Welcome to the First Love Blog and I hope you enjoy these wonderful writers I have in store for you this week! We are promoting love this week, from Gods love, to relationships, to singleness, you name it we talk about it!
It gives me great happiness to introduce this guest piece from a lovely friend of mine from my church [Paradox Church] Eleanor Calvert. Let's start with her journey and how she has got where she is now.
Enjoy!
So growing up I was never brought in to a Christian based family. I sometimes went to the odd church service, but I was never really interested in becoming a Christian, or even continuing to go to church. But as I went into secondary school I became friends with two Christian girls and one of them invited me to their baptism; I didn't really know what to expect since I'd never been to a service like that before, but it turned out to be so welcoming and the people were absolutely lovely. A lot has happened since then but long story short if I hadn't gone to that baptism I wouldn't be where I am and who I am today, and I definitely wouldn't be writing this.
Love is a strong word with a strong emotion behind it. But when you take the words "God" and "love" and you put them together in the same sentence it's even stronger. And that's why I think God's Love is indescribable; there isn't a word strong enough that can even come close to describing how great God's love is.
We all have those days were we feel like we're failing God and the enemy is prowling around us ready to attack, but beneath all of this we know that we have this core of love from an extraordinary God who sent his one and only son down to earth to die for us and to forgive our sins, which goes to show just how incredible His love is.
Loving yourself can be quite a difficult thing to do nowadays because you can either be perceived as being self centered or arrogant, but in reality, loving yourself is one of the healthiest things you can do to yourself! When you love yourself , you begin to see what your purpose is and why you're in the position you're in today. God made you fearfully and wonderfully so you are perfect because he has never failed. You don't need to wear makeup in front of God to be classed as beautiful, he looks straight to your core.
When we start to love ourselves more, other people will start to notice little things in our day-to-day lives. Just a small compliment to someone, telling them they look gorgeous can make their day! The bible says "Wear love everywhere you go" and I think it's so so important to have a positive, loving outlook on life, and again, people will start to notice your positive attitude, even when you're coming under attack, keep your head held high and just keep going. By wearing love everywhere you go, it can rub off on people and influence them to act a little bit more loving towards themselves and other people, and then that will make you feel even better about yourself to know that you've made a difference to other people's frames of mind.
Now since its Valentines season, we all want to receive that special gift from that special someone, us girls don't ask for much...just a 24ct gold necklace and a new car from our other halves maybe...? But I think valentines season is irrelevant when we have the post perfect gift of love from God when he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and the Bible was produced, let's face it, the Bible is the greatest love letter that has ever been written and will stay that way. Every word, letter, syllable has been perfectly written and completely overflows with love. So this Valentine's Day, focus on the one true love in our life, and not just the gifts from your boyfriend/ husband.
So girls, my challenge to you is to simply love yourself more! Spend an extra 5 minutes on your hair and makeup. Take a selfie and post it with the caption "I feel good today" and just know that you're beautiful because God made you that way
Lots of love, Eleanor xoxo
@BibleBlogWomen
E: jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk
Follow the love blogs 12-16th February 2015 on The Bible For Women.
Hello and welcome to the second part of the natural sparkle blogging series. I would like to thank you all for reading and following the blogs and writings from guest bloggers, and now I would like to welcome you to the first monthly guest blogger - Brittany Nicole.
