Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

First Friday Prayers: Good Friday

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Happy Good Friday!  I pray this day affords you some time to meditate on the sacrifices Jesus made for you and me.  And the huge significance of the cross.

 

“For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NASB

 

If Good Friday commemorates the day Jesus died, why do we call it good?

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It’s because of the last part of our scripture passage for today.  “…that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  We celebrate the day Christ died because he didn’t stay in the grave.  He rose again.

 

So why is this significant?  Because God loves us.  He is holy and cannot have any part of sin, which is a problem because we are all sinners.  The penalty for sin is death.  And not just a death in this body, but an eternity spent separated from God and all that is good.  So God sent a substitute, who had never sinned, to die in place of us all.

 

Last week I heard a great analogy.  When we decide to trust in Jesus and his sacrifice to save us from eternal death, God sees us through rose colored glasses.  He sees us as righteous because he sees us through the blood of Jesus.  Forgiven.  Made right.  Eternally secure.  That’s why the day Jesus died was a good day.  Will you join me thanking the Father by praying these scriptures?

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

A read through of 10 Bible Verses for Healing a Broken Heart from Lisa Blair was just what I needed this week.  Maybe you would be encouraged by this too!

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

First Friday Prayers: The Month of Love

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Whether or not you believe the Valentine’s Day hype or would just as soon forget it,  red flowers and candy hearts surround us in February (or right after Christmas in every…single…store).  Ahh, the month of love.  Retailers and culture as a whole have a lot to say about love.  There are as many definitions as there are dictionaries.

 

The word “love” is mentioned 311 times in the bible.  Give or take to account for translations.  It’s safe to say love is important to God.  It’s actually a direct quote to say that God IS love (1 John 4:8).  1 John 4:10-11 is one of my favorite passages about  and definitions of love:

 

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the [a]propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” NASB

 

Love is God sending His Son to atone for our sins.  He paid what we owed; our very lives.  There is no greater love than this (John 15:13). 

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And so I offer this prayer to the one whose love never fails.  Pray with me.

 

 

Praying for you in this.  If there are ways I can be praying for you this year, please send me a message to lauren@laurensparks.net.  It would be an honor.  And if you don’t want to miss a Praying God’s Word post, subscribe over on the right hand side of this page.

Lauren

Now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

7 Things I Pray Over My Adult Children struck me right where my prayers are right now.  Even if you don’t have adult children, these verses are great to pray over yourself and/or a variety of people you love.  And you know how I love praying scripture!  Thank you, Patsy!

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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