Merry Christmas

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.   Matthew 1:21

A blessed Christmas to all.

Happy Birthday Jesus

⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NIV


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

He is Risen!

Jesus conquered the grave. Death could not hold Him. He lives today! I pray all of you receive His gift of salvation.
Happy Resurrection Day.
Happy Easter.

He died for you!

Take some time today to reflect on what Jesus did for you.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2Peter 3:9

A New Decade begins

Wishing all of you abundant blessings, and a closer walk with Christ our Lord!

Fellowship: I need it

Tonight we had our life group meeting at our house. 12 of us from our church get together every 2 weeks and have a bible study of some sort.

Honestly, tonight I didn't care if anybody came or not. I wasn't crabby or anything, just didn't feel like connecting with some of these people.

We didn't have a specific study tonight, but we started watching the Left Behind movie, then discussed it a little. We'll finish the movie in 2 weeks. It truly was good fellowship.

After everyone left, I started reading some blogs, and felt truly blessed again. I felt a wonderful fellowship among believers.

I went to my bible and looked up fellowship and found this verse, and heard God talking to me loud and clear.
If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1John 1:6-7. NIV

Earlier today, I was not walking in the light, as he is the light. You sure couldn't tell I had fellowship with the Lord by my attitude. I was walking in darkness, and the truth of the bible said I was living a lie. ugh.
Something about the word lie that gets to me. I don't want to be called a liar. I hate lying and liars. Ok I don't hate liars, just that they lie. So when the bible says I'm lying because I'm walking in darkness and claiming to have fellowship with Him...that gets to me, and I have to get rid of it.

And then with the fellowship of the life group I was able to walk in the light again. (after silently confessing my crappy attitude to God) I needed that fellowship, even though I thought I didn't want it, and I needed the words of some of the bloggers I visited tonight. Being reminded that the blood of Jesus purified me from all sin, because I chose to walk in the light again and have fellowship with other believers, is such a joy, and a much better feeling than the feeling I had when I was walking in darkness.

Fellowship has been and still is, such an important part of my walk with the Lord. And I cherish all the fellowship I have had over the years. I don't even need to be good friends with the people I fellowship with. It seems that if we belong to the body of Christ, then we have that common bond. We seem to "fit" in to each others lives, be it only for a quick chat, a season or a lifetime of being in each others lives.

When darkness comes in to our lives, it is so important to get in to fellowship with Christ, and other believers, so that darkness does not overtake us. Nobody even has to know it. (Unless you blog about it) Nobody knew tonight that I was walking in darkness, yet their fellowship drew me back in to the light. And for that I am thankful and grateful.

Pray for Stellan!

Please hold up Stellan and his family in prayer. Stellan is not doing well at all and needs a miracle from God to get through this. In Jesus Name!

Jump Rope for Jesus

Phoebe competed in Jump Rope for Jesus at school today. They are trying to raise tuition money for 2 students from overseas to come to the school. With a team of 3 persons, she had to jump for 2 minutes, then rest for 4. They did this for 90 minutes. There were 5 teams. She said it was fun, but tough. The person who raises the most money will win a prize. She raised $65. They didn't tell us yet who the winners are. She's convinced her $65 will get her a prize. I'll keep you all informed, if that does happen.

Oops, shoe's untied.....Yup that resulted in a missed jump.

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a Happy Resurrection Day. Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Praise God!

We had a nice Easter Sunday. We went to church, went to lunch, my sister and her husband came to visit, and I am now waiting for people to arrive for our bible study. All that with the sun and the Son shining brightly.

Hope you had a great day too.
Phoebe and I at the end of the day.

He was Crucified

I found a description of what happens to the body, when one is crucified. It is a slow, horrible, painful, way to die. Jesus went through this torture for us, because of our sins. He had no sin, yet He did this out of His great love for us. He died so we would not perish. John 3:16 tells us so.

Warning: This is a graphic description of what takes place after one is crucified.