Hey ladies! I was asked to write a guest post on “Natural Sparkle”. I will admit, when I first read the email saying to write about natural beauty, I almost declined this amazing opportunity. For years I've struggled with self-worth, depression and body image issues. I've dealt with a very slight eating disorder that caused me to try to change my body in unhealthy ways. All my life I was told that I’d be prettier if I lost weight, and had numerous jokes about me looking pregnant. I was always taller than everyone else, and hated it. I actually wanted to have surgery to become shorter! That’s how much I hated my body. I had severe acne until recently, and I wasn't happy in my own skin. I felt like I didn't belong in my own body. I was so different on the inside from what I thought my appearance portrayed. It wasn't until this past year, during my freshmen year of college that I became comfortable in my own skin. Yes, I still have acne. No, I didn't loose weight. Yes, I’m still almost 6 feet tall. My appearance didn't change. My outlook did. Genesis 1:27 says, “ God created man in his own image…” God created ME, in HIS own image. If I look at myself in disgust, or hatred, then what am I saying about God? Am I saying He’s ugly? Am I saying he deserves to be thrown every negative comment His way? Does He deserve to be put down for not looking the way society says He should look? NO. So why do we do that to ourselves? If God made us in His image, then we should not put ourselves down. We should not look in the mirror and tell ourselves everything that’s wrong with our body. We should not wish to have something God didn't give to us. There’s a reason I’m not short. There’s a reason my skin isn't perfect. There’s a reason my hair isn't red and curly…. The reason is because that’s not the way God made me. He made me in HIS image. He made me the way HE wanted me to be. Why should I put down Gods creation? He obviously knew what He was doing. So why don’t we step back, look at ourselves in the mirror, and THANK Him. Thank Him for making us the way He wanted. I know, I know. It’s not easy looking in the mirror, seeing a pimple, and saying “Thank you God for my pimple”. I realize that! Trust me! But we live in a world that isn't perfect, but we worship and belong to a perfect God. He made us perfect in His eyes, so why should we think otherwise? Now, after trying very hard to stop obsessing with my looks, I am finally able to be myself. I still have acne, but I am able to walk outside without makeup on. I am finally able to wear a bathing suit without wearing a shirt and shorts over it. I am able to wear my hair up confidently without feeling like I look ugly. I now can wear shorts and tank tops boldly My challenge to you is to look in the mirror, and say one POSITIVE comment to yourself every time you look into it. Train yourself to say positive comments, and slowly you’ll be able to avoid all the negative comments.
I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but with a little positive words of encouragement to yourself daily, you can slowly start to let your natural beauty sparkle, just like God intended.
WOW!!!!! How amazing is that! Just what a lot of us needed to hear! I just want to say a huge thank you to my new guest blogger and friend and inspiration to me Brittany Nicole.
Brittany Nicole will be guest blogging every month so keep your eyes peeled for more awesome pieces from this beautiful young lady of God. Thanks for reading I look forward to you connecting with us. Email me on jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk Love Jessica Louise and Brittany Nicole God Bless you all Xoxo
Welcome to the BRAND NEW 3 part blog series which will question you and your way of life. The Series will begin every Saturday for 3 weeks and all you have to do is read the blog and answer the questions. If you want to send me your answers to be published on the final blog then you are very welcome to do that. jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk I pray that this blog will be used to glorify God and show others who don't believe what their missing out on. Thank you for supporting me and the prayers you have prayed over the Bible For Women. Lets Start with a piece of scripture- Colossians Verse 3 Chapter 23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. This piece of scripture is all about serving, this is something that has been very important to me, especially recently, I have become more involved in my church and now I am helping at Kids Church with arts and crafts. God has gave you gifts and talents where you can use your expertise to serve God and spread his word throughout the nations. In the words of a brilliant christian author Caroline Barnett "Remember you are not responsible for changing the entire world or doing grand acts of service. Every bit willingness matters to God" this was taken from her amazing book called Willing to Walk on Water. I bought this book at Cherish Conference 2013 and this was such a inspirational event! If you haven't already, book for Cherish 2014 its going to be so encouraging and life changing! Activity 1 - Think about your skills and try to think about what your good at (This is a hard thing for most people as we don't like to be modest, but try your best) For example - Have a passion for working with children - Therefore you could serve in Children's church groups. (Like me, I start serving at Kids Church this Sunday- Super Excited!) You could serve Jesus and church by inviting people to church and bringing people closer to God. In the next 2 blogs I will go into further details and length to serving in church, what it does for the church and also for your faith. Proverbs Chapter 11 Verse 30 - A good life is a fruit bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls. If good people barely make it, whats in store for the bad? This to me is very important, A life with God in the centre is a good life and will be praised and rewarded in the long run. In heaven you will be rewarded with eternal life. Why do people chose to live a violent life, to me this makes no sense, would you not rather live in peace and have a flourishing faith and loving family and church family. Violence is never the answer, NEVER! Violence does destroy souls and especially the soul of the corrupted person. To me it's as simple as a Disney film, Good always conquers evil, good characters always come out on top, they always live happily ever after and so could people on earth, they could live in peace and serenity and have a beautiful life with Jesus Christ, he is risen therefore he is a living God. Without God you haven't got a firm foundation and you will crumble, but the upside to crumbling is you may find God if haven't already, for example we all love looking at the stars in night sky but before the stars come out and are visible we need to see the dark skies. When darkness is upon us don't forget to look for the stars because there ready to shine through the darkness and give you light and hope.
