I KNOW that every day comes with God’s blessings, but on the mornings that I am privileged to witness one of God’s sunrises, I am filled with anticipation that this day indeed, comes with God’s blessings. That is how I feel on resurrection Sunday; Easter; the GREAT DAY! Today is such a day! When I was young, nothing thrilled me more than to get up early on this day, and go to the early sunrise service. Today I often get up early, and on occasion I get to see the sunrise!
ARE YOU a morning person? I can’t say that I am, but when I see the sunrise, I am filled with such awe and wonder of His mighty works, that I have to share it with someone and of course I know Jim is around somewhere, so I call him to come and see. Jim is a morning person!
THIS MORNING I am reminded of who I am in Christ. When the morning comes, do you think about who you are? Who you were yesterday? Who you are going to be tomorrow? Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever; is it possible for you to be the same everyday?
ON THE mornings that I am filled with immeasurable problems I don’t even want to open my eyes; but as the song goes; “Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth, thou has for me!” Today I ask the question; “Who are you in Christ? When you knew that Jesus was the Christ and that He did indeed rise from the dead, what was the revelation you experienced that caused you to want to give up your old life and put on the new life He offered you?
WHAT HAPPENED when the morning came on your first morning in Christ? Did you put on your new outfit or did you continue to wear your old clothes. It has taken me a long time to refit my closet so that I could become the new me, and believe me, I am still receiving my new clothes from God’s store; His Word! Self gets in the way of God’s design for us, but when we begin to realize that the morning didn’t only come for Jesus when He walked out of the tomb, but it came for us when we came up out of the watery grave of baptism.
UPON our baptism into Christ we received the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit came with the fruit that God wanted us to have. “But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control; against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 Along with the fruit God gave us faith! “For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.” Romans 12:3 God gave us faith so that we might do good works.
“DO YOU not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 God use to dwell in the tabernacle and the Temple, but now He chooses to live within us. How are you doing in the fruit and faith department, especially knowing that God has already given them to you? Both require an effort on your part. God supplies and you develop it!
“WE WERE buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life!” Romans 6:4 Right away we were to walk in our new life. The old life was gone and the new one began. We are new every morning but that first morning as a new creature in Christ, was the beginning of the adventure that God had designed for every one of us.
“IF WE confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 Each time He forgives us, we are clean, and the morning comes once again! We are more than conquerors! We are in Christ and He is in us! No matter the storms that come, we can go through them because God’s Word says; “Know, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!” Romans 8:37 I don’t know what Easter means to you but I do know that Jesus is ALIVE! He has RISEN; yes, He has RISEN indeed!
By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/28/13
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
WHY DID HE GO TO CALVARY? 3/24/13
REMEMBERING for us is what this season is all about. Remembering His ministry; remembering the ingathering of His Apostles and the disciples who followed after Him. Remembering the last week of His life; remembering the last supper He had with the twelve and how His teaching became more detailed. Remembering the bread and the wine and how He made it a covenant with those who would follow Him; “do this in remembrance of Me!”
JESUS WANTED us to remember calvary! He wanted us to never forget how much He loved His Father, and How much they both loved us. He wanted us to see His sacrifice as an encouragement for us so that we could keep keeping on in the faith, no matter what! This memorial He left for us, was so simple, yet beautiful! It’s simplicity would point back to the amazing grace of sacrifice that was to set us free from our sins.
OFTEN WE think of ourselves as nothing of importance. We say; “I am not worthy!” Perhaps it is important for us to remember the price Jesus paid for each one of us. Can you count the cost? It is beyond my imagination! It is important for us to reflect on why Jesus died!
“FOR THE SON of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 This astounding grace of God, included you and me in that many! “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28 Think about how evil you were and still are from time to time. Think about the price Jesus paid so that our sins could be forgiven.
“HE HAS now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him.” Colossians 1:22 Let us understand that holiness is commanded by God, and has been made attainable by Jesus, through His death. It does not imply that we are not totally sinless and perfect, but through repentance, each time we sin, we are forgiven.
