Author: charlotteannrobinson.com

I enjoy reading, writing and searching for truths. I am active in my church and like participating in small groups learning and developing new ideas and skills in becoming the person God created me to be. God has blessed me with so much and my desire is to share my thoughts and words with you in hopes they comfort and inspire you.

Lent 2022 • Week Two Jesus Affirms What Is Good

Thursday, March 10th, 2022

“[Jesus] was amazed at [the centurion] and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” —Luke 7:9 (NIV)

Bible Reading: Luke 7:1-10

“When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”

Challenge • Things to Ponder

*Think back on the past week*

1. Where is there evidence of faith in Jesus in your life?

Indeed, I experienced the presence of God this past week while performing my job duties, I found myself in a situation that often leads to stress for many reasons but this time I felt calmness and clarity. These feelings continued to be present within my being a few days later when I was asked about said situation. My normal and usual reaction leads me to doubt myself and I start looking for what I did wrong, because I must have been wrong. Not this time, I patiently listened and agreed that I was tense throughout the event but felt I did the best I could at the time. I also see now that I had other choices at the time that could have implemented. The other thing that I almost always do is apologize, broadly covering things that I could not possibly be guilty of, this incident I did not have that “knee-jerk” reaction, I took time to reflect and sought the advice of a mentor and friend. No apologies were needed or necessary, simply move forward knowing that in the future I should to access all available data to be more fully informed before making decisions. I felt real growth and courage growing inside me, in very real ways, “God’s Not Done with me yet.”

2. Where did you try to figure things out on your own?

Honestly, I did not spend much time initially on my own figuring thinking things out. I processed it while at work but did not overly think about it after work. I practice a “shut-down” work mindset when I leave work. It has proven to be most helpful and healthy. I did speak with two individuals that are important in my life. I value their opinions and they both are faith followers of Jesus. None of us are perfect and as Jesus extends grace freely to us, we should extend it to others and definitely to ourselves freely and often.

“God’s mercy and grace give me hope – for myself, and for our world.” -Billy Graham

Challenge • Prompt

Choose a situation or a relationship that is challenging you right now, and ask Jesus to do what only He can do in and through you. Then watch Him work miracles for His glory and your good.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog post today. It is my pray that you see, feel and find God. Blessings to you, as you have blessed me.

~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.

Bible Verses For Further Study

1 Samuel 16:7 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Samuel%2016:7&version=NIV
Matthew 8:5-13 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%208:5-13&version=NIV
Hebrews 12:2 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Hebrews%2012:2&version=NIV

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

Lent 2022 • Week Two Jesus Rejects No One

Wednesday, March 9th, 2022

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven…Get up, take your mat and go home.” Matthew 9:2b, 6b

Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13b (NIV)

Bible Reading: Luke 5:17-26

“One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Insights of This Passage:

1. It was the faith of the men carrying the paralyzed man that Jesus saw and verbally recognized.

2. Jesus’ response to these men, to everyone gathered was unexpected; Jesus said, “your sins are forgiven.” I am sure many in the crowd were gasping, some in amazement and others horrified that this man, Jesus who was not a Levitical priest offered forgiveness and to make matters worse no sacrifice was offered for the forgiveness. “Who can forgive sins but God alone” scoffed many in the crowd I’m sure. And, this is precisely who and what Jesus was born to do. He is God in the flesh, the Son of God. What was not known at the time but we know now, Jesus himself was the sacrifice offered for the forgiveness of all sin.

3. Jesus, could have healed the paralyzed man and sent him on his way; but Jesus offers more than healing of the body. Jesus can do what no other can do, he offers spiritual healing through the forgiveness of sin. He can bridge the gap between human to the divine that sin fractured in the Garden of Eden. Jesus’ love is so much more than the superficial we are accustomed to, that is why this story is so important, Jesus healed the man who was paralyzed by sin through forgiveness, then he healed his paralyzed body.

Challenge Exercise

Imagine yourself lying on a mat

1. Who is lowering you through the roof?

🤔 💭 🧐 💬 🤨 💭 🤔 💭 🧐 💬 🤨 💭🤔

2. Which friends in your life demonstrate Jesus’ love for you by believing in His compassion and mercy even when you don’t dare hope it for yourself?

🤔 💭 🧐 💬 🤨 💭 🤔 💭 🧐 💬 🤨 💭🤔

Today, reach out to those precious friends and thank them for tangibly demonstrating Jesus’ love in your life.

* Is there a friend that needs to have you “lower them through a roof.”