The light and hope is Jesus Christ! We need to introduce Christ to nonbelievers, we need to get more people into church's and serving and making an impact on this world, because at the end of the day that's what were here to do. Serve the Lord, because he gave his only son to die for us so we can live in peace and have a beautiful life on his beautiful planet. Question Time: 1. Do you believe that God wants you to serve in your church? 2. If you are already serving, what are doing? 3. If you aren't serving, why not? 4. Have you asked God to use you? 5. Do you believe that serving in church can strengthen your faith? Email me your answers - jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk Or Tweet me @bibleblogwomen Thank you for reading my introduction to serving at church in the Blossom and Bloom Blog! This is something that means a lot to me and I have recently started serving more in Church and want to help encourage others to serve if they aren't already. Enjoy the next 2 blogs... there a lot longer than this one so have a coffee! Thank you and God Bless Love Jessica Louise Xoxo www.bibleforwomen.co.uk Check out Moriah Peters album I choose Jesus and the song BLOOM - Amazing Song and the theme of the blogs so enjoy!
I also would like to Thank Paradox Church and my loving church family for the opportunity to serve at Kids Church! Thank you I am truly blessed to have you all surrounding me and giving me encouragement and inspiration. Love Jessica Xoxo
HAPPY EASTER!!! Welcome to The Bible For Women and welcome to the Easter 2014 Blog. First let's start with the story of Easter. Here are a few of my favourite (some are graphic and very powerful) videos all about Jesus, the cross, his resurrection and what we know to be as the Christian Festival of Easter.
I personally would say Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar. It celebrates the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, three days after he was executed. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity.
Here's a copy of the Easter Story from a very awesome website, details below...
The Easter Story
Waving Palms- As Jesus came closer to Jerusalem, he asked two of his disciples to go ahead of Him. He said, "When you get to the town, you will see a donkey tied up. Untie it, and bring it to me. If anyone asks you about taking the donkey, just tell them, 'The Lord needs it and He will bring it back as soon as He's done with it.'"
So the disciples did as Jesus asked. They soon found the donkey tied at a doorway. As they were untying it, some people were standing nearby visiting and they didn't recognize the men and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you untying the donkey?"
They replied just as Jesus had told them too. Explaining that the Lord needed it, and the people let them go.
When they brought the donkey to Jesus some of the disciples took off their coats and laid them on the donkey's back. They did this out of respect for Jesus. Then Jesus rode on the donkey towards Jerusalem.
As He was traveling, some people saw Jesus coming and came running towards Him. They had heard He might be coming and they wanted to see him, because he had just helped a dead man come back to life.
One by one they laid their coats on the ground for the donkey to step on. Even the people that weren't wearing coats ran to the fields and trees nearby and cut palm branches and laid them down.
These people knew that Jesus was special. It was like when a King or Queen come to town, and people roll out a red carpet for them to step on. This is what they did for Jesus when they laid their coats, and branches down.
As they got even closer to the town more and more people noticed Jesus. A crowd surrounded Him and started to shout praises to Him for all the miracles He had done. "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, Hosanna!"
The word Hosanna means save us. They said this because Jesus was helping them and doing amazing things. They wanted to praise Him, and they wanted Him to keep helping them.
Some men named Pharisees (these men thought that they were important, and a lot of the people listened to them). They heard the crowd praising God, and they said to Jesus, "Teacher, why don't you tell these people to stop praising you as if you were God?"
The Pharisees thought that Jesus was getting too much attention from the people. They wanted to be the most important, but everyone was listening to Jesus instead.
Jesus replied, "If they were quiet now, even the rocks would cry out!" Even the rocks knew that He was God, after all, Jesus did make them.
