“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

“Father”
These are the first recorded words we have from Jesus on the Cross. He begins with a prayer to our intimate heavenly Father. He does not address his beloved disciple John, nor the grieving women who followed him nor the religious leaders, nor the sinners on each side, nor the gawking crowd below. Jesus did not look at the people around him, but up to the Father above. He will only be able to see the people around him in proper perspective when he focuses on the Father first. Are our first thoughts toward God in everything?

“Father, forgive them”
But there’s more. While in excruciating pain, Jesus asked God to forgive his tormentors. I don’t know about you, but in the midst of the pain, especially when I am on the receiving end, I find it difficult to think about forgiveness. Christ’s pain wasn’t even over yet, it had just begun! The people on the receiving end of God’s forgiveness certainly didn’t deserve it. They didn’t even ask for it. It wasn’t even a past event. More was to come. Yet he still asked the Father to forgive them. What amazing grace! What amazing love! This may be the most powerful example of grace and forgiving love in the whole Bible.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
Did the soldiers, the gawkers, the Jewish leaders, the angry spectators, fully comprehend the consequences of their actions? We don’t know all the reasons they were there on that day at the cross. All we need to do is to think about ourselves a little — How often do we actually think through the repercussions of what WE do? We may think we are doing the right things. We have noble ambitions. We may be protecting the truth. Standing up for righteousness. Making sure the wicked don’t go unpunished. Our reasons may even be less than honorable or outright rebellious. In the end it doesn’t really matter why they were there. They thought they knew what they were doing, but in the eternal scheme of things they had no clue!

But Christ’s concern wasn’t the “Why?” When faced with persecution, with trials, with pain, our first response is to ask God “why?” Maybe we want to understand to have a reason to grant forgiveness! But Christ’s didn’t need a reason. True love doesn’t need a reason. His first response was reconciliation, forgiveness, grace!

That’s the first and final conclusion of the cross – grace – God loved us first, taking the initiative to reconcile with us, even at the greatest possible cost to himself.

May this Easter season be a time of reconciliation for all of us! Don’t ask for an explanation. Don’t try to understand. Don’t wait for someone to ask you for forgiveness. Don’t focus on what is happening down here. Focus on your heavenly Father. Look up in prayer on their behalf. When you do, you will find the grace to take the first loving steps toward loving forgiveness for those around you, regardless of what they are doing, or why they are doing it. Simply forgive and leave the rest up to God!

Easter Collection

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities:
a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb.

Jesus entered our world through a door marked “No Entrance”
and left through a door marked “No Exit.”

And for all who feel it is impossible to overcome the situations facing them
—sickness, death, divorce, persecution, loneliness, despair, addictions—
Jesus stands at the human door marked “No Way” and knocks.

-Peter Larson

I wonder what impossible situations you are facing this season? Relationship issues? Ministry Issues? Parenting Issues? Job? Finances? Spiritual burnout? Or any of those seemingly impossible situations mentioned by Peter Larson in the above quote?

Whether they are minor or major, Jesus has an answer!
Even for those that seem impossible, God has an answer!
Isn’t that the real story of Easter? God did the impossible, to reconcile us with him!
And he promises that he will do impossible things in us and through us?

Only a few years back I was in one of those impossible situations, like the stone rolled in front of the tomb, a door was closed in my life that I thought would never be reopened. It was one of the darkest moments of my life!
It was a time when I was confronted with some harsh realities of my life, a time of personal despair and for a while I lost all hope.

Many of those, treasured as close friends – deserted me. But by God’s grace a few very special saints persevered with me and saw me through until the grace of God could bring a ray of hope to a new day, to a new chapter in my life.

Easter morning came to my life, and every day I am more amazed with the grace, the love, and the sacrifice Christ made to bring about Resurrection and Reconciliation, not only in my life, but in the life of every single sinner who will trust Him!

