Resting in Easter

Jesus has won our greatest victory, without us doing anything to earn or deserve it. Jesus came, lived died, and lives today for our victory - now and forever. We can rest in Easter.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 
10 This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. ...
15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. [This is resting] God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence [Resting] because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
19 We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4:9-13, 15-19 NLT

Jellybeans - Jesus Uses What I Give Him

Easter 2012 is just around the corner, April 8. Today I'm sharing a devotion from soon to be released Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotionsfor the Easter Season.

Coloring page and ornament at the bottom of this post.

Jellybeans - Jesus Uses What I Give Him 

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for the bread. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. All the people ate and were satisfied.Mark 6:41-42

Do you know that Jesus loves for you to give to him? You may not think you have much to give. Jesus knew a boy who thought that, too. There was a crowd of thousands of people listening to Jesus. They listened all day. They got hungry. A boy who was listening to Jesus had a lunch of five pieces of bread and two fish, which was not very much. He knew it wasn’t very much, but he gave his food to Jesus. Jesus blessed the boy’s gift and made it multiply until everyone had enough to eat and there was more food left over than they started with. Jellybeans are small and may not seem like much, but they can remind you that Jesus makes a blessing from whatever you give him.

More Time with God

Questions:

• How does your family give to Jesus? 
• Can you remember a time when Jesus used what you gave? Share what happened. 
• Are there new ways your family could give to Jesus? 

Activity Ideas:

• Read about the boy who gave his lunch to Jesus in Mark 6:34-44.
• Draw a picture of the boy giving his lunch to Jesus.
• Draw Jesus using what you give him.

Be the first to know when Easter is About Jesus is available for purchase. Send an email to Mukkove or use this contact link (there should be a blue "contact" button on the left. Please let me know if there is not).

Coloring page and ornament

Ornament Front

Ornament Back

Coloring page

Print coloring page full size or print small to color your own ornament.

Print ornament front and back and glue together, add a ribbon for hanging if you like. Make any size you want.

If the picture won’t print directly you can right click and select “save”, then print from that file. Let me know if you have trouble.

Do you have a blog or ministry you would like to share EIAJ with? Contact  Mukkove  for more information. 

More from Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotions for the Easter Season

Flowers—Jesus Takes Care of Me

Butterflies—Jesus Made Me for Good Works

Easter is Coming - Introduction

Flowers—Jesus Takes Care of Me

Easter 2012 is just around the corner, April 8. Today I'm sharing a devotion from soon to be released Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotions for the Easter Season.

Coloring page and ornament at the bottom of this post.

Flowers—Jesus Takes Care of Me

And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the flowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. God clothes the grass in the field like that. The grass is living today, but tomorrow it is thrown into the fire to be burned. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith!

Matthew 6:28-30

Do you ever wonder what you are going to eat? Do you wonder if you will have clothes to wear? Most of us don’t have to worry about those things. We have parents and other people who take care of us. Jesus knew that we had needs like food and clothes and places to live. When his followers asked him about their needs, Jesus told them to look at the flowers growing nearby.

Have you ever looked really closely at a flower? They are amazingly beautiful. Jesus said that is how God dresses them! He reminded his followers that if God remembers to dress the flowers, he will take care of us as well. Let all the beautiful flowers remind you that Jesus takes care of you.

More Time with God

Questions:

• How does God take care of you? 
• Who helps God take care of you? 
• What does God want you to dress in? (Look in Colossians 3:10-14.)

Activity Ideas:

• Thank God for taking care of you.
• Read Jesus’s conversation with his disciples in Matthew 6:25-34.
• Look for birds or flowers today. Look closely to see how wonderful God made them.

Sign up for Encouragement From Kove's Cove (see right side bar) to be the first to know when Easter is About Jesus is available for purchase.

Coloring page and ornament

Right click to select your options for printing. Let me know if you have trouble.

Ornament Front

Ornament Back

Coloring page
Print full size or print small for your own ornament.

Print ornament front and back and glue together, add a ribbon for hanging if you like. Make any size you want.

Do you have a blog or ministry you would like to share EIAJ with? Contact Mukkove for more information. 

The Rest I Long For

A couple of years ago Dan Moler gave a wonderful message at our church illustrating resting in God’s love. He said an apple tree produces apples because of what it is. It does not strive to produce apples to prove it’s an apple tree.

