JENNIFER CARREL

Just a thought

As I previously wrote... embrace God's world... but I must caution you not to worship the creation without acknowledging the Creator! Last night at church a video was played showing not only the beauty He made on earth but the extension of the universe and how we are but a tiny fraction in His creation.... and He spoke these words to my heart:
    IT IS NOT ALL  ABOUT WHAT WAS CREATED.... BUT THAT I CREATED IT!
To Him be the glory forever and ever!

The Hands of the Carpenter- Luke 23:53

    It was Joseph of Arimathaea who had the honor of taking the body of Jesus down from the cross. Think what it would be like to have to pull the cold and lifeless hands of the Son of God from the thick, barbed Roman nails. These were carpenter's hands, which once held nails and wood, now being held by nails and wood. These were the hands that broke bread and fed multitudes, now being broken to feed multitudes. They once applied clay to a blind man's eyes, touched lepers, healed the sick, washed the disciple's feet, and took children in His arms. These were the hands that, more than once, loosed the cold hand of death, now held firmly by its icy grip.
    These were the fingers that wrote in the sand when the adulterous woman was cast at His feet, and for the love of God, fashioned a whip that purged His Father's house. These were the same fingers that took bread and dipped it in a dish, and gave it to Judas as a gesture of deep love and friendship. Here was the Bread of Life itself, being dipped in the cup of suffering, as the ultimate gesture of God's love for the evil world that Judas represented.
    Joseph's shame, that he had been afraid to own the Savior, sickened him as he tore the blood-sodden feet from the six-inch cold steel spikes that fastened them to the cross. These were the "beautiful feet" of Him that preached the gospel of peace, that Mary washed with her hair, that walked upon the Sea of Galilee, now crimson with a sea of blood.
    As Joseph reached out his arms to get Him down from the cross, perhaps he stared for an instant at the inanimate face of the Son of God. His heart wrenched as he looked upon Him whom they had pierced. This face, which once radiated with the glory of God on the Mount of Transfiguration, which so many had looked upon with such veneration, was now blood-stained from the needle-sharp crown of thorns, deathly pale and twisted from unspeakable suffering as the sin of the world was laid upon Him.
    His eyes, which once sparkled with the life of God, now stared at nothingness, as He was brought into the dust of death. His lips, which spoke such gracious words and calmed the fears of so many, were swollen and bruised from the beating given to Him by the hardened fists of cruel soldiers.
        As it is written, "His visage was so marred more than any man" (Isaiah 52:14).
    Nicodemus may have reached up to help Joseph with the body. As the cold blood of the Lamb of God covered his hand he was reminded of the blood of the Passover lamb he had seen shed so many times. The death of each spotless animal had been so quick and merciful, but this death had been unspeakably cruel, vicious, inhumane, and brutal. It seemed that all the hatred that sin-loving humanity had for the Light formed itself into a dark and evil spear, and was thrust with cruel delight into the perfect Lamb of God.
    Perhaps as he carefully pried the crown from His head, looked at the gaping hole in His side, the deep mass of abrasions upon His back, and the mutilated wounds in His hands and feet, a sense of outrage engrossed him, that this could happen to such a Man as this. But the words of the prophet Isaiah rang within his heart:
        "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities... the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all... as a lamb to the slaughter... for the         transgression of my people he was stricken... yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him... by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many" (Isaiah 53:5-11).
    Jesus of Nazareth was stripped of His robe, that we might be robed in pure righteousness. he suffered a deathly thirst, that our thirst for life might be quenched. He agonized under the curse of the Law, that we might relish the blessing of the gospel. He took upon Himself the hatred of the world, so that we could experience the love of God. Hell was let loose upon Him so that heaven could be let loose upon us. Jesus of Nazareth tasted the bitterness of death, so that we might taste the sweetness of life everlasting. The Son of God willingly passed over His life, that death might freely pass over the sons and daughters of Adam.
    May Calvary's cross be as real to us as it was to those who stood on its bloody soil on that terrible day. May we also gaze upon the face of the crucified Son of God, and may shame grip our hearts if ever the fear of man comes near our souls. May we identify with the apostle Paul, who could have gloried in his dramatic, and miraculous experience on the road to Damascus. Instead, he whispered in awe of God's great love:
        "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).
** taken from the Evidence Bible

This shows the love of the one and only God. He sent his Son as the sacrifice for our sin but He also gave us a standard to live by. The Ten Commandments show the righteous standard of living according to God's desires. Once you see the perfect standard by which you will be judged, you will begin to fear God. You fear God when you receive the Word as God spoken, you hide His commandments within you, you seek wisdom from above and from others that keep you accountable, you apply your understanding, you cry out for knowledge and discernment, and you seek all of this as you would hidden treasures. And through this fear of the Lord, you depart from sin. For we must understand how great our sin really is. Think about it this way:
If Adam and Eve never bore children after they sinned, God would have still sent his Son to pay the price for disobeying His commands. If God would have still sent his Son for these two sinners, He would have done the same for you! So how great is my sin?!?!
GREAT ENOUGH TO KILL THE SON OF GOD and great enough to need a sacrifice for the payment to reconcile the Creator and His beloved. Talk about PURE LOVE!

Grace

Have you ever really experienced a storm. Have you ever danced in the rain? Rain clashing down, big drops, water flowing, drop after drop, thousands upon thousands falling down at once. Never halting for the first to hit the ground; simply falling, soaking everything, making all things new; cleaning, washing, providing growth. Have you ever imagined Grace falling down as the rain falls? Through His grace we too are made new, we are cleansed from our impurities, we grow closer and closer to the men and women he always envisioned us to be. Todd Agnew's song Grace Like Rain describes it perfectly! I now experience storms with a different perspective! Thank you for Your Rain!!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me

And I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see so clearly.

Hallelujah and Grace like rain, falls down on me

Hallelujah and all my stains are washed away, they're washed away

Twas Grace that  taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears relieved

How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed

Hallelujah and Grace like rain, falls down on me

Hallelujah and all my stains are washed away, they're washed away  yeah yeah

When we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the Son

We've no less days to sing Your praise then when we've first begun

Hallelujah and Grace like rain, falls down on me

Hallelujah and all my stains are washed away

Hallelujah and Grace like rain falls down on me

Hallelujah and all my stains are washed away, they're washed away 

Hallelujah yeah, Hallelujah yeah yeah, Hallelujah yeah yeah yeah

Hallelujah and all my stains are washed away, they're washed away

A few faces from the youth!

 

Yaaaahhoooo Youth!

Every week I have the privilege to work with a group of committed leaders to see a transformation in Albania's youth. The mission statement is: To see generations of Albanian teens begin an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ that enables them to serve Him passionately, worship Him eagerly, and share Him fearlessly with others! The friendships I have made with this group leave me in awe.. I look forward to hanging out with them each Monday night to play games or watch movies, let alone spending a good portion each Saturday with them. From left to right: Me, Dovi, Egli, Robert, Vise, Gretchen and Robin on the floor. Bob, God bless his soul (that's for you Jenny), was MIA when we took the photo.

