The House You're Building

        Orient  John 20:1-31 Chapter 20 describes the Resurrection of Christ and His disciples’ reactions to seeing the empty tomb.  Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John are featured characters.  Jesus then makes several appearances, first to Mary, then a group of disciples, then the group again with Thomas present, who had previously doubted His return.  The end of the chapter contains the anchor to the book, where John restates his author’s purpose to believe in Jesus to experience life.     Introduction I can’t believe my eyes  is a well-known idiom meaning something is shocking or incredulous.  This expression is declared when one finds it hard to believe what your senses are telling you is true.  All the followers of Christ had this reaction upon seeing evidence of His resurrection.  Initially, as grave robbery was common, Mary saw the empty grave and ran to get help.  When...

        Orient  John 10:1-21 Following restoring the blind man’s vision, Jesus begins a well-known discourse of spiritual leadership.  As the Pharisees had just shown themselves foolish leaders, Jesus teaches about His spiritual guidance through the metaphor of door and shepherd, contrasting Himself against the religious rulers.  Theological elements include His cross and resurrection, as well as His sacrifice bringing in Gentiles to faith.  As we’ve seen as a pattern to Jesus’ teaching, His discourse ends with division among the rulers.     Introduction Recently our family introduced a rescue-cat into our home.  Our other pet is a mild-mannered senior Weimi.  She’s lived with cats before and thinks that every visitor, human or otherwise, is part of her pack.  Last time we brought in an adult cat, they were friends in weeks, even snuggling together on the bathroom rug.  This exp...

I don't know about you, but I read Scripture to hear God's unique words for me.  I've been starting a new practice and thought I'd share it with you.  This past September, I started a plan to read through the Bible in a year.  Each day, whatever verses the Spirit shows me are important, I meditate on and try to hear what God is saying unique to me through the verses.  What follows is the words God gave me last month to meditate on and remember.  You may like this technique if you like devotionals like Jesus Calling.  I hope that you too get something out of it; fruit bearing fruit! --Rayna Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. 14So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exodus 13:3, 14 As you hea...