“JESUS GAVE Himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Galatians 1:4 Jesus could have called 10,000 angels but He didn’t, He willingly suffer and died. Nobody forced Jesus into surrender but even though He was guilt free, He allowed Himself to be taken and crucified for you and me!
“FOR IF while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now, that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.” Romans 5:10 Jesus’ death is what reconciled us to God; the cross was a bridge from death into life.
“BUT YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 Our amazing God gave us what we call Easter to remember these things! God gave us the Church to be His witnesses!
I LOVE THE CHURCH! I thank the Lord that my mother sent me and my siblings to Sunday School. She went as a child, but with so many children and a husband with problems, she didn’t attend at that time. After my father passed away she made it a priority to be in church. The church people loved us little kids and when my older siblings began to attend, and then my mother, the church loved them also.
THE CHURCH plays a big part in what God was to accomplished on the cross. Don’t take it for granted! Don’t just attend on Christmas and Easter; make it a priority as a Christian to be in the assembly the first day of the week. Every Sunday is resurrection day! Every Sunday we share in the Lord’s supper! Every Sunday we come together to praise and worship our Savior! Every Sunday we listen to God’s Word and every Sunday we fellowship. When the doors are open, be there because where two or three are gathered in agreement, there our Lord is also! WOW! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/23/13
JESUS WANTED us to remember calvary! He wanted us to never forget how much He loved His Father, and How much they both loved us. He wanted us to see His sacrifice as an encouragement for us so that we could keep keeping on in the faith, no matter what! This memorial He left for us, was so simple, yet beautiful! It’s simplicity would point back to the amazing grace of sacrifice that was to set us free from our sins.
OFTEN WE think of ourselves as nothing of importance. We say; “I am not worthy!” Perhaps it is important for us to remember the price Jesus paid for each one of us. Can you count the cost? It is beyond my imagination! It is important for us to reflect on why Jesus died!
“FOR THE SON of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 This astounding grace of God, included you and me in that many! “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28 Think about how evil you were and still are from time to time. Think about the price Jesus paid so that our sins could be forgiven.
“HE HAS now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him.” Colossians 1:22 Let us understand that holiness is commanded by God, and has been made attainable by Jesus, through His death. It does not imply that we are not totally sinless and perfect, but through repentance, each time we sin, we are forgiven.
“JESUS GAVE Himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Galatians 1:4 Jesus could have called 10,000 angels but He didn’t, He willingly suffer and died. Nobody forced Jesus into surrender but even though He was guilt free, He allowed Himself to be taken and crucified for you and me!
“FOR IF while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now, that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.” Romans 5:10 Jesus’ death is what reconciled us to God; the cross was a bridge from death into life.
“BUT YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 Our amazing God gave us what we call Easter to remember these things! God gave us the Church to be His witnesses!
I LOVE THE CHURCH! I thank the Lord that my mother sent me and my siblings to Sunday School. She went as a child, but with so many children and a husband with problems, she didn’t attend at that time. After my father passed away she made it a priority to be in church. The church people loved us little kids and when my older siblings began to attend, and then my mother, the church loved them also.
THE CHURCH plays a big part in what God was to accomplished on the cross. Don’t take it for granted! Don’t just attend on Christmas and Easter; make it a priority as a Christian to be in the assembly the first day of the week. Every Sunday is resurrection day! Every Sunday we share in the Lord’s supper! Every Sunday we come together to praise and worship our Savior! Every Sunday we listen to God’s Word and every Sunday we fellowship. When the doors are open, be there because where two or three are gathered in agreement, there our Lord is also! WOW! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/23/13
Saturday, March 16, 2013
ARE YOU READY? 3/17/13
YEAR’S AGO my brothers would go out in a boat on the Pacific Ocean and go fishing. They would bring their catch home and my sister Joyce and I would clean the fish. For the most part it was okay; we knew a fish fry was on the menu for the next day. One day while we were cleaning the fish, I opened the belly of a Barracuda and a bunch of little baby fishes, still moving around, spilled out onto the garage floor. That ended my fish cleaning days!
