Crucifixion the only way - Holy Week Day Four

Crucifixion the only way

Jumbled thoughts

My head is a jumble with all the talk last night. As the sun set the King revealed that he will be handed over to be crucified. How does he know this? I can scarcely bring myself to ponder on such a fate. The thought makes me feel sick, my body to tremble, I want to shout "no". I have just found him and my life has new meaning and direction. I can't bear the thought of losing my King so soon. 

A Prayer request on behalf of the King

I waited behind when everyone left the mount and cried. I prayed and pleaded for my King - don't take him away. Shattered from all my beseeching I staggered back to the house the King was staying in. All appeared quiet apart from some gentle snoring. 

Peaceful acceptance

I heard a noise, a shaky door squeaking as it opened. The silhouette of a man outlined by the eery moon stepped out. I leant flat against the wall, my heart pounding like an orchestral drum. But he sensed my presence and signalled me to draw closer. Without saying anything he enwrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead. Instantly an overwhelming aura gripped me. From the tip of my head to my toes a new and exhilarating force penetrated my body. As my King released me his piercing eyes transfixed me. I saw sorrow and triumph at the same time. In my mind words formed - I love you. I gasped at the intensity and looked at the man in front of me, his demeanour victorious and vulnerable at the same time. Without warning an irresistible urge to sleep took over and peace ensued.

The next day

Awake and rested I search for my King and his disciples, but they have gone. The lady of the house points to Jerusalem.  I know he will be teaching once again in the Temple. Scrambling as fast as I can along the dusty road moving in and out of wagons full of wares and animals, I arrive, dirty and unkempt. 

A ruckus is in full flow. Soldiers and men arguing audibly, pushing and shoving one another. A man lies on the ground arms flailing, struggling to get up trying to avoid feet that tread on him as the fight intensifies. 

Trouble in the Temple

I ask a skinny young lad cowering behind a stall to explain the disturbance. His shaky voice expounds that a man in the Temple is stirring up trouble again. It had to be my King. 

The Temple was packed again, young and old craning to hear (Luke 21:37-38), as my King in full voice stood teaching the crowd.

The midday sun pierces down as my King emerges from the cold Temple.I track him to the Mount of Olives, observing the group chatting and enjoying one another's company. I do not follow further this time but leave them there to their intimate gathering. 






I know the growing discord in Jerusalem will heighten so I decide to stay outside the city walls....

This week is Holy Week a time to ponder on the events leading up to Christ's death and Resurrection. We too are on a journey not necessarily to the same grotesque end, but nonetheless to a place that requires sacrifice, forgiveness and love to walk there.  

Come and join me each day as I accompany Jesus on His journey.

God bless,

Margaret

https://www.facebook.com/MargaretKazmierczakAuthorBlogger/

www.margaretk.co.uk 

    

(Note: This is my expression of Holy Week, the order of events may have been a bit different.)  

Grace and hope

Grace and hope

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible. Matt 19:26

God's Grace makes everything possible. It is our hope, our salvation and our lifeline. 

It is so important to cling to God's Grace when we feel hopeless. His Grace will see us through. 

It will heal.

It will replace pain and fill you up with hope. 

It will empower you. 

God's Grace is our passport to Hope.

Pray for it now to change your life.

Father, through your Grace heal me, my life and the sins that pull me down. 

Bring me into your presence. 

Father, may your Grace fill me with joy and understanding.

Bring me into your presence.

Father, may your Grace release me from my burdens.

Bring me into your presence.

Father, may your Grace fill me with laughter and peace.

Bring me into your presence.

Father, fill me with your Grace and overwhelm me with your hope.

Bring me into your presence.

Father, without your Grace I am nothing.

Bring me into your presence.

Father, fill my family with your Grace.

Bring me into your presence. 

Come Lord Jesus, the Grace of the Father and make Your home in me.

Amen.

Prayer 4 - Sometimes we battle...

Prayer 4

Sometimes we battle......

When there is conflict in your family do you fight back?

Do you ask the Father to bring harmony?

To send His Peace?

To quieten the storm?

Disunity brings tears to God's eyes, 

breaks up families and dominoes into the world. 

Peace starts at home.

God loves you, He wants unity.

Seek peace within yourself.

God bless,

Margaret xx

Author of How to Make Victoria Sponge

Prayer 1 - Sometimes we can't see for looking...

Prayer 1

Sometimes we can't see for looking..... 

Do you look to God when you are searching for something?

Even those things that are unimportant are important to God.

Seek and you shall find. 

When you are lost, ask God to reveal his presence to you.

You are important.

God bless

Margaret xx

Author of How to Make Victoria Sponge

Victoria Sponge talks to Margaret Kazmierczak

Victoria Sponge talks to Margaret Kazmierczak

Delighted to meet you Margaret.

Thank you Vicki. 

Seems odd, me chatting to my creator.

It's a little strange, but then we like to be different.

My question plain and simple is, how was I cooked?

Well, my cooking skills are notorious for being a bit challenged. Cakes particularly emerge from my oven flat. Now it could be because the cooker is old and has seen better days, or my ingredients. My gut feeling ventures towards the ingredients. 

You were a classic recipe, a mix all in one go, and hey presto, pop in oven and out comes a delicious cake. Not so, you came out flat until I realized that I had missed out the most important ingredient.

