May 26
“Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.” (John 12:22 NKJV)
Classic passing the buck. It would be dangerous for Jesus to speak directly with Greeks. In the midst of the tension and violence of this time it could ignite a firestorm. But we also see the culmination of the Call of Jesus as Jews and gentiles seek Jesus!!!
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
4/30/2021 It is so easy to trust in myself or lesser powers than God. This sucks the life from faith and drains even hope. We need that hope, beyond hope which keeps us looking up to God rather than down at our feet.
Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema look, The travelers of Sheba hope for them.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
God, I want to have grace for those who hurt others. There are so many who not only hurts others often but they also enjoy it. They do not deserve grace! But neither do I! The Bible reveals we will be forgiven as we forgive others. I fear this is true because my forgiveness is so pitiful. Give me grace to offer grace.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 25
“Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”” (John 12:21 NKJV)
What an amazing statement! Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Do you wish to see Jesus or are you more interested in Jesus seeing you?
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 24
“Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.” (John 12:20 NKJV)
For a Greek (not a born Jew) to celebrate the feast means they are a God-fearer. They followed God but being “Greek” they could not become real Jews. They could not enter the Temple but would have to stay in the gentile area.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
4/29/2021 Today I feel like lobster boiled in water and all the taste has boiled out. I feel like potatoes boiled too long and I am mushy and lost my shape. But hope, beyond hope encourages me to know this is now and not later.
Job 5:16 So the poor have hope, And injustice shuts her mouth.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
May 23
“The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”” (John 12:19 NKJV)
Using the word you instead of we helps us see they are not admitting failure but placing blame. This verse helps us to see the Pharisees were not about protecting God from blasphemy (as if we can) but protecting their jobs and power.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
God, help us to offer grace to those who do not deserve it because we do not deserve grace. Help us offer love to those who do not deserve it because we do not deserve You love. This is beyond our power so be our power and strength to reflect Your Light to others.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships
4/28/2021 Job 4:6 Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope?
Our reverence (terror and fear of an awesome being) reveals to us the power of God to care for us. Living our life by God’s will gives us hope in our faith and obedience. (Trust and Obey)
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
May 22
“For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.” (John 12:18 NKJV)
They gathered to see the “sign” and met Jesus. The reason for signs is they bring us to meet Jesus!
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
Zechariah 9:12 Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you.
What does it mean to be a prisoner of hope? We know hope can slip away and we not even notice. To be a prisoner of hope is to a captive or a bondsman. We owe a debt to hope because we have been purchased by hope.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
What shall we pray about the violence? There is a right and wrong which You alone set those boundaries. God is Truth and knows what evil is. Is the violence God’s fault? NO! God is grace but each of us can choose to accept grace or spurn God’s gift of love. Love is the soul of grace.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 21
“Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.” (John 12:17 NKJV)
Miracles happen everyday but often we are not aware. We think of luck, our good effort and many other ways to not see God working. But those who heard Jesus call “Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead” saw God’s work and “bore witness.”
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
4/26/2021 What does it mean to hope beyond hope? There is a time when hope seems to run out. Hope has dried up and all seems hopeless. Think about the word hopeless. It seems to mean having less hope. We define it as without hope or beyond hope. But the implication is we have less hope and so we either turn to our hopelessness or we turn to the hope beyond hope.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
All around are those who either hate or even worse do not care about others. Those who do not care and use others are dead. They are dead to life. They are dead even to themselves. Believing in their own power they do not see the evil one who is their puppet-master. They do not see the judgment to come. My Mom would say we will all be judged either in this life or the next. It is better to be judged in this life. Grace is our hope of having the judgment in this temporary life rather then eternal life.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 20
“His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.” (John 12:16 NKJV)
How can we understand God’s plan for His beloved Creation? We can only get a glimpse as we experience the glory of God and trust all things are possible for God!
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 19
““Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”” (John 12:15 NKJV)
Every time God or an angel appear the words “Fear not” are usually the first words spoken. Be in awe of the King who rather than coming on a war horse, comes on a “donkey’s colt”.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
Grace is not easy and in reality it is impossible for a human being to offer true grace. Only as we have received grace from God can we offer grace to others. Really we do not even offer grace but we share, we share from what we have been give. God help those who have received Your grace share it with others.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
4/25/2021 Hope is just a thin cord today. Pain and suffering stretch and threaten to break hope. It is even harder when the pain is long term and it seems it will not change. Pray for all those who see death as hope and give them hope for life. For those whose suffering is afflicted by others give them life in the midst of death.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
4/23/2021 Hope is one of the good four letter words and is as essential as air, food, water and housing. God guide those with hope to plant seeds of hope trusting in You to provide the seeds needed to grow, blossom and produce fruit so they can plant even more seeds. We drop the seed the Creator God has given to us and the Gardener God will bring forth the crop.
