Wednesday

Death, Guilt, Sin & The Saviour's Grace - A Dose of Encouragement







EASTER is just one of the items on the Church Calendar each year.

Or is it?






When we are young Easter may centre around those chocolate eggs and everything that seems to depict cuddly little yellow chicks.

When we are young Easter may centre around a family roast and little egg hunts.

When we are young Easter may centre around one of those twice a year visits to church.

When we are young and actively involved in church Easter may centre around pictures of an empty cross and tomb.



But what about now that we are older?


Are the chocolate eggs and yellow chicks forgotten?


Do we still get together as a family for that big meal?


Do we still go to church on Easter Sunday?


To some of those the answer may well be - YES?

but

Do we still focus our thoughts on the cross & the tomb?



Most of us will not have been able to grow up without hearing about the cross and the tomb but did we really pay attention to the  WHY?



The first "Why" I want to look at is the DEATH.

We know he died and his body was put into the tomb and then we know that the tomb was found empty but often our thoughts of Easter stop right there at the empty tomb and we forget to go on and see what it means for us.  What it has meant right from that resurrection day until now and will continue to mean for all of us for the rest of our lives and for eternity.





Jesus through His DEATH and RESURRECTION defeated DEATH forevermore.
He defeated DEATH for us the ones who deserved death as the punishment for our sins.
He defeated DEATH so that the fear of it would not have to hover over us and taint our lives.
He defeated DEATH so that the devil would not have that to use to control us.




The second "Why" I want to look at is the GUILT.

We know Christ died because people hated Him and would rather He be killed than someone who had already been found guilty of terrible crimes.  Jesus was the one who took Barabbas' guilt there and then that day as the people watched the truly guilty person walk away.  






Jesus through His death and resurrection also took our GUILT that day and we need to remember this.  We the guilty were replaced by the true innocent one, Jesus was and is the true, perfect sacrifice once and for ever for our sins. 

Jesus stepped into our place for us the GUILTY ones who deserve death as the punishment for our sins.
He wiped away our GUILT so that it would not have power over our minds. 
He took our GUILT on himself so that anguish, worry and stress would not destroy us.




The third "Why" I want to look at is the SIN.

We know Jesus was "without sin" from the following verses  


"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
2 Corinthians 5:21
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
Hebrews 4:15
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Hebrews 9:28
"Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:"
1 Peter 2:22 
"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."
1 John 3:5
 
 
But 
Do we really believe that we are sinners?
Do we really believe that Jesus died for us?
Do we really believe that Jesus was a willing sacrifice?
Do we really believe that Jesus took on our sin?

 


AND
If we really understand & believe that we are sinners.
If we really understand & believe that Jesus died for us.
If we really understand & believe that Jesus was a willing sacrifice.
If we really understand & believe that Jesus took on our sin.


THEN    
We can trust that Jesus did this all to bring us into God's family.
We can trust that Jesus is the only Saviour of the world.








THEN    
We can trust that the Saviour's grace to us is real.


So what is the grace of God?

people often say it is "undeserved favour" from God

but I would like to add a quote from John Piper here 

“Well, it appears that the word grace in Paul’s use not only refers to God’s character trait or disposition or inclination to treat people better than we deserve, but the word grace also refers to the action or the power or the influence or the force of this disposition, which produces real, practical outcomes in people’s lives, like being sufficient for good deeds or enduring the thorn in the flesh or working harder than everybody else, which Paul says about his own apostolic work.”


which directs us to the fact that the Grace of God is an active effect on our lives to change us.






NOW    
We can understand the reason for cross, the punishment, and the Grace.



 








Remember the Death
Remember the Guilt
Remember the Sin

Then 
Remember the 




What a wonderful time is the celebration of Easter regardless of who we are, where we are, who we can see and what we can do.

To dwell in the knowledge that Jesus was the sacrifice for us and had the power to overcome death so that we do not have to carry the sin and guilt but instead we have experienced our Saviour’s Grace when we trusted in Him.









Monday

EASTER - An Acronym to Remind Us about the Meaning of Easter



EASTER

What do you think of when you hear or see the word Easter?





You probably would include
Cross
Tomb
Angels
Disciples
Mary & Mary & Mary
or
bunnies
eggs
baskets
springtime


Here is another way to:


remind us of Easter

and 
what Easter should mean to us

and 
how we can share the Love of God to others at Easter Time

and
who Easter is for




Let's consider an Acronym of the word 


1.  E is for Everyone


Romans 3 v 23:  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God









2. A is for Anyone


John 3 v 16:  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes on His name shall be saved.







3. S is for Salvation


Acts 16 v 31:  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.







4. T is for Today


Hebrews 13 v 8:  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever







5. E is for Everlasting Life


John 6 v 47:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.









6. R is for Resurrection


John 11 v 25:  Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.






At Easter Time we learn exactly why we can have faith in God.