This is the rest I long for.

I love God, worship and serve, bringing his Kingdom everywhere I go because of who I am not because I’m trying really hard.

Too many days. Too many moments I forget who I am. I strive to produce fruit. Fruit of the Spirit. Just the name tells me I can’t produce anything on my own. It’s his fruit. He only needs this branch to remember who I am.

Who he is.

I am a new creature, created for good works. Ephesians 2:10

I am a royal priest.  1 Peter 2:9

I am an overcomer. 1 John 4:4

I am more than a conqueror. Romans 8:37

All and only because of Jesus.


Rest is my  My One Word  for 2012. I am trying to post some thought or insight each week.
Do you have One Word for 2012?

Eternal Encouragement Review

As a Gabby Mom my March review is of the Spring 2012 issue of Eternal Encouragement Magazine. I had a subscription before I was a Gabby Mom, too.

When my EE came I was glad to have a chance to read it right away. I enjoy EE because it’s written by moms like me- Christian, stay-at-home, homeschooling, and obviously writing- most who have been where I’m going and farther. The theme is Chaos. I have unfaithfully followed FlyLady for years so I immediately thought of “Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome”.  I’m thankful my home is no longer in that state, inside of me however can be a different story.

I enjoyed reading tips about cleaning and organizing my home. The articles shared struggles, tips and ideas. I was thankful for the articles that focused on the interior chaos, as well as my home.  My home is only a reflection of my heart, or maybe I can only get it as together as my heart.

Here are some quotes that impacted me:

Relating to God:

 He wants us to listen to Him, learn, and follow what He says, not what we think He meant or what someone else says He meant. He doesn’t want us to add to what He said and end up following our own religious practices.

Thoughts from the Doodle Bug by Lorrie Flem 

On parenting:

Make a new plan and a new list. Start praying and singing out loud.

Figure out the small doable steps for getting the chaos under control. ~ Lorrie Flem

We train our hearts and theirs to lean toward being welcoming rather than feeling the need to be entertaining. ~ Phyllis Sather

On health:

These little glands work hard every day helping to maintain balance in our bodies. When they are functioning as God intended, we can handle a good deal of busyness. If they are continually being called on to produce extra hormones because of too much stress, even the daily activities of our lives can leave us feeling overwhelmed.

Carla Jacks & Dawn Hamilton

Chaos in my life:

It is my heart’s desire to make my home one that honors the Lord and a place that my family loves. I want to be a godly woman.

I have to take my petition before the Lord and ask Him to reveal the flaws in my character and help me with the most important job He has blessed me with. ~ Mary Cheatham

If you would like to read your own copy of Eternal Encouragement Magazine  subscriptions are available printed and digital. Any subscription receives the NEW EE Etc. Web Magazine that is published 8 times a year. EE Etc. Web Magazine has full magazine articles that are only available to Eternal Encouragement Subscribers via a new online magazine website.  

If you are like me you will find eternal encouragement in EE magazine.

Eternal Encouragement Magazine is published by Eternal Encouragement, the ministry of Lorrie Flem.

Butterflies - Jesus Made Me for Good Works

Easter 2012 is just around the corner, April 8. Today I'm sharing a devotion from soon to be released Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotions for the Easter Season. 

Coloring page and ornament at the bottom of this post.

Butterflies—Jesus Made Me for Good Works

God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so we would do good works. God had planned in advance those good works for us. He had planned for us to live our lives doing them.

Ephesians 2:10

Do you know that beautiful butterflies start out as caterpillars? They can’t fly or move very fast. They don’t look anything like the butterfly they will be one day. A caterpillar can only be a butterfly by going through a process of being made new. This process is called metamorphosis. In a way, the caterpillar dies. Inside the cocoon, it is remade into a butterfly. The butterfly must fight its way out of the cocoon for its wings to be strong enough to fly.

People who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior can be like caterpillars. They may not look much like what God created them to be. We must be made new in Jesus and work with the Holy Spirit to do the good works God created us to do. It will be hard sometimes, just like the butterfly fighting its way out of the cocoon. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always with you to help you; you will never be alone. When you see the butterflies, remember that Jesus made you for good works.

