Palm Sunday Prophecies Fulfilled

 by Barbara Latta

Palm Sunday Prophecies Fulfilled

Old Testament Prophecy

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off, and He will speak peace to the nations. (Zechariah 9:9-10).

New Testament Fulfillment

And brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats and the others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest (Matthew 21:7-9).

The people of Jerusalem did not understand that the prophecies about the Messiah spoke of two appearances. He came the first time as the Savior and brought spiritual peace between God and man. But the last part of the prophecy in Zechariah spoke of His return, not on a donkey, but on a white horse as the conquering Judge who will rule with a rod of iron and bring political peace to all nations (Revelation 19:11-15).

Israel expected the Messiah to overthrow Roman rule.

The praise-filled words during the entry into Jerusalem had faded into curses and blasphemy as the crowd didn’t get what they wanted. Rome was still in charge and their Messiah had let them down. While He hung on the cross, Jesus heard mocking words, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself.” What they didn’t understand was he didn’t come to save Himself; He hung there to save them.

Only those who believed witnessed the resurrection. Doubt caused unbelievers to continue to wait for the salvation from God they didn’t know had already transpired.

Unbelievers still doubt the validity of His deity and the truth of the prophecies. But the triumphant return is closer than ever before.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Feel free to share your thoughts.

Palm Sunday prophecies fulfilled (click to tweet)

Declutter Your Space, Declutter Your Mind

by Barbara Latta

Spring gives us beautiful flowers and plants, soft rainy days and warm weather. This is the

Declutter your space and declutter your mind

time we come out of hibernation like a sleeping bear and the mood changes. I ache to get my fingers in the dirt and start the wee seedlings that will sprout into a beautiful garden. But I also see the things piled up over the winter months and spring cleaning lists start forming. I don't look forward to the work involved, but I do anticipate completing the goal of a more organized space. 

This year I chose two words as the focus of my life. One was to get a deeper revelation of the word love—as in the love of God.

The other was organize. I wanted to get my home and computer files de-cluttered and avoid the frustration of lost items. I was spending too much time trying to find things. A move last year didn’t help, because even with labeled boxes I was still on the hunt for items and frustration was mounting.

Organization expert Peter Walsh, author of Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight states that clutter could be preventing us from reaching our goals. “Clutter is anything that gets between you and the life you want to be living…that could be physical stuff …or any of those mental or emotional things that cripple you or put a hurdle between you and your goals…if you focus on the stuff you will never get organized because it’s not about the stuff.”

With that said, we need to examine our hearts and determine what is causing the pile-ups and messy stacks in our homes. Are we keeping things because of an emotional attachment, or are we following in Scarlet O’Hara’s footsteps and saying, “I’ll think about that tomorrow?” (I'm guilty!)

Keeping something we have no use for is creating clutter. Clutter in the space is also clutter in the mind. When spaces are neat and organized we will have more internal freedom which promotes clearer thinking.

Remember how much better you feel after cleaning out a closet or desk drawer? Just looking at that nice organized space fills us with the feeling of accomplishment.

Before bemoaning the fact of tackling the whole house or office, think baby steps. Start with one room and in that one room start with the desk, or file cabinet or dresser drawers. Matthew 25:23 tells us, You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things (NKJV). Starting small is the first step to organizing the entire space.

These tips are helping me as I start this project for the year:

Women's History Month - Remembering Heroic Women

By Barbara Latta

While the names of famous founding fathers come to mind when thinking of the Revolution,

Women's History Month 2018

the influence numerous women had on the outcome of the war goes unnoticed. Without these heroic females, battles would have been lost, more soldiers would have died and many messages not transported across enemy lines.

We will never know every act of the thousands of women who gave aid to husbands, fathers, sons and soldiers during the birthing of our nation, but Women’s History Month is an apt time to remember their brave sacrifices.

3 Keys to Staying Positive When Negativity Surrounds You

by Barbara Latta

Shootings, natural disasters and political criticisms from each side bombard the airwaves

To survive meltdowns we must re-focus.

each time we click the power button on any device. Our world is falling apart, but that doesn’t mean we need to follow and disintegrate. But how can we stay positive in a negative world and combat fear when tragedies abound?

Jesus told us, These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NKJV). For us to survive the meltdowns happening every day we must find ways to re-focus our attention on what is truly important.

We live in a physical world and we have physical needs and physical attacks. But our reality is in the spirit world because that is who we really are. Worldly and material things will someday pass away, so when we focus mainly on what is happening to us in the physical realm we are neglecting the most important aspect of our being.

Here are 3 keys to staying positive when negativity surrounds you: