What is Good about Friday?

It is impossible adequately to describe the horror of that day. Events had moved quickly from the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane to the trials and Peter's denial of his Lord, from the trumped-up charges, to the near-acquittal, to the mocking, the scourging, and then to the handing over of an innocent man to the howling religious mob whipped to a frenzy by the chief priests. Horror enough you may say, but now, Jesus whose beard had been yanked out, whose back had been laid open to the bone all over, whose flesh must have been hanging from Him like so much raw meat, was forced to carry His cross to the final place of execution.
       
This stumbling, agonising and breath-sapping procession was through streets (Via Dolorosa) thronged with a crowd which just a few short days ago was heralding Him as their king, but was now raucously deriding Him. He had been sentenced to death and was therefore regarded as a dead man already. He was fair game for all the horrors which could be inflicted on a condemned man on the public road to His death.

Was He kicked, pushed from side to side of the street, jeered, spat upon, and reviled? Perhaps rubbish and sewage was thrown over Him.... perhaps we shall never know, but human nature today allows us to think that the final footsteps of His life were more horrific than we might care to consider.

Whatever happened, Jesus could carry His cross no longer. The Roman executioners pressed Simon from Cyrene in North Africa into carrying it the remainder of the way. Finally, at the place called Golgotha - the place of the skull - Skull Hill, Jesus was flung to the cross and nailed there. The common practice was to use spikes through the forearms so that as the victim hung upright, He would not tear the spike through His hand and free His arm.

Spikes were driven through His feet - probably His ankles, rupturing tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints - you see nobody cared anymore, Jesus was just another condemned non-entity, a joke, He would be dead in a few hours anyway. And then they hoisted the cross up ............ do you think they carefully put it in the ground so as not to jar the body more than necessary!? I don't think so.................

You saved others, but you can't save yourself ................ Get yourself and us down from here ......... Perhaps Elijah will come and get Him, let's wait and see ............ What's that He said? ......... Why is the sky getting dark, it’s hardly past lunch-time? It's pitch black!! .......... Why is the ground shaking? ..........Who are those people? ..........What's happening?!!!!!!

Questions: Dare you answer them truthfully?

·                     What would you have done?

·                     What stand would you have taken in this final unfolding of horror?

·                     Do you jeer at injustice now?

·                     Who is Jesus to you?

·                     What claim does the Son of God have on your life?

See how to receive all that Jesus died to give you, He loves you more than you have ever been loved before. For the eternal value of all our lives, this Friday is the best ever. Check this new life out at 'Joy for Life'

http://www.joyforlife.org/index.php/living-with-jesus-01/

Good Grief!

Well it happened the ‘thing I feared the most has come upon me’ 😭

Having prayed 'Lord now let Your servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen Your Glory' with family round him, Dave so happily entered into the joy of his Lord, Jesus Christ, on July 29th 2017. 

Dave had a spiritually powerful three weeks as his flesh became so dramatically and quickly weaker his spirit became stronger each day. We were both unaware he had anything wrong and had done a lot of heavy activity outside. He felt that Jesus had come to him in hospital and told him he was 'going home'.

He was able to pray and thank God with each of his children as well as his siblings. He ended stronger than ever in his faith. He was so thankful to all who lifted him up in prayer and love and all the encouragement he received from all over the world. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it. It was a truly supernatural time for the whole family with so many 'Godincidences' on a daily basis. Dave was so happy shedding 'happy tears' for all the Love God poured out on him.

There was so much laughing and memories of all the years which we all shared. Even the doctor said every time he saw Dave he thought he was 'channeling' God.

When I was with Dave in the Hospice I declared from Isaiah 61:3  ‘To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a Crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit'. I declared in a very strong moment that I would hold God accountable for this Word to me. I love this verse so much. When I start to cry for some little thing that reminds me that Dave is not here I stop and praise Jesus; listen to some praise and worship music and am so thankful for so much.

I was given a couple of note books by the family when he first died and I found it a good habit to write down 5 things I am thankful for at the end of the day. 

I have had so much joy over the past 7 months and also had a steep learning curve in the area of money, technical activities and looking after a car! But the best of it all has been my very close relationship with Jesus and my Abba Father as my husband. He is totally reliable and always there for me, Isaiah 54:5. 

Just a few days ago the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to this amazing verse which I am making my Rock to move forward from this lost time.

'After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favour], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be]. To Him be dominion (power, authority, sovereignty) forever and ever. Amen'. 1 Peter 5:10-11


I will now journal my new journey about my new 'normal' as I am sure that 'He Who is comforting me in all my troubles will enable me to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which I am myself comforted by God' 2 Corinthians 1:4

PS. The picture of the painting is Dave's last painting 'The narrow Way'