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” ~Colossians 3:12-13

A Prayer for Friendship

Lord Jesus, Thank you for giving me such a vibrant community of friends to do life with. I praise you for the people you have blessed me with, the ones who have come alongside me to love, encourage, support, and uplift me through all the twists and turns of life. I’m so grateful that I do not have to go through life alone, but that you have shown me examples of your love through my dear friends. I pray that you would be present in my friendships, that you would be drawing us together in deeper community with one another toward greater unity with you. I pray that you would help heal any places of brokenness or discord in my friendships, and that you would restore any friendships that have fallen apart. May I shine your light in my friendships, giving glory to you through all that I do, say, and think. Thank you for my friends, Jesus. Thank you for the ways they build me up and remind me of your goodness and faithfulness. In your name I pray. ~Amen.

~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.

Further Study Bible References:

Psalm 34:17-20 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2034:17-20&version=NIV
Psalm 94:14 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2094:14&version=NIV
Isaiah 53:3 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Isaiah%2053:3&version=NIV
Matthew 9:1-8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%209:1-8&version=NIV
Mark 2:1-12 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%202:1-12&version=NIV
Luke 5:17-26 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Luke%205:17-26&version=NIV
John 1:11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%201:11&version=NIV
James 2:13 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=James%202:13&version=NIV

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

Lent 2022 • Week Two Jesus Is Kind

Tuesday, March 8th, 2022

“Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” —Mark 1:41 (NLT)

Bible Reading: Mark 1:29-34

“As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.” (NIV)

Daily Challenge

The scripture story today tells us about compassion, specifically the compassion Jesus shared with those he encountered. Here’s a quote from the book I am reading that I found to be profound, “Part of the mystery of Jesus is that God took on human flesh to become man. And in His body, Jesus experienced the full spectrum of human emotion, including pity, indignation, and compassion — all words that describe Jesus’ reaction upon seeing His beautiful creation marred by the effects of sin. Yet Jesus didn’t just feel emotions in His body, He allowed His emotions to move Him to action, and we now are called to be His hands and feet, showing others His love in incarnate ways.”

We can ask Jesus to help us show love through appropriate means such as; shaking hands with people we meet, talking with people and making eye contact to really connect, visiting a care facility speaking directly to residents touching a hand or shoulder. The power of human touch is extremely powerful and can provide healing if only for a moment. The most important question to ask ourselves is, WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? (WWJD)

Bonus Information

The Greek word for “compassion” in Mark 1:41, is:

splagchnizomai (splangkh-nid’-zom-ahee)

σπλαγχνίζομαι (Greek)

Strong’s Number G4697 matches the Greek σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai),
which occurs 12 times in 12 verses in the TR Greek.

The Greek word is splagchnizomai. The first part of the word (splagchna) means “internal organs,” so splagchnizomai literally means to be moved so deeply by something that you feel it in the pit of your stomach.

Author Asheritah Ciuciu writes this in her book on page 47-48, “And He was moved with compassion. Literally, the phrase means His intestines were twisted in response to what He saw (beyond the man’s skin disease into the loneliness of his heart. And He was moved with compassion). Jesus had a guttural physical reaction to the man’s brokenness, and He did the unthinkable: Jesus reached out and touched the man.”

Can you even imagine what the man with leprosy felt when Jesus touched his skin? After years of being an outcast and having to shout out to anyone you encountered “UNCLEAN” “UNCLEAN” which was the practice wherever he went. He must have felt so alone, ashamed and crippling isolation. We do not meet people with leprosy but we are guilty of treating people as if they have deadly diseases, mostly because they are different from us…but we must ask ourselves, WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4697/kjv/tr/0-1/

A Lent Devotional ~ Uncovering the Love of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu (2020 Moody Publishers)

Further Study

Leviticus 13:1-14:32 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Leviticus%2013:1-14:32&version=NLT
Isaiah 53:4 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Isaiah%2053:4&version=NLT
Ephesians 4:32 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Ephesians%204:32&version=NLT

Lent 2022 • Week Two Jesus Crosses Borders

Monday, March 7th, 2022

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” —John 4:7 (NIV)

Bible Reading: John 4:1-42

“Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John — although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

In the scripture reading for today we learned that Jesus crossed more than one type of border traveling from Judea to Galilee. Jesus intentionally stepped into and crossed a border when he chose to speak to the woman at the well; this action would have been viewed as problematic because most Middle Eastern cultures disapproved of men speaking to women in private. Furthermore, Jewish tradition considers Samaritan women continually unclean. In fact, most Jewish travelers would choose the longest routes around Samaria to avoid any interactions at all. Jesus comes into this particular scene knowing all truths about the woman and the negative relationship (past and present) between the Jews and the Samaritan’s, why did Jesus do this…His heart and love compelled Him to proceed. It is worth noting that even though Jesus knew of the past actions of this woman he did not chastise or belittle her in any way. Jesus crosses every man-made boundary to quench the woman’s deepest longing…with Himself. He reveals His identity as the Messiah: “I am he.” Jesus chooses this woman to witness Him not just as Messiah for the Jews, but the Savior of the world. With Jesus there are no borders that separate who we are, we are all God’s children and His love knows no limits.