I WAS REMINDED of that experience while thinking about people who hesitate accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, because they want to get their lives in order before they take that step. They want to get rid of some of the nasty habits and clean themselves up before they make a life time commitment to the one who is waiting and willing to help do that very same thing for them.
WHEN JESUS called his Apostles to follow Him, He said; “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Don’t you suppose He meant that HE would not only teach them how, but would get them all ready to do it by cleaning them up?
“AS THEY WERE going along the road, a man said to Him; “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him; “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” To another He said; “Follow me.” But he said; “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But He said to him; “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you , go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said; “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him; “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62
“FOLLOW ME” gives me pause to question, what Jesus has in mind. Obviously His command takes precedence over all other duties we have or would have established, when we see that we have a need for the Savior. What was the circumstance for you, when you heard the call to follow Jesus? I was too young to consider my future, let alone consider a nature that I was to come into the future with. However, I made the choice because It seemed right!
AS I GREW more and more into the ways of God’s kingdom I was torn between what God required, and what my desires were. I would strain at the bit, and each time I found myself struggling. Many times over, I would relax and give into the life I was developing within the church. It was so wonderful for me! I felt not only loved by God but by His people. I know that those who knew me early on, had questions of their own, but when I married I discovered I didn’t have to change what God already had given me. My husband, and I together, have found a life in God’s kingdom!
“HE SAVED US, not because of deeds done by us to righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Titus 3:5-6 Waiting to come until we have made ourselves presentable, is causing us to delay our becoming a child of God who has been justified by His grace and received the hope of eternal life. Do not procrastinate or you will be lost forever!
IN ROMANS 12 Paul tells us to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. He is saying that we should just present our bodies as a sacrifice, already to be holy and acceptable to God. When Jesus went to the cross he was preparing our room; a place for us; we were already acceptable to God to be holy even, while we were in an unholy state.
SO I ASK YOU TODAY; “Are you ready, for the kingdom? Can you step out and say; “I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God?” Can you take that step and be lowered into the watery grave of baptism? When Jesus said; “Come all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; can you say; “Jesus I come!” Can you? Or are you still trying to clean yourself up before you can give yourself to the Savior? By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/16/13
I WAS REMINDED of that experience while thinking about people who hesitate accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, because they want to get their lives in order before they take that step. They want to get rid of some of the nasty habits and clean themselves up before they make a life time commitment to the one who is waiting and willing to help do that very same thing for them.
WHEN JESUS called his Apostles to follow Him, He said; “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Don’t you suppose He meant that HE would not only teach them how, but would get them all ready to do it by cleaning them up?
“AS THEY WERE going along the road, a man said to Him; “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him; “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” To another He said; “Follow me.” But he said; “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But He said to him; “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you , go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said; “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him; “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62
“FOLLOW ME” gives me pause to question, what Jesus has in mind. Obviously His command takes precedence over all other duties we have or would have established, when we see that we have a need for the Savior. What was the circumstance for you, when you heard the call to follow Jesus? I was too young to consider my future, let alone consider a nature that I was to come into the future with. However, I made the choice because It seemed right!
AS I GREW more and more into the ways of God’s kingdom I was torn between what God required, and what my desires were. I would strain at the bit, and each time I found myself struggling. Many times over, I would relax and give into the life I was developing within the church. It was so wonderful for me! I felt not only loved by God but by His people. I know that those who knew me early on, had questions of their own, but when I married I discovered I didn’t have to change what God already had given me. My husband, and I together, have found a life in God’s kingdom!
“HE SAVED US, not because of deeds done by us to righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Titus 3:5-6 Waiting to come until we have made ourselves presentable, is causing us to delay our becoming a child of God who has been justified by His grace and received the hope of eternal life. Do not procrastinate or you will be lost forever!
IN ROMANS 12 Paul tells us to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. He is saying that we should just present our bodies as a sacrifice, already to be holy and acceptable to God. When Jesus went to the cross he was preparing our room; a place for us; we were already acceptable to God to be holy even, while we were in an unholy state.
