Meeting God In The Everyday Moments

“But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in
all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
    Acts 1 is a story of waiting. Few things are more difficult. Why do we often dislike the times of preparing, getting ready, and anticipating? Why is it so hard
to wait? In Acts 1, God's people are waiting for the promise -- they are devoted to and joined together in prayer, they listen to Scripture, and they replace Judas
with the person of God's choice. The events of Acts 1 are more than
miscellaneous details to get us ready for Acts 2.
    We want to start immediately. We like action and activity. It is not easy to learn the lesson that God works in God's time. God's work is seldom done according to our timetable -- even less is it done according to our expectations. We call it wasting time -- God sees it differently. God understands that waiting can be a time for equipping and empowering us as we learn patience. Consider some
options -- "not enough time to pray" vs. "I must pray to get everything done," "not enough time for a daily dose of God's Word" vs. "having the right word at the right time." Take time today to contemplate what is happening in Acts 1. Do not jump ahead to the next chapter (which many of us know quite well). Ask
yourself what is happening in today's chapter. Think about how Luke unfolds the story. The gospel will go forth -- Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts
of the earth (1:8). It will happen within the lifetime of some of those assembled, within 30 years or so. We are in a hurry and the work doesn't get done. Wait on God. His work will be done by
his people in his way in his time. Not an easy message to hear in our modern world. When have you been tempted to run ahead of God? When have you been amazed to see God work when you thought all hope was gone? Use your answers to guide your prayer time today. Prayer
Father God, teach us this day to wait. Help us learn your ways -- renew us and empower us. Teach us patience, teach us holiness. We pray for the accomplishment of your will. We want you to use us in accomplishing your will. Equip us for the task, and use us for your glory. In Jesus' name and by his power we ask it. Amen.
                                      Bob Young
                           Ministry Missions

   “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3).
    What is the first thing a woman does when she receives a beautiful
bouquet of roses? That’s right, she sniffs them. Why? Because there’s
something about the fragrance of roses that says, “love.” Many perfumes, candles, and room fresheners try to reproduce this delightful smell.
    When we meet him in our “secret place,” we can sense that wonderful fragrance that far surpasses anything that mankind can create. Mary had spent much time with Jesus, so she was familiar with his scent. This brings me to a couple of points I would like to make.
    • The fragrant scent transfers. I’m not sure of all the little details that occurred on this day referenced in John 12. But I do know that Mary wanted to express her love for her Savior. She had been the recipient of His love and wanted to show her love and appreciation to Him. So she lavished very costly perfume on the feet of her Lord and Savior. She not only poured it on Him, but she also rubbed it in with her hair! The fragrance of His love transferred into Mary. He can do the same for us today.
    • The fragrant scent replaces foul odors. Jesus had raised Lazarus, the brother of Mary, from the dead not long before. The stench of death was on him, and the family had begun the grieving process. But when Jesus came on the scene, things changed.
The foul odor of a dead body was replaced with the fragrance of new life! Has Jesus replaced the stench
of your deadly sin with the fragrance of life and hope that is felt when a baby is born? Everybody loves the smell of a newborn baby and the hope it brings.
    If you have not yet invited Him into your heart, do it now. Allow his scent to rub off onto you and
eradicate the effects of sin. He wants to love you and make you His own.
                                           mdz

Palm Sunday is a day to
rejoice, but sometimes we don’t
feel like it. Our load is heavy with
the cares and uncertainties of
life. How can we lay down palm
branches to welcome the Lord?
The better question is, “How can
we not?”
    Sure, life has its problems and
challenges, but we have a savior
who bore it all on the cross for us.
We think we have it tough, but
Jesus was exalted with palm
branches designated for royalty,
and five short days later, He was
crucified. He rode into Jerusalem
triumphantly, but He also died on
the cross triumphantly for you
and for me. When things were at their worst, He rose to the challenge and gave everything so that we can live a victorious life in Him.
    The splendor and majesty of that first Palm Sunday brought
strength and glory to the world! When you feel as though you cannot take another step, wave your palm branch for strength. When you feel the world created by God is crushing down upon you, wave your palm branch for protection. When you feel empty, remember to wave your palm branch for glory. Raise your arms, wave a book in the air, or find a scarf to wave. Use whatever is at hand. Just do it, and you will begin to feel the strength and glory that God wants you to experience! Palm Sunday is a day to rejoice, a day to celebrate, a day to remember as we travel down the road this week to Easter, the day
of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.                                                        mdz

  “And the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” (Rev 1:18)
    Flowers! Easter lilies! Speak to me this morning the same dear old lesson of immortality which you have been speaking to so many sorrowing souls.
    Wise old Book! let me read again in your pages of firm assurance that to die is gain.
    Poets! recite to me your verses which repeat in every line the Gospel of eternal life.
    Singers! break forth once more into songs of joy; let me hear again the well- known resurrection psalms.
    Tree and blossom and bird and sea and sky and wind whisper it, sound it afresh, warble it, echo it, let it throb and pulsate through every atom and particle; let the air be filled with it.
    Let it be told and retold and still retold until hope rises to conviction, and conviction to certitude of knowledge; until we, like Paul, even though going to
our death, go with triumphant mien, with assured faith, and with serene and shining face.
    A well-known minister was in his study writing an Easter sermon when the thought gripped him that his Lord was living. He jumped up excitedly and
paced the floor repeating to himself, “Why Christ is alive, His ashes are warm,
He is not the great ’I was,’ He is the great ’I am.’” He is not only a fact, but a living fact. Glorious truth of Easter Day!
    We believe that out of every grave there blooms an Easter lily, and in every tomb there sits an angel. We believe in a risen Lord. Turn not your faces to the past that we may worship only at His grave, but above and within that we may worship the Christ that lives. And because He lives, we shall live also.
- Abbott, Streams in the Desert

   “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…” (Hebrews 10:22).
    Seemings and feelings are often substituted for faith. Pleasurable
emotions and deep satisfying experiences are part of the Christian life, but they are not all of it. Trials, conflicts, battles and testings lie along the way,
and are not to be counted as misfortunes, but rather as part of our necessary discipline.
    In all these varying experiences we are to reckon on Christ as dwelling in the heart, regardless of our feelings if we are walking obediently before Him. Here is where many get into trouble; they try to walk by feeling rather
than faith.
    One of the saints tells us that it seemed as though God had withdrawn Himself from her. His mercy seemed clean gone. For six weeks her desolation lasted, and then the Heavenly Lover seemed to say:
    “Catherine, thou hast looked for Me without in the world of sense, but all the while I have been within waiting for thee; meet Me in the inner chamber of thy spirit, for I am there.”
    Distinguish between the fact of God’s presence, and the emotion of the fact. It is a happy thing when the soul seems desolate and deserted, if our faith can say, “I see Thee not. I feel Thee not, but Thou art certainly and graciously here, where I am as I am.” Say it again and again: “Thou art here:
though the bush does not seem to burn with fire, it does burn. I will take the shoes from off my feet,
for the place on which I stand is holy ground.” —London Christian
    Believe God’s word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea. —                           Samuel Rutherford
Streams in the Desert