Finding Laughter In Difficult Times

What would you have done had you been Jesus? I can tell you what I would have done in His place.
First, while on that cross, I’d be thinking, “Boy, can’t wait till I get down from here. First thing I’m going to do is show up at the doorsteps of those religious men that condemned me to death.” “Then, I’m going to show my fully-healed back to the tormentors who cruelly whipped me till most of my back was in shreds.”
“These things will I do before breaking-bread with my disciples and before my ascension.” What would you have done?
Unlike us, “Jesus humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8). He controlled Himself and did what He had to do, nothing more. He could have casually walked by the temple just to make sure people got a glimpse of Him. He could have left a note telling all the religious folk how wrong they were…
I guess that’s why He’s God and I’m not. What about you, find yourself oftentimes praying for fire down from the skies on the person who took your parking spot, or at the shmuck who wronged you? It’s normal. Incorrect, but normal. It shows how much we need Jesus in our lives. Unfortunately, as much as I often think I’m right, Jesus did it correctly.
Happy Easter!
Sam

Around 1967, while in the fourth grade, days before a class trip, our teacher, Mrs. Fischer announced what things we should or shouldn’t take with us. One thing she mentioned was, “No heels.” At hearing that, Freddy R. asked why not? Of course, all the girls including the teacher laughed at him! “Do you know what heels are?” Mrs. Fischer asked. We all laughed including an embarrassed Freddy!

Of course, it wasn’t long afterwards when heels were the rage for men! We had platform shoes, Marshmallows, and all types of 1-4 inch heeled-shoes. We wore our bell-bottoms with them, even our elephant-bottoms (extra-wide leg cuts), and later, our seamless, or French-cut pants (A.K.A. Matadors). Freddy would have felt at home!

Did you know the subject of heel is also mentioned by God in the Bible? No, He doesn’t have an Achilles’ heel! The first Gospel prophecy and promise are recorded right at the beginning of Genesis. Check it out! After the snake deceived Eve, God said to Satan, who was behind it all:

“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Satan bruised Jesus’ heel by getting Him to the cross, but Jesus, as the woman’s seed, crushed the enemy’s head by triumphing over him, over sin, and over death by rising from the grave. On a day much like today, Jesus took back His life! He brought Himself up from the grave. He accomplished what He left heaven to do: Die for all of humanity, stripped Satan of his power over us, conquered death and the grave, and restored us onto God. He removed a huge gulf of sin existing between us and God. He removed the curse of sin by becoming sin so we could take on His righteousness. Jesus made a way to the Father through His sacrificial death on the cross.

You and I were on Jesus’ mind when He crushed the enemy’s head. Accept His sacrifice for you today. Afterall, He’s “Head over heels” in love with you!
Happy Resurrection Day!
Sam

Contrary to popular beliefs God isn’t an old man with long, white hair, a flowing beard, wearing a long white robe, and donning sandals. Imagine being able to look and feel thirty to forty years old for decades, centuries upon centuries, even for all eternity. God’s is known as the Ancient of Days because He has no beginning and no end. He’s always existed. After the crucifixion, Jesus did what no man has ever done or ever will do. During the seemingly quiet days following the events of the cross, he was busy at work. Firstly, there was an earthquake which shook things up. Graves were open and the bodies of saints who had died came to life (Matthew 27:52). Secondly, the veil of the temple was split in two from the top down (Matthew 27:51). This veil separated the Holy Place for the priests from the Most Holy Place where only the High Priest could enter once a year to atone for the sins of the people.
Jesus tore the veil signifying we no longer require a priest in order to present our sins to God or to talk to Him. He’s given us direct access to Him 24/7.
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus (Yeshua) the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Thirdly, Jesus descended to the depths of the earth to “surprise and rain on Satan’s parade.” He made a spectacle of him. “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). Jesus stripped Satan of his authority. “I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18). Fourthly, a place known as Abraham’s Bosom, where Hades (place of punishment) was below, and Captivity, where the dead righteous were kept, was above. Jesus took Captivity captive, i.e. He took them to heaven. Fifthly, Jesus triumphed victoriously over evil, over sin for all humanity, over Death, and over all demonic forces. Sixthly, He took back His life and rose from the dead! “Therefore, does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down for myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-19). Easter, the day of Resurrection, is a reminder of God’s triumphant victory over sin and death out of love for you and me.
The Ancient of Days remains Alive Forevermore!
Rejoice!
Sam
Important Note: Jesus died ONCE for ALL the sins of MANKIND.
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; ….For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12, 14).