And just when I find myself back in a locked room, like the disciples after the crucifixion, focused within instead of the world outside, he suddenly appears and reminds me of the holes in his hands and feet and side – of the sacrifice he made for me. And he reminds me HE IS ALIVE.

Not only is he alive, but he wants to live through me to bring his love to a world outside that desperately needs it. He asks me to put aside my doubts and simply trust and obey!
He’ll take care of everything else!

I wonder what it is that you consider impossible in your life?
Easter reminds us that God makes a habit of doing the impossible!
Will you trust him with the impossible in your life this Easter?

Easter Collection

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

In a few days time, Chinese people in Singapore and over the world will be celebrating the start of the Chinese New Year.

For several days before the eve of Chinese New Year, Chinese housewives clean and redecorate their homes and shop for waxed duck, Chinese Sausages, mandarin oranges and traditional cakes. They will not sweep during the first few days of the new year because they believe that they might sweep out the good luck. Everything from the decorations, flowers, and even food eaten has special significance for inviting luck and blessings for the new year.

It is believed that the first few days of the New Year will effect the rest of the year. So everything is done to ensure a prosperous future. What you do and how you act during the period is crucial in determining how the rest of your year will go. So, eating the right foods, such as black moss seaweed, which is a homonym for exceeding in wealth, and dried bean curd, which is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness, is a must.

Decorations like pineapples representing wealth, bamboo signifying strength and longevity, red paper with calligraphy scripts and verses speaking of blessing and prosperity are placed all over the house, over doorposts, and on the front doors.

Officially the holiday lasts for three days, but is traditionally celebrated for 15 days. Singaporeans often take the entire week off from work to celebrate, visiting relatives and friends. Everything has to be just right to set the stage for an auspicious New Year.

A Chinese New Year’s Eve feast doubles as a family reunion, bringing people from all corners of the world back home. Meals are decadent with a spread of symbolically lucky foods. Hong Bao, or red and gold paper packets stuffed with money, are passed out to the younger folk as an auspicious start for a prosperous new year.

Take It to the Next Level

In the Bible, Peter also spoke of things that will insure a Christian will be spiritually prosperous. Like the Chinese New Year, a little house cleaning and what we nourish ourselves with become important.

1 Peter 2:1-17
Peter call us all to a life of holiness (cleaning up our spiritual house) and love in 1 Peter 1:13-25. Verse 23 mentions being born again or born anew. “New borns” must grow into maturity. Much of a parent’s responsibility lies in nurturing and creating an environment for this growth to occur.

Peter begins by assuming that his readers are like newborn babies. Most newborns are passive about everything but getting their nourishment. They enthusiastically go after milk. Peter relates this enthusiasm for nourishment to a new Christian’s desire for spiritual nourishment that will lead to growth in Christ.

That nourishment is pure, spiritual milk. The word milk is part of the figure of speech that goes with newborns. The word pure is genuine – not thinned down milk and refers to the Word of God.

Since you have already tasted and discovered that the Lord is good, the command to long for more spiritual nourishment should be an easy command to obey. The fact that Peter talked about desiring the word in verse 2 and tasting the Lord in verse 3 reminds us that this growth is in our relationship with Christ.

Application

I wonder how many of us are as enthusiastic about the pursuit of God as the Chinese are about the pursuit of good luck. Our reward is not prosperity for a year, but life eternal. Are we willing to do a little personal house cleaning to insure a life of holiness? Is there evidence of spiritual fruitfulness in our lives? Do we have that hunger for the word like new born babies craving milk?

As a closing, you may wish to hand out red packets (you may be able to get stacks of these in your local Chinatown) with scripture verses inside that will encourage your youth in their pursuit of spiritual maturity, and remind them to make this year one where they grow in wisdom and favor with God.

Chinese New Year is celebrated by at least 1/3 of the World’s Population but the entire world needs to hear the message of the Gospel.
Click here to get more than 300 pages of fun-filled ideas for special holidays that provide opportunities to share the love of Christ with others. Great for Parties, Celebrations and family fun!