I hope, that after reading this, you spend your Good Friday reflecting on what Christ has done so we wouldn't have to spend eternity apart from God and His Son.

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Despite the gospel accounts silence on the details of Christ's crucifixion, many have looked into this subject in the past. In my personal study of the event from a medical viewpoint, I am indebted especially to Dr. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who did exhaustive historical and experimental research and wrote extensively on the topic.

An attempt to examine the infinite psychic and spiritual suffering of the Incarnate1 God in atonement for the sins of fallen man is beyond the scope of this article. However, the physiological and anatomical aspects of our Lord's passion we can examine in some detail. What did the body of Jesus of Nazareth actually endure during those hours of torture?



Gethsemane

The physical passion of Christ began in Gethsemane. Of the many aspects of His initial suffering, the one which is of particular physiological interest is the bloody sweat. Interestingly enough, the physician, St. Luke, is the only evangelist to mention this occurrence. He says, "And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground" (Luke 22:44 KJV).



Every attempt imaginable has been used by modern scholars to explain away the phenomenon of bloody sweat, apparently under the mistaken impression that it simply does not occur. A great deal of effort could be saved by consulting the medical literature. Though very rare, the phenomenon of hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock.



Although Jesus' betrayal and arrest are important portions of the passion story, the next event in the account which is significant from a medical perspective is His trial before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. Here the first physical trauma was inflicted. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him, mockingly taunted Him to identify them as each passed by, spat on Him, and struck Him in the face.



Before Pilate

In the early morning, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and worn out from a sleepless night, Jesus was taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia, the seat of government of the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. We are familiar with Pilate's action in attempting to shift responsibility to Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Judea. Jesus apparently suffered no physical mistreatment at the hands of Herod and was returned to Pilate. It was then, in response to the outcry of the mob, that Pilate ordered Barabbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.



Preparations for Jesus' scourging were carried out at Caesar's orders. The prisoner was stripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire stepped forward with the flagrum, or flagellum, in his hand. This was a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip was brought down with full force again and again across Jesus' shoulders, back, and legs. At first the weighted thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continued, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles.



The small balls of lead first produced large deep bruises that were broken open by subsequent blows. Finally, the skin of the back was hanging in long ribbons, and the entire area was an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it was determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner was near death, the beating was finally stopped.



Mockery

The half-fainting Jesus was then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood. The Roman soldiers saw a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They threw a robe across His shoulders and placed a stick in His hand for a scepter. They still needed a crown to make their travesty complete. Small flexible branches covered with long thorns, commonly used for kindling fires in the charcoal braziers in the courtyard, were plaited into the shape of a crude crown. The crown was pressed into his scalp and again there was copious bleeding as the thorns pierced the very vascular tissue. After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers took the stick from His hand and struck Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tired of their sadistic sport and tore the robe from His back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, caused excruciating pain. The wounds again began to bleed.



Golgotha

In deference to Jewish custom, the Romans apparently returned His garments. The heavy patibulum of the cross was tied across His shoulders. The procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution detail of Roman soldiers headed by a centurion began its slow journey along the route which we know today as the Via Dolorosa.



In spite of Jesus' efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious loss of blood, was too much. He stumbled and fell. The rough wood of the beam gouged into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tried to rise, but human muscles had been pushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, anxious to proceed with the crucifixion, selected a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus followed, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock. The 650-yard journey from the Fortress Antonia to Golgotha was finally completed. The prisoner was again stripped of His clothing except for a loin cloth which was allowed the Jews.



The crucifixion began. Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild analgesic, pain-reliving mixture. He refused the drink. Simon was ordered to place the patibulum on the ground, and Jesus was quickly thrown backward, with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire felt for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drove a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moved to the other side and repeated the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The patibulum was then lifted into place at the top of the stipes, and the titulus reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" was nailed into place.



The left foot was pressed backward against the right foot. With both feet extended, toes down, a nail was driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The victim was now crucified.



On the Cross

As Jesus slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. The nails in the wrists were putting pressure on the median nerve, large nerve trunks which traverse the mid-wrist and hand. As He pushed himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He placed His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there was searing agony as the nail tore through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of this feet.



At this point, another phenomenon occurred. As the arms fatigued, great waves of cramps swept over the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by the arm, the pectoral muscles, the large muscles of the chest, were paralyzed and the intercostal muscles, the small muscles between the ribs, were unable to act. Air could be drawn into the lungs, but could not be exhaled. Jesus fought to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, the carbon dioxide level increased in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subsided.



The Last Words

Spasmodically, He was able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the seven short sentences that are recorded.

The first - looking down at the Roman soldiers throwing dice6 for His seamless garment: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do."



The second - to the penitent thief: "Today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise."



The third - looking down at Mary His mother, He said: "Woman, behold your son." Then turning to the terrified, grief-stricken adolescent John , the beloved apostle, He said: "Behold your mother."



The fourth cry is from the beginning of Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"



He suffered hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, and searing pain as tissue was torn from His lacerated back from His movement up and down against the rough timbers of the cross. Then another agony began: a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium, the sac surrounding the heart, slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart.



The prophecy in Psalm 22:14 was being fulfilled: "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels."



The end was rapidly approaching. The loss of tissue fluids had reached a critical level; the compressed heart was struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood to the tissues, and the tortured lungs were making a frantic effort to inhale small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues sent their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasped His fifth cry: "I thirst." Again we read in the prophetic psalm: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of death" (Psalm 22:15 KJV).



A sponge soaked in posca, the cheap, sour wine that was the staple drink of the Roman legionnaires, was lifted to Jesus' lips. His body was now in extremis, and He could feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. This realization brought forth His sixth word, possibly little more than a tortured whisper: "It is finished." His mission of atonement had been completed. Finally, He could allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry: "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."



Death

The common method of ending a crucifixion was by crurifracture, the breaking of the bones of the leg. This prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; the tension could not be relieved from the muscles of the chest, and rapid suffocation occurred. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers approached Jesus, they saw that this was unnecessary.



Apparently, to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. John 19:34 states, "And immediately there came out blood and water." Thus there was an escape of watery fluid from the sac surrounding the heart and the blood of the interior of the heart. This is rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that Jesus died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.



Resurrection

In these events, we have seen a glimpse of the epitome of evil that man can exhibit toward his fellow man and toward God. This is an ugly sight and is likely to leave us despondent and depressed.



But the crucifixion was not the end of the story. How grateful we can be that we have a sequel: a glimpse of the infinite mercy of God toward man--the gift of atonement, the miracle of the resurrection, and the expectation of Easter morning.



*Dr. C. Truman Davis is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He is a practicing ophthalmologist, a pastor, and author of a book about medicine and the Bible.

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It tells at the end, that Jesus died from not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart. With that being said, it may be safe to conclude that Jesus died from a broken heart.

Lazy Day of Sunday

It's a good day to laze around the house after a great morning at church.

The message at church was something I needed to hear. Our regular pastor was speaking at another church out of town, so we had the youth pastor preach. It's cute how I can tell he's a youth pastor, by the way he speaks to us. Real clear and simple so a kid can understand it. I like that, and I need that sometimes.

He spoke of how we are the invitations of the church. We have our testimony, so we need to speak it out to others, let them know that there is hope for their life. We can hand out real paper, what we call invitations, to a church service or something, but those are just information, WE are the invitations. Never thought about it that way before. It's sounds pretty simple and lame the way I am writing it here, but it was a powerful sermon, that spoke to me.

You too, are an invitation to others to get to know Christ, if you have a personal relationship with God and His Son, Jesus. Be that invitation. Invite them to church, or just to talk. Show them the Christ that lives in you.
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After a wonderful lunch of eggplant parmesan, and spaghetti, I am heading to my room to read. I got 3 new books from the library last week, and I am diving in. No doubt a nap will accompany my reading. :o)

Later tonight, I am heading back to church for a prayer meeting for some who are going on a missions trip to Mexico. One of the team members asked me to be her prayer partner for before, and during the trip. I am more than happy to pray for her and the others going on this trip.

