Christ is Risen!! Resurrection Day! - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Sunday - Christ Arose!!!

Christ Arose!!
( picture from 3d-pictures.feedio.net )

Christ Arose - The tomb is empty!
( picture from holytrinity.blogspot.com )

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

They Rested on the Sabbath - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

Saturday

They rested on the Sabbath Day.
( picture from truthpresure.com )

And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment

Jesus is Placed in the Tomb - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Jesus body is placed in the tomb.
( picture from 123rf.com )

And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
(Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Jesus before Pilate - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Friday 

Jesus before Pilate
( picture from alamoheightsunitedmethodistchurch.blogspot. )

And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto them, Thou sayest it.

 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.

 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.

 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.

And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.

 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.

 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?

 And they cried out again, Crucify him.

 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,

 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.

 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

Jesus Trial before Priests - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Friday

Jesus on Trial before the Priests
( picture from www.urantiansojourn.com )

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.

 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.

 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.

 And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,

 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

 But neither so did their witness agree together.

 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?

 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:

 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.

 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.

 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.

 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

Jesus is Arrested in the Garden - Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Friday 

They laid their hands on Him and took Him
( picture from s196photobucket.com ) 

 And they laid their hands on him, and took him.

 And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?

 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.

 And they all forsook him, and fled.

 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:

 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.

 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.

Garden of Gethsemane
( picture from mondaymorningreview.wordpress )

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss... Easter Week in Pictures ( Series )

Friday

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.
( picture from  endtimesrelevations.wordpress )

 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

 And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.
 And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and kissed him.

 And they laid their hands on him, and took him.

Stuck in my mind...

I am sure that many of you could say these words with me - " in recent days I have experienced difficulty in my personal life". Agree? That is a true statement for me. But it is also true that in times of difficulty, the Lord is near to encourage and strengthen me. Praise God!
So for the last couple of days, the Lord has placed a song in my heart that encourages me very much. He has also strengthened me with the gift of assurance that I belong to Him and He has given me Scripture - some verses from the Psalms that I can cling to.
So here is part of the song:

My Redeemer
(  by Philip P Bliss 1876 )

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Chorus

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

 

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

 

( from cyberhymnal.org )

 

Now I would like to share some of the Scripture that the Lord is using to speak encouragement into my heart:

Psalm 33: 17- 18 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.  Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Psalm 34: 6-8  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

19 -  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

22 - The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

 

 

To anyone reading this who is suffering or troubled - may I encourage you to put your trust in the Lord and let Him take away your fears.

The Four kinds of Sleep

Sleep. Many of us are tired and feel we would like to sleep more. I think of our children when they were babies, I would sit in the rocking chair, rocking the baby to sleep. It is so beautiful to watch a baby sleep -  a perfect picture of peace. I have been really blessed to have had the chance to rock my four beautiful babies to sleep night after night in years gone by.
What is the dictionary definition of the word sleep?  I decided to look it up. It says sleep is a natural state of rest for the mind and body. We all know how important it is to get a good nights sleep. It is just so much easier to cope with the stresses of life if you have had a good night. Sometimes our minds are filled with  worry and we struggle to get a good nights sleep and I admit it happens to me occasionally as well.
I want to explore the various ways of sleep that the Bible talks about. There are at least four types of sleep mentioned in the Bible - the normal sleep, the sleep of Adam, the sleep of death and finally a person or church being asleep spiritually.

So let's start with normal sleep. Psalm 4:8 - I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalm 127:2 - It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
We see that it is God's desire to give us a good sleep at night. He wants to give us His beloved children peace and safety in our sleep.We also need to rest our bodies and minds regularly taking rest as God did.
 God created the world in six days and then on the seventh day He rested from His work. So we also need to rest from our work week and set aside a day for God as He planned it for us.
Proverbs 3:24 -When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Secondly, there is the sleep of Adam. When God decided to create Eve as a wife for Adam, He put Adam to sleep for the process. Genesis 2:21-22 -And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

God put Adam to sleep, then took one of Adam's ribs, closed up the flesh, and using the rib that He took from Adam, God made Eve as a wife for Adam.  It would appear that God performed the first surgery ever!! We have many medical professionals in our hospitals today and many of us have been helped by their expertise and  the great work they do. Without anesthesetics, it would not be possible today, but God used a supernatural "sleep" to do his work in that garden to create the first woman.

Thirdly, there is the sleep of death. How many times haven't we marveled as we viewed our loved ones at a funeral or wake. It seems they are just asleep, so peaceful and quiet.  I remember when my Dad passed away. I wasn't there when he passed away, but when we got the call that he had gone we drove to the hospital. The family gathered in his hospital room to begin the process of saying "good-bye" and " see you later". He seemed to just be asleep there in the hospital bed.  As a family we sang his favorite song " How Great Thou Art"  - the song goes "when Christ shall come with shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my soul, Then I shall bow, in humble adoration, and there proclaim, My God how Great Thou art!"
We all know that we all must experience this sleep of death unless Jesus descends from heaven to come get us before our lifetime is over.
Psalm 13:3 - Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Daniel 12:2 -And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt

And fourthly let us consider the condition of being asleep spiritually.
Jesus tells us to be alert and watching for His return. We do not know the day or hour of His return but we do know that we need to prepare now so that when He does come we will be ready to go home to heaven with Him. In Mark 13: 35-37 we read -

 ³⁵Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
 ³⁶Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
 ³⁷And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
We know that we are not watching for the Lord as we should when we become "lukewarm" in our faith and in our desire to live pleasing to the Lord. In a "lukewarm" condition the pleasures of the world draw people into the things of the world  and God no longer has first place in the lives of these people. A "lukewarm" person will fill his/her mind with thoughts of this world,  perhaps money seems the most important in life, or fashion, TV, or popularity, or sex becomes what the mind dwells on. Jesus talks about this "lukewarm" condition in Revelation 3 in the message to the church at Laodicea. Many preachers today believe churches today are at risk of falling into this kind of "sleep". Revelation 3 :15 -16 says  ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
 ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
So we see that Jesus says he will spue the lukewarm person out of His mouth.  We are not pleasing Christ if we are lukewarm towards Him. But He loving calls us to become true to Him and open the door of our heart and life to Him and become one of His true children.
In Revelation 3:19-21 Jesus says - ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
 ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
 ²¹To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Let's stay in the Word, be alert and awake, looking for the coming of our Lord!