Soul Sister Time

              As we Journey from Ash Wednesday through Lent to Holy Week and land at our destination of Easter Sunday, let’s consider some of the people who were assigned to the space and time that these events took place and how their choices and experiences related to their experience of Jesus.  In our attempt to understand their statements and actions, we might see our own reaction to Jesus.               The first three were missing during Easter week.  It seems they may have gone into hiding while all of Jerusalem was in a frenzy about whom He was and where He went that week.  Yet, their significance to the Easter story cannot be forgotten.  Jesus Himself stated that every time the story of Easter is told, their story, especially Mary’s actions, should be recounted.               Of course, I am talking about Jesus’ three close friends from Bethany near Jerusalem—Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  These siblings were not only close friends of Jesus, but also enthusiastic about His

              I was a little bewildered when the Holy Spirit chose to alert me to a deeper meaning of the Sermon on the Mount.  Do you ever have those moments when you read something in the scripture that causes you to want to shut the book and not read further?  As I read this familiar passage, God pointed out that I was guilty of the sins Jesus exposed in His sermon.   I thought to myself: Surely this is not what the Holy Spirit is saying to me .  I even read back through it, looking for something else I could focus on.  But no, it was clear God was guiding me to reflect on how this sermon exposed my personal sin in ways I would rather not consider.                I didn’t like the feeling of reading a sermon that exposed my sin.  I wanted my Bible reading to point out how I could do better, or even how much better I am than the average sinner.  Why would God draw my attention to these sins at this time?                I couldn’t figure it out, so I looked up commentaries to m

Do you panic when you become overwhelmed by the conflicting demands of life?  Life has a way of piling one thing on top of another all at the same time.  You never see it coming until, like an avalanche, you are buried in competing loyalties mixed with harsh realities that cannot be avoided.  My most recent intersection of overwhelmed and caught off guard was caused by the truth that there was absolutely no way I could possibly fulfill my responsibilities without the help of God.  Rather than panic, I fully embraced that I was utter incapable of doing everything my life was asking of me.  I recited Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth . This helped remind me that there was absolutely no way that I could accomplish all that was required of me. Could this be the reason that God sends me more than I can handle?  Is this the lesson He longs for me to learn?  I h

              Our lives on earth will require accepting the unacceptable.  Every single human being must face that they cannot get their own way all the time.  And, thank God, we cannot.  There are two reasons to be thankful that we cannot get our own way.  I thank God I cannot get my own way because my way may be harmful to myself and others.  I don’t always know for sure that my way would not cause unintended damage to other people.  I am limited in my understanding and do not have full view of all the ramifications for my choices.  This was the case for the very first sinners.  Eve did not disobey God and eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil because she wanted to sin against God.  Adam ate because he saw that nothing had changed for Eve, and the idea of being like God, whom he admired, was more desirable than obeying His command not to eat.  They could not even imagine the ramifications of their decision to have their own way.  Only God could see ho