Passover Feast

This past Sunday I was invited to take part in a Jewish tradition, a Passover Feast. Our group consisted of single missionary women and single Albania women. I really didn't know anyone else but I am so glad I ventured out of my comfort zone and went! The communion we shared will forever be remembered!
Passover is a celebration of the release of the Israelites as slaves from Egypt (basically the whole book of Exodus.) It is a reminder that we are all slaves to sin and need a redeemer. As Jewish tradition, families take part in this feast every year and there are different roles for many members of the family.
It was said that during the weeks before Passover, the entire house was cleaned and rid of anything containing leaven. This practice gave birth to our custom of "Spring Cleaning." Therefore, everything we ate that night contained no leaven and was kosher.
We began the Passover celebration with the lighting of the Sabbath candles and the traditional hand washing (as a symbol of Jesus washing the disciples feet at the Last Supper). The lighting of the candles was a prayer of illumination of the Spirit of God to bring meaning of the Passover celebration to our hearts.  A woman of the house would be the one to light the candle. It is done this way because it was though a woman, Eve, that the light of the world went out through sin but it was also through a woman, Mary, that the Light of the World came back in! After she lights the candle she sways the light towards herself as a picture of drawing Messiah Yeshua (Christ) into her life and home.
The remainder of the celebration revolved around drinking of the Four Cups. With each cup we celebrated the promises of redemption and relationship with our Savior. The first cup was the Cup of Promise. The cup symbolized how God revealed to Moses His plan by which He would redeem the children of Israel. During the drinking and blessing of this cup, we also recognized the fact that Passover is celebrated during the spring time-when the earth becomes green with life. We each had a sprig of parsley on our plates. But there was also a bowl of salt water on the table... this represented the idea that life in Egypt was a life of pain for the children of Israel, a life of suffering and tears. We took the parsley dipped it into the salt water, remembering that life, sometimes even new life, is immersed in tears, and ate it. In the middle of the table was an extra sprig of parsley in which we took and left in the salt water to remind us of the Egyptian army who drowned in the Red Sea and the tears shed over them.
Then we took a basket containing three sheets of matzoh (unleavened bread). It was the bread of affliction, the poor bread which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. There were three sheets because I believe it represented the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Matzoh comes out with little holes in stripped lines.. it shows a picture of the Messiah... But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). We broke the middle layer piece in half, just as Jesus was broken. We wrapped one half in a cloth and hid it somewhere in the room for the youngest child to find (Messiah's body wrapped for burial and then placed in a tomb, hidden for a time). There is so much meaning to this part but it would take forever for me to write it all out.......... We then remembered that as sweet as our lives are today, there was a time when life was bitter for the Israelites in Egypt. As a result, we only ate maror, bitter herbs... horseradish! We took a piece of matzoh and scooped some horseradish on it to taste the bitterness resulting in compassion for the sorrow they experienced years ago. In addition, we scooped matzoh in a mixture called charoset (chopped apples, honey, nuts and wine) as a reminder of the mortar used in the brick laying done by the slaves. We first dipped the matzoh into the bitter herbs and then the charoset to remind ourselves that even the most bitter of circumstances can be sweetened by the hope we have in God.
The second cup was the Cup of Freedom. During this time we reflected on the plagues God sent upon the land of Egypt and the great cost at which redemption was purchased. Lives were sacrificed to bring about the release of the Israelites as a far greater price was paid for our redemption from sin..done through the death of Christ. We took our little finger and dipped it into our cups and placed a10 drops of wine on our plates representing the 10 plagues.
Then came the time for the eating of the Passover Lamb (although I mentally prepared myself to taste lamb... we ate roast instead!!!) Exodus 12:3, 5-7 describes what the Israelites were to do with the lamb sacrificed. They were to sacrifice a lamb and spread blood along the sides and top of the door frame.. the blood was a sign for them and the houses they were in, for when God saw the blood, He passed over them and didn't allow the destructive plagues touch them when He struck Egypt (Exodus 12:8,11,13). In the middle of the table was a shank-bone of a lamb. It was a reminder of the sacrificial lamb... it cannot be broken, for no bone shall be broken (Exodus 12:46, John 19:36). There was also a roasted egg on the Passover plate. It represented the additional Passover meat if need for a large family. At this time, the youngest child would then go hunt for the matzoh hid earlier. Once it was found we broke it and gave thanks to the Lord for being our sacrifice!!
The third cup was the Cup of Redemption, or Betrothal. This cup represented the blood of the Passover Lamb. This was the cup in which the Messiah identified Himself and the cup in which a bride and groom drink to seal their promise. We are the Bride of Messiah, He will not drink with another, only we who have entered into the marriage covenant with Him.
The fourth and final cup was the Cup of Praise. We gave thanks to the Lord for being our Redeemer, for being so Good, and for His love enduring forever. This completed the Passover feast, just as our redemption is forever completed with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
His love for us was so great that throughout history He gives us countless examples of just how much we mean to Him and the extent of his desire to have relation with us. As I mentioned in my last post, I am still grasping this idea... but I hope you think on these things as spring arrives and we see His love in the growth of nature around us.