Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
🙏🏻❤️
Amen
Amen
Lord, we stumble around in the darkness, not realizing that the light of Your love is all around us, if we but open the eyes of our hearts and souls… Let us, as You did on that cross, turn our disappointment and sufferings into love for others.
Amen.
Theodore Dubois’ Les Sept Paroles du Christ (The Seven Last Statements of Christ, often mistranslated as The Seven Last Words of Christ).
An excellent Lenten meditation, a great musical work by any standard, and recommended especially for Good Friday:
Beautiful
The duet between Christ and The Good Thief is not to be missed!
Amen
Laetare Sunday — Rejoice! We are half way to the Resurrection! We have 3 more weeks of penitential preparation so that we can truly rejoice at Easter, the Resurrection of Christ.
It is particularly in these highly-political times, in which many people in very high places (of supposedly “public trust”) are committing very-evil acts and trying to conceal them, that I am reminded of these words:
“[…] but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.”
Yet, “the Light always comes.”
And this from the Lent post of March 3rd: (emphasis mine)
“But Jesus would not trust himself to them because He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.”
Yes, “and certainly, now, so do we.”
But, let us remember that nothing in any human heart escapes our Lord’s discernment. And that His will, alone, will ultimately be done. He does not fail to See, and He does not grow faint. Yet: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways.”
This is the most beautiful, clear meaning of the Word. May you all see and believe.
The contrast to now is astonishing. Amen.
Thank You LORD Jesus.
Numbers 21:4-9
The Bronze Serpent
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze3serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Ephesians 2:1-10
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Amen
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ! Amen
Amen.
This Lent, I feel that God is speaking to me about zeal vs slothfulness. To wit:
Hope everyone on this thread is thriving and motivated to move closer to the light!
I first walked the Stations of the Cross at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Jefferson County, Colorado, many decades ago. I was humbled to the Lord that day as never before yet often since.
I think most of Jesus seeing His Mother,Mary, how He would have spared Her that pain if only it were possible.
My mother was not with me as I faced the fear and pain of my own cancer.
But it was in those years, these years, that I came to the Treehouse. There are no coincidences.
Thank you, Managerie and all faithful witnesses I see here every day.
Thank You Menagerie I am currently working in temperature at 60 below it is so nice read this post that warms the soul Blessings to you yours be well
R.D.
Brr! You’re welcome!
Amen
Do we have any Orthodox readers here?
For God so loved the world ……
Forgive me. After reading the above threads I just had to come back again tonight to rest and right my mind. Thank you Menagerie for this branch…much needed these days.
Catholic here. Love the faith-based posts. They are important!
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 ESV)