Five Minute Friday...Glue

Today is Five Minute Friday. Today's word is GLUE....


GO...

 GLUE, verb transitive 1. To unite; to hold together.

The sun, the moon, the stars....all held together by Him!

The oceans, the seas, the rivers....all held together by Him!

The air we breath...held together by Him!

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:16-17


...in Him all things hold together. He is the glue of not only the universe, the visible and the invisible. He is the glue of my life. When things seem to be coming undone around me, He is there. He is there holding me not only together, but holding me. Without Him I would have no peace, no hope, no joy.

Today is Good Friday, the day they crucified my Lord. The day He was beaten, ridiculed and crucified. A day filled with despair and sadness. I am sure His followers were wondering why? I am sure they felt a lack of peace, hope and joy in those dark hours. I know if Jesus had left me I would feel that same despair.

But....Sunday came. The day peace, hope and joy would appear with an exclamation point. He had risen, just as He promised. He's alive. Because of that event I will never know the pain of Jesus leaving, He is living inside of me. I'm alive!! He is my glue...holding all things together. AMEN!

A fun Easter tradition from my family...

 

Several years ago I came across a recipe for Resurrection Rolls. At the time the kids were still pretty little and I was always looking for creative ways to illustrate Easter to them. This recipe caught my eye due to the simplicity of making them and the power of what it illustrates. The rolls go in the oven filled with a marshmallow and come out empty inside. We made the rolls that year and they have become an Easter tradition in our home ever since. I thought I would share these with you as we get ready to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection.

The first step is to buy a pack of frozen dinner rolls, you could make your own rolls, but we're talking tradition and I've always bought Mrs. Rhodes Frozen Dinner Rolls!

 

Be sure and spray the pan first, then defrost the rolls for about an hour...

Next flatten the dinner roll out...

 

Then add a large marshmallow to your dough....

Wrap the dough around the marshmallow, being sure to pinch the dough together...

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2-3 hours...

 Brush the rolls with melted butter...

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar....put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Ready to come out....they are smelling really good about now!

Enjoy and be sure the kids notice that where the marshmallow was, is now empty....just like the tomb.

 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said...

Matthew 28:6

*this post was originally posted on 4/17/2011...it's a great Easter tradition that needed to be repeated!

Easter...

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

Finished...

Saturday before Easter is always an interesting day. There's usually much preparation for the meal, deciding what to wear to church, and in our house sometime preparations for the church service itself. We do all of this because we know that tomorrow we will be celebrating our risen Lord! But today I find myself wondering what it must have been like all those years ago, to be one of Jesus' followers. They heard the words Jesus said on the cross...it is finished. Did they know what Jesus meant? Did they think well, this is it...it really is finished? Did any of them really understand when Jesus told them he would come back? That Saturday for them was most likely not a hope-filled day or a day filled with excited anticipation. Today, it is rainy and miserable outside here...is that how the hearts of Jesus' followers felt that day...dark and miserable? Imagine how their emotions are going to change...Sunday is coming....

5 Minute Friday...Light

Today is 5 minute Friday. Please read my post and then head over to Gypsy Mama for more interesting posts on this word. Today's word is LIGHT..

...Light of the world you stepped down into darkness...

Jesus is truly the light of the world. He willingly stepped into this dark world. He came knowing how it would end for him. Today is Good Friday...the darkest day in history. The day Jesus was sentenced to death...beaten to almost death...forced to carry His cross...the subject of insults...He was nailed to cross. His suffering had to be immense...beyond comprehension. The people that day tried to extinguish the light that Jesus was. If the story ended on Friday...they would have succeeded. But we know the rest of the story...Jesus rose again!!!!! What a glorious day that was!!! His light now shines all over this world. It shines in each one of us. When you see someone who is truly in love with Jesus, there is an unmistakeable glow about them. Thank you Jesus for stepping into this dark world....for me! I would be lost without you!!!

...opened my eyes let me see. Beauty that made this heart adore you...Hope of a life spent with You.... Here I am to worship... Here I am to bow down... Here I am to say that You're my God...You're altogether lovely...All together worthy... All together wonderful to me...

