The Power of the Resurrection

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; He has risen.

I have been pondering these words all week…

… “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

How often do we look for the living among the dead…

  Seeking things that do not bring life

     Looking for fulfillment in things that only bring more emptiness…

               as if dead things can bring life…

     when all along the living one… the resurrected one…  is the only one…

  to bring life to those dry places…      those thirsty places…

                          those dying and dead places…  

His resurrection life is the only thing that fills…  He is the only one that fills…

                                         those empty places…

And Yet…

sometimes we live in the in-between place…

    that place between His resurrection and the power of His resurrection…

               that place of knowing  He is alive and the place of living in that truth… 

^{After he had resurrected -}

Jesus said to His disciple, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

His very breath of life…   covered them… 
        He filled them with His presence… Life giving salvation… eternity set in them

But before He send them out…

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

  Imparting and reminding them of all He had taught them…

                 …head knowledge now becoming heart knowledge

…the living word not only living with them           …but now dwelling in them.

And yet…

He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

The Disciples were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Perhaps the same two men who stood in the tomb…  Who asked the simple question 

“Why”

                  “why do you look for the living among the dead?”

“Men of Galilee,” they said…

    “Why”

“why do you stand here looking into the sky? "

“This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

the disciples were living in
                               the in-between place…

that place of knowing the living resurrected Lord… yet waiting…

….waiting for His resurrection power…

So often I stand there… waiting… waiting for my Savior

                … waiting for His power

                           …waiting for His strength

…living in-between the resurrection  …. and the power

50 days after the dead sprung to life….

    50 days after death’s sting was won…

            50 days after the Resurrection and the Life bought victory for all mankind…

the promised power was received…

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Resurrection life received…           Resurrection power given…

    life that gives us the power to manifest Jesus

        life which gives us the ability to live victoriously

Jesus called them  out of that in-between place…

Jesus calls us out of the in-between place…

that place of complacency…

that place of apathy…
   that place of just getting through the day...

         that place of fear

            that place that brings death

He says…  
"I am your resurrection and your life…
believe and receive ME  and LIVE…

live fully… I came and died and rose to give you life...  to the fullness ...    
                           when you live in Me
you have no need to fear…  my perfect love covers it
        you have no need to just get by...  to believe things will remain dead... 
                            the power of my resurrection covers death...

live in my resurrection life…          Live… in the power of the my resurrection…

Living in His resurrection Power~

repost and edited from: http://chellsenclan.blogspot.com/2012/04/in-between-place.html

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Life–in abundance

  I have been on this journey of learning what it means to live the life of abundance that my Savior told me about…  

well He actually promises it…
                                   
 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.      John 10:10

He says:   “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
the word Life comes from the Greek word zōē  which means”

1. to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead)
   
2. to enjoy real life
   
   1. to have true life and worthy of the name
      
   2. active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God
      
3. to live i.e. pass life, in the manner of the living and acting
   
   1. of mortals or character
      
4. living water, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul
   
5. metaph. to be in full vigour
   
   1. to be fresh, strong, efficient,
      
   2. as adj. active, powerful, efficacious
      

The word abundance comes from the Greek word perissos which means:
exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

1. over and above, more than is necessary, superadded
   
   1. exceeding abundantly, supremely
      
   2. something further, more, much more than all, more plainly
      
2. superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon
   
   1. pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent
      

life …
    breathing…
            enjoying…    real…
                     to be fresh, strong and efficient
                              powerful, active and vigorous…
                                         
abundance…
       more than…    exceeding  my needs
                    more than…     my expectations
                                   much  more than…   over and above…     surpassing

Another version says…               but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.
      
                abundance…    fullness

His promise…
                   LIFE…    in all its fullness

In this blog post I write more about this idea of living life in the moment:

LIFE

I am reflecting again on the word life~

What does that word look like to me?

