There is a scene in Star Trek where Spock is on his way to the engine room.  He meets McCoy, the doctor and placing his hand on his face in the Vulcan mind meld says, “Remember.”  Then Spock saves the ship and dies in the process.

 

Remember.  How often do we forget the ones who helped us during difficult times?  How often do we forget when to pay the bills, cook meals for friends, or just to say “thank you?”  

 

Remember.  There are so many people who have positively influenced our lives.  They have sacrificed.   They have suffered.  They have died. 

 

Remember.  Memorial Day is the day to remember those who died for the freedoms of this land.  They willing sacrificed their lives, dreams, and possibilities.   The greatest act of love can be seen in their last moments.

 

Remember the last words of Jesus?  “Father forgive them.”  Words to remember.

Today is Mother’s Day and we wish all of our mothers a great and wonderful day.  It is difficult in today’s society to be a Godly mother.   The world comes from different directions to try to dishearten and to some degree destroy Godly mothers and wives. 

 

Yet throughout the Scriptures, that which is far more precious than wealth, is a Godly woman. 

 

Today, we applaud our Godly women and lift them up  in prayer before God.  Remember ladies, there are people praying for you to a God that loves you.

 

Happy Mother’s Day.

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching (hint, hint), a teacher asked her 3rd grade students to write a brief description of their mother.  She gave it as home work. 

 

The next morning, she had each of them stand and read what they had wrote.  Some wrote about how their mother was nice, loving, and always there.  Others wrote how that they did not have a mother, but a man.  Still others wrote about how they did not know their mother because she had left and dad stepped into her role also.

 

As you guessed, there is one in every crowd.  One little boy walked up front.  He asked the teacher if he really had to read his writing.  She told him he did.  With a great sigh, he began.  “My mom is never home.  I really don’t know what she does. My mom beats my dad because he needs it she says.  She drinks beer and smokes funny cigars.  I am glad when she lives.”

 

He returned to his chair in silence.  A stunned teacher quickly changed topics.  Later that day, she pulled the little boy to the side.  “You must be mistaken,” she said.  “That must be your daddy.”

 

The boy shook his head.  “Dad is in a wheelchair.”  He looked out the window.  “I am glad when mom is gone.  I can take care of daddy then.”

 

This is a true event.  It did happen.  Sadly, what the little boy told, happens in this nation more than realized. 

 

If you have a mother, who takes the time to be with you, love you, listen to you; then you have some one special. 

Everyone likes happy endings.  Is it really the ending or just the ending of the movie?

 

Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples and others.  He taught them, walked with them, and ate with them.  Like all things, it came to an end one day.  They were outside of Jerusalem, when he spoke his last words to them.  They were words of encouragement and empowerment.  A commission was given.

 

Then, He  was gone.  He was taken up into heaven, Luke writes.  Gone.  The end, right?

 

It was not.  It is not even close to the end.  Only the beginning. 

 

The promised Spirit came.  Power from on high engulfed them.  With courage, the disciples proclaimed the Good News.  The result was over 3,000 baptized men. 

 

The end?  No, the beginning.

What was going through Peter’s mind each time he saw Jesus?  He had betrayed him three times.  Jesus saw him two times and said nothing.  Now Jesus is standing on the shore calling out to him.  Peter’s first response is to swim to shore.  Then Peter drags the nets to shore.  He is trying to impress Jesus, get his attention?

 

Finally Jesus addresses Peter.  Probably not the way Peter thought it would go.  “Do you love me?”  I guess that is a question that we all need to ask.  Do we love Jesus? 

 

Peter would proclaim his love for Jesus three time.  Each time Jesus gave him a charge:  “Feed my sheep.”  At the end of the conversation, Jesus says two words that started their relationship.  “Follow me.”

 

What about it?  Do we follow Jesus?  Do we follow Jesus to the prisons?  Do we follow Jesus in taking care of the sick, bringing the homeless into our homes, or feeding the poor?

Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples.  No one really knows why.  He was not there.  So his skepticism is warranted. Who could have survived the beatings?  Who could have survived the brutality of the cross?  Who?

 

When he was told that they had seen Jesus, his response is skeptical, “Until I put my finger in the holes of his hands and feet and touch his side, no way!” (Mark’s paraphrase)   He just could not believe.  He saw it all, the back laid open, the crucifixion.  No one could have survived.