And what was that?

God.

God?

Yes, without a doubt a key ingredient. You can make characters come alive and tell their story, but you needed to be different. A normal woman, struggling with family, work and life has been written about many times. The difference with you and what makes you unique is your relationship with God. It is not a Sunday ritual. You live out your church each and everyday through your prayers. 

So not everyone does that?

So many people have said to me, I don't know how to pray. You were baked in order to show people, how to fit prayer into their daily lives. 

I see, how exciting. But wouldn't that be a bit dry for many readers?

It could be, however, you are most certainly not. Into the mixture I put a husband, four children and a cat. 

They are the flavouring.

Yes. Lots of scope to bring in funny and tragic stories.

I love the way you have blended God into my life.

Thank you Vicki. I am hoping that a lot of readers will find your story encouraging and helpful. It has certainly helped me to understand Philippians 4:6 - Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. (NLT)

Thank you Margaret for talking to me.

It's a pleasure Vicki. 

Have you a question for Victoria Sponge?

A love letter from God

Recently I have been wondering how to market my book 'How to make Victoria Sponge' in order to increase awareness and sales. Then today as I was looking for some 'pins' for my pinterest site a thought suddenly arose.... 

The book is a love letter from God. 

As Vicki copes with family life each day, God tells and shows Vicki how much he loves her.

This is not a distant relationship but a real love affair. 

God isn't just interested in Vicki, He loves and adores her. 

He delights in her closeness.

They are intimate with each other through prayer/conversation. 

The book may not be a man meets woman saga; instead it is a far greater love affair because it is woman meets God. A scenario that reaps heavenly rewards. The woman will never be disappointed as the relationship is with God. 

This love letter reaches out to every mum who needs encouragement. Who feels overwhelmed with matters of the heart. Whose understanding is, that when the chips are down, God will step in. And He does because He is Love.

God wants us all to have a love affair with Him, to be intimate with Him. To burden Him with our cares. He is the greatest lover of all time and He cares. He will never leave you. 

This is the God of Victoria Sponge, the writer of this love letter.

My fingers were just the instruments by which He used to convey this story.

God bless

Margaret

(www.margaretk.co.uk)

Hope and waiting

We all know these scenarios: 

"What are you doing Lord, why have you not answered my prayer? I have been crying out to you for days, weeks or even years. And nothing has happened. When are you going to do something?" 

"Right that is it Lord, you have not answered my prayer, so I am going to do something about it."

"I have been praying for my son or daughter who no longer go to church. I am afraid for them they just don't seem to care any more, please bring them back to church."

I hope I am not the only one who has behaved like this.

Firstly, God always answers our prayers. The reason we think he has not answered them, is because we have not got the answer we wanted nor expected. We may therefore have missed his answer! 

Secondly, His answer may have been 'no' to our wants, because the outcome would not have been in our best interest. Sometimes we forget that God can see our whole life, not just the predicament we may be in right now. God always works for our good even through our tears.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Thirdly, when we decide to take matters into our own hands we are stepping out of 'trust' and following our own sinful nature. Doing something is what we do when we want control. Waiting on the Lord is what we need to do, if we want God to be in control of our lives. We go back again to the wonderful verse in Jeremiah 29:11.

"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.

Fourthly, being a Christian means trusting God with our lives and the lives of our family. When we look at the old lovely pictures of our children all dressed up and eager to please us, we wonder what happened to that trusting child. We wonder why they no longer go to church. We pray, 'bring them back', but do we really know if they have actually gone away from God? As in my previous post when I talked about 'eternity being in our hearts', eternity never leaves our hearts. God never leaves us. He has not left your son or daughter. They are still connected. They are a whisper away from eternity. They only need to say 'sorry' and reconnect. We as parents cannot see their hearts nor hear their whisper. God can and He knows if they have left Him or not. They may not 'go to Church' but church will still be in their hearts. 

Psalm  34:4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

          34:6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

         34:15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

       34:17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The seeds we as parents planted do not die. Our prayers water them and God keeps them close to His Heart. They continue to grow in God's garden. 

It may feel like our prayers and requests have been put on hold, but remember who you are connected to, who you are ringing. The line is never engaged, in fact it is always at the Heart of the matter. 

We might be asked to hold and the following options will be given:

1. Wait

2. Trust

3. Believe

4. Be prepared

5. Accept the reward 

You will be required to select all five options.

So when you choose this path you will have to:

Wait for God's answer

Trust in His answer

Believe your life will be changed for the better when and in His timing you receive his answer. 

Be prepared for an 'outside the box' answer and to implement it into your life.

Accept the reward for waiting on God for the answer, because He rewards with eternal riches.

Phillippians 4:19

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus

Important note:

If however, you slam the phone down because the wait is too long, and decide to take matters into your own hands, then that is your option, subject to the rules of this world. And the consequences will be determined by the world and not by God. 

All is not lost:

Nonetheless when you get back onto the phone again, God will be there waiting to hear from you. Waiting for you to come into alignment with his answer. 

Even if our waiting feels like years there is always Hope in the waiting.  

I hope this has been helpful.

God bless

Margaret

(author of 'How to make Victoria Sponge - a journey of faith)