I've Always Been Rich: Mother's Day Memories

I've Always Been Rich: Mother's Day Memories: Remembering our Mothers today leads to many memories.  My parents, pictured above, were godly parents as I described in my book, I've...

Mother's Day Memories

Remembering our Mothers today leads to many memories.  My parents, pictured above, were godly parents as I described in my book, I've Always Been Rich.  What a rich heritage my mother and mother-in-law left for me and my husband.  I pray I expressed my love and adoration for them while they were still living.  Sometimes those memories grow fonder as years go by and the positive aspects of their lives become the more prominent memories.  And that is okay.  But as imperfect as our lives as mothers are we still appreciate hearing "I love you" on special days. God has blessed us with 6 children and we do appreciate the thoughts sent to us on this special day.

A gift my husband gave me this Mother's Day was a plaque with the first verse of Psalm 27 written on it.  He knows that Psalm has special meaning for me as I read that to my dad, it was his special Psalm, on the day he died.  What memories that Psalm brings  to mind every time I see it.  The first verse reads like this, "The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?" 

I may not get a blog out every week as we will be traveling to visit family and seeing some wonders of this great creation.  I am still active with my book, the latest way is going to different church groups and Christian Women Connections speaking about it.  I am really enjoying the interaction with people throughout the area as we identify with my lifestyle of long ago  and with the salvation story.

mjrevmo6@aol.com   Marilyn Rensink

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I've Always Been Rich: Road to Emmaus

I've Always Been Rich: Road to Emmaus: The story of two men on their way to Emmaus is always an interesting one. The men were followers of Jesus.  Now they had heard that their ...

Road to Emmaus

The story of two men on their way to Emmaus is always an interesting one. The men were followers of Jesus.  Now they had heard that their Jesus, who they believed was their long expected Messiah,   had been crucified but also was supposed to have risen from the grave. Several of the disciples had gone to the tomb to verify what the women said and found, yes, the tomb was empty.  They were discussing this whole scenario not knowing what  to believe.  That is when Jesus came up to them and walked along with  them but they didn't recognize Him.  They found it strange that this man who joined them did not seem to know about all the events that had transpired in Jerusalem the past few days.  The men then, in great detail, told all about the way the prophets had foretold his coming, his persecution, his  crucifixion  and even the empty tomb.  Jesus admonished them for not believing  the prophetic scripture.  Still, they did recognize Him.  When they neared the house they were to stay for the night they invited Jesus to stay with them.  Jesus accepted the invitation. It was  only when Jesus took the bread. blessed it and began to give it to  them did they recognize who this "stranger" was.  When they recognized Him he disappeared from their sight.  This story brings up some very interesting and strong points.  Notice that the two men did not recognize Jesus until he took the bread, blessed it and gave it to them to eat.  Jesus didn't wait to be served, he immediately took residence, so to speak, and served them,  He took charge.  He gave them the physical bread to nourish their bodies after the 7 mile walk from Jerusalem.  That is the way it is when we are told about Jesus, accept him into our heart and take our nourishment from him. Jesus does for us sinners what he did for those two men.  They invited him into their home when they still did not recognize him for who he was.  He accepted their invitation to stay.   But then Jesus took over and fed them.  He took control and did what he does so well.  He gave them nourishment.  When we accept Jesus to come into our heart he gives the Holy Spirit to empower us and He truly reveals who he is and immediately begins to nourish us with his spiritual food.  Remember, the two men supplied the bread but when Jesus blessed it and broke it he gave it to them.  You  and I have our talents and gifts but we have been using them in our way and for ourselves mainly. When Jesus comes in as our Lord and Savior he enables us  to use our gifts for others.  In other words, he blesses and enriches what we already have so it can be a blessing to others. However, that is not the end of the process.  Our growth spiritually comes as we feed on his Word, as we commune with him in prayer and as we serve him with our whole heart.  A formula I have found to be helpful in my spiritual life is this:  we are blessed, we are called, we are enabled and then we are blessed to be a blessing.  This was made so clear to me yesterday when I spoke about the book, "I've Always Been Rich".  I explained how I had been blessed with food, clothing, home, Christian parents and then a wonderfully spiritual husband throughout my life so I consider that as being rich. I was called into ministry and accepted the call. God enabled me by providing  the training I needed.  Then yesterday I had the privilege of sharing that journey with 80 women at a local church.  What a tremendous privilege of sharing God's  grace with those women and being drawn together in Christian love.  It just doesn't get more blessed than that.  Emmaus story found in Luke 24:13........Blessed..... in Genesis 12: 1-3.
Marilyn Rensink   Email mjrevmom6@aol.com   Books available as is speaking.

I've Always Been Rich: The Empty Tomb

I've Always Been Rich: The Empty Tomb: Several years ago we spent time in the Holy Lands and in Egypt.  As many people will tell you who have been there, the pyramids in Eg...

The Empty Tomb

Several years ago we spent time in the Holy Lands and in Egypt.  As many people will tell you who have been there, the pyramids in Egypt are  massive and a construction miracle for that age.  The size betrays their customary intent.  They were to be burial sites for the rich and famous, mostly the powerful leader of their County.  These people were buried with all sorts of material items they might need in the after life as well as other paraphernalia for the comfort of the deceased.  The body remained in that tomb unless someone decided to bury it some other place, than that place would be specified.  The body or its remains would always be buried.  This was and is true in any cemetery whether the deceased is a pauper, millionaire, famous, man, women, child, historical figure or any other definition of mankind you can think of.  The remains will decay but will always remain buried. 
Today is Easter.  Last week I wrote about Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into the city on a donkey amidst the praises of the people.  He was looked on and considered their Messiah who would reign as their King and free them from the bondage of Rome.  In just a weeks time  the religious leaders of the Holy City turned that triumphant entry into a crucifixion and hung Jesus on the cross.  Yes,  that crucifixion was to pay the penalty for our sins so  that we do not have to go through the condemnation for our sins, that was a hefty price for Him to pay but He did it in love for those who chose to accept Him as Lord and Savior.  Jesus conquered  sin for you and me. Joyfully, that was not the end of what He would do for us.  Just 2 days after his death on the cross  the tomb where He had been laid was found to be empty.  Yes, EMPTY.  The grave clothes were neatly left in the tomb but Jesus body was gone.  As he had promised His disciples he was going to rise from the grave to prove to us that he had also overcome death.  The disciples were skeptical as I might have been at that time as well.  But He did it FOR US.  As I alluded to above, no other race, religion, or people group who claim to have a messiah or god can claim to have an empty tomb. No other dignitary   can claim to have conquered death. No other human can claim to have paid the condemnation for the sins  of their followers.  Christianity is  the only faith that has a risen Lord.  The grave was empty when the women came to the tomb to further the traditional ceremony of tending to the body.  Yes dear people, we serve a risen Lord, one who lives in us and who loves us so much that he conquered sin and death for you and me.  We sang praises today in our worship services for the freedom we have because  he was willing to pay.  His Grace always exceeds our expectations.  We rejoice in His love and return our love in gratitude to Him.
Again, my book, "I've Always Been Rich" which has a subtitle of "Experiencing The Richness of God's Grace", continues to be offered in bookstores. 
Marilyn Rensink    Email   mjrevmom6@aol.com
 

I've Always Been Rich: Palm Sunday

I've Always Been Rich: Palm Sunday: In Luke 19 we read a detailed description of the events that took place on Palm Sunday, which was just a week before Jesus was crucified....