Now Jesus could see Jerusalem and it made Him very sad. He came to help the people, but no one realized that He was God, and they didn't accept Him.
The Last Supper On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples asked Jesus, "Where would you like us to plan for you to eat the Passover feast?" Jesus replied to them, "Go into the city and you will find a man, and tell him that we would like to come to his house for Passover." First of all, what is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and what is the Passover? These are actually the same things. The Jews celebrated the Passover ever since the time of Moses, when the Lord saved all the Israelite babies. This was when the Lord 'passed over' their houses, and they were kept safe. This is another big story your teacher will have to tell you another time. During the time of the Passover celebrations the people didn't eat or have any bread in their homes with yeast in it. Yeast is what makes the bread all big and puffy. Without yeast the bread is flat, and that is called unleavened bread. Now back to the story. The disciples did just as Jesus asked, and they found a place and got ready for the Passover. The evening came, and Jesus and the twelve disciples sat to eat the meal. The disciples were eating quietly, they had a lot on their minds. They were worried because some people wanted to kill Jesus because he was getting so popular. Jesus could see the disciples were worried. He said to them quietly, "I tell you the truth, one of you here will betray me." The disciples looked at each other in shock, and some of them asked Jesus, "It isn't me, is it Lord?" Jesus replied, "The one who dips his bread into the bowl with me will betray me. I will die, just as it is written, but the man who betrays me will feel sorry forever. Then Judas, with his head down spoke quietly to Jesus, "It isn't me, is it?" Jesus answered, "Yes, you are the one." Judas' head went down even lower, he had hoped that the other disciples had not heard what Jesus said. Luckily, they were paying more attention to Jesus breaking apart some bread. He thanked God for the bread and shared it with the disciples and said, "Take this and eat it. This is my body which is given for you". Then he took a full cup, thanked God for it and said, "This is my blood, which will be poured out for many people so their sins may be forgiven." Then they all took a sip from the cup. The meal continued after this, it was a long celebration. The disciples took their time, because they enjoyed talking with Jesus and asking Him questions. (Just like when you go out to eat with your parents and their friends, sometimes they seem to talk forever, and you just want to go home...). After some time Jesus got up from the table and went to a different part of the room. He took off his everyday clothes, and put a large towel around him, making himself look like a servant. After that, he poured water into a large bowl and began to wash the disciples' feet. Then dried them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. First of all, Jesus is like a King - but even greater than a king, He's the King of King's! By washing the disciples feet He was doing something that only a servant would do. This would be like if someone famous came to your house and started to clean your room, even getting down on their hands and knees to clean under your bed! It probably would never happen. When it was Peter's turn to get his feet clean he said to Jesus, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You don't understand what I am doing, but you will later." "No," said Peter, "you will never wash my feet." He said this because he didn't feel right having Jesus wash his feet. He knew Jesus was very special. Jesus replied back to him, "If I don't wash your feet, you cannot be with me." "Then, Lord," Peter replied, "don't just wash my feet but my hands and head too." Jesus then explained that He only needed to wash his feet; and that would make his whole body clean. When Jesus had finished washing all of the disciples feet, he put his everyday clothes back on and returned to the table. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" Jesus asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and that is who I am. And now that I have washed your feet, you can also wash one another's feet."
