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I was recently asked to give my thoughts about being thankful for family and friends at a Thanksgiving service in our church.  Giving my thoughts were a joy for I love my family and friends and I am most thankful for each of them.  


Thankful for Friends and Family


Romans 1:12

That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

This verse highlights the power of mutual encouragement within friendships. Friends who share their faith can inspire and uplift one another.. 


1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

It encourages us to actively seek opportunities to build up and support our friends in their pursuits and journeys.


The most quoted verse about friendship is:

13. John 15:13

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”


I am most thankful for my friends and my family and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the two.  Many of my friends are closer to me than some of my family both in distance and the love we have for each other.  


All of my family members live several hours from me and it is hard to bridge those miles to communicate and interact with each other.  I am thankful for cell phones, computers, and social media that give me ways to talk to and see family members which helps us stay in touch with each other.  


However, it can be difficult to maintain a close relationship many miles from each other. Most of my friends are nearby so we can see and talk with each other often.  Many of them go to church with me or have worked with me and we have much in common with each other.  These are the bonds that hold us together.


Living away from family members most of my life has given me a great appreciation for friends and especially church friends.  After all, we are a family if we are Christians.  You are my brothers and sisters and we help each other, laugh and cry together and share our lives with each other.  You are my family and I thank you and many others in 4 states for caring for me


Through the years you, my friends have laughed with me, cried with me, brought me food, sent me notes of encouragement, comforted me, shared your families and carried me when I was exhausted.  Through very hard times of illness and death, you were always there to hold my hand and give me a hug.  That is what being friends is all about loving and caring for each other and rejoicing in the good times.  


However; Family is one of the most important gifts in the world and is a great blessing from God.


1 Corinthians 1:4-5

 Be grateful to God for your family, friends, and loved ones. He fills us all with His grace, and He ignites us with his wise words through prayer and the Bible.


I don’t have a large family and many of us have gone to heaven but the ones I still have here are precious to me though we are miles apart from each other. We live in Arizona, Texas, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.


I have 2 brothers and one went to heaven way too soon, 2 children, 2 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and not many extended family members.  I am the oldest and the family matriarch which is a lonely place most of the time.  My family calls me "The Queen" although they don't always obey my rulings.


 We seem only to see each other at weddings and funerals and are always happy to get those hugs and kisses and hear what is happening in our lives.  The days we are apart seem to disappear and we are soon saying, “Do you remember when …… and the conversation continues for hours.  I wish we could see each other more often but this the life we have so we deal with it. 


Now that I have married Lindsay, I have an extended family with more to love and be loved.  This has given me a bigger family that I always wanted.  I envy those of you who have large families close by for you enjoy being with each other and watching your families grow.  You are blessed and enjoy each of them.


Thank goodness for phones and computers for through these we can talk to each other and even see other when we chat.  Technology erases the miles and we can see and hear the love we have for each other.  

 

Friends and family - difficult for me to distinguish between the 2 but I do know that I thank God each day for both.  You are a gift from our Heavenly Father and I thank you for being here for me.  Let’s keep on encouraging each other and being that friend that loves at all times.   Love each of you.  


Happy Thanksgiving to each of you and enjoy each other. God is so good to us so don't forget to thank Him.





 

 Steps to the Mount of Olives 


As I stood on the steps leading from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, it was as if Jesus was standing there by my side.  Tears came and trickled down my face as I realized that Jesus chose to walk down these steps and die for me and you.


 Jesus and his disciples had eaten their last Passover meal together and after he washed their feet,  he gave them some last words of encouragement and told them he was leaving them but would send them a helper, the Holy Spirit.  Judas had been sent away to betray him. After this, Jesus and His disciples left the upper room and walked the narrow streets of Jerusalem to the Gate in the eastern wall which is now called the Golden Gate and leads to the Mount of Olives. The disciples did not know this would be their last walk through these streets with Jesus in their midst.


These verses from John give us an account of these events. 


John 18

1When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,


They walked down the steps from Jerusalem, into the Kidron Valley, up the Mount of Olives to a garden named Gethsemane (oil press). This garden is in an olive grove and had been used by Jesus and His disciples often for a place of rest and prayer. John 18:1 describes the area as "over the ravine of the Kidron."


When Jesus left Jerusalem that night, he could have walked down these very stone steps . He had walked them many times before going  to pray to His Father in the garden or to leave the city. This time was different.  


As he stood on these steps, thinking about the hours ahead - the betrayal, arrest, beating, a mock trial, dragging the cross through the streets to Golgotha, the painful crucifixion and death - I am sure His heart was heavy and he was fearful of the coming days. He lifted His head, looked ahead and walked down these steps in acceptance of His Father's plan to bring salvation to the world.


Did he hesitate to take that first step down the steps?  Did he want to turn and go back through the gate into Jerusalem? Were the disciples pressing him from behind to walk down the steps not knowing what was to come?


Followed by his disciples, he slowly walked down the steps, across the Kidron Valley, and up to the Garden called Gethsemane. In Mark 14:32  it says “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”


After telling His disciples to wait on Him, Jesus and 3 of His closest disciples went farther into the Garden. Jesus left them and went alone, knelt and began to pray to his Father for he  “began to be sorrowful and troubled” (Matthew 26:37). Mark adds He was greatly distressed and troubled and sorrowful “even to death” (Mark 14:34). He was distressed knowing that he would be tried, a crown of thorns pressed on his head, beaten with whips, and cruelly crucified on a cross. Being a man, he knew there would be hours of horrible pain and shame before he breathed his last breath.


 There  after hours of agonizing prayer and asking if it was possible that this bitter cup could be removed, Jesus accepted the cup he had to drink and gave himself to the soldiers to be arrested. He was tried by the religious court and the Roman court and was beaten, crown of thorns placed and pushed down on His head and sentenced to be crucified by the Roman court. Through all this pain and humiliation He never uttered a word in His defense - “like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isa. 53:7), 


A cross was placed on His shoulders and he was forced to walk the streets of Jerusalem  and outside the gate to the place of crucifixion.  It is called Golgotha  or the Place of the Skull. There He was crucified and died on that cruel cross for you and me.   

 

Praise God that this is not the end!  Jesus was taken down from the cross, wrapped in burial cloths, laid in a tomb and the tomb was sealed. A large contingent of soldiers was posted to guard the tomb in case His disciples tried to steal the body. BUT on the 3rd day, He arose and stepped out of the grave.  He is ALIVE and when we believe that He is the Son of God, and allow Him into our lives as Savior, we will one day go and live with Him for eternity.


These are simple, stone steps used by many through the years to traverse this valley but that night, they were steps of decision taken by Jesus to give His life for all who would accept his sacrifice and follow Him. It was a decision made because He loves you and me.   Will you take that first step and follow Him? Will you take that step of telling others about Jesus who can save them?  


These steps of decision are there for us and what will you do?



The Empty Tomb