Today is Maundy Thursday (sometimes known as Holy Thursday). It is the Thursday before Easter. 'Maundy' is derived from the Latin word for 'command' and refers to Jesus' command to the disciples to 'Love one another as I have loved you.'

Celebrating, at the 'Last Supper' with His disciples, Jesus breaks bread, saying, 'This is my body,' and pours wine, saying, 'This is my blood.' He then asks the disciples to 'Do this in remembrance of me.'

The Last Supper, derived from Jesus' Jewish heritage, was a Passover Seder, the feast of unleavened bread, which He and His disciples were eating. Passover is the Jewish festival commemorating  the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, when they left so quickly there was no time for the bread to rise.

Jesus foretells His death, saying He will eat no more until the Kingdom of God is fulfilled. It also marks an act of betrayal. 'One of you will betray me,' Jesus said. Judas Iscariot, who was one His 12 disciples, is pointed out by Jesus as the one who would betray Him.

So today we reflect and remember!

"That afternoon, the whoel earth was covered with darkness for three hours, from noon until three o'clock.

"About three o'clock, Jesus shouted, 'Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?' which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

"Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on a stick and held it up to him to drink. But the rest said, 'Leave him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come and save him.'

"Then Jesus shouted out again, dismissed his spirit, and died.

"And look! The curtain secluding the Holiest place in the Temple was split apart from to top to bottom; and the earth shook, and rocks broke, and tombs opened, and many godly men and women who had died came back to life again. After Jesus; resurrection, they left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem, and appeared to many people there.

"The soldiers at the crucifixion and their sergeant were terribly frightened by the earthquake and all that happeed. They exclaimed, 'Surely this was God's Son."

On Good Friday Jesus was crucified and died.

But Sunday came and He rose from the dead.  He remains alive today! We can't leave Him on the cross or in the grave!

"'Why are you crying?' the angels asked her (Mary).

"'Because they have taken away my Lord,' she replied. 'and I don't know where they have put Him."

"She glanced over her should and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize Him!

"'Why are you crying?' He asked her. 'Whom are you looking for?'

"She thought He was the gardener. 'Sir,' she said. 'if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.'

"'Mary!' Jesus said. She turned toward Him.

"'Master!' she exclaimed."

~ John 20:13 - 16 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "Mary didn't recognize Jesus at first. Her grief had blinded her; she couldn't see Him because she didn't expect to see Him. Then He spoke her name, and immediately she recognized Him. Imagine the love that flooded her heart when she heard her Savior saying her name. Jesus is near to us, and he is calling your name and mine. Can we, like Mary, answer Him by saying, 'Master?'

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I like some of the saying in OUR IOWA magazine. They are called Side Notes and are printed vertically on the outside margins of some of its pages. The April/May issue has some good ones:

THE GRAVE CLOTHES
 
By Anne Graham Lotz
 
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
 
~ John 20:29 NIV

“Upon hearing the news of the empty tomb, Peter and John ran to see for themselves. Peter confronted the evidence, but he was confused. At that instant, he must have been angrier than ever. He must have surmised that the enemies of Jesus who had dared to crucify Him, had now taken the body for who knew what purpose!

“John quietly looked around. He noticed that the grave clothes were totally unlike those of Lazarus, which had been just a pile of stinking rags by the time Martha had finished unwrapping him. These grave clothes were lying, not as though someone had removed them from the body, but as though the body were still inside! The face cloth was situated where the face would have been, with the few inches of the neck separating it from the rest of the shroud. As he studied the evidence, it must have gradually dawned on him that the grave clothes looked like an empty cocoon! They looked as though the body had just evaporated up through them! Then John knew! (John 20:8). The body hadn’t evaporated. Jesus had risen from the dead!”

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Today's entry by Sarah Young and her "Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence":

"I am with you and for you, your constant Companion and Provider. The question is whether you are with Me and for Me. Though I never leave you, you can essentially 'leave' Me by ignoring Me: thinking or acting as if I am not with you. When you feel distance in our relationship, you know where the problem lies. My Love for you is constant: I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is you who change like shifting sand, letting circumstances toss you this way and that.

"When you feel far from Me, whisper My Name. This simple act, done in childlike faith, opens your heart to My Presence. Speak to Me in love-tones; prepare to receive My Love, which flows eternally from the cross. I am delighted when you open yourself to My loving Presence."


~ Taken from Genesis 28:15; Romans 8"31; Hebrews 13:8

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"In the farthest corners of the earth the glorious acts of God shall startle everyone. The dawn and sunset shout for joy! He waters the earth to make it fertile. The rivers of God will not run dry! He prepares the earth for His people and send them rich harvests of grain. He waters the furrows with abundant rain. Showers soften the earth, melting the clods and causing seeds to sprout across the land."