 

Eight days later, Jesus appears.  His attention is only on Thomas.  “Here is my hands.  Touch.  Here is my side.  Feel.”  Thomas is in shock.  Peter was not crazy.  Jesus is alive.  “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaims.  Now he knows.

 

It is difficult to believe the event of the crucifixion, after almost 2 millenniums. The impact of the brutality of the event is lost to us.  Even with the movies and games, the physical damage can not be imagined. 

 

As with Thomas, many blow it off.  After all, it probably is a good story, mythology, or they were on drugs.  

 

Let me just point this out.  None of the disciples ever changed their accounts of the resurrected Jesus, even in the face of death.  Those who saw Jesus (500 at one time) never changed their accounts.   All died telling the same details, Jesus is alive.

 

Jesus said this, “Bless are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  We are blessed because of our belief.  We are blessed because one day we will see.  We will see Him in heaven.

There will always be people in your life that will insult you, degrade you, try to humiliate you, and at time physically abuse you.  Everyone wants this to be a perfect world, but it is not.  Sin is the reason.  What does one do when people, especially close friends, family members, or even you “heroes” turn against you? 

 

The world will say walk away from those people.  It is all over facebook, twitter, instagram, and other social media platforms, that one just walks away.  Jesus said, “I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be called sons of your Father in heaven.” 

 

Why?  Why pray for them?  Why not just Rambo them?   Why not go “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” with them?

 

Peter answers these questions with these words: “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps …..”

 

Following Jesus is never easy because the world (Satan) does not want you to follow Jesus.  Never give up.  No matter the insults.  No matter the suffering, never give up.  Jesus is always with you to the end of this age and in the next.

 

 

Jesus has risen from the grave.  The disciples see him as well as three women.  Yet, it does not end there.  According to Paul, over 500 saw Jesus at one time.  That is a lot of witnesses to an event. 

 

On top of this, every disciple and witness to Jesus’ return never denied it even at death.  So, it had to be real.  Jesus had to come back from the grave.

 

For everyone to die telling the same event, is insane.  It is truly unreal.  It happened.  No one changed their account.  No one declared it a lie.  They all died saying the same thing.  Jesus is alive.

 

We have heard crazy things in our lifetime.  Most of these are just stories, with no truth behind them.  But with Jesus, there are too many witnesses for this to be a lie. 

 

Therefore, the question is simple: are theses individuals from the past crazy or are they telling the truth?

Have you done something wrong?  You knew that it was wrong, yet you still did it?  Whatever “it” maybe, you did it.  Peter did it.  His “it” was betraying Jesus.  Now that is a big “it.”  Betrayal is a difficult wrong to forgive.  Standing before Peter at the Sea of Galilee was the very man he betrayed.  He has seen Jesus two times before, but Jesus remained quiet about Peter’s sin.  At the seashore, where Peter’s walk with Jesus began three years before, stands Jesus.  Peter jumps out of the fishing boat to see Him.  When the boat arrives at the shore, it is the brute strength of Peter which drags the nets.  It is like Peter is trying to show Jesus his worth.

 

Jesus does not forget.  Three times he asks a question,”Peter do you truly love me?”  Peter replies the same all three times, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.? 

 

Jesus was not trying to anger Peter.  Jesus was not trying to remind Peter of his three betrayals.  Personal, I believe, Jesus was trying to remind Peter that Jesus loved him.  That the love of Jesus would be Peter’s strength in the days to come.  His last words to Peter were His first words to Peter, “Follow me.”

 

While there are several discussions concerning the importance of forgiveness for the individual, forgiveness from Jesus and reinstatement is the most important.  Without Jesus’s forgiveness and reinstatement, any attempt of forgiveness will not end well.  Forgiveness begins and ends with Jesus. 

When the women returned from the tomb.  They excitedly told the disciples of seeing Jesus.  It was not until later that evening, while in a locked room that Jesus appeared to them.  He showed them his hands and feet.  They talked.  He was alive.

 

History would change.  From that moment on, the disciples told the event of the risen Lord.  Even at their deaths, they never stopped proclaiming the Risen Lord Jesus.

 

Funny thing about facts, they are not true to us unless we see it first hand.  Jesus understood this.  That is why the Holy Spirit is working in the world today.  He is the proof that is need to show each of us the Risen Lord.

 

Read the Bible.  Listen to the teacher, the Holy Spirit.  You will see the Risen Lord.