  L – Letting go to the moment
  I – Investing myself in that moment
  F – Feeling the emotions of that moment
  E – Engaging fully in that moment

I want my years to have LIFE in them… to be full of life and memories…

I have gotten away from “writing” one living moment a day down, but I hope that I have not forgotten to “LIVE” those daily moments.  I would like to think that I am getting better at” living life”  instead of  “doing life.”

You can check out some of my lists here; each one of these lists has suggestions on how to live life more fully:

365 Days (8-14)
365 Days (15-21)
365 Days (22-28)
365 Days (29 – 35)
365 Days (36-42)
365 Days (43-49)
365 Days (50-56)
365 Days (57-63)
365 Days (64-70)
365 Days (71-77)
365 Days (78-84)

Reading over my lists…   seeing fullness in all things~
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Eucharisteo–Give Thanks

above our window is a reminder…

a reminder to give thanks…   a reminder to live a life of thanks… 

the word Eucharisteo. 

I first heard of this word while growing up in church.  We would talk about the Eucharist.  I did not fully understand the meaning then.  Not until I read Ann Voskamp’s blog and book “One Thousand Gifts” 

                a life changing book…  a life changing habit… to give thanks – daily

I love word studies – the power that comes from a word when you fully understand it…

Eucharisteo

The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon - Strong's Number:   2168
yoo-khar-is-teh'-o  - Verb

Definition

1. to be grateful, feel thankful
2. give thanks

Eucharisteo is a verb, an action word.

It takes action to give thanks…

                          it is not just a feeling, because simple put… some days you just do not feel like giving thanks… 

and some days it is plain hard to find the thanks in the day…  

                             some days it takes strength and courage to be grateful…  

                                                  but the blessing of this habit is powerful… 

                                                                         because the words bring power…

giving thanks puts the focus on the “living word”                    

            the one whose name is The Word…   In is name is power. 

                      in everything give thanks ; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.    -Thessalonians 5:18

                                  always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ   - Ephesians 5:20

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we will be using our “Devotion Tree” – our tree of life…

            we will be using this tree to reflect on Eucharisteo.

                            –we will choose gratefulness…  listing them each day – one by one.

                                              we will give thanks  until it becomes a way of life… a feeling of  fullness of life…

      we will choice  to live thankful full lives…       as we place our focus on the one who lived life to the fullest.  

 

We are using Ann Voskamps

   “Thanksgiving Tree” ornaments…

             check them out here:  

                          The Thanks Giving Tree {Free Printable} 

I made a new devotional to go with these for our morning devotion time together.

We will be using this for the week before Thanksgiving.  Each of the 3 silly sisters and I will pick our own scripture leaf to reflect on and share what God is saying to us.  I have included enough sheets for the whole month in case we decide in a future year to use these for the whole  month.

    

The Thanks Giving Tree: Giving Thanks to Thanks Living – a Thanksgiving Devotional

Won’t you join us in Living a life of devotion~ The Eucharisteo Life~

 

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Gratitude–key to the Fullness of Life

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life…
gratitude is the “key”  that unlocks the door to a life “full” - Abundant Living
grat·i·tude – noun

the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

I love how this definitions says the “quality” of being… 

quality
- a distinguishing characteristic, property, or attribute
- a trait or feature of personality
- (Music, other) musical tone color; timbre

The key to a life of fullness,
             is the quality of being…

   an attribute      a character trait     a feature of your personality
      of your very being,
               something that you are.

Living a life of gratitude, 
  starts with giving thanks, 
     but that gratitude becomes a part of who you are.

and when it does-  there is a tune….  a tone…    a color…    a song…    a timbre -

The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from

other sounds of the same pitch and volume.

   Music tone color or quality of sound 

     a distinctive tone quality

a timbres song is  one “full” of tone -  a steady periodic sound, repeating its values in regular intervals…

      a song full of  color -  the blues or peace; the greens of new life, the reds of sacrifice; the yellows of joy.

           a song  full of pitch – those high’s and low’s and in-between places that life’s journey brings/

           a song full of volume – quiet mellow times and rambunctious loud times.
                             
   a song of thanksgiving -  a life of “living thanks”

                      ~  GRATITUDE ~

   the key unlocking…

 the doors of trials,
     and turning them in to times of peace
 the doors of pain,
     turning to moments of relief and comfort
 the doors of fear,
      turning to words of courage and assurance
  the doors of lacking,
      turning into more than enough

the key that turns all - into songs of praise…

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise for our God.
Many people will learn of this and be amazed; they will trust the LORD.    Psalm 40:3

I love how the Message Bible puts it...

