Come Unto Me

Jesus says, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” He invites us to Himself. Enter in.

I love this doorway. It is not only comforting and peaceful, but there also is an alluring quality to it. Truly, you just want to enter in.

This surely should be the same, plus even more, about Christ, Himself. He is comforting and peaceful, as well as alluring. He emanates pure love toward us. Lovingly, Jesus calls to us bidding us to come unto Him.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 NKJV

Jesus came for us. He left His Father and heavenly home to save us. Sadly, we chose to sin. Somberly, we reflect on how this caused God to sacrifice His only begotten Son for us. This was the only way to redeem us from our sinfulness and restore us into a right relationship with God the Father. Of course we are thankful and rejoice in this, however it does cause us to grieve over what He went through for us.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 NKJV

In the season of what we call “Lent”, we reflect and focus on what the Lord has done for us. Also, we consider our own lives and behavior as we spend time in prayer and fasting to seek to be closer to God. It is a time of preparing for our Lord. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to seek Him, not just during Lent. As a Christian, a follower of Christ, this needs to be our daily practice. The more we seek to be closer to Him, the closer He comes to us. He is not an indifferent God. Jesus’ death on the cross is not the end of the story. Remember, He arose from the dead. We celebrate His resurrection and rejoice in the new beginning this gives to us all. Come, seek, knock, ask, search and you will find rest. He bids us to come to Him, He came for us! What a glorious resurrection day Easter is! Please enter in. There is salvation through no one else.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV

©️ Denise L. Calandra 2022

Scriptures for daily thought and encouragement!

https://denisecalandraphotography.picfair.com

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The Good Shepherd

Jesus Lamb of God

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Who is Jesus Christ?  We learn in the Scriptures, He is the Son of God, Our Savior, The Lamb of God, The Prince of Peace, The Coming King, The Good Shepherd, to name a few. I want to focus on Him as The Good Shepherd, The Lamb of God, and our Savior, as we commemorate His resurrection.

Sadly, for this to happen, Jesus had to go through the agony of suffering on the cross.  This is the reason He came into the world, to die for us, to save us from our sin.  Through the Lenten season we reflect on this gruesome event. Thankfully, because He was willing to suffer for us, we now can embrace His resurrection and victory over sin. He is alive! 

Jesus already laid down His life for us, so now He takes up His role as The Good Shepherd to keep us in His flock. His love and care for us did not end on the cross!  What is a shepherd? A shepherd is a person who cares for, tends and guards his sheep. He will even lay down His life for the sheep.  Furthermore, we think of a person who protects, guides and watches over others as a shepherd. In the following Bible verse Jesus tells us, Himself, that He is The Good Shepherd.  

 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”  John 10:11-15(NKJV)  

This is something to celebrate.  He cares for us; we are His sheep. He rose from the dead for this purpose. Because He lives, we have hope, we are not alone.  In Hebrews 13:5, Jesus tells us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Moreover, His love for us is not a superficial love, but a love of great depth.  He loves us each so much that if just one of us was lost, He would have still come and died for our sin alone.  See the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:10-14 (NKJV):

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.  For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?  And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” 

This brings me to the featured photo of the stained-glass window. I really enjoy these windows. Stained-glass windows are so engaging; they tell a story with their pictures alone. They truly are a unique form of art. Sadly; it is a form of the past.

  This alluring stained-glass window is in St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ogdensburg, NY.  It is one of the many beautiful windows on display there.

 Jesus, The Good Shepherd, is fully expressed for us in this stained-glass window. Here we see Jesus holding a staff in one hand, while holding a lamb in His other.  The lamb He is holding is that one lost lamb. We also see He is out and about in a pasture, keeping watch over the rest of His flock as well.  Jesus, The Lamb of God, our Good Shepherd portrayed well, without any words needed! 

On this resurrection day embrace The Good Shepherd, let Him guide your life. Rejoice!

Happy Easter

© Denise L. Calandra

Scriptures for daily thought and encouragement.