Hi friends! Can you believe it’s the end of March?! It’s our last week in “The Women of Easter” and I hope you enjoyed the book. I love how the author brought out such detail in her storytelling. It just added so much more to this incredible story.
Ok, here are the final discussion questions:
Chapter 7: At the Cross Her Station Keeping
*The author describes the perseverance the women of Easter had as they stayed with Jesus throughout His crucifixion and to the tomb. How does this challenge you in your own relationship with Jesus?
*“God looks at us not as blondes or brunettes or redheads or silver-haired saints, not as tall or short or big or small, not as gorgeous or pretty or average or homely. Those distinctions are human, not divine, and meaningless in the end. What matters to God is the relationship we have with Him.” (pg. 165-166) How does this statement make you feel? Does it free you from any self-imposed ideas on beauty and what matters to God?
Chapter 8: I Know That My Redeemer Lives
*Mary was commissioned by the Lord Himself to go and tell the good news. What was her response? Does her immediate obedience motivate you to “go and tell”? Is there someone in your life that you feel led to share the good news with?
*Which of the three Marys did you resonate with most? Is there an example from her life that you would like to emulate or that encourages you in your own walk of faith?
Scripture of the Week
John 20:15-18
Prayer of the Week
Father God, thank You for the example of these three women. Help us to be faithful in our walks with You, to be teachable and humble, generous and steadfast, courageous and willing to go and tell the good news. Thank You for Easter, for the joy and hope that we are able to have because of the resurrection. Help us to be women of Easter every day of the year, living in the freedom of the resurrection and worshiping You with the good news in our hearts.We love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
I hope you enjoyed this month’s book and that it helped prepare your heart for Easter! He is risen! Hope you have a wonderful Easter, my friend!
It has really been a blessing to read this book! It’s been great to take a closer look at some of the women Jesus loved and spent time with.
Seeing how these women persevered specifically during Jesus’ crucifixion really makes me question my loyalty to Him. It goes back to the questions: “What would I really do?” vs. “What do I think I would do?”
Many things in life try our patience, test our endurance. These women give us an amazing example of how to persevere. “They stayed and they stayed and they stayed…keep your eyes on Jesus.” (Page 163)
I consider myself a pretty loyal person, but these women take it to a whole new level. I think it’s important to point out though that they didn’t persevere in their own strength: the Spirit strengthened them to endure this heartbreaking time.
We cannot fathom God’s love for us: Jesus dying (and being raised to life! 🤗) so we can have relationship with Him. I feel extremely humbled by this – I don’t think of the extent of God’s love for me often enough.
Relationships take work. Human relationships are complicated, flawed, and exhausting a lot of the time. 🙃 But relationship with God is different: God has done all the actual work needed (Jesus coming, dying, and resurrecting) regarding my relationship with Him. How can I not want a relationship with Him?! I’m not saying we just sit and be idle; I am saying we need to recognize HOW this relationship functions differently than anything we have ever known or experienced. God wants a relationship with us and simply asks us to believe in Him and confess He is Lord and Savior…..He wants to know us and has made a way for us to know Him. Our “work”, if you want to call it that, is inviting Him into our lives.
Once we invite Him in, telling others is – or should be – a significant aspect of our new life in Christ. Mary Magdalene’s immediate response to “go and tell” is encouraging. I know I need to be bolder in sharing my faith. A lot of the time I’ll simply not go deeper in a spiritual discussion and be ok with providing general information for fear I may come across too extreme. But then I have to ask myself why I care about the approval of someone other than Christ?
I imagine Mary Magdalene didn’t consider what others would think of her if she shared that Jesus was alive. One could argue that because she had been demon-possessed, she wasn’t as trustworthy – and yet people could see that Jesus rescued her from this so she in fact had credibility.
Mary obeyed regardless if she would receive ridicule…I am trying to do the same.
Though I don’t think I’m as bold as this Mary (Magdalene), I think I resonate most with her because she’s complicated. 😉 I’m realizing I have many layers that I need to allow God to peel off or reconstruct. Everyone’s got a past (good, bad, or ugly) and Jesus can use every type for our own good and His glory. 🤗
I never realized before that Mary went twice to the disciples. First she went and they didn’t believe her and then she went back to the tomb and Jesus told her to go back to them. It was interesting that she knew she might not be believed again and yet she immediately obeyed Jesus and went and told. It tells me that we need to keep telling. We never know when that will be the time the Holy Spirit moves and belief happens.
Their perseverance is such an example to me because even though they didn’t understand what was going on they stayed faithful to Jesus and stayed firm through it all. I think they just had a firm grasp of His love for them and clung to it so tightly. And that’s how it should be in our lives too – our love of Christ propelling us to obey Him and thus go and tell. I just so desire to be a woman that clings to Jesus this tightly and never wavers! I want to decrease so much so that He increases in my life and is all that matters. It’s a work in progress and I’m grateful He has so much patience with me.