This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.
God,
If people will not relate to You do we have a chance? Only You can understand them and we cannot and at times do not want to. How can we show love for them when they are not open to You, discard the written word of God and despise Your people? How do we share we love them even as we hate the sin that destroys them? In Your time on earth Jesus You often answered a question with a better and deeper question. What is Your question in answer to these questions? Is it do we think we can do this without You? I do not know. Have mercy on us! Have mercy on all of us!
4/23/2021
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 18
“Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:” (John 12:14 NKJV)
From palm branches, people and now a “young donkey” the promise of the Eternal King has been fulfilled! As Creator Jesus deserves to use His creation and be worshiped by His creation.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
Lift the palm branches
shout the praise of God
Let the rocks be silent
lay down our garments
Praise the servant God
praise the loving God
praise the humble God
praise the present God
Use us to praise You
use us to worship You
use us to share You
use us to honor You
Lift the palm branches
shout the praise of God
Let the rocks be silent
lay down our garments
4/21/2021
May 17
“took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”” (John 12:13 NKJV)
The Creator celebrated by creation! Those Jesus came to redeem as well as creation itself. REJOICE! Would those same voices later cry out “crucify Him”?
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
How can we understand what grace is? Does receiving grace help us understand grace! How do we explain grace to those who have not known grace? Grace is not forgetting our wrongs or the wrongs done to us. Is grace something we can do? Grace is so much more than we can climb its height and goes deeper than we can fall. Is grace not accepting people as they are but understanding their humanity corrupted by the fall? Is grace seeing people as they are and still loving and caring about them? (These ramblings are brought to you by Ronald Ramsey.)
4/21/2021
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 16
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,” (John 12:12 NKJV)
The name of Jesus has incredible power because of who He is and His presence in Jerusalem and around the world. Paul gives us a view of the worship.
“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11 NKJV)
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 15
“because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.” (John 12:11 NKJV)
When people follow Jesus the religious lose their power and fight Jesus to maintain their position and power. Those who followed Jesus “went away” and they would no longer come under the power of the religious leaders.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
Today my pain could cut me off from the pain of others. The pain could make me internalize and see only my pain. But God uses pain to help me see and understand, as much as anyone else can, others pain. My pain becomes a door to the pain of others. My times of relief help me understand their need for relief. There comes a point where pain joins together and we become a community of pain. Pain seeks to separate us from others and this reveals to us the evil ones cause and part of pain. We also can come to realize God can use pain to draw us closer to Him. Do we pray for God to take away someone’s pain not realizing God is using that pain for their good? God is willing to use physical pain to grow spiritually. The body is in time but the soul is beyond time and is eternal. What does your pain accomplish in your life? Do you ask God if the pain is for your good? Do not let your pain cut you off from others and their suffering!!!
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships
May 14
“But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,” (John 12:10 NKJV)
Religion in itself is a form of death and seeks to kill or ignore God’s work of Life. Jesus called people to a relationship with God even as the religious leaders sought to kill Him and His work of Life.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 13
“Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.” (John 12:9 NKJV)
It is easy to look for the miracles and miss the God of the miracles. We can even see “miracles” even though they work against God’s will and His children. Miracles can only be experienced through Jesus.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
God,
Why can’t we just forget all the pain and suffering and just begin over? Why do we hold onto slights, hurts and pains which were either done or perceived? Why do we assume others do things that hurt us on purpose? The answers are beyond me but the brokenness, hatred and pain is overwhelming us!
4/19/2021
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
God,
On this Sunday when we remember and celebrate Easter and resurrection may those who claim Your name bring the Good News of hope, love and peace. Of peace with God and through that peace with each other.
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 12
““For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”” (John 12:8 NKJV)
Today we are without the physical presence of Jesus. While it is important to serve others, true serving comes from a heart that worships and values God.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 11
“But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.” (John 12:7 NKJV)
When a person died the body was wrapped in cloth with ointments and spices put between the layers. This was very expensive and families would have to save for them. Could it be Mary used the fragrant oil that was left over from the burial of Lazarus?
