HAPPY EASTER

Sunday, April 12, 2020

“About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide”
prepared for First United Methodist Church 

of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, 

Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Saturday, April 11, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

“From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

Luke 22:69 NASB

At this point in our Lenten meditations, we are inclined to feel only our grief that Jesus had to go through such a terrible death to atone for our sin. Thursday’s service at the church is a dark service that encourages our remembrance of the horror of that day. I certainly do not want to minimize the importance of this kind of meditation. We MUST remember that we have been bought at great price, willingly paid for by Jesus through his own sacrifice of himself for our sin. However, we must not miss a joyful thought.

Yes, Jesus did cry out from the cross, “It is finished.” And that surely means exactly what it says. The words used here, I’ve reminded you before, are the same words that were written on a deed when the final payment is made on a piece of land. “Paid in full.” When Jesus died on that cross, his earthly ministry was complete. He had faithfully completed his Father’s business for him here on earth, and our sin debt was paid in full.

However, we should take great comfort in knowing what his business in heaven is now that he has completed the job here and returned home. Now he is seated at the right hand of the Father, ever interceding for the saints. That’s us! (Don’t feel like a saint? Ask me sometime and I’ll show you Scripture that says if you are a believer in Christ, you are a saint.) Right now, Jesus prays for us, joins us in our prayers to the Father, sits at the right hand of his Father in power. Very comforting thought.

Father, Thank you that Jesus is with you, praying for those whom he has redeemed. Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church

of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Good Friday

Friday, April 10, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

Luke 23:46-47 NASB

Here’s another spot with an often overlooked, revealing word! Notice the centurion’s reaction to what he had witnessed. This man was one of the Romans who had forced that long walk to Calvary -- certainly not an innocent bystander. We don’t know how his ugly job impacted him, but he did his job.

Now it was over, and he made this bold, belated statement concerning the innocence of Jesus. The script does not say he cried out in despair or sorrow or relief. It says he began “praising God” as he declared Jesus’ innocence!

A Roman soldier praising God? That’s what it says. And why? Because he realized the innocence of the man they had just killed. That can only mean one thing. The centurion suddenly believe that Jesus was exactly who had had said he was. That’s saving faith! And he praised God for the death of this innocent one on his behalf.

Oh, he may not have understood fully what that meant, but then neither do we! He may not have grasped the significance of Christ as his substitution, but he could understand that he now believed in the one whom he’d just been a party to putting to death.

He wasn’t the only one. The text says that “multitudes” went away “beating their breasts.”

Father, Thank you that Christ’s faithfulness to your business, even as he died, brought many whom you love to your kingdom, including us. Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church
of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Thursday, April 9, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

John 14:1-3 NASB

I once had a lot of aunts, my Mother’s sisters whom I loved very much (there were nine girls altogether). One of them was ill, and Wallace and I knew she would not live long. We drove to North Carolina to see her one last time. After a visit of several days, it was time to return to Florida. I went to her room, got down on my knees by her bed to tell her goodbye.

She asked me if I realized I would not see her again in this life. I told her I did. She then asked me to read something to her from the Bible that she really liked, and it was the passage above. I told her I’d just say it to her from memory and so I began.

When I got to the part about his fixing a place for her, she put her frail little hand on my arm and said, “Patty, honey, I’m getting so excited.”

Of course, I treasure that moment and will never forget it.

As I’ve been writing for this Lenten Devotional, however, I’ve thought about the verse in a different way. Jesus is still about his Father’s business, even after going back to heaven. Now he is not visible here on earth, walking about with the twelve. Now he is doing what he promised. There are multitudes of us, and he is preparing a place for each one.

We love life and enjoy the wonders of it, but isn’t it exciting to think about the dwelling place he has fixed or is fixing for us! He’s still doing his Father’s business well!

