Who Will Roll Away Your Stone?

March 25, 2013

 

 

Do you have stones stuck in deep ruts at the entrance of your heart—stones of fear, rebellion, despair, or discouragement? Do they loom so large, you surrender at the thought of even trying to remove them?

Easter is about removing stones.

When Mary and the other women approached the tomb after Jesus’ death, Read more

Promise for Today: Empty Tomb, Full Heart

April 18, 2011

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.” Matthew 28:5-7 NLT

“Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy.” Luke 24:51-52 NLT

The empty tomb was a promise in itself. But none of Jesus’ disciples understood. When Jesus died, their hearts were empty. Their world collapsed. For three years, day and night, they ate, slept, and breathed Jesus. He was Life to them. What would they do without Jesus? Read more

Palm Sunday

April 14, 2011

I wrote this short Easter meditation about Palm Sunday several years ago. I pray it blesses and encourages you as you begin this Easter season of celebration.

Palm Sunday

by

Rebecca Barlow Jordan

They did not see Him coming. Not Him. They saw a hope re-kindled, an end to their injustice, an easier path to follow.

They waved their palm offerings, laid down their finest clothes, but they saw only a temporary king, not a Suffering Servant. Read more

Good or Bad Friday?

March 30, 2010

 

“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining” (Luke 23:44, NIV)

The name “Good Friday” seems to be a misnomer. Can anything good come from death by crucifixion? Does pain have a purpose? Early in  Jesus’ ministry, scoffers hurled their own ignorant disbeliefs: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And even Jesus Himself, the One crucified on “Good Friday,” once said to a seeker, “Why do you call me good? No one is good–except God alone.”                             

“If God is so good,” others argue, “Why would He allow something so bad to happen to His own Son.”

Why, indeed? Maybe a one-word answer would suffice: LOVE. Good Friday is “good” because God is. And because God is love. When God allowed His own Son to die, He was thinking of you and me.

Jesus’ death was the only way to make us good enough—to join God’s forever family.

And that’s encouragement for a lifetime.