More Time with God

Questions:

• What has God made you to do? 
• What are you good at? 
• What do you like to do?

Activity Ideas:

• Ask God what he likes to see you do. 
• God made the caterpillar to become a butterfly and fly. What has God made you to do? Look in Matthew 22:37-39, Ephesians 6:1, and Philippians 2:14. 
• Draw a butterfly. In the wings, write or draw things God has made you to do.

Did you enjoy today's devotion?

Will you share your thoughts and pictures?

What has God made you to do?


Sign up for Encouragement From Kove's Cove (see right side bar) to be the first to know when Easter is About Jesus is available for purchase.

Coloring page and ornament

Right click to select your options for printing. Let me know if you have trouble.

Coloring page
Print full size or print small for your own ornament.

Ornament - Front

Ornament - Back

Print ornament front and back and glue together, add a ribbon for hanging if you like. Make any size you want.

Easter is Coming

Though it’s far from looking like spring here at my home in Alaska, spring is coming and so is Easter. Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotions for the Easter Season is not ready for print, a little like our snow is not ready to leave.

I want to share a sample of Easter is About Jesus with you this Easter. Books, a full set of coloring pages and ornaments will be ready for Easter 2013. I would love your feedback, even if you just let me know you read it. If you are blessed by what you read your help in spreading the word would be greatly appreciated. It can be as simple as clicking “like”, involved as setting up an event and many things in between. Contact me if you would like to help. 

First, why and how I wrote Easter is About Jesus: Family Devotions for the Easter Season.

Introduction

Flowers: Jesus takes care of me.

Welcome to Easter Is about Jesus. I created this devotional with two goals in mind: 

1. To give children ways to think of Jesus when they see the common sights of Easter;2. To help parents and children spend time with God in a meaningful way.

To achieve the first goal, I wrote fifteen devotions. Each one has something we see during the Easter season, a reason to think about Jesus, and a verse. Easter comes on a different date from year to year. Due to the change in date (or my lack of forethought), our Easter preparations vary from year to year. I thought your family might be the same. Here are some suggestions on scheduling:

Jelly beans: Jesus uses what I give him.

• You could do 5 days of devotions for 3 weeks or start two Sundays before Easter reading one every day, including Easter. You could even do morning and evening between Palm Sunday and Easter. 

• Pick a time of day that will be easiest to be consistent like breakfast or bedtime 

.• Pick a time when you are not hurried. Allow time for discussion and the “More Time with God” activities. You may want to choose one or two of the suggested activities. Consider doing some of the activities the next day if you are doing devotions at bedtime. 

• Do what works for your family.

For the second goal, I wrote the “More Time with God” activities. The intention of the activities is to equip the child to connect with God themselves and to begin listening for his voice. I believe it is vital to marry together knowledge of God and experience with God. We must have knowledge of his Word and his will to carry out the good plans he has had for us since before the beginning of time. We must experience his love and grace.

Lamb: Jesus is the Lamb of God

Children often hear God more easily than adults. When I began learning to listen for God’s voice, I was doing it with my children. We would read from the Bible and pray asking God to speak to us. I would ask my children to be quiet and listen for what God had to say and to tell me when they heard something. This did not work well for me because in five seconds they all had something to share! I hadn’t quit thinking yet.

God speaks in many ways. He may use words. He also may use pictures, numbers, visions, dreams, feelings—emotional and physical—colors, or impressions. He really is not limited—except by us. If your children share something you feel is strange, ask questions about how they felt or what else they saw. Ask them to ask God what it means. If they all share the same thing, it may be copycatting, or it may be that God really had the same message for all of them. The words may be new, or it may be a verse they have heard or memorized, or it may be words from a song. I would encourage you to keep a record of what God is saying with a journal, pictures, or drawings. When my children were young, I would write what they heard and saw as well as descriptions of their drawings.

Butterflies: Jesus made me for good works

What we hear and experience from God will never contradict Scripture. God and his Word are unchanging. If an experience seems to contradict Scripture, set it aside all together or until you have new insight.

Thank you for reading.

Blessings in Jesus,

Mukkove Johnson

I'll be sharing some devotions and hopefully ornaments and coloring pages between now and Easter.

Watercolor images copyright Tate Publishing 2012