Challenge Questions:

1. What stands between you and a joyful relationship with Jesus today?

• Me. I’m my own worst enemy some days.

• Worries of this world, self-absorbed.

• Not spending enough time with God.

• Me.

I love Jesus and I want to be joyful, even on my not so good days. Jesus is my source of strength and my refuge. I am who I am only because of Jesus, He created me on purpose, He gave me life and I long to spend eternity with him. The above obstacles are my stumbling blocks, I admit that I fail often and I thank God for His unending grace and mercy.

2. What stands between you and a joyful relationship with people that Jesus has called you to love, perhaps across social, racial, economic or cultural borders?

• Fear.

• Self-confidence.

• Pride.

• Did I mention Fear.

The above characteristics have a tendency to come and go in my life. I sincerely love people and try to see good in people, though some tend to make the task harder than it needs to be. Life and it’s many responsibilities affects each of us dramatically different. As I have aged, matured and experienced life I try to be more patient with others. Reminding myself that none of us are perfect. As individuals, each with our own personalities and life experiences will see the world and all that is within it differently and that’s okay. This is what I tell myself, God did not say you have to be everyone’s best friend, what he did say was, “love one another.” I don’t have to agree with everyone but I should most definitely respect and honor their choices. History of our world shows us just how cruel we can be to one another and it seems that we just refuse to learn from our past in order to prevent ourselves from repeating things in the future.

Something to Ponder: 🤔💭🧐💬🙏🏻

Think of someone in your neighborhood or workplace who is most unlike you and prayerfully plan a specific way to show them Jesus’ love this week.

Additional Scriptures for Study:

2 Kings 17:24 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Kings%2017:24&version=NIV
Ezra 4:1-24 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Ezra%204:1-24&version=NIV
Luke 9:52-56 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Luke%209:52-56&version=NIV
Revelation 7:9-12 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Revelation%207:9-12&version=NIV

🌺 🌿 🌼 🌱 🌸 🍃 🌻 🍃 🌸 🌱 🌼 🌿 🌺

Friends, thank you for visiting my blog today, I pray that you know God and know the purest of all love comes from our Heavenly Father. ~ Peace to you!

~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

Lent 2022 • Week Two CELEBRATION

Sunday, March 6th, 2022

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8 (NIV)

Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Jesus died to demonstrate His love for us.

Bible Reading: John 3:14-17

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Questions to Ponder: ❔❔❔

1. How did Jesus demonstrate His love for us?

The Bible tells us that Jesus, [and I believe] gave himself freely as a sacrifice for the sins of all people. He chose to be born human and live among His people, to take our place on the cross and defeat death to reunite God and His creation. Jesus took upon himself all sin; yours, mine and every other person created, to be a ransom for all humankind. Everything that Jesus endured in His human life was done to make a way for all creation to be in relationship with God, the Father.

• Jesus died to bring us near to God.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” —1 Peter 3:18

• Jesus died to reveal God’s character.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
—2 Peter 3:9

• Jesus died to conquer evil.

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
—Revelation 1:18

• Jesus died to establish a new covenant.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord . “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” —Jeremiah 31:31-34

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance —now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
—Hebrews 9:15

• Jesus died to set us an example of sacrificial love.

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
—Ephesians 5:1-2

2. In the Bible reading, the text tells us that when we believe in Jesus, we are saved into eternal life.

➡️➡️➡️ Have you believed in Jesus for your salvation? ⬅️⬅️⬅️

I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart on September 6th, 1979. I had believed in who Jesus was long before this formal accepting in the presence of a Pastor, as I had been attending Sunday school and church from a very young age. I certainly felt and remember the nudging of the Holy Spirit on that Thursday night way back in 1979. Something quite interesting just occurred to me, I was born on a Thursday and reborn into my new life with Christ on a Thursday! THAT’S PRETTY COOL! 😎🆒😎

If you are thinking about and wanting to accept Jesus as your personal Savior you can do it right now by saying this simple prayer;

Dear God, Please forgive me. Come into my life. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Now, help me to live for you the rest of this life. ~Amen

3. What do you want to say in response to Jesus?

THANK YOU! These words are clearly inadequate to express how I feel about having Jesus in my life. I love being a child of God, I fail miserably too often to live the life of obedience but that does not deter me from wanting to do better and to be in fellowship with God, the Father, Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. I am grateful for the grace and mercy applied to me and my life. It’s easy for me to see the blessings in my life and I have learned to accept and understand painful events in my past as blessings because they prepared me for my future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
—Jeremiah 29:11

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
—Proverbs 3:5-6

Friends, I am delighted that you visited my blog today, may God reveal Himself to you in a special way today. Always remember, you are loved and you are a child of God.

~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jesus-died-cross/?amp