This week we watch Mary as she desperately searches for Jesus's body that seems to have disappeared from the tomb in which he was placed.  When all others had given up and walked away, something in Mary caused her to continue looking for Jesus.  Ponder Mary's story as you read this passage.  What might God invite you to notice in Mary's experience that would draw you closer to Him? 

John 20:11-18

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who 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 to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

For your reflection:
 What stood out to you? A word? A phrase?
 Consider Mary’s actions in her perseverance to find Jesus. How might they speak into your story?
 Have you encountered the Risen Lord? How has that changed your life?
 What is the prayer that flows out of your meditation on this passage?

 This weeks passage goes back to the fundamental truth that the ground at the cross is level for us all.  We are all included in the death and life of Jesus Christ so that we might be united in relationship with God.  This is good news!  As you allow these words to settle into your heart, notice how true they feel to you.  Is this the truth that you, in turn, live out of in your relationships with others? Might God be inviting you to soak in the reality of His gift of love and allow Him to transform you from the inside-out?  

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (The Message)

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.  Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.  How? You ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

READ: Read the passage.

THINK: What implications does this passage have for your life right now?

Meditate on these words:
• “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!”
• “Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.”
How can you become a better friend to God? What would that entail? How does it feel to know that God is already a friend to you? Do you feel deserving of his friendship? Why or why not?

 

FOR YOUR PRAYER:
Thank God that he gives you a fresh start with your life and a fresh start every single morning. Let your thankfulness spill over; tell God that you are grateful to have new life in him. Ask God to help you become a better friend to him and to help you understand what a friend he is to you!

LIVE: We are Christ’s representatives. What does that look like in your life? Words? Actions?

 

Many people came to Jesus seeking physical health and healing.  In each case, Jesus demonstrated care not only for their physical needs, but also for their spiritual and emotional needs.  In this weeks passage, Jesus heals a man covered with leprosy.  He had the power and authority to declare him healed and move on but this story is much more intimate than that.  As you read through the text, take your time with it, allow the images to form in your mind.  Imagine Jesus bending down to touch this "untouchable" man as he lay face down on the ground begging for healing.  Ponder the commands that Jesus gave to the man after He had healed his leprosy.  Notice what emotions and reactions are stirred up inside of you as this story takes life.  If you are willing, share some of your thoughts with us by commenting below.

Luke 5:12-16
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

For Reflection:
• What did you hear as you read the text? What stands out to you?
• Place yourself in the story. Who are you? What is happening around and in you?
• Journal your prayer that flows out of your meditation and contemplation of this passage.

John 9:1-11

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”

For your reflection:

• As you read the text, what stood out to you? A word? A phrase?
• Who did you most identify with in the story? The blind man, the disciples or maybe those that witnessed the miracle?
• What questions do you have about the reading? What do these questions stir up within you?
• Often receiving the gift of spiritual sight is a process. Reflect on your journey. What are you grateful for? In what ways do you feel frustrated, impatient or even angry?
• Spend some time and journal your thoughts. What prayer emerges from your reflection? What might Jesus’ prayer be for you today?

Isaiah 49: 9-16
 Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, 'Come out! I am giving you your freedom!' They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare. They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them beside cool waters. And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys. See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt. " Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their sorrow. Yet Jerusalem says, "The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us."  "Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!  See, I have written your name on my hand…

For Reflection:
• What did you hear as you read the text? What stands out to you?
• Have you experienced darkness that has become imprisoning? Perhaps a memory that remains dark and imprisoning?
• These verses are prophetic to the message and ministry of Jesus.
• See Revelation 7:16-17.
• Journal your prayer that flows out of your meditation and contemplation of this passage