He is Risen!

"But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him."
Mark 16:6

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said..."
Matthew 28:6a

"Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said."
John 2:22

"So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God."
Mark 16:19

The story is over for now! Jesus came and died for our sins and this day we celebrate His resurrection, and His conquering of death and sin.

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
John 14:1-3

What's next? We anxiously await His return!

Happy Easter and come for Your Church Lord Jesus!

He Came to Give His Life - Good Friday

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45

Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:33-39

So what is so "Good" about Good Friday? We celebrate and recognize and remember and give glory to the GOODNESS that God showed us, by sending His only Son to earth, to pay the price for our sins. We are thankful for GOODNESS that Jesus showed us, by being obedient to His Father and coming to earth, living a perfect and holy life, and then fulfilling His Father's will by going to the cross. The entire reason He came to earth, was for the cross.

And we celebrate the GOODNESS of knowing that the story does not end today, Good Friday with Jesus hanging on a cross, or lying in a tomb . . .

The story ends on Easter Sunday. . .

Praying for the Persecuted Church - Iran #2

This is just a reminder to be praying for Iran this month!

Join me as we pray for:

Those who are doing the persecuting in Iran. That just like Paul, they would turn from being persecutors of the Church to proclaimers of the Truth of the Gospel!

Pray for those being persecuted that the Lord would give them strength, hope, peace, joy, patience and endurance to continue to run the race. That through their light and example others around them would be drawn to Christ.

Pray for protection of Christians in Iran.

Pray that the Christians of Iran would find fellowship and that their joy would be made complete as they are encouraged by other believers.

Pray for the people of Iran, and all of it's leaders, that the Lord would soften their hearts and open their eyes. That Light of the Truth of the Lord would penetrate the darkness and that they would turn from their ways to the Truth of the Gospel.

I am Blessed

I was talking about my time in Romania this afternoon with some old friends. Sometimes I feel that when I talk about all that the Lord brought me through and all that He did for me and how He changed me there, I feel as though I am just telling a "story". As though I am talking about someone else. But then it hits me, it really did all happen, all those stories of the Lord protecting me, providing for me, and being there for me when I was alone, are TRUE. How He showed Himself faithful over and over and spoke to me through His Word, how He met me where I was and loved me enough to not leave me there.

"For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isaiah 52:12

"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by." Psalm 57:1

I am not the little girl who moved to Romania in 2007. I was put through some fire and floods and wildernesses.....but the Lord was always before me leading me, always behind me protecting me and always above me allowing me to hide in the shadow of His wings. He has kept me in the palm of His hand and has changed me in a way I know that would not have been possible had I not moved to Romania and experienced all the good and bad that went with that. Anything the enemy meant for evil the Lord worked together for good.

HE IS FAITHFUL.

And I am blessed.

Just had to share that tonight.

grace and peace,
rachel

In a Dry and Thirsty Land...

"O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water."
Psalm 63:1

A Month of Meditation

This is a great devo from Tozer...makes me think....it's sort of pathetic as Christians that we need to be challenged to spend "just a month" meditating on the Word of God...but I am going to accept this challenge....and prayerfully it will turn into a new habit and a life long commitment to take the Bible more seriously and more prayerfully consider and read through and meditate on the things written inside it. After all it is the WORD OF GOD....how amazing and blessed are we to be able to read this!

***

Prayer: Just Meditate for a Month

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates
day and night.
--Psalm 1:2

Let the old saints be our example. They came to the Word of God and
meditated. They laid the Bible on the old-fashioned, handmade chair,
got down on the old, scrubbed, board floor and meditated on the Word.
As they waited, faith mounted. The Spirit and faith illuminated.
They had only a Bible with fine print, narrow margins and poor paper,
but they knew their Bible better than some of us do with all of our
helps.

Let's practice the art of Bible meditation.... Let us open our
Bibles, spread them out on a chair and meditate on the Word of God.
It will open itself to us, and the Spirit of God will come and
brood over it.

I do challenge you to meditate, quietly, reverently, prayerfully,
for a month. Put away questions and answers and the filling in of
the blank lines in the portions you haven't been able to understand.
Put all of the cheap trash away and take the Bible, get on your
knees, and in faith, say, "Father, here I am. Begin to teach me!"
The Counselor, 136-137.

Praying for the Persecuted Church - Iran

It's a new month, and so it's time to start praying for a new country and our brothers and sisters serving Christ in countries where they are not free to do so! Please join me in praying for Iran this month.

Leader: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Population: 74.2 million

Christian: 450,000

Main Religion: Islam

Government: Islamic republic

There was a sharp increase in the number of Christians arrested at the start of 2010. Although some were later released, pressure on the church remains high. Many of the approximately 350,000 believers from a Muslim background live in fear of harassment by the government. The regime lost credibility following the turmoil of the 2009 elections, and in an effort to distract attention from continuing protests against it, it is increasingly lashing out against Christians.

Things to Pray For:
• For protection for Christians in prison, and for perseverance for those under surveillance
• There is a huge need for Bibles. Ask God to supply His people with His Word.
• The majority of the population is under 30. Pray that many will be reached with the gospel and find real freedom in Jesus.

*Information obtained from the 2011 World Watch List