how it is all going to work out in the end.   Easter Sunday gives me a preview.   It shows me that God is up to something wonderful.   He has proven there is a way to fix what is so wrong with this world.   Easter Sunday shows me that everything will happen when I least expect it to hap

            The Sunday before the first Easter Sunday could have been the night that Simon held a dinner in Jesus’ honor in Bethany. John 12:1 says: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead .   The day of the week for this gets a little confusing since six days before Passover is either Friday or Saturday evening, two unlikely dates for a supper.   What we do know is that Lazarus was there reclining at the table (after he had been resurrected from the dead!), and Martha was serving.   This was the dinner where Mary, their sister, poured the expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.   We don’t know it was Sunday for sure, but we do know that the Sunday before Easter Sunday everyone but Jesus had high hopes of the future and pretty much thought they knew what God was going to do in their new leader.             It was the calm before the storm.   It was a day that made sense.   They got

                As Holy Week approaches, it seems a good time to think back on the past five weeks of Lent and consider the lessons we have learned.  We can take these lessons into Holy Week to help us connect more deeply to the familiar yet incomprehensible story that illuminates the reach of God’s love.                 We have considered the miracle, love, celebration and reality of forgiveness this Lenten season.  I'm grateful that I have taken on a Lenten fast and the instruction of the church fathers to reconsider my sinful state before a Holy God.  I'm so quick to ignore the sinfulness that I wake up to every day.  I grow accustomed to my patterns of sin and gloss over them to focus on more important things like other people’s sins, my problems, my dreams and more.  Even with all the sins I have considered this Lent, I know that I have continued my pattern of overlooking many sins that are right in front of me.  This problem of sin is overwhelming.