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The three days after Jesus was crucified were days of painful reflection for His 
disciples, both personally and as a group. They were desperately trying to make sense of the recent events which had ended in Jesus’ death. They were now afraid they may have been wrong about Him being the Promised One. All the while, they were fearful of what the next opening of the door might bring. They were afraid to go out, but afraid to stay in. They were simply—afraid! Each day passed in tearful grief and painful questionings. As the weekly Sabbath day came to a close, their questions were no more answered than they had been three days ago when they watched Him die. Oh, why had He died?
One of their group, Mary Magdalene, was just as uncertain as the rest. However, the love in her grateful heart would not be denied: Not by questionings or by fears. Jesus had set her free from a wretched life of bondage to sexual sin and the torture of evil spirits (Luke 8:2). He had changed her! She had never been the same since that day she met Him, and her gratitude of duty now compelled her to go to the tomb and anoint His body with spices, which time had not allowed on the day He died.
Though it was still mostly dark, she gathered her spices and started to make her way to the tomb. Some of the other women fell into step with her, but Mary was Continue reading
Jesus cried out, “It…is…finished!” (John 19:30) The words rang with victory, with accomplishment! It was as if His perspective on this whole ordeal was that a work was being done. The tone of His voice spoke of completing something that had been planned from eternity past. The books were now balanced! He had paid man’s debt to God: That debt of one perfect life which man had incurred in Eden when he used, for selfish purposes, the perfect life God had loaned him. Jesus’ perfect life had been offered up as a sacrifice to God to pay man’s debt. The work was now accomplished! (Colossians 2:13-15)
The date was December 7th, 1941. The time was 7:55am. To the complete surprise of American forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japanese planes began to sweep down and drop devastating bombs onto our fleet and also our planes on the ground. When the attack was done, 18 of our ships were sunk or sinking and nearly all of our planes were destroyed. Over 3500 of our servicemen were dead. We were shocked at such a bold and devastating attack on our U.S Navy. Many wondered if the Navy would ever recover. Even worse, we wondered if our liberty would shortly be ended and we would be required to worship the Emperor of Japan as god.
wind was picking up now, making any site of land impossible. Not only was it looking like they wouldn’t be able to find a place to build their houses today, they were beginning to fear this might be their last day on earth. This storm was such a rage they began to pray in desperation that they could find any safe harbor. Suddenly, as if God had intervened, the wind died enough for one of them to see what he thought was a shoreline. They struggled desperately with the waves and the elements, and with great difficulty finally made land. They had no clue where they were, for in weeks of looking around Cape Cod for a place to settle their families, they had never been here before. They were really afraid because their guns had gotten wet and would not fire. They had already encountered the Indians in this area and they had proven to be enemies instead of friends. The men prayed and prayed for the storm to stop and for God to protect them.
The little boy tugged at the young man’s coat sleeve. “How far is it to America?” he asked, “Will we soon be there?” “No, lad,” the man replied, “It will take many days to cross this huge ocean.” The little boy gazed briefly across the ocean to the west. Then, unaware of the risks of such a voyage, he ran to find his friend to tell him this ship, the Mayflower, would be their playground for a long time. The young man continued to gaze across the vast ocean. His thoughts drifted back twenty years—to the time he had first met these people he was now a part of.
– He was facing an opponent with a deep network of campaign volunteers, party backing, and Mr. Obama working hard for her election.
But beyond the observance of those important symbols, what can we now expect? If Donald Trump keeps his word to the American people—and he has certainly been no shining example of moral rectitude—but if he will keep his word to the American people, we will have at least one Supreme Court judge (and hopefully several) which will be a true Constitutionalist appointed to the Court. We’ll strengthen our military and give them the weapons they need. If Mr. Trump keeps his word, our policemen will be honored and once again unshackled to enforce Constitutional law, instead of sharia or socialist law! Illegal immigration will become a treacherous mountain path instead of the super highway it has been for years! We can expect American industry to recover from years of suffocating socialist regulation. But remember, Mr. Trump has no political record. Therefore, we can’t be sure he’ll do any of the things he promised.
By now it was noon, and a strange thing began to happen. The sky began to darken with an eerie blackness. For a few brief moments, the air was so still it seemed to choke you as the darkness deepened. Then the earth began to tremble. Lightning bolts were exploding against the ground. Then, unexpectedly, the voice of Jesus pierced the darkness. In a loud, wrenching voice Jesus cried out,
seen—Jesus suddenly breaks in with another statement. As He looks down from the cross, He sees His mother standing there beside one of His most devoted followers, whose name is John. Looking into the eyes of His mother with those amazing eyes of peace, He says, “Woman, behold your son.” (John 19:26-27) Then looking into the face of the youthful John, He says, “Behold, your mother!” Thus, He has fulfilled His last earthly obligation. Being the oldest son in the family, it is His responsibility to see that His mother is cared for in her latter years. He is dying, thus, He gives her to a trusted friend (and John fulfilled that obligation). Watching all of this, the soldier is becoming more convinced that Jesus is Who He says He is. And if He is God’s Son, then that fact demands He be listened to. If He was God’s Son, then He would be right about everything. And if there was only one God and He sent His Son to earth to be a man that would prove He cared about us. If this was true, the Creator was evidently trying to communicate something to us humans. What could it be?