Good Friday

Just to let you know ahead of time....I am posting some graphic photos from the Passion Of Christ on my blog today. Again, they are very graphic and if you don't want to look at them, please don't scroll down. I don't mean to be offensive, but this is my blog and these pictures represent the greatest sacrifice ever made for me so please respect my choice to post and I'll respect yours not to look :)
I am feeling a bit better today. I have had incredible migraine headaches the past few days. It got so bad I actually took excedrin last night and again this morning. I don't like aspirin at all because it upsets my stomache so much but I couldn't find anything else that would work. My bumps on my face are slowly disappearing. I can't figure out if I had an allergic reaction to something or what. Just so weird!!
We will have a pretty busy weekend-Good Friday service tonight, bible college students are coming for part of the weekend and tomorrow we will color the eggs and make the cupcakes for the kids on Sunday. Sunday we will have Easter service and then have some people over for dinner.
As we remember Good Friday and what it means to us as Christians, my heart always feels so heavy. I am a very visual person. Sometimes I hear a message and when the person paints a picture it is so much easier for me to understand. Last year, I found some pictures from the Passion Of Christ and I used them in a couple LOs. To me, it just speaks volumes of the price that was paid so that we could have eternal life. Thinking of the different scriptures that tell about what Jesus endured on our behalf just humbles me. I am always wanting to defend myself and stand up for myself and yet Jesus went through so much more and He did it willingly. Noone forced Him to do this-He chose this way. I like Max Lucado's book title-He Chose The Nails. Which of us we choose that? I don't think I would. I will probably watch the Passion movie tomorrow tonight after service and just be reminded again of His sacrifice. It's easy to forget and I want to be reminded over and over again of such a love. So many people complained about how violent the movie was and yet when you really think about it compared to what scripture says, it didn't even portray all that Jesus went through. The Bible says that you couldn't even recognize Him because He was beaten so badly. I am not into watching senseless violence shows, but when it is based on truth I don't mind. I watch war movies based upon actual things , shows about the Holocaust and the awful things that happened and it does affect me a lot but I watch it because to me it's important to see these things that really did happen. The atrocities that were afflicted upon others really are real!
The good news is that we know today is not the end of the story. How glorious that we know what the disciples and others didn't know-we know what happens on the 3rd day!!

Here are the layouts I did last year. If you do look at them, reflect on the scripture, words to the one song and really allow God to speak to your heart. If you have never understood God's love for you, I pray you will understand it today. I pray that if you have never asked Jesus into your heart you will read these scriptures and they will come alive in your life and you will know how much you are loved. Jesus loves you as you are.