Growing up if we broke something, did, or didn’t do something, we normally didn’t say a word. Unlike on TV, no one went around claiming it was his fault. There were never two or three people fighting each other claiming they were at fault for something. Shoo, if someone says, “oh, it’s my fault” most others will say, “You bet it is.” It may be real on TV, but not in our neighborhoods.
Once, during jury duty, a young black guy was on trial with about three charges against him. Most jurors wanted to listen to the facts/evidences available. One, elderly black woman however, said all black guys taken to court were automatically guilty! Ultimately, he was declared Not Guilty! His lawyer went berserk.
“Not guilty” are words we like hearing, especially if falsely accused. We live in a fallen & broken world. Regardless how innocent we may be, we’re guilty of sin within us. We’re all born into sin; can’t get away from it. In fact, Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.”
In the excellent movie, The Shack Mack is asked to choose one of his two children and condemn him/her to hell. Finding it impossible to do so, and due to his love for them, he chooses to go in their stead. That’s how God dealt with us. Finding it impossible to send us to hell, He decided to die in our place. That’s what Jesus did for us. Seeing the effects of sin all around and desiring to be reunited with His bride (all believers), God the Father asked, “Who will go?” Jesus answered, “Behold, send me, I will go” (Isaiah 6:8).
The Righteous God died for all unrighteous men and women (all humanity). Our guilt was transferred to Him while we took His innocence. We trade our lies for His Truth. He became our sin sacrifice. His death gave us eternal life. Just as when younger you and I might still keep quiet and not admit our guilt. However, it’s time to ‘fess up.” Those who refuse accepting His loving sacrifice, choose instead to bear the weight of their sins. In despising it, they are in essence, saying, “We don’t need you;” we prefer instead, to endure hell over heaven.
It’d be great to hear, “Not Guilty!”
God Bless,
Sam

Peter Frampton sang, Baby I Love Your Way and the Spinners sang Could It Be I’m Falling in Love? Like thousands of others, they’re great love songs. I once heard an illustration of a guy in love who told his girl something like this:
“Nothing can keep me away from you. No river can keep me from getting near you. I’ll cross the widest ocean to see your sweet face I’ll scale the highest mountain to hear your voice… but I’ll see you in two days cause it’s raining tonight.”
So much for true love!
God looked down from His throne room and saw a huge gulf between Himself and mankind. It was a vast space covered in sin disallowing for fellowship with His most prized possession.
He stooped from holiness to mankind. From riches and glory, to poorness and gory, He climbed high upon a hill to proclaim His love to the world (And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me-John 12:32). He didn’t get down on one knee and ask, “Will you marry me?” That would’ve been too easy. With nailed feet and out-stretched arms spiked to a cross, He yelled, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Instead, through love and sacrifice, He laid down His life for you and me. He conquered sin closing forever the gulf separating Him from His beloved. Your name is there…Desiree, Roger, Tony, Nancy, Shamika, Deb, Steve, Joey, Tray, Lauren, etc.
An old song says…
I’ll shout it from the mountain top I want my world to know The Lord of love has come to me I want to pass it on.
(Pass It On-It Only Takes a Spark)
God Bless,
Sam

Tour a beautiful home, check out the curves on an exotic car, hold one-of-a-kind diamond jewelry, taste a scrumptious meal, and people will react with one word: Awesome! No doubt, some things may be difficult to describe or worthy of one-word adjectives. However, this overused word isn’t used correctly.
The term was coined for one purpose: to describe God.
Awesome, describes an indescribable God, an incomparable God, a being above all beings, it measures an immeasurable grace. Awesome begins to identify the limitless characteristics of the only loving God.
When Someone lays His life for yours, when that Someone is Jesus and He takes your place on the cross, when He took the nails for you, when He took your guilt and exchanged it for His innocence, when He took the weight of your sins and traded it for His sinless life, you can begin to see His Awesomeness. It’s much more valuable than a car which can take you nowhere in the horrors of hell. It’s worth more than an expensive watch in a doomed eternity. How wonderful will your clothing be, or the senseless toys you dropped your money on where there’s no escape? Do you think anything will matter there? No, it won’t.
Only One Person made a way into the afterlife including hell. Only One Person made a way out of it and took the captives out (Ephesians 4:8). Only Jesus, the Eternal God, gets to wear the attire with the label AWESOME for all to see. Only His crown of thorns, rusted 5” nails and disfigured body perfectly describes absolute beauty and love fit for the King of kings.
God Bless,
Blessed Good Friday
Sam

