HOSANNA!

Good morning to you on this Friday! 
The last day of the work week!

I pray this has been an awesome and blessed week for you. I know that we go through stuff and it may not have been perfect or even close. But with God at the helm of our lives, we have been awesomely blessed, I know. Because I have. God is so good all the time. He is so faithful to us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. That is His promise.

I am going to see my son and family. I can't wait! They are such a blessing to me. Children are a gift from God and grandchildren are just that--Grand! I am bringing lots of craft supplies with me so we can make stuff. I know the kids will love it. 

The day before yesterday and several days before that, I was talking about the sabbath, not the Sunday Sabbath, but the sabbath which is time away from your regular routine to worship God and rest. It can be any time and any where. Well, I am breaking from that for a few days so bear with me. I will return to that on Monday. I just feel God leading me elsewhere until after Palm Sunday. 

What actually is Palm Sunday? Well, it celebrates Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. It is on the Sunday before Easter Sunday and marks the beginning of the Holy Week. It may also be called Passion Sunday. The Bible reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him by waving palm branches and covering his path with palm branches. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross.
 
Some Christians place blessed palm leaves in the shape of a cross behind religious images or statues. Palm leaves symbolize victory and joy among many Christians in the U.S. Some churches use silk plant leaves or substitute palm leaves with olive branches. But the specialness (is that a word?) in using real palm leaves is that you can use them the next year to burn for Ash Wednesday. At least our pastor does that at our church.

As I said yesterday, I love it when the children at our church march around the sanctuary waving palm branches while the choir sings Hosanna, Loud Hosanna. It is a blessed time! 

Then the multitudes who went before and 
those who followed cried out, saying: 
“Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is 
He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ 
Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:9
 
The next day a great multitude that had 
come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus 
was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of 
palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried 
out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in 
the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
John 12:12-13 
 
It is amazing to me that this great celebration went on just before the Crucifixion. It reminds me of the calm before the storm. Celebration brings a calmness to our lives. We are happy and joyful and have a peace in our lives and then boom, a trial can hit and that season turns stormy. 
 
And so it is with life. We have our highs and our lows. And in either one we need to keep our focus on Jesus and trust in Him every second of every day. He knows the big picture. He knows what is next in our lives. He has a plan. And that plan is what is best for us. Our plan is not always what is best for our lives. 
 
But if we can continue to cry out “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!", then Jesus will hear us and help us in every way. 
 
Have a blessed day!
 
Les (lesbear)


 
 
 
 
 

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