Last night, I watched another episode of “Heroes”.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the series, it tells the interrelated stories of a an ever growing group of individuals who possess a special genetic marker that manifests itself as unique, special superhuman abilities. “Ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities.”

Their abilities include things like the ability to fly, to read other people’s thoughts, superhuman strength, the ability to somehow communicate with machines, to warp time, to paint the future, to be invisible, to be indestructible, and to cause people to forget certain memories. At first it may seem similar to X-Men, but the attraction of the show lies in the fact that these people are ordinary people like you and me who are startled at discovering these special abilities and trying to figure out how to use them, some for good, some for evil. They are also discovering that they are not alone and beginning to join together on a mission to save the world from disaster.

The recent season of “Heroes” has began to look into a cryptic symbol which has been recurring throughout the series. It’s been seen as a tatoo, a necklace, a symbol on an ancient Japanese sword and many other places. Recent episodes revealed the symbol as being a combination of two Japanese characters, 才 (sai) meaning ‘great talent’ and 与 (yo) meaning ‘Godsent’.

Makes me think about our own lives as Christians.

We are also ordinary people, discovering the extraordinary. We each have a purpose and have been gifted with special talents and skills – “God sent” – to fulfill that purpose. It’s a purpose that is bigger than any individual. Like the famous quote from the series” “Save the Cheerleader, Save the world.” We are also called to save the world, one life at a time. As Christians we have a special marker, the blood of Christ, that allows us to grow and manifest special talents and skills to fulfill an ultimate destiny, a supernatural purpose. We don’t know all the details, and there are a lot of things going on that are unseen, and as yet unrevealed, but through the Scriptures, God has painted visions of the future for us, and with the Sword (of the Spirit) we can make a difference in that future in so many lives. We have not yet fully realized all we can become in Christ, but are on a process of daily discovery. Everyday the supernatural interjects itself into our natural lives. Yet so many around us just don’t see it, are unaware, are going about their lives with absolutely no clue that anything is happening or that a impeding disaster is just around the corner.

As we are given glimpses of the awesome things we are capable of in Christ, are we complacent to sit back and enjoy life or do we have a sense of urgency to use them to make a difference? Do we take our special position and abilities for granted or do we use them for the benefit of others? Worse, do we use them for our own self-interest?

If we could hear others thoughts, would it change the way we live? What if others could hear our thoughts? God hears our thoughts!

If we could choose to forget certain events and experiences, would we? Would we be the same people if we did forget?

If no one could see us, would we be tempted to do things we normally would not do? Would we have the integrity to be the same person when no one can see us? Yet scripture tells us God sees us all the time!

Are we on a mission to save the world, even in the midst of a journey to discover ourselves and what God can do through us?

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

We are often quick to make judgments about people. We say that we believe in forgiveness and the transforming power of God, but then so often, the church acts as if we do not believe it. People who make mistakes are forever labeled by their mistakes. We believe God forgives and forgets, but while we say we forgive them, we seem unable to forget. Listen to some of the predictions or judgments that were made about some very famous people. Can you guess who is being referred to?

1. “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
2. “We don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.'”
3. ‘Far too noisy…Far too many notes.’
4. ‘I watched his countenance closely, to see if he was not deranged … and I was assured by other senators after he left the room that they had no confidence in it’.
5. “You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.”
6. “You better learn secretarial work or else get married.”
7. “It doesn’t matter what he does, he will never amount to anything.”
8. “You have a chip on your tooth, your Adam’s apple sticks out too far and you talk too slow. “
9. “Can’t Act. Slightly Bald. Also Dances.”

Answers

1. Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
2. Rejection of Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.
3. Emperor Ferdinand of Austria referring to Mozart, 1786.
4. U.S. Senator Smith of Indiana, after witnessing a demonstration of Samuel Morse’s telegraph, 1842.
5. Jim Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, in firing Elvis Presley after a performance, 1954.
6. Director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency, advising Marilyn Monroe, 1944.
7. Albert Einstein’s teacher to his father in 1895.
8. Universal Pictures executive to Clint Eastwood
9. Review of Fred Astaire’s Original Screen Test, January 1933.