SO I ASK YOU TODAY; “Are you ready, for the kingdom? Can you step out and say; “I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God?” Can you take that step and be lowered into the watery grave of baptism? When Jesus said; “Come all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; can you say; “Jesus I come!” Can you? Or are you still trying to clean yourself up before you can give yourself to the Savior? By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/16/13
Saturday, March 9, 2013
TRAINING DAY! 3/10/13
MY #1 GRANDSON put a video on facebook with a ‘must see’. So I decided to click it on! There was this puppy at the top of the stairs looking for a way down, but was too cautious and afraid to attempt it. The mistress at the bottom of the stairs making this video sends, I assume, the puppies mother up the stairs to give a little encouragement. She gets to just below the puppy but still the puppy can’t do it. The mother runs back down and their mistress sends her back up again. This time she goes up on top and then comes back down one. The puppy get’s her front paws on the first step below her. Then changes her mind as the mother runs back down. So the mother is sent back up again and she goes to top and when she heads back down the puppy follows! Such a delightful scenario of beginning life on the fast track.
THIS TRAINING day reminded me of our Nanell’s Miss Frosty who came to our house to stay when she was just a pup. A little Beagle of sound mind and body! She was our baby and of course we doted on her as all good young parents of puppies do. She had a litter of her own and we were amazed at the training process that took place under our own noses.
JUST AFTER her six puppies were born she wanted all the world to come and see! She would greet visitors at the door and right away tried to encourage them into the spare bedroom to see her babies! She would hop into the bed and nudge each one closer to the visitors. We were told by those who know; that no one should be allowed near the puppies until they were at least two weeks old. If we did, the mother would refuse to care for them! Obviously, no one told Frosty this!
TRAINING DAY began for the six, as soon as they were allowed out of their birthing environment and finally into the kitchen where they were to learn how to eat puppy food. Frosty began to antagonize the puppies; one at a time for the whole day! At the same time she began to refuse to allow them to continue nursing whenever they wanted to. She would go out doors and leave them to their own devices until she was ready to tackle the classroom scene again.
DIGGING HOLES in our back yard became a regular event for Frosty. We didn’t understand until it was time for the puppies to go outside. She had dug up all of her bones and had them laying in the yard where the puppies could find them and of course each one had a bone of their own. Go figure!
WHAT SURPRISED us above all of the things Frosty did, was when we took her to be neutered and gave the last puppies away. She was okay with that! We brought her home from the Vet and she made a beeline throughout the whole house checking it over with her nose and her eyes. On and under the furniture and into the yard. Everything was okay with Her! She was just ecstatic to be home. If she could have talked, I doubt very much if she would have asked; “Where are kids?”
WHEN YOU STOP to think about it, training days are in everyone’s life. It starts when we are small and learn the word ‘no’, and it never stops until we take our last breath! Now some of you may want to differ with my point of view and that is okay. Your prerogative is to learn or not to learn. But when someone is training, someone is learning. Which brings me to God’s Word!
“TRAIN UP a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it!” Proverbs 22:6 The question to ask is; “what is the way a child should go and where should he find himself when he is old!? Do you have the answer?
“STUDY TO SHOW thyself approved unto the God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the Word of truth!” 2 Timothy 2:15 This passage is one of the first memory verses that I memorized. In Junior Church; we were ‘trained’ to memorize! I knew I couldn’t do it but was surprised when I did! Why is it important to study God’s Word? So that we will know the truth and can be set free by it! God’s Word is the foundation that trains us in godliness. Exercise is good for the body, but godliness is valuable for our souls. Those who are trained in godly discipline yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, therefore, every day is training day! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/9/12
THIS TRAINING day reminded me of our Nanell’s Miss Frosty who came to our house to stay when she was just a pup. A little Beagle of sound mind and body! She was our baby and of course we doted on her as all good young parents of puppies do. She had a litter of her own and we were amazed at the training process that took place under our own noses.
JUST AFTER her six puppies were born she wanted all the world to come and see! She would greet visitors at the door and right away tried to encourage them into the spare bedroom to see her babies! She would hop into the bed and nudge each one closer to the visitors. We were told by those who know; that no one should be allowed near the puppies until they were at least two weeks old. If we did, the mother would refuse to care for them! Obviously, no one told Frosty this!