This is an example of how you should treat others. You don't have to actually wash other people's feet, but by doing nice things to other's and acting like a servant for Jesus, that is what He wants you to do. If you do these things Jesus will bless you. Jesus Prays After singing a song at the Passover meal Jesus and his disciples went to a garden called Gethsemane. It was getting to be quite late in the evening, so everyone was whispering. Jesus was especially quiet, and walked a bit ahead of the rest of the group. He looked as if He was sad and upset about something. He stopped and whispered to some of the disciples, "Sit here, while I pray." Then with Peter, James, and John he walked just a little bit further and told them, "My heart feels heavy, and I feel very sad. Please stay here and keep watch, I need some company close by." The disciples looked at each other, they had never seen Jesus like this before. Then Jesus walked a bit further by himself, next to a big tree he knelt down with his face to the ground and began to talk to God. He prayed, "My Father, I know that I am about to go through some horrible things, I wish I wouldn't have to. But it doesn't matter what I want, I will do whatever you want." When He had finished praying he went back to where the disciples were and they had fallen asleep on the ground. Jesus woke them and said to them, "Couldn't you have stayed awake for me for just a little while, you should also pray that you would continue to do what God wants." The disciples felt bad, and tried to keep their eyes open. But when they started praying, they fell asleep. Two more times Jesus went off to pray the same prayer as before, and when he was finished He came back to his friends disappointed. They had fallen asleep again. The third time Jesus woke them saying, "Are you sleeping again? Enough! It is time to go, here comes the man who is about to give me up to the people who want to hurt me." While He was still speaking, Judas, one of Jesus' disciples was coming towards them. He was followed by a large crowd of people who were carrying swords and clubs. Judas walked right up to Jesus and gave Him a kiss on the cheek. This was a sign to the chief priests that this was Jesus, and that he was the man that they wanted to arrest. Jesus let them take him. But one of Jesus disciples didn't like what was happening, he wanted to stick up for Jesus. He took out his sword and cut off the ear of a chief priest. Immediately, before the situation got more out of hand Jesus spoke firmly, "Enough!" He reached up to the man whose ear had been hurt and healed it instantly. Then Jesus spoke to all those around him. "If I wanted I could pray to my Father for help, and He would send angels to protect me, and stop this. But I know this needs to happen to finish what it says in the Bible." The disciples didn't know what to do. They were afraid that they might be arrested for being with Jesus so they quickly left, leaving Jesus to be arrested alone. Peter was the only disciple that followed Jesus. He was careful to follow at a distance, because he was afraid. He wanted to see what would happen to Jesus. They took Jesus to a man named Caiaphas, he was the high priest (he made a lot of decisions). This is where all the other 'important' people had gathered. They were trying to find a reason to arrest Jesus, but He had never done anything wrong. People tried to make up bad stuff, but they knew it wasn't true. Finally Caiaphas asked Jesus, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?" When Jesus replied that He was the Son of God Caiaphas couldn't believe it. He even tore off some of his clothes because he thought what Jesus was saying was untrue. These people didn't believe Jesus, and that's when they decided that they would kill him. Meanwhile, Peter was just outside the building where they had taken Jesus. A servant girl saw Peter and had recognized him and asked, "Weren't you with that man named Jesus?" But Peter lied and said, "You don't know what you're talking about." Peter started to walk away, but the girl spoke louder so the other people who were around could hear, "I'm sure you are one of the men that is friends with Jesus." Again Peter said, "No, I don't know what you're talking about." After a while more people asked Peter the same thing, and Peter started to get upset by this, and he said in a loud voice, "I don't know the man you are talking about, I've never talked to him." Right after Peter said this a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered something Jesus had said to him. "Before the rooster crows, you will turn your back on me three times." When Peter remembered this he was very sad. Peter was one of Jesus closest friends, and now he had lied and said he didn't even know him.
Peter started to cry. How could he have done this to Jesus. Jesus Dies on the Cross Very early in the morning, the soldiers brought Jesus to Pilate, the governor at the time. Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "Yes, I am." This upset the chief priests because they were jealous of him and the friends He had made with the Jews. Pilate listened to the complaints of the people that brought Jesus, but he couldn't find any reason to punish Him. Pilate questioned Jesus, but Jesus didn't stick up for himself (He knew that they wouldn't listen anyway). He had done nothing wrong. Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them, "I have talked to Jesus, and I find no reason to kill Him." After they heard that all the people shouted, "We want Jesus! Release Barabbas instead!" Barabbas had been in jail because he had killed someone, and the people wanted him to be free, and Jesus to be punished. ( It sounds strange but it was like peer pressure. The chief priests went around telling people lies about Jesus, so that they would be afraid of Him, and want to kill Him). Pilate didn't like this one bit. He wanted to let Jesus go, so he tried to talk to the people but they didn't let him. They just kept shouting, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate tried again, yelling, "What has Jesus done wrong? I can punish Him but then I must let Him go, He doesn't deserve to die!" But the people just shouted louder to crucify Jesus and Pilate wanted to please the crowd so he freed Barabbas and sent Jesus to die. The soldiers led Jesus into the palace