Monday, Second Week of Easter

Exodus 14:21-31
Psalm 1, 2, 3
1 Peter 1:1-12
John 14 8-17

Second Sunday of Easter

Exodus. 14:5-22
Psalm 146, 147
1 John 1:1-7
John 14:1-7

1 John 1:1-7

If Christ is not risen from the dead then my faith in whatever I believe in is futile. If Christ is raised from the dead then I believe that he is living, alive and with me. And so this is what I must talk about.
There was the occasion when I was going to a particular grocery store but decided to go to a different one. In that one I dropped a coupon which another customer picked up. It transpired that she was a Brit, newly moved to Houston and lonely. Of course we became friends. Then there was the time that it was my turn to do snacks at the soccer game, which was a busy tournament. Nowhere to park and a heavy box to carry. However as I was driving into the parking lot a lady flagged me down on her way to her car and asked me if I was needing a space.
Or in December 1981 we moved house, I was 8.5 months pregnant. We had moved to a completely new area of the country and knew nobody. We went to church and sat behind a lady who played over the pew with our 2 year old Tom. She also looked after him whilst I went into hospital to have Stephen and on a spiritual level is probably the person who is responsible for me reading my bible regularly for the last 26 years. We could have sat anywhere in that church but God put us behind Mary.
We are having work done in our kitchen. Two days this week a friend has come to help me pack boxes. To me she has been Christ's hands.

Saturday of Easter Week

Exod. 13:17-14:4
Psalm 145
2 Cor. 4:16-5:10
Mark 12:18-27

Psalm 145

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam

Lyrics Nellie Talbot Music Edwin O Excell

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
To shine for Him each day;
In every way try to please Him,
At home, at school, at play.

• Refrain:
  A sunbeam, a sunbeam,
  Jesus wants me for a sunbeam;
  A sunbeam, a sunbeam,
  I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.

Amongst my earliest memories is keeping my Grandma company as she prepared lunch in her little kitchen. She would be singing either this hymn or

Jesus Loves Me

(Lyrics: Anna B Warner, Music:William Bradbury)

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong

cho: Yes, Jesus loves me
  Yes, Jesus loves me
  Yes, Jesus loves me
  The Bible tells me so

At the time I thought singing hymns was a bit odd, nobody else did that whilst they worked. My Grandma was a quiet lady who devoted her whole life to her family, including me. Yes it is important that I knew that Grandma was loved by Jesus and that she as his sunbeam told me so. I hope that I do the same to everyone that I meet, especially the members of my family.

Psalm 145:4 One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

Friday of Easter Week

Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16
Psalm 136
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
Luke 24:1-12

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Stand Firm- Let Nothing Move You

A rock to a Brit is something immovable, not a little pebble that you can pick up and put in your pocket. It is a great big hunk of stone. Nothing will shift it, not even an enormous wave crashing on the beach. This rock is firmly embedded in the sand.

How firm is my faith? Am I being dragged along by fashionable thought?

Thursday of Easter Week

Exodus 13:3-10
Psalm 146,147
1Corinthians 15:41-50
Matthew 28:16-20

1Corinthians 15:41-50

Who would have thought that a pecan nut would grow into a spreading tree? Or a little red seed into a majestic Southern Magnolia with its fragrant cream waxy saucer flowers and dark green leaves? Yet, our creator, the instigator of life gave them, and us our form. A bird is singing in my yard. I do not know what variety, I am not good at carrying tunes in my head, I will hear more birds in a while when the dogs and I go for our walk.
The walk is one of my favorite times of day, a chance to appreciate the world that God has given me. So many different forms of life all fitting together in the created world. I am glad that God knows what is happening. To me the whole thing is amazing. My mind is too finite to comprehend the whole but I can live with the knowledge of this limitation knowing that there is a 'Somebody' who does know what is happening and has the well being of us all in His heart.

Lord help me to be attentive to your Spirit acting in my life today.

