Week 1What are you looking for?
Week 2 Have You Received His Extravagant Gift?
Week 3 Where is He Now and What is He Doing?
Week 4 - May I Please Speak to the One in Charge?!
Week 1:What are you looking for?
In three weeks, the annual Fletcher Easter egg hunt will take place once again. When the whistle is blown, the yard will be busy with activity as the children attempt to fill their baskets with eggs.
When our oldest granddaughter was two, and enjoying the annual Easter egg hunt for the first time, she did the most unusual thing. Each time Olivia found a plastic egg, she immediately opened it to see if it contained a piece of candy, dumped any candy or prize she found into her basket, and left the opened egg on the grass for someone else.
We tried to convince her to keep the entire egg, but she would not be persuaded. As far as she was concerned, she was not hunting eggs. Olivia was looking for treasure! She didn’t care how many eggs the others had in their baskets, or if someone else scooped up two or three eggs while she took time to carefully examine each one she had found.
Olivia left the egg hunt happy and content with the “treasure” in her basket, unaffected by what the others had in their baskets. Her approach brought a smile to my heart as I thought about what pleasure our heavenly Father must experience when He observes us taking the time to seek the treasure that really matters.
What are you looking for?
Are you diligently searching God’s word?
“More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:10-11 NKJV).
Are you gathering the treasures that matter?
". . . lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20 NKJV).
Are you seeking Him?
"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV).
Personal Questions to ponder:
How have the actions of others around me affected what I am looking for?
Am I willing to rearrange my priorities in order to search for the things that really matter?
Am I willing to leave some empty pursuits behind?
Prayer
“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water “ (Psalm 63:1 NKJV) ‘“I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure” (Psalm 119:162 NKJV).
©2008 Lauren Fletcher all rights reserved
Return to the top of the page
Week 2:Have You Received His Extravagant Gift?
I once purchased some expensive Godiva chocolate covered cookies for a friend, placed them in a gift bag on my desk in the kitchen, and then left to run an errand. While I was gone, one of my teenage sons came home from football practice, thought someone had given the cookies in the gift bag to us, and ate all but a few of them. His afternoon snack that day cost me about ten dollars - and even more if you include the milk!
Recently, as I reflected on that costly experience, it dawned on me that Jesus has purchased an extravagant, enjoyable gift for us, has placed it within our reach, and is eager for us to enjoy it. This is why He rose from the dead. Without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ none of these blessings would be available to us today, but would have died with Him in the grave.
His Death and Resurrection is a Gift “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV). “not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:9 CSB).
His gift is extravagant - It is covered in His blood
After Adam and Eve sinned, one of the consequences given describes the labor, and consequently, the sweat that would become part of man’s existence.
“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread . . . “(Genesis 3:19 NKJV).
Jesus, in His extravagant love, covered each of the curses of sin with His own blood. Here is just one example:
“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44 NKJV). (emphasis on underlined words mine)
The most extravagant gift I can imagine is one that is covered in the blood of Jesus.
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot . . . who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead . . . so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:18,19,21 NKJV).
He has deliberately placed this gift within our reach.
"whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Romans 10:13 NKJV).
He wants us to enjoy the abundance He offers.
". . . I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV).
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV).
©2008 Lauren Fletcher all rights reserved
Return to the top of the page
Week 3 Where is He and What is He Doing?
A terrorist attack changed our trip itinerary, but it didn’t prevent our long anticipated visit to the tomb in which Jesus is believed to have been laid after His crucifixion. As we approached the tomb, I was overflowing with anticipation. How would the interior look? What would it feel like to actually step inside?
Surprisingly, I experienced the actual impact before ever entering, for on the door of the tomb was written, “He is not here- For He is risen.” The impact of those words was and is enormous! This statement, however, raises other questions.
Where is He now?
“We have . . . a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” (Hebrews 8:1 NKJV).
What is He doing?
“Therefore He is . . . able to save . . . those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25 NKJV). “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily. . . to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:25-27NKJV).(emphasis on underlined words mine)
What is he preparing?
"And 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 14:3 NKJV).
The sign placed on the tomb left off an important part of His message. They could have also written, “Be back soon!”
How should we respond?
“ . . . we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,” (2 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV).
Join me in this prayer of praise as we remember His resurrection:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
( 1 Peter 1:3 CSB).
May we all experience the true impact of these words, "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. . . “ (Matthew 28:6 NKJV).
©2008 Lauren Fletcher all rights reserved
Return to the top of the page
Week 4 - “May I Please Speak to the One In Charge?”
Each attempt to resolve the erroneous cell phone bill only added to my mounting frustration. I felt it would be resolved if only I could speak to someone in charge, someone who really cared about looking into and resolving the matter. I was never, however, allowed access to anyone higher than the supervisor of the customer service representative with whom I was speaking. I was also told that if I sent an e-mail to the company, it would be directed to the very center to which I was speaking. I felt so helpless and frustrated, almost beyond words. Oh, how I wished I could speak to the one in charge!
After experiencing this frustration, you can imagine my elation when, at another time, I was given immediate access to the CEO of a different organization. After dialing the number, giving my name to an administrative assistant I had never met, and then requesting to speak directly with the CEO, I was told he was in a meeting, but would be removed to speak with me. Despite my assurance that this was not an emergency, the administrative assistant replied that she was not allowed to simply take a message from me. She had been instructed that he would be available whenever I called. When he came to the phone, I said, “Hi Daddy. I appreciate your leaving the meeting, but you can call me when it is over” He simply said, “I’m so glad you called. What did you need?”, and then he gave me his undivided attention. Why was this so much easier than the cell phone experience? The big difference was that I had the information needed to contact him and my name was on a list of people who were always given immediate access to my Dad. It was my relationship with him that put me in a special category.
My heavenly Father also has a list and my name is written there as well. His list is kept in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.” Revelation 21 describes heaven, and verse 27 explains the admission those on the list have to His presence throughout eternity.
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles . . . but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27 NKJV).
We who are on this list also have access to His presence through prayer. Something significant happened at the crucifixion of Christ which allows us to talk directly to the One in charge.
“And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:37 -38 NKJV).
The veil of the temple marked the area beyond which only the priest could go to make intercession for the people. With the tearing of the veil from top to bottom, the boundary restricting entrance to God’s presence was removed, and access to the great High Priest, Jesus, was allowed. Prayer and intercession could now be taken directly to Him
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, . . . Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV). (emphasis on underlined words mine)
If you have a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, this privilege is for you as well! Regardless of the challenging situation with which you may be dealing, you can always go straight to the One in charge! In fact Jesus ended the model prayer with these words . . .
“ . . . deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen “ (Matthew 6:13 NKJV).
This verse shows us who is really in control. This is just one more blessing of the empty tomb!
©2008 Lauren Fletcher all rights reserved
Return to the top of the page