No school for Phoebe tomorrow, so it's going to be a easy night with a get-up-any-time-I-want-to kind of morning. HA, ya right, any time I want to.

The 3 inches of snow we had last night and this morning is pretty much gone already. Love that.

It's been a good day so far. Satan usually gets his rotten face in our Sundays and tries to wreck them. Not today though. He can go to hell, for all I care. Oh yeah, he will be soon enough.

Come Lord Jesus, come.

Happy Sunday to all of you.

Last Day of 2008

Today is the last day of 2008. It was a good year. I thought the Lord would have come back by now, but what do I know. I guess He has 23 hours and some minutes left to do so, if God so chooses to send Him. Anyway, what kind of year has this been for me? It's been ok. Nothing earth shattering happened, except my cat died, but I'll have a special post about him on the day he died, (Jan 26). Perry and I celebrated 9 years of marriage. My first born entered 1st grade. My baby turned 4. I got a year older. The summer was great, but flew by after July 4. I continued to seek the Lord as I do today. I enjoy seeking Him. Oh, I had fights with my husband, got crazy at my kids, wanted to run away a few times, but found my sanity and went on with the day. Did I mention perimenopause decided to show up? It can leave anytime now. I didn't have enough time with friends. I found new friends, from this blogging world, I never met in person, but can't wait to see in heaven. That's you :o) I really don't think I have ever prayed so much and so hard, as I've done this year. For family members, for friends, for church people, but I think mostly for people in blog land that I don't know personally. I love to pray. I believe God gave me that gift, and to Him I am grateful, and thankful. Yes, 2008 was great, because the Lord gave me every day in it. And I'm sure 2009 will be fine, as long as I lean on the love of our everlasting Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Give praise and honor and glory to God. What a thing to live for.

Not Me Monday

These weeks are flying by way too fast. MckMama at mycharmingkids thought of this as great therapy. It sure makes me laugh to see how "normal" people are. Just like me.

This past week...

It wasn't me who was a total witch all week. There are three others who live here.

And they sure were not the ones who made me witchy.

I did not have a one-sided screaming match with my husband.

He did not calmly tell me to not let the door hit me in the @$$ on my way out.

That did not make me more nuts.

He does not keep telling me he loves me anyway.

I do not feel like a jerk for the way I have been acting.

I am not going to apologize to him.

I do not feel better since typing all this out, for a lot of people who don't know me, to see. (wow, this really is therapy)

I was not sad to leave my baby at a birthday party today. She is not growing up way to fast. She was not sad to see me go. (WAHHHHH she really wasn't)

I did not eat McCrappo's food two days in a row.

Boy oh boy, by the looks of my not me's I am certainly not following the ways of the devil.

Well, now that I've confessed some of my faults to all of you it looks like I got some fessin' to do before my God Almighty.
Hopefully this week I will walk in Jesus' footsteps. You all have a great week too.
Thanks for stopping by.

What? !

As I look over to the right of this post, I see a Christmas tree twinkling at me with a very rude 18 days screaming at me. 18 days? When did this happen. I'm not even near ready yet. A few piddly gifts bought. No tree. Some decor up...not much. Our block is twinkling with lights, but it's dark in my front yard. What am I waiting for? Don't know... I just didn't think it was coming up so soon. I think the late Thanksgiving threw me. We still have leftovers in the fridge. Is that wrong?
Even if I don't get around to putting the lights outside, if the cookies don't get baked and decorated, if a few gifts don't get bought, if the tree doesn't find its way into our house, (my children will be crushed) if Christmas dinner doesn't make its way to the table... even if all that does not happen, I still know the true meaning of Christmas. I will know that Jesus Christ was born. And His only reason for being born, was to die. For me. And you. What a gift.