~ Psalm 65:8 - 10 LAB

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Sometimes I mark things in the margins of my Bible. I am sure I was reading these verses when I penned 'dry summer of 1977'; 'again dry in 1989', and 'was dry in 1989 but had great yields in the fall!'. No matter my concerns at the time, we are still here - planting and harvesting - and God taking care of 'things'.

Second installment of two of Side Notes in the vertical margins of OUR IOWA magazine, April/May issue:

Pandemic. Abuse. Neglect. Hate. Unfairness. Lack. Evil. Sometimes we wonder where God is. 

Habakkuk had questions like these for God.
Here is God's answer to him:


"But these things I plan don't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue by a single day!
 
"The time will come when all the earth is filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the Lord!"

~ Habakkuk 2:3 & 14 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "Habakkuk had asked God why evil people prosper while the righteous suffer. God's answer:  they don't; not in the long run. Habakkuk saw his own limitations in contrast to God's unlimited control of all the world's events. We cannot see all that God is doing, and we cannot see all that God will do. But we can be assured that He is God and will do what is right. Knowing this brings us confidence and hope in the midst of a confusing world."

This is a writing shared to several of us by a friend; who had it emailed to her by her brother I have edited it just a bit to better fit Karen's Korner format.

A Prayer to Seek the Lord During Distractions
by Chelsey De Matteis

"Distractions are inevitable. Throughout the Bible, we are told that not only will distractions come, but they will be used by the enemy to knock us off course. Thankfully, God has shown us how to battle these distractions.

"Nehemiah was a man in the Bible who dealt with persistent distractions from his enemies, who attempted to stop the work God had called Him to do.

"Satan’s distractions are the same today as they were back then. He doesn't have creativity. But he is cunning and cutting. He seeks to unearth old pain. He targets the same insecurity, the same lie that was once told, or the same mistakes of our past. Satan will use whatever causes us to pause, drop, or stop the work of our hands for the Kingdom of God.

"When we look at Nehemiah’s story, we see these same tactics. Persistent distractions orchestrated the same way each time. Five times to be exact, that his enemies sent for him. Each time desiring to stop the work that God has commanded of him to do in Jerusalem.

"Nehemiah, through his strength in the Lord, called them out for being the lying, fear enticers that they were, and asked the Lord to strengthen his hands. He was able to discern his enemy’s schemes because of his deep relationship with the Lord. He knew what God had called Him to and he was not going to stop the work of his hands until God said so. These persistent distractions didn’t line up with the characteristics of God’s heart. Nehemiah only knew that because, he knew His father and trusted His heart. hands. 

"As distractions come, we need to begin taking note of them. Write down what the topic is, how it makes you feel, and when it seems to happen most often. In my experience, it shows so clearly the tactics the enemy is deploying. Just like Nehemiah, we need to turn them over to the Lord and ask Him to strengthen my hands and my obedience to Him."

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"Lord, this season has felt like a never-ending scheme of distractions. Father, stir up in me the reminder to write down the topics, feelings, and seasons which come to me most. I pray that as I grow in my awareness of these distractions in my life, that I will more quickly hand them over to you and seek your truth.

"Thank you for being a good Father who desires nothing more than for His children to turn to Him in all moments of our days. Help me to do that this today.

In Jesus’s name, Amen."

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Several weeks ago in an ecumenical Bible study, we looked at what we say. Is it positive? Or negative? Does it build others up? Or not?

There were five words that spelled THINK. Is it:

True

Helpful

Inspiring

Necessary

Kind

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"If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them,
and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth,
but didn't love others,
I would only be making a noise.

~ I Corinthians 13:1 LAB

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~ Taken from Halley's Bible Handbook, p. 373

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Yesterday's inspirational thought by Max Lucado:

 
“Some people feel so saved that they never serve. Some serve at the hope of being saved. Does one of those sentences describe you? Do you feel so saved that you never serve? So content in what God has done that you do nothing? The fact is, we’re here to glorify God in our service.

“Or is your tendency the opposite? Perhaps you always serve for fear of not being saved. You’re worried there’s some secret card that exists with your score written on it and your score is not enough. Is that you? Then you need to know this: the blood of Jesus is enough to save you. John 1:29 announces that Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ The blood of Christ doesn’t cover your sins, conceal your sins, postpone your sins, or diminish your sins. It takes away your sins, once and for all. And since you are saved, you can serve with joy.”

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Bible Commentary:  " In our relationship with God, it's easy to continue to carry our own burdens. He wants to carry our burdens, but often we continue to bear them even when we say we are trusting in Him. The same strength that carries us can also carry our burdens."

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KEY BIBLE VERSE IN THIS CHAPTER:

"If we love God, we will do what He tells us to. And He has told us from the very first to love each other." 
~ 2 John 1:5

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Bible Commentary: "To be sinless and perfect (without blemish) will be the ultimate condition of the believer when he or she finally sees Christ face to face. When we are given our new bodies, we will be like Christ (I John 3:2). Coming into Christ's presence will be more wonderful than we could ever imagine."

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