Grains of Sand

Pixabay I spent most of yesterday afternoon reading through page after page of notes I had taken last summer in preparation for a ladies’ retreat scheduled for early March. My jumping-off point for the three sessions I am bringing to the ladies are Jesus’ words from Matthew 22:37-39. The theme of the retreat is Indescribable and Glorious Joy . It might seem odd that the Law, summarized in the two great commandments that Jesus gave, should have much to do with the subject of joy. But it has everything to do with deep and fulfilling joy. We used to define joy this way: J = Jesus O = Others y = You And that is basically what the two great commandments are all about. Love the Lord your God = Jesus Love your neighbour = Others Love yourself = You It sounds simple—it isn’t. We are simply not “programmed” to put anything first in our lives but ourselves and what we think will bring satisfaction to our lives. That makes the first part of the command, Love the Lord your God so hard for us....

Google Images It was a hollow victory. To tell the truth, it wasn’t a victory at all. If Satan thought he had won when he turned Judas into a traitor and paved the road to Calvary, he was mistaken. Just as Jesus and the disciples left the upper room to take the short walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said this: “ I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father commanded me ” (John 14:30, 31). Six words of tremendous importance: “ He has no hold on me. ” This road had been paved since before the beginning of time. It had been determined between a loving Father and an obedient Son in order to rescue a rebellious people. Satan was no more than a pawn on the chessboard of history. He only had the power to manipulate events that had been granted to him by God. Whatever “hold” he thought he had was no hold at all. The power of the underworld is a...