An Empty Hosanna...

Tonight I sat down to write a post that expressed my feelings concerning Palm Sunday and Easter week. I knew what I wanted to say, just didn't know how to say it. So God in His infinite wisdom worked out the following poem. No, He did not give me the words. He gave them to my daughter Abby. I texted her to see if she had a good poem I could use. She said she didn't; so I jokingly said well if you write something in the next 10 minutes let me know. It took her a bit more than 10 minutes, but she sat down and put her feelings into this poem. Her feelings echo mine!

 An Empty Hosanna 

by Abigail Haynes

Palms waving, hands lifted high
People shouting as a man passes by
A donkey plodding, coats laid down
The man is riding, people gathered around
The words they shout pierce his heart
The empty Hosanna’s tear Him apart
For Thursday will come,

 A betrayal, a kiss
Friday will follow,
Nails in His wrists
They praise Him now, the mocking will come
He knows their hearts, for He is God’s Son
The giver of life, the Savior, the King
He sees right through the empty songs we sing
We raise up our hands, we cry out to Him
But then Friday comes, we chose to live in sin
We’re quick to judge, we’re quick to condemn
But when it comes down to it are we any better than them?
Our lives don’t match up with the words of our song
The empty Hosanna
Echoes on…

A Yummy Easter Illustration....Resurrection Rolls...

Several years ago I came across a recipe for Resurrection Rolls. At the time the kids were still pretty little and I was always looking for creative ways to illustrate Easter to them. This recipe caught my eye due to the simplicity of making them and the power of what it illustrates. The rolls go in the oven filled with a marshmallow and come out empty inside. We made the rolls that year and they have become an Easter tradition in our home ever since. I thought I would share these with you as we get ready to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection.

The first step is to buy a pack of frozen dinner rolls, you could make your own rolls, but we're talking tradition and I've always bought Mrs. Rhodes Frozen Dinner Rolls!

 

Be sure and spray the pan first, then defrost the rolls for about an hour...

Next flatten the dinner roll out...

 

Then add a large marshmallow to your dough....

Wrap the dough around the marshmallow, being sure to pinch the dough together...

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2-3 hours...

 Brush the rolls with melted butter...

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar....put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Ready to come out....they are smelling really good about now!

Enjoy and be sure the kids notice that where the marshmallow was, is now empty....just like the tomb.

 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said...

Matthew 28:6

*this post was originally posted on 4/17/2011...it's a great Easter tradition that needed to be repeated!

Easter Week...

This has been a strange week for me. I've been extra emotional and some days just plain cranky. The week started off awesome with baptisms at church, those always make me cry, and my heart was full. But then came Tuesday, the day we woke up with SNOW covering the ground. April 19th and it snowed, its golf and track season, not ski season! I love snow, but enough is enough!

Then I got to thinking. This week has been an emotional roller coaster for me, was God using this week and my emotions as an object lesson? The week Jesus died was a week with a far greater emotional roller coaster ride.

I began to imagine what it would have been like to be a spectator on Jesus' last week. To be there waving palm branches as He entered Jerusalem that day. To shout hosanna and to watch my King enter the city! Wow, what  a celebration that must have been.

Fast forward to Thursday. Can you imagine hearing that Jesus had been arrested? That the King you just celebrated is being beaten over and over. Then to see the crowd who welcomed Him so joyously turn on Him and ask for his crucifixion. 

Can you imagine the horror of watching Him carrying His own cross? With the guards taunting Him and the crown of thorns digging deeper into His head?

Can you hear the nails as they pounded them into His body? The horror of seeing Him up there bleeding on the cross? Then to see Him take His final breath? We can only partially imagine the actual cruelty of His death.

Then came those dark days of trying to adjust to what you have just seen. Did it really happen? Why did my King have to die? Where is my hope? What do I do? Then you hear that his tomb is empty, He is gone! Who would do such a thing? Hasn't we suffered enough? Just when you are at the bottom of your emotional roller coaster, you are told, He's not in the tomb because He's alive! Yes! It's true Jesus lives! Oh the joy and excitement, as all the pain and anguish from the past three days washes away.

My Redeemer Lives!!!!