TRAINING DAY began for the six, as soon as they were allowed out of their birthing environment and finally into the kitchen where they were to learn how to eat puppy food. Frosty began to antagonize the puppies; one at a time for the whole day! At the same time she began to refuse to allow them to continue nursing whenever they wanted to. She would go out doors and leave them to their own devices until she was ready to tackle the classroom scene again.
DIGGING HOLES in our back yard became a regular event for Frosty. We didn’t understand until it was time for the puppies to go outside. She had dug up all of her bones and had them laying in the yard where the puppies could find them and of course each one had a bone of their own. Go figure!
WHAT SURPRISED us above all of the things Frosty did, was when we took her to be neutered and gave the last puppies away. She was okay with that! We brought her home from the Vet and she made a beeline throughout the whole house checking it over with her nose and her eyes. On and under the furniture and into the yard. Everything was okay with Her! She was just ecstatic to be home. If she could have talked, I doubt very much if she would have asked; “Where are kids?”
WHEN YOU STOP to think about it, training days are in everyone’s life. It starts when we are small and learn the word ‘no’, and it never stops until we take our last breath! Now some of you may want to differ with my point of view and that is okay. Your prerogative is to learn or not to learn. But when someone is training, someone is learning. Which brings me to God’s Word!
“TRAIN UP a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it!” Proverbs 22:6 The question to ask is; “what is the way a child should go and where should he find himself when he is old!? Do you have the answer?
“STUDY TO SHOW thyself approved unto the God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the Word of truth!” 2 Timothy 2:15 This passage is one of the first memory verses that I memorized. In Junior Church; we were ‘trained’ to memorize! I knew I couldn’t do it but was surprised when I did! Why is it important to study God’s Word? So that we will know the truth and can be set free by it! God’s Word is the foundation that trains us in godliness. Exercise is good for the body, but godliness is valuable for our souls. Those who are trained in godly discipline yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, therefore, every day is training day! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 3/9/12
Saturday, March 2, 2013
ANSWERS TO THE PUZZLES! 3/3/13
A FEW YEARS ago, as Jim and I were taking our walk, I saw something glistening in the sun. I looked closer and found a small oval shaped pin. It had a loop for a chain and also a clasp so it could be pinned on. The date on it was 2007-2008. It had a name of a girl and also name and town of the store where it was made. It was an award pin and on the front it said; “Laura’s Wolf Pack”. Jim and I looked it over and then I put it in my pocket. As always a memory came to mind! I laughed in remembrance and shared this story with Jim.
WHILE in the 4th grade my friend Iona Kay and I would walk to and from school on a street that was a walking thoroughfare. No side walks! Lots of dirt and much trash filled the sides of the street. It was a residential area and in the center was a divider, that was a dirt mound with weeds and more trash. But it provided easy travel for cars traveling east and west. One afternoon walking home from school, besides stepping on the empty packages of ‘Lucky Strikes’ so we could save up our strikes to hit those we didn’t like, we found a piece of paper with some writing on it. Part of the message was missing and we were instantly intrigued. Of course we had read enough of Nancy Drew books to know a mystery when we saw one.
A PLAN began to formulate in our young minds and a club called “The Answers to the Puzzles” was created. We stood up in our 4th grade class the next day and introduced our idea and asked all those who would like to join, to meet in Iona Kay’s sunroom the following Tuesday after school, and we would begin looking for and solving puzzles. Brilliant idea! Or so we thought!
AT OUR first meeting, only a few close friends showed up. We paid our due’s which amounted to a few pennies and a nickle. If I remember rightly, I was the treasurer; Iona Kay the president and our sleuthing days began, but didn’t last!
HOWEVER, with the internet at hand I did a little sleuthing regarding the found pin. I am not handy with the internet but after 30 minutes or so I found the store that made the pin. I was so excited! For a little while I had mastered the internet, so I thought! The owner of the pin lived in Florida!