Fortunately, God has much more accurate predictions about our future.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)
“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 hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

So as you start the New Year, listen to God. Don’t listen to the voices of discouragement, but to the great encourager, the one who knew you before you were even born. The key to realizing God’s plan for you, of release from whatever captivity you may be in, of restoration to God and his place for you is to seek Him with all your heart. When you do, you not only find him, you also find yourself!

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

THANKS, FORGIVING DAY

“It’s happening already!” he said to me.
“What?”
“The last I looked it was July 4th and now suddenly it’s the holiday season,” he said smiling.
“I’m not ready for this at all,” I told him.
“Oh, it may have come too fast, but I’m always ready for my ‘Thanks Forgiving Day!'”
“You mean Thanksgiving Day?”
“Oh, that too!”
“I’m confused!” I said.

“Well, Thanksgiving Day isn’t celebrated on the same day around the world. I’m not even sure if some countries have such a day. So I celebrate Thanksgiving Day with my family and friends in America. However, the day before Thanksgiving, I celebrate ‘Thanks, Forgiving Day’ with all my international friends as well as those here at home.”
“Do you travel that much?”
“Oh, no. I’ve never had that luxury. I met all of these wonderful people on the Internet.”
“I call them ‘friends I’ve never met’,” I said proudly. “I too, have many from around the world.”
“Well then you must celebrate it, too.”
“Tell me about it.”

“Well, on Thanksgiving Day I give thanks for all the blessings in my life. Good health, love, friendship, work, the food I eat and everything I value.”
He paused for a moment, took a deep breath and sighed with great satisfaction that his life is so blessed.
“But on ‘Thanks Forgiving Day’, the Wednesday before, I make an effort to ask for forgiveness for any wrongs I have done. Even the smallest things that may have gone unchecked over the past year. You know, those little things that may have hurt someone’s feelings and I didn’t realize it. But also the big things which may have caused a hurt or lost friendship. I simply ask everyone to forgive me and thank them for opening their hearts to me again.”

I stood there listening to this wonderful man. He was one of those people whom you immediately trusted. His voice, his demeanor, were warm and welcoming.

It was a wonderful thought. A gesture that gives hope to the world. To think that in some small way we could undermine all of the hate and anger in the world by humbly asking to be forgiven even when we have done nothing wrong. The act itself is a reflection of the greatest love God has for us.

“So will you join me?” he asked.
“I just did!”

To you, my friend, reading this message: When I awaken each morning my heart sings a grateful tune to God for giving me still another chance to make a difference in this world.

On this — my Thanks, Forgiving Day — I humbly ask for your forgiveness if I have slighted you in any way during the past year. I treasure your presence in my life and if you would forgive me, I would be forever grateful. Thanks!

by Bob Perks
Used by Permission

Bob is an Inspirational Columnist for Beliefnet
http://www.beliefnet.com/author/author_148.html
and you can visit his site at http://www.BobPerks.com

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

I came across the following one day…

Articles of incorporation of the Springfield Militia

1. This Company shall be known as the Springfield Militia.
2. In case of war, this company shall immediately disband.

(From the Civil War SongBook, published circa 1965)

What causes you to fear? How do you respond to fear? Do you fear the threat of being ridiculed, of losing a friend, of being unpopular, of losing the things you treasure. Too often we a fearful for the wrong reasons. We worship the gods of Power, Popularity, and Possessions instead of the Person- Jesus Christ. When these other gods are threatened we lose our backbone and bow down in fear of the future instead of fear of the Father. Then we lose more than just our treasure, we lose a piece of ourselves.

But praise to God there IS NO FEAR if you are standing in Christ.

“Finally Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes….Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then…” (Ephesians 6:10, 11, 13)

May we pray as Paul prayed….
“Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.” (Ephesians 6:19)

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…