"THE CROSS"

BY: Donna Selma Lind

"THE CROSS"

Clunk-Clunk. Boom-Boom. Clunk-Clunk. Boom-Boom. Clunk- Clunk.
I hunted around the house trying to locate the source of the loud banging noise. Aha,there it is... it's coming from the Washing Machine.
I pressed the stop button waited for it to unlock and flipped open the lid. I figured my husband had left a tool or a bolt or something in a pocket. Plunging my hand down in the warm water I fished around in the clothes to see if  could find something loose. Nothing. I couldn't find anything that was clanging around. Maybe it was off balanced, I shifted and re-distributed the weight of the clothes and started the cycle up again. 

It was quiet for a few minutes and then it started up again..
Clunk-Clunk.Boom-Boom. Clunk-Clunk. Boom-Boom.
What on earth is causing this? I stopped the machine and once again stuck my hand in the water and moved the clothes from side to side trying to find the culprit. All of a sudden I felt something, a lump of some kind inside a sock at the bottom of the wash tub. I pulled the object from the wadded up sock and there it was.. a Cross. 
A beautiful ceramic Cross about 5x3 inches. Completely whole, nothing missing, nothing broken.(Shalom) 
When we had gone to visit my Mom a few days before, she had given me this little Cross. I had wrapped it up inside a couple of socks and forgot all about it until now! We traveled about six hundred miles back home and the Cross was in our Duffel bag until I literally tossed it in the washing machine! 

How that Cross didn't break getting tossed back and forth in the wash is beyond me. It stayed completely intact without a scratch on it! 

I may have washed the Cross that day, but it was the blood of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross that washed my sins away! 

 "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin." Psalm 51:2

"Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

The ceramic Cross that Mom gave me is a beautiful artists interpretation of the Cross, but it is not realistic and looks nothing like the Cross on Calvary where Jesus shed his blood for you and me.

The Cross where Jesus was crucified was a crude and rugged wooden Cross. When the roman soldiers nailed him to that Cross and jabbed a crown of thorns on his head, he bled. Jesus bled and his blood covered that old rugged Cross.
His blood covered the Cross and covered our sins. Mine and yours. He took our place on the Cross. He was the perfect lamb whose blood washed our sins away.  And though he died on the Cross, He Lives! Hallelujah! He has overcome the grave!

Jesus forgives us, washes away our filthy rags of sin and covers us with a robe of righteousness. He gives us a new heart and a new life. 
That's how much He loves you and me! 

This Holy week let us reflect on the Cross and what it truly means. 

What did Christ remove and wash away from your life?

What do you need to surrender and lay at the foot of the Cross?

 Praise Jesus the Living God and Thank him for the Cross!! 

Soak in His presence with this song by Chris Tomlin- 

"At the Cross (Love Ran Red)"

He has Risen, He has Risen indeed!

A BLACK AND BLUE HEART

By:Donna Selma Lind

 "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalms 34:18

NOT ALL WOUNDS ARE VISIBLE. 

Emotional, and Verbal Abuse wounds are invisible on the outside, but the scars and pain left behind can last for a lifetime. 

You can tell if a person has been physically abused by observing a black eye, a bloodied lip or a broken arm, but how can you tell if a person is a victim of Emotional, or Verbal Abuse?

 Let's take a look at what I call a "Black and Blue Heart" looks like.

First let's define this type of abuse. 

EMOTIONAL/VERBAL ABUSE : "Abuse is a pattern of behavior used to gain and maintain power and control over another person."

Emotional/ Verbal Abuse includes non-physical behaviors such as threats, insults, constant monitoring, humiliation, intimidation,bullying, isolation, stalking.

There are many behaviors that qualify as emotional or verbal abuse, including: 
*Name calling and putting you down.
*Yelling and screaming at you.
*Intentionally embarrassing you in public.
*Preventing you from seeing or talking with your family.
*Telling you what to do and wear.
*Damaging your property when they are angry.(Throwing objects, punching walls, kicking doors etc.)
*Blaming you for their abusive actions or behaviors.
*Crazy making/Gaslighting techniques to confuse or manipulate you.
*Accusing you of cheating and being jealous of your outside relationships.
*Threatening to commit suicide or threatening to harm you or your loved ones in order to keep you from breaking up with them.
*Threatening to have your children taken away.

(The above information describing Emotional/ Verbal abuse is from the website  www.loveisrespect.org
 I encourage you to visit this website for more information.)

Invisible abuse of this kind wears you down and erodes your self esteem. It robs us of our identity because we comply and become who "they" want us to be in order to keep the peace. We live in constant fear, anxiety and walk on eggshells. 
Because we don't want the confrontation or the fight and drama, we learn to stuff.
Stuff our feelings, thoughts, dreams and desires. WE STUFF OUR STUFF!

We live in pain that no one sees. We put on the mask and hide. We avoid friends and family. We put up walls to protect our Black and Blue Hearts. We go through life. We carry on, we push through the pain, praying and believing, ONE DAY, one day it will get better, one day they will change, one day,one day, if only, one day. 