When I was about 4, I remember one day my knee hurting. I hugged it close to me and said to my mom, “Me huele” (h is slient; short e sounds). My mom, who was sweeping/mopping, stopped, smelled it, and said, “I don’t smell anything.” I looked at her and then repeated my statement. She then said, “O, te duele.” “Huele” means smells, while “duele” means hurts. It was hurting and in need of TLC.
We’re a people hurting in different ways and hurting all over. Pain is not a friend. Even when it’s emotional or mental, it hurts. What if we could be done with pain? What if we could rid it forever? Imagine no one ever hurting us again. Imagine us not saying the wrong words again. Imagine not hurting others in any particular way, ever.
While Israel awaited a savior to physically deliver them from their enemies, God had other plans. Let’s see it this way: Suppose you finally rid your house of pests-rodents, ants, etc. You’d rejoice! When you’d think of your mortgage…you’d know you’re really not free. God wanted to bring freedom to Israel and to the world not only from its enemies, but from one hidden enemy invisible to the naked eye: sin.
God’s plan has always been to get ‘His baby back,” if you will.
The one thing that’s always hanging over us is a sinful nature. No one can escape it. It’s at work in our lives nonstop. Sin separated us from God in the garden. It hurt Him dearly.

Once a year, Israelites offered to God a sacrifice for the sins of the people-a spotless (perfect) lamb. That’s why Jesus, being God, came to earth by way of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary so as not to contaminate the seed. He came without sin. He lived without sin. His cousin John, at seeing Him said, “Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Being the perfect sacrifice, Jesus died in our place and freed us once and for all from the grip of sin. It was a horrendous death. If He moved, His nailed feet wouldn’t allow it. When He tried to shift His weight, He couldn’t. Tried to stretch His arms, they were nailed in place. He couldn’t stop the flow of the blood running down His face from the thorny crown. Yet, through it all, it is believed He whispered your name and mine. Definitely, You were on His mind. It was His love for you that kept Him up there. You see, He could have chosen a different way to die, but didn’t. He could have chosen any time in history, yet chose the one He did. He chose to hurt over us to remind us that true love hurts and that true love is based on sacrifice. His sin offering is free for the asking. No, He won’t die again, and no, it isn’t automatic. You need to repent of your ways and like a prize, claim it.
How much time do you have? “For God…is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2Peter 3:9b). Time is running out. Today is the day of salvation. What a great testimony to say, “I gave my heart to Jesus on Good Friday.”
There will be no pain or suffering in heaven!
God Bless,
Sam

Remember those early days of your teenage years? Especially those when you were young and in love? There were butterflies in the tummy, feelings of nervousness. Maybe you were anxious and had feelings of anxiety. There were days of puppy-love, of falling in love for the first time. Days when you wondered if you were going to be liked. You wondered if he’d find you pretty, or good-looking. Or, maybe you were in love for the umpteenth time and still were uncertain of the future. Those years of growing up were tough ones!
But maybe somethings haven’t changed! You might still be uncertain of the future. Doubt, fear, assurance, etc. can linger when one is in love.
I remember feelings brought about by love songs of my day.
I remember the words: “Can it be I stayed away too long; did I leave your heart while I was gone?” (The Jackson 5-I Want to Be Where You Are).
I remember how my heart jumped when I saw that special girl. I remember the churning in my stomach, the butterflies, the insecurities, gathering my nerves to speak, at the same time, having the desires to hide! All symptoms of love. It’s amazing, but one can hear a particular song that will automatically place us 20, 30, or 50 years back in time to special moments and special places. We get transported back to where we were, how we felt, things we said. We instantly become young again. We relive occasions we may have forgotten about. We picture everything from scents to clothing, to feelings and thoughts perhaps buried under layers of memories and different, or new experiences.
Love songs can remind us of painful past experiences as well as tender loving moments. We might recall falling in love, getting engaged, even married, or breaking up and lots of heartaches. Loving moments can be extremely vivid.
Those experiences/memories help shape how we now love others. New and great love songs can heal our past. They can push us ahead to where we currently are in life; to where we live. How’s your heart? Is it rejoicing with newfound love? Is it still reeling? Is it crying about days gone by- years gone by?
I remember a poem of long ago that went:
“I once had a heart and it was true but now it is gone from me to you. Take care of it as I have done ‘Cause you have two and I have none.”
Maybe, that’s where you find yourself these days: broken, taken advantage of, beating yourself with one of those mechanical legs attached to a rope you pull on and it gives you a swift kick right in the but-tushki.
I hear you. God can feel your pain.
Be of good courage, greater days lie ahead.
Like a clock ticking away telling time, our hearts beat and pulse to the rhythm of love. Try singing this song
“Lord, I give You my heart, I give You my soul,
I live for You alone. And every breath I take,
Every moment I’m awake, Lord, have Your way in me.”
(Hillsong Worship-This Is My Desire).
Although Chief Joseph died of “A Broken Heart,” it didn’t compare to Jesus.’ Jesus had His heart broken by the entire world. God’s heart also was shattered.
Yet with a loving heart and open arms, He still loves you and waits for you. His Valentine’s message to you is: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways” (Proverbs 23:26). Let Him know you love Him today. It’s fine if you ate the chocolates, He only wants the heart.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God Bless,
Sam