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:

they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God. 

He taught me how to sing…

 the song of gratitude
   the latest God-song,
a daily praise – a daily song…    to my God

He has given me the key -  to living “full”

to abundant life.


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Seasonal Picture Bucket Lists - Autumn/Fall

Years ago, I read an article by Jack Hayford, called Recovering the Lost Art of Celebrating..
He talks about three Greek words which build a foundation for celebration: the following are inserts from his article:

Kurios is the Greek word for "Lord,"

First, they are done before the Lord—He is the Lord of the celebration. You see, all through the passage in Deuteronomy, the Lord said, "Come and rejoice before the Lord your God."            

Chairo is the verb for "rejoice," 

Philippians 4:4 - "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"
We need to be reminded to rejoice. Then we need to be reminded that we were reminded. How do we rejoice? The obvious way, of course, is to rejoice with feasting and not feel guilty about it. Rejoice at the holiday seasons with certain activities that contribute to the remembrance, the commemoration and the fun of what it’s all about. That isn’t giddy, that’s Godly. There’s just something about rejoicing that we need to be told "…and again I say, ‘rejoice.’" It’s consistent with God’s order of celebration.

Koinonia is the word for "share" or "sharing."

The Bible makes it very clear in such passages as Acts 2:44, 45; and 4:32-37 that it was characteristic of the Early Church to share. And they shared everything they had… Now sharing takes place in three ways: in funds, in feasting and in family.

I love the seasons…  
         I love the holidays…
               I love finding ways to make them special…  to celebrate…
I love bucket lists. 
            Being a list person…           I love the idea of them.
                   Being a creative person…   I love the creative element to these kinds of lists.
                               Being a somewhat obsessive pinterester…    I love all the wonderful  ideas out there for each season and holiday,   but I forget about them and do not do many of these brilliant, creative ideas,  they just sit there in my Pinterest boards, collecting dust…
When I was searching for new bucket list ideas I came across this format from Lapetite Fashionista:
  Being a visual person…   I loved everything about this picture bucket list…
So I came up with my own version:  (click the picture for a larger view)
It sits on our fireplace mantle, where we can look at it daily.
So far we have decorated for fall… 
       
      
We made the fall pretzel desserts:
      



I drank my first cup of Pumpkin spice Latte…
        (not on the list, but an autumn must)



We made the Paper Pumpkins…  lots of them.
  
We made the candy corn candles and a leaf picture frame…
  
We are having so much fun celebrating Autumn…
       Celebrating the Lord of the Harvest…
rejoicing in the richness of this season and sharing from our harvest of paper pumpkins.
Living in celebration~ Pin It

fill us to empty us to fill us again

He has this way of filling us…

with his love and presence…
filling us…

         with His word…     with His grace…      with His very being…

just to empty us.    

   
                                           we are emptied…

    of our pride…     of our foolishness…  of our selfishness…

we laydown our hurts…      our unforgiveness…      our shortcomings…  

                            our fears…                  our very lackings…
 
at the cross…       at the tree - that tree that brought death…   that tree that  brought life. 
       
  and at this tree of life…   He awakens us…

   and there is this beautiful exchange that takes place…

     less of self…       for more of Him…

          this beautiful empting and  filling up…

        this glorious filling to fullness… 

   just so we can pour out all of Him…    all of who He is…     to another…  

                        being emptied out for Him…     just  to be filled up again..

and the cycle continues…

               filled…                    emptied…                    filled…                       emptied…                     filled…
 

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.                 Philippians 2:5-7

living in that beautiful exchange~
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Fours Seasons

We have slowly been adapting our school year to a year round schedule. Seems to be the way we do life…

            in seasons

 

I shared how the Lord speaks to me in seasons in a previous post:

   a new school year 

With the completion of our summer season and Autumn beginning I have  been thinking about seasons.