and made Him put on an old royal robe and they twisted together a crown of thorns to put on His head. Then they made fun of Him and said, "Hail, king of the Jews." They didn't understand that He was a king, that's why they made fun of Him. Next the soldiers led Jesus toward a hill called Golgotha. They made Him carry the cross on His back, but Jesus couldn't carry it the whole way, he fell down. The soldiers had whipped His back and it hurt so much that Jesus couldn't handle the weight of the cross on His shoulders. A man named Simon happened to be near Jesus when He fell, and the soldiers grabbed him, and made him carry the cross the rest of the way. The soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh. This was supposed to help make it less painful, but Jesus refused to have any. When they reached the top of the hill they nailed Jesus to the cross. There were three crosses, Jesus was in the middle and there was a criminal on His right and on His left. Pilate made a sign to be put on the cross. It read what He was being punished for: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. The soldiers watched Jesus and made fun of him, they even divided up his clothes to be even more mean. And some people walked by and shouted, "You saved others, why can't you save Yourself?" Jesus could have saved himself, but he chose not to, He wanted to save us instead. Jesus ignored the people, but He did see his mother, his aunt, and some other women he knew. Jesus felt bad for His mother, she was so sad to see her son die (just like your parents feel when you get hurt). Then Jesus saw one of his disciples close to his mother, and he said, "Mother here is your son, and friend here is your mother." Jesus couldn't say to much, he was very weak. But he wanted his friend, the disciple to be like a son to his mother, and take care of her. And from that day on he did. Later, Jesus could not handle the pain any longer and He said, "It is finished." That is when Jesus bowed His head and went to Heaven.
Suddenly, a huge curtain that hung at the temple was torn in half, from top to bottom. And a man that had wanted Jesus to die saw all of this and he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" He realized he had been wrong about Jesus. Jesus is Alive After Jesus died a man named Joseph (from a place called Arimathea) put Jesus in his tomb that nobody had ever used. The tombs they used then were cut out of rock, almost like a cave, they weren't buried deep in the ground like they are now. Before Joseph left, he and some men rolled a large heavy stone in front of the tomb. Mary and Mary Magdalene had waited a day to see Jesus, because they couldn't go on the Sabbath (it was a day of rest). They made spices and oils as a sign of respect to Jesus, and went very early Sunday morning to go see Jesus' body. As they were just about at the tomb the earth suddenly shook and an angel came down from heaven. He easily rolled away the stone at the entrance of the tomb and sat on top of it. The women looked at each other and rubbed their eyes, they couldn't believe what they had seen, plus it was very early in the morning, and they were still a little sleepy. The angel was so bright, almost as bright as lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. There had been guards watching the tomb so no one would steal Jesus' body. When they saw the angel they fell over and they couldn't move or speak because they were so afraid. Then the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who has died. But He isn't here; He has risen just as He said He would! Come and see for yourself, the tomb is empty." The women were confused. How could this happen? They were sure Jesus had died, and now He was alive? They looked in the tomb and the cloths Jesus was wrapped in were laying on the ground, and the tomb was empty. Then the angel spoke again, "If you want to find Jesus He's on his way to Galilee." So the women hurried away, they were laughing and crying at the same time. They didn't know what to feel, they had been so sad that Jesus was dead and now they were so excited He was alive! They just knew they had to find Jesus, and they had to tell the disciples the good news. As they were running down the path they turned a corner, and there was Jesus. "Greetings," He said. The ladies fell at His feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my disciples to come to Galilee, that is where they will see me." The disciples came to Galilee, and had heard by this time that Jesus was alive. They were sitting around talking about it, when Jesus walked into the room and said to them, "Peace be with you." The disciples immediately stopped talking. Even though they had heard He was alive, they were shocked to see Him standing there with them. Jesus said to them, "Why do you like at me like you've just seen a ghost? Why don't you believe what you're seeing? Look at the scars in my hands and feet. It is really me! Touch me and see, I am not a ghost but a real person." The disciples mouths were open in amazement because they still didn't know what to think. They were so full of joy, and yet it was so impossible. Jesus understood what they were thinking, so He said, "This is what I told you would happen, that everything must happen that has already been written in the Bible." Jesus had told the disciples when they had the Last Supper together. They took the bread at communion and Jesus said, 'this is my body which I have given to you...' but the disciples hadn't understood what it really meant. Then Jesus told them, "You have seen these things that have happened, so stay in the city and soon I am going to give you what God has promised you, the Holy Spirit. When we become Christians Jesus automatically gives us the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. The Holy Spirit makes us know when we have done something wrong. We might feel sick to our stomach, or just get a bad feeling, that is the Holy Spirit reminding us that we are doing something wrong, or that we need to stop and say sorry and ask for forgiveness for what we've done. The story is almost done, but Jesus had one more person to see. His name was Thomas, and he was one of the disciples that wasn't there when Jesus met with them. Thomas had also heard that Jesus was alive, but would not believe until he saw Jesus with his own eyes.