Easter Wednesday 26 March

Exodus 12:40-51
Psalms 97, 99, 115
1 Corinthians 15:30-41
Matthew 28:1-16

Exodus 12:40-51

I always thought that this was one of the parts of the Old Testament that I could ignore. I have Jesus, the Law is relevant. However Jesus did say that he came to fulfill the Law, rather than to do away with it (Matthew 5:17). The men who ate the Passover meal had to be prepared in the way that God had told Abraham when he gave him the first covenant (Genesis 17). To eat the meal the people had to be totally consecrated to God. Jesus is the Law; to come to him we need to be totally prepared.

How do we prepare to come to Jesus?

1 Corinthians 15:30-41

Probably the scariest wild beast that I have fought with is a mosquito and the most danger that I am in is from drivers on the freeway. Part of fighting, and certainly part of surviving on the freeway in Houston is to be on your guard. Watering down our beliefs is very popular today but it seems as if, just like most sins it has been around for a millennium or two. Knowing right from wrong is not always obvious. I pray that I will remember that God is my continual companion.

Easter Tuesday 25 March

Exodus 12:28-39
Psalms 103, 111, 114
1 Corinthians 15:12-28
Mark 16:9-20

Mark 16:9-20

The Weather & Resurrection

Today is a sunny day. By Houston standards it is cold. After 3 hours of napping the dog has just managed to get off the sofa. There are days when there is no gleam of sunshine among the clouds; there is no hint of sky- blue or otherwise. Just grayness covering the earth; the weather even mak TV chat shows seem attractive. What was the weather on that first Good Friday- the day that Jesus was hung on the cross? Was it cold and dismal or was the sun shinning brightly overhead? Probably the latter as the average March maximum temperature for Jerusalem is in the high 50sº, or at least it should have been sunny but God covered the sun with darkness for three hours. Did Mary notice the weather the day she watched her son die?

It seems as if God also gone into hibernation. He has forgotten that clouds disperse and the sun shines. The gray is static. Will the brilliant orange crocus ever blaze through the brown earth as the Olympic torch heralds the games? God is working his purpose out just as he was on the Good Friday. The world was grim yet in three days there was rejoicing- well there would have been rejoicing if anybody could have understood what was happening. The disciples saw the empty tomb and were bewildered. Mary Magdalene claimed that she saw Jesus and that he spoke to her but who knew on which side of sanity she really lived. There was a great emptiness of tomb and heart. And yet God was working his purpose out. Jesus filled the road to Emmaus with his knowledge and love. Light filled the travelers’ hearts. Behind the gray clouds God still works out his purpose. The crocus will bloom and God will send his rays of sunshine into our life. Hopefully we shall recognize it for what it is and give God thanks for his purpose.

Monday of Easter Week, 24 March

Exodus 12:14-27
Psalms 93,98,66
1 Corinthians 15:15-28
Mark 16:1-8

Psalms 93,98,66

I have spent many hours watching the waves crash onto the shore. The noise and the strength fascinate me. Then there is the tumbling of the pebbles as the undertow flows back to the ocean.
I was brought up seven miles from the Atlantic Ocean- that would be the eastern shore! The summer high school hang out was on the cliffs.
The breakers are scary in their power yet they are part of God's creation. They thunder onto the beach, wearing away the land. The foam that was the forerunner dissipates, swirling around in the shallow water before dragging the tumbling pebbles as they jostle for a position under the next wave.
Watching the ocean always brings me closer to God, whether it is through fear or marveling at his awesome strength. Crying out for mercy, praise or just knowing that he is powerful and is in control. I may feel as if I am being tossed around and dragged like a pebble in the undercurrent but in reality I am in the power of God

Easter Sunday 23 March

Exodus 12: 1-14
Psalms 148,149, 150
John 1:1-18
Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:13-35

Jesus came alongside the disciples, talked and walked with them but they did not recognize him. They were too downcast, even though the women had seen the empty tomb and the angels. This is probably not surprising considering the reaction of the women to the empty tomb - they were trembling and bewildered (Mark 16:8).
We go through life bewildered, concentrating on the lack of body rather than the empty tomb, not looking for the risen Jesus walking beside us.
How often do we not recognize Jesus in the people who are walking with us on our journey through life?