The other day I read this quote by Ann Voskamp on her blog A Holy Experience…   love her blog – talk about deep…

 

all the seasons were going to do nothing less than make a full year.

The seasons could turn. The seasons could bring it all as He meant it to be.   Ann Voskamp

the seasons were made to complete a year cycle…  to make a full year.

and I pondered that thought… all the seasons do nothing less  than make a full year.

                   autumn                 winter               spring                   summer   

 

they make a full year –   

     they were designed to do so, created to make a complete cycle, they can not do anything less.

           when you put them all together…  they make a full year.

                                                     a year of fullness.

 

autumn brings its brilliance of color and grace,  along with the chill and coldness of night.

   winter brings the sparkle and glimmer of peace, along with the bareness of loss.

            spring brings the array of new life and blossoms of hope, along with the increase of storms.

                   summer brings sunshine and the warmth of  love, along with fires and intense heat.

 

each season filled with its own blessings…

            each season not escaping its heartaches…

yet, when they are brought together,

in the completion of a full year…

          there is a fullness…

                         a  fullness of grace…

                                   a   fullness of peace…

                                         a fullness of hope…

                                               a fullness of love…

A fullness that only comes from living each season through.

           a beauty that only comes from living each season fully…

                       living  the  beauty… 

                                  and living  the ashes…

and He says…

            “I will make beauty from the ashes”

fullness…    

                as He meant it to be.

  We are entering one of my favorite seasons: I wrote about it last year:

                      autumn rains             

To all who mourn in Zion,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

                                                         ~  Isaiah 61:3

living for His beauty~

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Amazing Grace

As I was praying this morning, I paused for a moment to praise the Lord and listen to the sound of the wind chimes from my front porch.

They are designed to play the song “amazing grace”  but only if the notes are all played in the right order.  Every once in awhile I will recognize part of the tune as a few notes play in succession together, but most of the time they chaotically play a random tune….   but a beautiful one.

I was thinking about how my life is like that some days…
                 well most days.

I have a plan…   a way that I would like my day to look.   An ordered pattern of how it should flow.  I think that if it flows this way, I would accomplish all I want to do.  I would be able to do all I set out for us to do for that day.   I would feel successful and accomplished.  All my lists would be checked off.  It would be amazing….

But, I realize that is not how  life is or works.

I have days… even weeks like this one - where I feel like I am disorganized (yes, super organized, planner me ), in need of some time to sort out our schedule. Realizing our life is  in need of some grace and His plan…


I find a notch of time and energy all at that same time…
          but it happens to be at 10 pm and goes until 2 am,
              but that notch of time was so productive and creative .

That time was filled with the creativity and the grace of my God, who knows what my days look like,
                   who knows what my children need, who knows what I need...

 That Amazing Grace

and He reminded me that I can make plans and He can help me lay out our plan… 
                               BUT I need to trust Him with the plan.

and the Lord took me on a little word study again…   another one of those powerful little conjunctions-

BUT - conjunction
—used to introduce a statement that adds something to a previous statement and usually contrasts with it in some way
: other than —used in speech at the beginning of a sentence that expresses surprise, shock

that little word but… full of contrast, yet adding so much more to the previous.

So my day today is…   well off, I woke up at my normal time and got my special boy ready for school, prayed for my unique son before he left to walk to school.

Funny I prayed for both of us to be filled with His grace and to walk in His plan for us today.  I prayed for that same thing for my special son.  That he would walk in His saviors plan for him today.   

Unique son called and had left his backpack at home (took the wrong bag), not having a car during the day (hubby is having to use it as his has not passed smog).  So he walked home to get the right bag, and a note since he would be late.

then, I went to lay down and cuddle with my little one, just for a while and I feel back to sleep…  who wouldn’t with only 4 hours of sleep.

                  so  now my morning was starting off…    my day started off the plan.   chaotic.