LIFE IS FULL of mysteries! To us God is a mystery! His son Jesus is a mystery! How our bodies die and yet we live, is a mystery! How a baby is formed in the mother’s womb and grows as a plant in a hot house and then knows when it is time to be born, is a mystery. How someone could love me to the exclusion of someone else, is a mystery! How when a man and wife can become one is a mystery! How those in Christ can stand firm and find peace in the midst of turmoil, is a mystery to the world! If you stop long enough and think of the mysteries of life, you could fill sheets and sheets with thoughts that are a mystery to you.
IN EPHESIANS Paul alludes to the mysteries of Christ. “And also pray for me that I may speak boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19 By faith we come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God! The mystery of two shall become one is revealed when Paul says; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-33 Christ is the groom and the church is His bride. Part of that mystery is that we are the church; we are the bride of Christ. We are united together as one!
WHEN I READ a book, I start with the end. I love mysteries but I want to know who did it before I begin. When we read the end of God’s Word, we realize that the mysteries have been solved. No worries because the Church wins! Mysteries can be puzzling and even have you sitting on the edge of your seat, but in Christ the only mystery we will never understand, is how He could love us and want to save us at all cost. Read it again from the beginning to the end and you will see that Jesus is the one, the only one, that can satisfy our souls! By Jane Ann Crenshaw (6/13/08) 3/1/13
WHILE in the 4th grade my friend Iona Kay and I would walk to and from school on a street that was a walking thoroughfare. No side walks! Lots of dirt and much trash filled the sides of the street. It was a residential area and in the center was a divider, that was a dirt mound with weeds and more trash. But it provided easy travel for cars traveling east and west. One afternoon walking home from school, besides stepping on the empty packages of ‘Lucky Strikes’ so we could save up our strikes to hit those we didn’t like, we found a piece of paper with some writing on it. Part of the message was missing and we were instantly intrigued. Of course we had read enough of Nancy Drew books to know a mystery when we saw one.
A PLAN began to formulate in our young minds and a club called “The Answers to the Puzzles” was created. We stood up in our 4th grade class the next day and introduced our idea and asked all those who would like to join, to meet in Iona Kay’s sunroom the following Tuesday after school, and we would begin looking for and solving puzzles. Brilliant idea! Or so we thought!
AT OUR first meeting, only a few close friends showed up. We paid our due’s which amounted to a few pennies and a nickle. If I remember rightly, I was the treasurer; Iona Kay the president and our sleuthing days began, but didn’t last!
HOWEVER, with the internet at hand I did a little sleuthing regarding the found pin. I am not handy with the internet but after 30 minutes or so I found the store that made the pin. I was so excited! For a little while I had mastered the internet, so I thought! The owner of the pin lived in Florida!
LIFE IS FULL of mysteries! To us God is a mystery! His son Jesus is a mystery! How our bodies die and yet we live, is a mystery! How a baby is formed in the mother’s womb and grows as a plant in a hot house and then knows when it is time to be born, is a mystery. How someone could love me to the exclusion of someone else, is a mystery! How when a man and wife can become one is a mystery! How those in Christ can stand firm and find peace in the midst of turmoil, is a mystery to the world! If you stop long enough and think of the mysteries of life, you could fill sheets and sheets with thoughts that are a mystery to you.
IN EPHESIANS Paul alludes to the mysteries of Christ. “And also pray for me that I may speak boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19 By faith we come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God! The mystery of two shall become one is revealed when Paul says; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-33 Christ is the groom and the church is His bride. Part of that mystery is that we are the church; we are the bride of Christ. We are united together as one!
WHEN I READ a book, I start with the end. I love mysteries but I want to know who did it before I begin. When we read the end of God’s Word, we realize that the mysteries have been solved. No worries because the Church wins! Mysteries can be puzzling and even have you sitting on the edge of your seat, but in Christ the only mystery we will never understand, is how He could love us and want to save us at all cost. Read it again from the beginning to the end and you will see that Jesus is the one, the only one, that can satisfy our souls! By Jane Ann Crenshaw (6/13/08) 3/1/13
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