calvary Archives - Page 3 of 3 -

It’s #FiveMinuteFriday and I am sooooo glad to be back! We moved to Tennessee June 8 but were stuck at our son and dil’s home for three solid weeks with unexpected delays at our new place. We finally moved in this week but we have NO INTERNET so this morning, in order to post this blurb and catch up on some other things, I am forcing myself to sit at Starbucks at six a.m. Somebody has to do it. Enjoy this take on the word, Protect and find others writing on the same subject here.

The name Angelica Figueroa Guerrero might not mean anything to you but she died doing something few others have done. This 39 year old mother shielded her 15 year old daughter in a bathtub, laid right on top of her, protecting her from a tornado that ultimately struck their home. Her daughter survived but Angelica did not. She gave her life for one she loved.

The Bible tells us there is no greater love than to lay down your life for another! Angelica’s story helped me see Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to come and save Him from the cross at Calvary. But He didn’t. He gave His life willingly and He suffered, willingly. He threw Himself down over His children, not beside them to shield them a little bit, but He shielded us with His spirit, covering us with His own blood! If that isn’t love….what is?

Why did He do it?

Because He was protecting His children. He knew the tornado’s in our lives would threaten us, scare us, torment us and take us down without His sacrifice. But if He gave the ultimate protection, His life, then we would have eternal life and the infilling of His spirit with us at all times as protection, a covering, from the evils of this world.

Is everyone always protected? No, it is true sometimes bad things happen to good people and bad things happen to God’s people. But that is where the really beautiful part comes in to play. Even if we think the battle was lost, it was not. If Angelica Guerrero knew Jesus, she didn’t die in vain. Her reward was not in this life anyway. Her story serves as an example of courage, sacrifice and love. Our struggles are an encouragement to others and to ourselves!

Jesus WILL show up when you need protection the most. He will either carry you THROUGH the trial, or He can REMOVE the trial from you, or if He decides it is best, TAKE you on to glory and the reward that we live for our entire lives.

What do you need protection from today? God is more than able to help, call on His name!

Can you BE that protection for someone else? Do they need someone to step in and be Jesus to them today? Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.

You can read my other posts from this Holy Week here, here, and here!

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

I love the beginning of this passage. I don’t believe I had really noticed it before but I am so happy the Lord allowed me to see it today.

They sang a hymn.

Wouldn’t you love to know what the Lord sang with His disciples before Gethsemane? Before standing in front of those that would beat Him and mock Him? Before Calvary? Before “It is finished.”!

It is enough to know they did, even if we do not know the words. There is truly so much strength in song, in praise and worship. This week is one of the best for old hymns. I love the new songs too but I was raised with a songbook in my hands and on Easter mornings I can still recall turning to our favorite pages to sing songs such as He Lives!, The Old Rugged Cross, Jesus Paid it All, and Because He Lives.

But it’s the next part of the text that really spoke to me.

And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ But he said emphatically, ‘If I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And they all said the same.” Mark 14:26-31 ESV.

You will all fall away.

One of the saddest passages in the Bible! Jesus knew that the disciples would leave Him, yet He went to Calvary anyway.

He knew Peter would deny Him, but He paid the price anyway.

Those that were the closest to Him for the last three years would walk away when He was facing the trial of His life.

The last part of that section says, “And they all said the same.” They all said, just like Peter, that they would never forsake the Lord, they would even die with Him. I believe at that moment they were sincere but when it came down to facing the soldiers, they couldn’t hold up.

We have all fallen away at some point in our lives. We might not have been like Peter and said, “I never knew Him!” but we have failed, just the same.

He knew we would. He knows we will again. Yet on to Calvary He went, enduring the suffering and agony of a crucifixion, the cruelest death anyone could face.

Why? Because He loved us.

Jesus looked ahead, PAST Calvary, to our futures, and endured the cross.

Without Calvary, we would have no hope and no future.

What do you need hope in today? Good Friday (the cross) and Easter Sunday (the Resurrection!). It’s all wrapped up in that weekend, but it didn’t end there. The blood that was shed that day still covers sin today. The price He paid all of those years ago is still good today! We just have to accept it.

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