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 10
“This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” (John 12:6 NKJV)
Now we are told “the rest of the story”. It was not enough for Judas to betray Jesus but he also was a thief who stole from the poor! If you will betray God what would you not do?
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
I am reminded of a tune from the Television show Hee Haw:
“Gloom, despair and agony on me.
Deep dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.
Gloom, despair and agony on me.”
Gloom seems like a funeral pall cutting off the sun leaving perpetual darkness. Despair sucks our feet and souls into a bottomless swamp. We fear government, religion, others and even ourselves. We are too confused to see God’s healing Light and without choosing we choose gloom, despair and agony. Hope is a lost hope things can change for the better. Change is feared because we believe change is only to worse. We walk around already dead yet fighting to stay alive even in what is an existence of despair. The only escape for us is anger and hatred but in the end we sink back into despair. Anger and hatred burn out and we are left with charred ruins. The terrible becomes worse, the despair deepens and gloom is a heavier weight. We stumble through the dark even though we fear the dark. Day has become night and night has become a nightmare. Misery is accepted fearing worse will come. We have only existence fearing the change of death. Where is hope? Where is help? Where is there light?
4/17/2021
(This is not a statement from depression but comes from seeing around me the horror beyond a nightmare and growing into a day-mare. This is not new. It is the continuing fruit of the fall. Humanities fall and our personal fall.)
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
May 9
““Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”” (John 12:5 NKJV)
Wait a minute. This sounds good doesn’t it? Remember we have been prepared to know what Judas said was a lie. The value of the fragrant oil was equivalent to a years wage for a workman. Isn’t God worth this amount? Isn’t our worship of God above all other obligations?
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 8
“Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,” (John 12:4 NKJV)
We can trust we should not trust what Judas and other betrayers say. We are being prepared to hear a lie. We can know what Judas will say goes opposite of what Jesus would say and will be for his good and not God’s.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
God,
Teach us to pray. Like Your disciples 2,000 years ago help us be humble enough to know prayer is a mystery to us. Who do we pray to? What do we pray for? How should we pray for our family friends, community, nation and world? How do we pray for our enemies? How do we pray for Your enemies?
Help us pray for and not against knowing even in our selfish spirit those prayers will be our judgment. Teach how and what to pray for our and Your enemies.
Help us not only talk but listen. Help us still our souls so we can hear Your still, small voice. Help us understand prayer is our wondrous opportunity to visit with You, the God of all Creation. May we not miss the opportunity You have offered to us. Not because we are worthy but because we are unworthy and need You!!!
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
4/15/2021
May 7
“Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” (John 12:3 NKJV)
Martha served, Lazarus was a sign of resurrection and Mary anointed Jesus. Usually anointing was on the head but we see a combination of anointing and foot-washing as Jesus was the Priest and King who served!
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 6
“There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.” (John 12:2 NKJV)
This verse is not about demeaning women but allowing each to worship and serve God with their skills and abilities. Martha served the meal and Lazarus encouraged Jesus by sitting with Jesus as a reminder of the power of the resurrection.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
May 5
“Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.” (John 12:1 NKJV)
It is six days till Passover, just as it took six days for creation. The Passover would be the day Jesus laid down His life. The seventh day there was a time of rest and worship.
Your prayer
Give God thanks for what you have.
Praise God for who He is.
Ask for God to use you today.
God,
Fear runs through us like a virus which first debilitates, then makes us confused and finally leads to death.
We are sick with sin and death. We can see it in others but believe we are healthy. We not only destroy others as we spread the disease but we also refuse to seek healing from what we refuse to believe we have.
But we must not succumb to fear or we are lost. Hope is the medicine we need and You are the Great Physician. Hope heals us so we can accept faith and only then we can produce the true fruit of love.
God I have lived without and that is not life but existence. A slavery to fear which leads to anger and then to hatred and destruction.
God only You, the Great Physician, can heal us. You can heal the lost even if they do not come to You. God heal us as Your will demands.
4/12/2021
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
God,
I grow weary of those who look away and will not see the festering and deadly problems around us. This is even more destructive than those who lash out because of injustice they do not understand, did not experience yet is very real.
Both groups deepen and make even more destructive the division within us. The deepest division is those who face the truth and those who do not. Each deeply believes they are right and each sees the other as ignorant of the reality that really does exist.
Is there a way to to awaken both groups to the serious nature of the reality we exist or live in? God only you can do something about this. I do not even really know what needs to be done or how it can be done. This is not ignorance but humility.
4/12/2021
From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.