Father, Thank you for the place you have prepared! Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church
of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

                                                    

And [one of the criminals] was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:42-43 NASB

The criminal was suffering the cross’s cruel death, just as Jesus was. Possibly he had not been beaten half to death before his crucifixion, and probably his hands and feet were only tied to the cross so that death was going to take a long time. Jesus, however, was probably near death when the criminal cried to him for mercy. We don’t know the man’s name, but his story is so important that it is recorded in the text for eternity.

Do you hear the good news in these words? As long as there is breath in us to cry out to Jesus, it isn’t too late! Notice the little word, “when”? “When you come in your kingdom….” Probably he had heard Jesus teach; maybe he’d heard about the miracles. We don’t know. We do know that he was an eye witness to Jesus’ death. He saw him being brutally treated and nailed to a cross. He heard him deny the drugged wine to ease his pain, and witnessed the manner in which he spoke carefully to John about his mother. Suddenly he knew Jesus was the Christ. He needed a Savior, and he cried, “Lord!” That’s all Jesus needed to hear.

Yes, he died on that cross the death of a criminal, but Jesus assured him and assures us that he died a criminal with a changed heart – his name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We wouldn’t have wanted to miss all the years we’ve had as friends of Jesus, but how comforting to know as long as there’s breath, it isn’t too late.

Amazing Father, that eternity could be changed in a man’s last breath! Thank you for the forgiving word of Jesus for this man and the encouragement we have knowing as long as we breathe, it’s not too late.  Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church
of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

                                                     

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:31-32 NASB

Isn’t this an amazing passage? First of all, can we even imagine that Satan would talk to Jesus about Peter, perhaps the way he talked to God about Job. He didn’t just ask, he demanded permission to give Peter a hard time, and Jesus didn’t question that. This surely reveals a kind of authority that I don’t often think of Satan as having!

This conversation took place right after Peter had sworn that he would go to the death for Jesus and just before Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times. Peter, from this moment until he sees Christ after the resurrection, had a lot to think about. He was going to spend several miserable days, but his faith would not fail because God would grant the prayer of his beloved son on Peter’s behalf.

We don’t want to miss the forgiving heart of Jesus in the final words of this passage. Knowing that his friend is going to deny him, knowing that fear has weakened him at this point, Jesus still speaks words of encouragement to Peter: when you get straightened out, help your brothers. Peter looked weak at the moment, but Jesus had confidence that he would be a strong leader when he got through this crisis of faith.

Wouldn’t we all like to believe that Jesus had that kind of confidence in us? “When you have turned again…” is surely the statement of a God of second chances. We don’t want to ever turn away, but isn’t it comforting that we know he gives second chances.

Father, Thank you for helping us “turn again” so we can strengthen others. Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church
of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Prepare for Easter

Monday, April 6, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him.

Luke 19:47 NASB

John Wesley was reported to have been asked what he would do if he knew that sometime tomorrow he would die. He is said to have pulled a little pad from his pocket and to have begun to read the list of things he had planned for the remainder of the day and for the beginning of the next. That’s a wonderful story of a man who obediently planned his days in accordance with his understanding of guidance. Nothing would change. He would do what he had already prayerfully planned as long as he lived. Obviously, Jesus was his model.

Jesus had, since he was twelve, been about his Father’s business. Now he had entered in great triumph into Jerusalem, but he did not waste a moment of his precious time enjoying the adulation. He goes right back to work, teaching daily. I want to say this is the God side of him, but I know that is giving myself an excuse that is unwarranted! Right up to the moment he died, he was totally obedient to his Father, obedient as a man. His heart must have been heavy. We know that he knew what was to come because he told the disciples about it, including the painful betrayal. We know he was agonizing, and we are given some insight into the depth of that agony as we read the Gethsemane event. But he never stops the work he came to do. On Monday after Palm Sunday, he goes back to teaching.

Jesus exhibits an obedience we admire and should strive for, knowing we won’t attain it this side of eternity.

Father, The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Help us to become obedient children, as obedient as you can make us this side of heaven. Amen

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church
of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator