Prayers for the Home

This prayer comes from the prayer book, Prayers that Avail Much for Mothers, and it is a beautiful prayer for entrusting our home into God’s care, knowing that He works all things out for our good – we truly do serve a gracious, merciful and loving God.

Father, I thank You that You have blessed me with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

Through skillful and godly wisdom is my house (my life, my home, my family) built, and by understanding it is established on a sound and good foundation. And by knowledge shall the chambers (of its every area) be filled with all precious and pleasant riches – great priceless treasure. The house of the uncompromisingly righteous shall stand. Prosperity and welfare are in my house in the name of Jesus.

My house is securely built. It is founded on a rock – revelation knowledge of Your Word, Father, Jesus is my Cornerstone. Jesus is Lord of my household. Jesus is our Lord – spirit, soul and body.

Whatever may be our task, we work at it heartily as something done for You, Lord, and not for men. We love each other with the God kind of love, and we dwell in peace. My home is deposited into Your charge, entrusted to Your protection and care.

Father, as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord in Jesus’ name. Hallelujah!

Scripture References

Ephesians 1:3

Proverbs 24: 3,4 AMP

Proverbs 15:6

Proverbs 12:7 AMP

Psalm 112:3

Luke 6:48

Acts 4:11

Acts 16:31

Philippians 2: 10,11

Colossians 3:23

Colossians 3: 14,15

Acts 20:32

Joshua 24:15

God’s Love for You

This week’s sermon is all about what Jesus did on the Cross. Pastor Q has done an excellent job of delivering an Easter message about who Jesus died for – YOU! These are my notes from his sermon, which I pray will bless you as much as they did me. I love going through my sermon notes, as it reinforces what I have learned at church.

Bible Verses Used

John 3:16Philippians 2:6-8


John 14: 1-4

John 3:16 underpins everything that happened to Jesus – the Cross, the crucifixion and the empty tomb. We are the “why” that happened. Jesus died for You! When Jesus stood before Pilate, He said,

For this reason I was born.

You could substitute your own name for “this reason“, and maybe then you would realise how important you are to Jesus. What was behind the extraordinary reason? You were! Jesus left everything that He had in heaven, just for you. It was all for You!

He was crucified for you, the stone was rolled away from the tomb for you, and when the stone was rolled away, it showed Jesus’ love for You. Regardless of who you are or what you’ve done, Jesus died for You!

You could be the most despicable, vilest, most hateful person and yet, He died for You. You are no less important to Jesus than anyone else. He died for the world. The flash houses of today would look like ramshackle beach shacks compared with what Jesus left behind when He came to earth.

Dr Maxwell Maltz was a renowned plastic surgeon, and He saw a woman whose husband was severely disfigured in a house fire trying to rescue his parents. The husband’s face was horribly disfigured, but he refused Dr. Maltz’s offer to help restore him to some degree of normality. His wife came back to see Dr Maltz, and he was surprised because he knew that her husband had refused his help previously. This time she asked Dr Maltz how much it would cost for him to disfigure her face like her husband’s, so that her husband would let her back into his life. Jesus was severely and callously beaten for us, tortured with the Crown of Thorns, flogged, mocked, spat upon and hanged upon the Cross at Golgotha where He endured the agony of the Cross for You, and all that He wants is to be allowed into your life.

The Cross is a universal symbol of Christianity, and yet we would never wear a guillotine around our neck, but we proudly wear the Cross which was the ultimate persecution that Jesus endured just for You! How did a symbol of torture become something of beauty?

The arms of the Cross show:~

Horizontal Band – The Breadth and Length of God’s Love

Vertical Band – The Depth and Height of God’s Love

The resurrection of Jesus Christ shows God’s Love for You! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of Your love.

Jesus, You showed us Your love through the Cross, the empty tomb and Your scarred body.

I pray that you unshakeably take hold of God’s Love for You.

Praise You Almighty God…

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that
He is risen from the dead;
and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28

• That you sent your only Son to die in my place, a substitutionary sacrifice – the Passover Lamb, so that I could live. Crucifixion was one of the most barbaric and cruellest of deaths, and yet, Jesus endured it that we might live. On the third day, He was risen from the dead and Jesus lives right here – in my ♥! This was the fulfilment of the Old Covenant and the starting of the New Covenant. His death gives us eternal life!

• For excellent medical practitioners, who seek to keep us fit and healthy. On Friday we all had a doctor’s appointment, so that we could have the ‘flu and Swine ‘flu vaccinations, but the doctor said that the rest of the family could have them, but not me, as I had a severe allergic reaction to the last Fluvax that I had, and was in hospital for three weeks. However, the doctor did say that my family could show their love by having the vaccination, which would prevent them from bringing home the ‘flu virus. Yay – I feel loved!

• For my husband and his ice-cream making ability – he made a batch of home-made Goats’ Milk Ice-Cream this afternoon, and it is absolutely delicious. For now, his pain management is under control, and I praise God for answered prayer, for helping my husband to be able to walk easily.

• For warm, autumn weather – enabling us to keep our store of wood for the colder winter months. For the moment, we are using a bar heater if it gets too cold in the evenings, and of course, there’s always the option of an early night if it’s colder than that.

• For friends, such as Janice, who is coming up to spend some time with us and helping us to cut firewood. Talk about friendship – I love this lady to pieces, and such love she has for us, that she is willing to take time out of her busy schedule to help us cut and load firewood. Of course I praise God for all our friends – internet, blogging and IRL friends, too.

• That we have helpful children, who without being asked will: -

1. Water the strawberries and parsley.
2. Milk and feed the goats.
3. Vacuum and mop our home, and that is such a BIG job.
4. Do dishes without arguing.
5. Keep their rooms tidy.
6. Do their schoolwork without having to be told.
7. Clean the shower and bath.
8. Clean their bedrooms and help with the rest of the housework.
9. Help with the cooking – making delicious cakes and stews.

• Physiotherapists, who work closely alongside doctors – I now have patches for my back pain, which sure makes everyday living a whole lot more bearable.

I pray that you have a wonderful and blessed Easter, as we commemorate the work completed on the Cross for us.

The (Scientific) Death of Jesus

At the time crucifixion was the “worst” death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, because unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.

The nails were driven into His wrist.  Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There’s a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder.  The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself so that He could breathe.

Both of His feet were nailed together.  Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross.  Jesus could not support himself with His legs because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back then using his legs just to continue to breathe.  Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering and the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.

Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering?  A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding.

He was simply pouring water from his wounds.

From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side.  But do we realise His wounds were actually made in His body.  A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even larger nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.   But before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten.  The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body.  The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face.  The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp.  Most men would not have survived this torture.

He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds.

The human adult body contains about 5 litres of blood.

All these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying his own cross for almost 2 kilometres, while the crowd spat in His face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where his hands were nailed).

Accept the reality, the truth that JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.

God has plans for you – think about what He experienced to save you. May God bless your life richly!

What Do We Celebrate when We Celebrate Easter?

This is a card that I made for my friend, Gwenda, and it has symbolism within the design of the card. The red symbolises the blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; the black symbolises our sin prior to His death on the Cross and the white represents the righteousness of the Saints, which is only received through God’s grace and Jesus shed blood on the Cross of Calvary.

Do we celebrate Easter? Well, I know that Easter has long been associated with Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, but we don’t worship her in our home. We worship the one true God, the one who died on the Cross so that we could have everlasting forgiveness of our sins. There was to be no more sacrifice, as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

Easter has been associated with many things – Easter eggs and hot cross buns, but we need to remember the true reason for Easter, and that is the love that God had for us in sending His Son to be the substitutionary sacrifice for us all. It’s not about furry bunnies, Easter eggs or hot cross buns.

Easter is defined by Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary as:

• A feast that commemorates Christ’s resurrection and is observed with variations of date due to different calendars on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon.

While the Collins Concise Dictionary that we have at home defines Easter as:

• A festival of the Christian church commemorating the Resurrection of Christ: falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

And World Book Encyclopaedia defines Easter as being:

• The most important Christian festival of the year. Easter celebrates the return to life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, after His Crucifixion.

Jesus came to give us life and that we might have it more abundantly (John10:10), and it is only through our faith in Jesus Christ that we receive this free gift of eternal life. Christ’s death and resurrection is the message that we should be sending to our friends and loved ones, and it should be His death and resurrection that we celebrate, knowing the love that our heavenly Father has for us.