Softly we ran through the snow. It was a game of two-hand touch football. The snow was 16” deep. The winds howled. Hail rained on us. We ducked our heads and took giant steps in and out of the snow. We covered a few feet of ground with each run before feeling the exhaustion. As we tried to look up, the cold snow bit into our faces. Ice-cold winds cut deep into the skin. We stuck our tongues out and tasted flurries. But we trudged on. We passed the ball, we tackled each other. It wasn’t about winning; it was about fun. It was about seeing how far we could get by raising our legs as high as possible to take one step. We fell on our faces. We fell on our backs. We stared at the skies with nearly-closed eyes and swallowed the silence around us.
Our heads felt as if we were spinning. It was as if we were in a movie where the camera man is circling around us capturing our every move. We could stay there all day had it not been for our freezing feet. Hail beat upon us and we shielded our faces with our freezing hands. Our pinkish ears felt like they might fall off. Then we laughed! We screamed! We knew that in the silence no one could hear us. “I’m heading home to warm up” I said. “Me too!” said another. “Yep!” was the consensus. No score and no losers, for we were all winners. We had tasted the coolness of snow. We had basked in its chill. We had rested in its depths. We had looked into God’s treasures of snow and hail; we had felt His Hand upon us (Job 38:22).
Have you been touched by His hand? Have you fallen on your face before Him? Have you entered into His secret rooms? Do you know Him well enough to share your secrets with Him?
When you do, you’ll want to bask in His presence. You’ll want to lay on your back and feel His caress. You’ll feel His touch upon your face. You’ll be a winner, but only after you lose yourself in Him. You’ll feel yourself spinning in circles. God’s always there; always here like a cameraman admiring you from every angle. He can’t get enough of you! Go ahead, laugh, scream with joy and excitement because He loves you! The One whose treasures include snow and hail, has you at the top of His list! He also has treasures of blessings in disguise for you. Let Him snow upon you! Throw the ball, take a shot. He’s making a pass, go deep. Catch it!
Now go home and warm up. Get ready for tomorrow; more snow is on the way.
God bless!
Sam

One wintry day back in ’76 or ’77. I rode to work as usual with around 6” of snow on the ground. My ride on Bushwick Ave. totaled about three miles each way. It was cold and windy. I wore my large army coat which repelled water and snow. It was great for fighting the wind-chill-factor. On my back I carried an army knapsack. It was rugged and strong. It carried extra clothing for the weather as well as emergency items.
On the way home that afternoon, we were getting hit by a snowstorm expecting another 10” making visibility very difficult. My ride from Flushing Avenue to Myrtle Avenue was an uphill one. After that it leveled out for the next two miles before going uphill again. Aware that I could not ride the bike, I began walking home. Just past Myrtle, a motorist, trudging along at about 5 mph. and finding himself right next to me, leaned over, lowered his passenger-side window, and said, “Oh, I see, some people walk their dog, but you walk your bike!” Dumbfounded, and before I could explain, he laughed and moved on.
Sometimes, our walks are long. Sometimes, they’re through pouring rain. Other times, they may be through scorching heat. They might even be like that day, through a storm. Whether you’re walking through puddles (lots of tears), deserts (finances dried up), snow drifts (bills mounting), or slush (all stressed out), remember these famous lyrics of long ago:
“And he walks with me and he talks with me And he tells me I am his own And the joy we share as I tarry there None other has ever known.”
Jesus makes the walk more pleasant-whether you’re walking a dog or walking a bike. And while He’s there walking beside you, allow Him to carry your knapsack loaded with your worries, problems, and sins. He’s going your way. Above all, remember to laugh in the midst of your storm.
*In the Garden by C. Austin Miles, 1913
God Bless!
Sam