So, as I sit here on the coach… needing some grace…   some amazing grace.
                           
                                I hear this chaotic, random song. 

and it is beautiful -  full of quit moments - full of vibrant moments - full  of chaos…

                                               but Full

I look for grace,  in the plans that I  lay out,

but… 

He gives me amazing grace… 

 the grace that comes from the plans He lays out  for me.
       
           and His grace…  His amazing grace is Full.

 


We should make plans but counting on God to direct us.
                                                                     Proverbs 16:9



living in the fullness of His amazing grace.



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Framing the Moments

I remember when I first started having children, asking my mom questions about myself as a baby… 

When did I do this… when did I do that… did I do this or that…

She tried to remember and gave some sort of answer for a few of the questions… and then she said something that was so profound and yet so deeply aching…

“with all the work that had to be done, who had time to ooh and ah.”

I remember thinking…        I never want to stop oohing and ahing.


and for years I did not…

with each child the excitement of all the firsts and cute little things that each child would do, was still so special and  with each added child there was more to join in the chorus of oohs and ahs.

But as more years passed by and children grew older…
          responsibilities, along with needs grew greater…
                 time seemed shorter and the “work,”
 - that never ending list of things to do, grew longer.

It was in that place that I began to loose some of that sense of wonder,  
          that sense of noticing all those special, wonderful everyday moments. 
       My senses became somewhat dimmer and my awareness a little duller. 

I began to  focus more on the work instead of the moments.

So I have been asking the Creator…
                         the one who allows us to be a part of His grand masterpieces,
                                 each and every day -   a new canvas waiting to be created.
I have been asking Him,

to open my eyes to see…   
                   to awaken my heart to experience,
                                       to awaken my hands to receive.

to show me how to frame each moment -  each gift

                 to hold it close…
                       and to
                  ooh and ah

 
Lord, I want to see, I need to see you in the everyday moments of my life…  Open the  eyes of my hearts, so that I may slow down and experience  the fullness of each  frame, each gift that you give me,  that I may see  – the precious moments, the messes, the simple, the chaos of everyday life as sacred – as a part of your masterpiece.

simply living~

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Beauties and Birthdays

We were able to celebrate birthday for  two of our beauties this weekend at one of my favorite beautiful places to be.

 

 

This week

our Angel Girl turned 12

and

our Golden Girl turned 14.

 

They are growing up into such beautiful young woman.

 

 

 

We surprised these two beauties by taking them to the YWAM base that my missionary daughter is serving on and stayed the weekend . The past few years they have not been able to celebrate with their oldest sissy… who they adore…

 

So we packed up a suitcase and loaded the car up, while our unique son took them out for a soda.  When they got back we told them we were going somewhere for the day for a family outing for their birthdays…  oh the excitement.    We took our special son, little one and unique son with us and headed off for our adventure. 

Half way through the trip they began to wonder, but they did not ask any questions… until we stopped at a gas station we always stop at on our way to seeing their big sister.

 

 

 

When we arrived our missionary daughter had our cabin decorated for a birthday party.  We had a wonderful cabin with a wonderful view and enough room to move around and be comfortable.  We got settled in and then went for a swim at the pool on the base, while hubby went into town to get some food for the weekend.

 

 After hubby returned and the swim was done, unique son was off with his friends from the base and missionary daughter was off to take engagement pictures for a couple on the base. We went to the playground and the girly girls did a little exploring…It was a beautiful day.  

 

 

 

   The next day was filled with deer observation, hikes and exploration, more swimming, a trip into town for the girlies to do a little shopping, a mini rain storm, a lesson in how to properly kill a rattlesnake, special son learning how to ride a bike and a birthday party celebration ending with a popcorn filled movie night. 

   

  

    

   

    

 

A full day at a place filled with the fullness of God’s Glory and beauty.

 

 

A weekend filled with memories…

     A weekend living life to the fullness….

           A weekend of celebration for the birth and life of these two incredible daughters…

My heart is full.
 

 

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