It is Holy Week, very ordinary in some facets (still going to work or school, etc), but spiritual sensitivity is heightened as we give special attention to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Many times we heard Jesus tell people that it was not yet his time; but this week we see that long-awaited time come to bear on an overwhelmed-but-resolutely-determined Savior of mankind, Savior of you and me. Walk with us this week as we visit once again the saving of our souls.

Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The default mode of the sinful human race is entitlement, the belief that this gift or that experience that God placed in my path is rightfully mine. I am owed. Here's the deal: The more you think you're entitled to, the less you will be grateful; the bigger the sense of entitlement, the smaller the sense of gratitude. We wonder why in our world we keep getting more and more and more and keep being less and less and less grateful. This is precisely why.
-- Soul Keeping, John Ortberg, page 172

Invoking God onto our Week

We step into this week celebrating You, Father, who gave your only begotten Son to die on the cross;

We celebrate You, Jesus, who became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God;

We celebrate You, Spirit, who makes us alive with Christ through our baptism into His death;

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Luke 7:36-50

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

What jumps out at you from this Bible reading? Ask God why…

The Hebrew term for gratitude is hikarat hatov, which means, literally, "recognizing the good." That's what sustains your soul. That's what lifts you beyond yourself and into God's presence (through Jesus of course -- Pastor Paul’s notation).
-- Soul Keeping, Ortberg, page 174

My Song Is Love Unknown

S. Crossman

My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be.
O who am I that for my sake
My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Go back and review God’s benefit package on pp. 170-172 in Soul Keeping (the three “Bene’s” of Benefits, Benefactor, and Beneficiary) and express your gratitude for the blessings you have from God – it’s a great remedy for human entitlement, particularly in light of Holy Week’s weighty events.

To bless someone means to offer happiness or praise to them. When you say "Blessed are you, O Lord," you are not only expressing gratitude, but you are saying, "I want to make you happy and praise you, God, with my gratitude for what you have done." It's a subtle reminder that gratitude is good for both the person expressing it and the one receiving it.
-- Soul Keeping, Ortberg, page 175

Remember: Take five to ten minutes a day to stop and listen, to connect with God in music. Let the Holy Spirit use it to feed your soul.

This was an evening of unfathomable experiences with teaching moments galore. There was the foot-washing, the last supper, with implicit and explicit lessons; the prophecies of and carrying out of betrayal and denials, the agonizing prayers of Jesus; the arrest, short sword fight, ear-healing, and flight of the disciples. It was the Lamb going forth being led to the slaughter, yet not opening his mouth, but taking on the sins of the world (Isaiah 53, John 1). It is awe-inspiring when you stop to think about it.

Luke 22:39-46

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.

On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

If you ask people who don't believe in God why they don't, the number one reason will be suffering. If you ask people who believe in God when they grew most spiritually, the number one answer will be suffering.
-- Soul Keeping, John Ortberg, page 179

Outward Expressions of our Commitment to Jesus:

In light of Jesus’ call to follow Him, we recognize that carrying out this discipleship process includes irregular times that arise with teachable moments. God uses many things to get our attention and teach us. Much of discipling takes place along the way, “life-on-life” as some say. You don’t need to “go” somewhere to make disciples; you can make disciples while you’re “going”.

Father God, teach my spirit, nurture my spirit, strengthen my spirit; Lord Jesus, let me learn to pray like you, overcoming temptations of the flesh. Holy Spirit, keep discipling me both directly and indirectly through my relationships with other Christians. In Jesus’ name I pray these things,

Amen

Romans 5:3-4

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Because the soul is the deepest expression of the person, the soul is the place of greatest pain. We do not speak of the dark night of the mind, or the world, or even the spirit. Only the soul. The dark night of the soul… “there will come a time when God will bid them to grow deeper. He will remove the previous consolation of the soul in order to teach it virtue…” (quote is from John of the Cross in his writing The Dark Night of the Soul).
-- Soul Keeping, John Ortberg, pages 164, 165

Lord Jesus, many of your followers have experienced deep suffering – suffering for the faith, suffering at the hands of evil, suffering inexplicable ailments of physical and emotional sorts. You yourself experienced great suffering for our benefit. In the dark nights when things don’t seem to make sense, help us to keep in mind that you are with us, and that all things are working out for our good. Help us to persevere, develop character, and find hope – hope in God. Teach us how to, like you did, commit our spirits – our souls – into the hands of our Heavenly Father. 

Amen.

Jesus Christ, the Crucified

Romans 6:5-7

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Who better to serve as a discipling example other than Jesus during Holy Week. Let’s learn from Jesus how to:

• Pray
• Suffer
• Love
• Forgive
• Serve
• Teach
• Heal
• Live
• Die--
• And as we celebrate in awe tomorrow – to Rise

We all have two worlds, an outer world that is visible and public and obvious, and an inner world that may be chaotic and dark or may be gloriously beautiful. In the end, the outer world fades. We are left with the inner world. It is what we will take with us. I am an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God's glorious universe. .
-- Soul Keeping, John Ortberg, page 190

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father God, we close a week pondering the meaning of blessings and open the week highlighting the greatest blessing given to man – life in Jesus Christ. Thank you for the gift of Jesus, the gift of righteousness through Jesus, the gift of forgiveness paid for at the cross, the victory over death proclaimed at the empty tomb and shared with us in baptism.

The gospel, Dallas said once, means that this universe is a perfectly safe place for you to be. Huh? It means that the soul is simply not at risk. Not even from cancer. What else could Paul have meant when he said nothing can separate us from the love of God? Why else would Jesus have advised us not to worry?
-- Soul Keeping, John Ortberg, page 191

Thank you, Father God, for the blessings of victory in Jesus, of life for my soul, of eternal life through Jesus Christ my Lord; of empty tombs and completed journeys, of glorious songs and an even more-glorious Savior.

We praise you on this resurrection day, and hope to do so now and forever,

Amen.