Good Friday...

All week, I've made a concentrated effort to recognize and embrace this Easter week. Today, I sought ways to make Good Friday more meaningful to me than ever before. NikonSniper and Fellowship of the Minds had Easter messages that added to my worship. This evening, without much hope, I looked for something on television and found TBN. Thank you TBN for showing The Passion of the Christ. I have not seen it before. I've had a testimony of my Savior for many years. A couple of people who saw it told me it was too violent. TBN broadcasted it last Sunday, and I couldn't bring myself to watch. After preparing all week, it seemed as though God had led me to it, so I watched, and wept. In Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage, he describes what happens, in detail, what happens to the human body when it is crucified. From other reading, I knew what happened during a flogging. It's beyond brutal. I took comfort in the knowledge that the movie wasn't real, but I also knew what it represented. I wept for Mary, His mother, and His followers. By the end of the movie, I had originally thought I would feel bereft, brutalized, horrified. I did not. I felt filled, warmed, comforted, peaceful, hopeful. I felt reminded that I gave myself to Jesus Christ, long ago, and He accepted me. He is truth. He commanded His disciples to love one another as He loved. As HE loved. Not as the world loves. AS HE LOVES. I have stumbled and struggled along, endeavoring to learn about love, and I realize now that I have been endeavoring to see it through MY eyes. It doesn't matter if I understand love at all. Jesus Christ understands love perfectly. I need only follow Him, a choice I've already made. There is much fine-tuning to do, but I'm hopeful in a way I've never been before. Jesus is my Savior. He suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for me. I know more surely than ever before that He knows where to find me in the darkest moments. This isn't the end; it's the beginning. Easter isn't over.

I'm adding my prayers for healing rain for Texas, so please God, no flooding.