How do I know? Because I lived it. For many years. No one knew.
I protected my abuser and I hid the pain, I went through the motions because I didn't want anyone to be disappointed in me or him. I was afraid to tell, afraid to fail, afraid to do anything.
Then, One day came. 
Jesus came to protect me and to set me free. He came to heal my heart and fill me with His love. He gave me a new life. He gave me a wonderful man who loves me the way God intended love to be. 
He gave me back my hope and my dreams. He restored my soul.

I am concerned about you today. I want to make sure you don't have to go through what I did. I want to make sure you're safe. I want to make sure you're okay. Because I love you and you are special to me and to God!


Do you see any red flags and warning signs? 

STOP. Stop being the victim! Stop playing the games. Stop believing the lies. Stop the cycle and get some help and get protection before this gets any worse! Before you totally lose you and who God created you to be. 
Psalm 9:9 "The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."

Are you a slave to this abuse? 

Romans 8:14-16 "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to daughter and sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

Sticks and Stones...Names and Words do hurt!

LOOK HOW WORDS BECOME SWORDS. SWORDS that wound our hearts!

wordswordswordswordswordswordswords

Proverbs 12:18 "Reckless words pierce like a sword."


 What is your definition of Love?  What is their definition of Love?

HERE IS GOD'S DEFINITION OF LOVE:

I Corinthians 13 "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

 Recognize the fact that you are not reading this by accident. This is a divine appointment for you from the Lord. 

 GOD LOVES YOU AND HE WANTS TO HEAL YOUR "BLACK AND BLUE HEART". HE WANTS TO RESTORE YOU TO WHOLENESS AND FILL YOU WITH HIS LOVE, PEACE AND JOY.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

IF YOU ARE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP AND NEED HELP OR SOMEONE TO TALK TO ANYTIME PLEASE CALL the NATIONAL DOMESTIC HOTLINE, FOR 24/7 CONFIDENTIAL SUPPORT at: 1-800- 799-7233  
 or click on this link   www.thehotline.org 

I PRAY THE LORD PROTECTS, HEALS AND DELIVERS YOU IN JESUS NAME! Amen.

"FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS"

BY: Donna Selma Lind

"Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14 
Art by: Sandra Rast

She wasn't born into royalty, she was an orphan. Esther's parents had died when she was a child. Her Uncle Mordecai and family took her in as their own daughter. They were of Jewish nationality born into the tribe of Benjamin living in exile under the ruling of King Xerxes of Persia.

When the King was searching for a successor to replace Queen Vashti , Esther was chosen to become the new Queen. 

She had to complete twelve months of special training and beauty treatments prescribed for the women before they could go before the King.

Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her, most importantly she had won the favor and approval of the King. Her nationality still remained a secret.

Meanwhile a conspiracy and plot by Haman the chief servant of the king, was in place to destroy all the Jewish people of the kingdom. This of course caused great mourning among the Jews. Mordecai sent word to Queen Esther warning of the planned annihilation. He asked Esther to go before the King, beg for mercy and plead with him to save their people. Esther was hesitant because she knew it was against the law to go before the King without being summoned first. She herself could be killed for breaking the royal law and she conveyed this in her message back to her Uncle.

Mordecai sent back his answer : "Do not think because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this." Esther 4:14

 Before Esther saw the King she had Mordecai gather together all the Jews who were in the land to fast and pray for three days. On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and dressed herself in proper regal attire. Knowing the seriousness of the consequences she faced, before she entered the king's court she declared, "If I perish, I perish." 

She courageously approached the King where she found the favor and acceptance to be in his presence!

There are many more miraculous and supernatural events that take place in the rest of this chapter in the book of Esther, (I urge you to read on your own, you won't believe what happens next!) but it is the end of the book that is the most miraculous of all!

King Xerxes not only granted Queen Esther her request to save the Hebrew nation but also the King ordered that the enemies of the Jewish people were to be destroyed. All of these orders were given not before, but after Queen Esther revealed to the King that she herself was of Jewish descent.

And so it would go down in history that God used an orphan girl named Esther to save the entire Hebrew nation, "For such a time as this."

This week we enter into "PURIM" a time of celebration in honor and remembrance of a woman who boldly and courageously put her life on the line in order to save her people. Today PURIM is still celebrated around the world by the Jewish people each year. 

As I reflect on my own life I can remember situations and circumstances where I stood up for truth, for people, or for a cause. 

Knowing that I myself may "perish"so to speak, but I stood up anyway. 

Knowing that speaking the truth in love might cause upset feelings. 

Knowing that sticking up for the underdog or a cause may make me unpopular.

Knowing I may lose friends, family, fame or fortune. 

Knowing we are living in an age where being a Christian, a follower of Christ is not the norm or the popular or even safe anymore, are you willing to perish, stand up for truth, stand up for your faith, stand up for Jesus? 

I WILL STAND UP FOR JESUS!!! I WILL STAND UP FOR TRUTH! 

I WILL STAND UP FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST! 

WILL YOU?

There is an opportunity before each of us everyday to be a world changer.  An opportunity to change the atmosphere and circumstances around us. God has positioned you with blessings and favor to make a difference for someone or something. Put on your royal robes and go boldly and courageously before the King.

"Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14