A week later when Thomas finally saw Jesus, Jesus said to him, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Stop doubting and believe." But Jesus continued, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; but it is more amazing for those who don't see me, and believe anyway." Jesus Loves You Jesus appeared several times to the disciples after He rose from the dead. This is a story of one of those times... Peter said to some of the other disciples, "I think I'm going to go fishing." The disciples that were there said, "Wait up, we'll go with you." It was getting dark outside but the disciples thought they would catch more fish at this time of day. They got into the boat and went out onto the water, and were out there for a long time. The time passed and it was almost morning and they still hadn't caught any fish. Jesus knew where His disciples were and went out to meet them. He was standing on shore, but the disciples didn't realize who it was. Jesus called to them, "Friends, haven't you caught any fish?" "No," they answered. So Jesus told them, "Throw your net on the other side of the boat and you will catch some." What happened next was amazing. The disciples who had been fishing all night without catching anything, threw the net over to the other side and within minutes the net was overflowing with fish. Then one of the disciples realized who had been talking to them, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Peter heard this he jumped out of the boat to go to Jesus. (They weren't that far from shore). The other disciples stayed in the boat, and worked hard to tow all the fish to shore. When they met up with Jesus, there was a fire started with some bread laying close by. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have caught, we'll have breakfast together." Peter helped the rest of the disciples to get the fish out of the boat. There were so many fish and they were all so big that they all needed to lift together to get the fish out of the boat because it was so heavy. Then they all sat together in front of the warm fire and Jesus took the bread and the fish and gave it to them. This was the third time Jesus had met with the disciples since He rose from the dead. After breakfast Jesus asked Peter some important questions. He asked him, "Peter do you love me more than your parents and all your friends?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Again Jesus said, "Peter do you truly love me, no matter what?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Then Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" Peter's feelings were hurt because Jesus kept asking him, but he replied, "Lord, you know the answer, you know that I love you."
"Then follow me," Jesus said. ....... This was extracted from the DLTK's Bible Stories for Children website. If you want to read more bible stories especially for children then check their website out. http://www.dltk-kids.com/ Celebrating Easter is all about remembering what Jesus did for you, before you were born, before you were even conceived, he died for you, he died for your sins. How amazing is that? So when your feeling lonely just remember Jesus was dead but he now alive forevermore. He is a living God. so you can walk with freedom, grace and joy. - "Gods not dead, he's surely alive, roarin' like a lion"- Newsboys Easter is a enjoyable and powerful time for a believer in Christ, as I personally hate the idea of Jesus being mocked and beaten but he did it all for us and we need accept that and be grateful and thank the Lord for this amazing blessing that our sins have been wiped away and the boards been cleaned.
Have a lovely Easter for all means decorate eggs, bonnets, your homes. Also make Easter card.... get creative in Jesus' name! Here's some of my Easter Creations from the past few years (Easter Fun days with Church, College Egg Decorating, Nail Art) and I'm very excited to get creative on Sunday with the family for Easter, Easter egg hunts... after church of course! Don't forget your Easter Sunday service if you go to church or not, its a great way to hear what your Lord and Saviour has already done for you and what hes willing to sacrifice for you. Have an amazing Easter and let me know what you all get up to this weekend and email me on jessica@bibleforwomen.co.uk Thank you for reading this lengthy blog... God Bless you all Love Jessica Louise Xoxo
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