No-one has lived a perfect life except Jesus.
No-one is good enough to be in the presence of God.
But God still loves everyone so much that He provided a way for us to be with Him.
He sent Jesus to die for our sin, to be our Saviour.


Anyone means You, personally You, no matter who You are or what You have done.
Jesus died on the cross for You and He wants You to trust in Him and You will be saved.
This is a personal promise for You from the Saviour.


God wants us to trust in Him today and because He never changes He will forever keep His promises.
Jesus also never changes so today He is STILL the Saviour of the World.
He wants to be your personal Saviour.


On Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the day when Jesus rose from the dead and He is Alive forevermore.
Jesus is a living Saviour.







So
 is all about the fact that...


"JESUS  LIVES”

 and 
that is the Good News

of
Salvation Today

to
Everyone, Anyone, 

because
Jesus died

but
then

there was the

Resurrection

bringing

Good News

of

Everlasting Life

to

ALL  WHO  BELIEVE  IN  HIM






There is a similar post on this blog using the same acronym with free downloads for you to use as a presentation with Children - EASTER Letters


A variety of other Easter related posts and Free Printables can be found on our  EASTER PAGE




Why not pin this pic to come back later







Thursday

I Love Northern Ireland - Travel



I was born in Northern Ireland.


I have lived there for most of my life with a break from 1992-95 when we lived in Delaware, USA and another one from 2004 -2010 when we lived in Tervuren, Belgium.








First I lived in Londonderry in the North West of Northern Ireland and then after I got married we lived in Drumahoe which is a village just outside Londonderry.



When we returned from The US we went back to our house in Drumahoe but when we returned from Belgium it was time to move to a location from which it was easier for my husband to get to the airports to travel for his work so we chose a house in Banbridge, a town just off the A1 which is the road from Belfast to Dublin.










 Northern Ireland is part of the UK 







though many people throughout the world get confused and think that all of Ireland is one country because it is one island.







It is rather like Spain and Portugal which are two different countries sharing the one large Peninsula of land in Europe.


Or maybe think of The US and Canada?




The people of Northern Ireland are some of the friendliest people in the world and are definitely known for their hospitality.




Northern Ireland has so many beautiful places to experience.



Northern Ireland is the home of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World:


The Giants Causeway



Wikipedia.org



Other great features are:



The Historical Walls of Londonderry


My home city for many years.


Wikipedia.org




The Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Along the beautiful North Coast


Wikipedia.org



The Mountains of Mourne

The beautiful scenery close to where we now live.



Wikipedia.org



The Lakes in Fermanagh

In the South West of Northern Ireland.


Wikipedia.org




I have always loved Northern Ireland and will claim (rightly) that we have fantastic large beaches of fine sand, even though we do not have the warm weather for others to come and visit and fully appreciate them.


DiscoverNorthernIreland.com



If you have never been to Northern Ireland it is well worth a visit of much more than a couple of days.

Yes I have met people who decide to visit "Ireland" so travel from the US or Europe or Canada to Dublin in Eire / Republic of Ireland and spend almost 2 weeks there and then think they can go "up north" for a couple of days (or for one day as one family of 4 expressed this desire to me after a late breakfast in a hotel in the south end of Eire - I still shake my head at this one) and take in the beautiful places we have here but then are surprised that there is too much to do in just so little time.










Other Posts about Northern Ireland can be found at 









Monday

Psalm 34 v 1-4 Free Word Search Puzzles - Coffee & Conversation








The Theme for this Word Search is

The Bible Verses
Psalm 34 v 1-4






I'm offering these Word Search Puzzles as one of my assortment of free printables which can be found in my Resource Library


Yes not just 1 Word Search Puzzle in this post but 4 of them 
one for each of the first four verses of 
Psalm 34



Psalm 34 v 1  Word Search


Can you find these 10 words (or groups of words)  
from the verse
Psalm 34 v 1 
in this Word Search Puzzle?









Psalm 34 v 2  Word Search


Can you find these 11 words (or groups of words)  
from the verse
Psalm 34 v 2 
in this Word Search Puzzle?









Psalm 34 v 3  Word Search


Can you find these 9 words (or pairs of words)  
from the verse
Psalm 34 v 3 
in this Word Search Puzzle?









Psalm 34 v 4  Word Search


Can you find these 11 words (or pairs of words)  
from the verse
Psalm 34 v 4 
in this Word Search Puzzle?








The Word Search Puzzles are available to download in both A4 and Letter size and of course they each come with an answer sheet.


If you are interested in other Word Search Printables or any of our Free Printables you can find a list of all of them in our



Have you downloaded our Free Psalm 34 v 1-4 Word Search Puzzles yet?










Other Posts about Psalm 34
can be found at






Other Word Search Puzzles can be found at 






BUT
don't forget to




Or pin this pic below to come back later