Visiting my parents and siblings for this year's Easter holiday, I had the honour of capturing the excitement and anticipation of Easter morning surprises through the eyes of my 6 year old niece. With her pink pinafore dress all picked out with her matching little white hat and purse, she was already dreaming of what Easter's excitement holds, (but most of us know she is first pumped to gear up for the chocolate egg hunt that precedes the traditional church service.) I can remember those days well when my own rambunctious daughters where wide eyed and giggling with joy jumping through puddles in their rain boots to find oodles of chocolate eggs hidden by my adventurous treasure-trodding, choco-hiding hubby. We absolutely loved seeing the girls reaction when they'd find each and every one.
Imagine with me for a moment what our God in Heaven is like when we find His treasurers, His eternal promises as found in the Word and through a relationship with His son Jesus. It's one thing to go through the motions of Easter and focusing only on the finite blessings and traditions, it's quite another to grasp the profound reality of what the true meaning of Easter is all about and applying it to our faith journey...
Take the story of Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha. Although they were mourning his death while trapped in the temporal abyss of chaos they pleaded with Jesus. By doing so, they were reminded of what they truly believe as recorded in the book of John chapter 11:
Jesus proclaimed that He is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in Him will not ever perish but 'live again'.... A prophetic promise turns into a question when He asks Martha: "Do you believe this?"
It is a joy to reflect on my faith journey and realize that I serve a personal God who continues to ask me, asks us time and time again if we truly believe the promises outlined in scripture. God in His gentleman like way gives us the freedom to embrace all He has for us without forcing us to believe. But when we do- when truth and faith collide, It's a beautiful thing to experience and witness. That is why I am passionate about our vision: "The Restoration of Women". Leading WJOF for 15 years with such incredible team members, speakers and ministry partners has caused me to flourish in so many ways. True, there are other areas in my life that I continue to press on in faith to believe but I trust that He will answer those prayers in due time according to His plans and purposes and not mine...
Easter's promise of eternal life, resurrection power and hope beyond the grave can be appropriated to all we face on the journey. It is my prayer that we would look to the cross this Easter season and throughout the year and listen for the voice of Jesus himself whispering to our hearts when we experience doubt, tend to loose faith, become discouraged, wrestle with fears or deal with anxieties of many kinds... and hear Him ask us "Do you believe?"
Our theme verse for 2014 as well as for our 15th annual conference Flourish is taken from Proverbs 11:28 "...a God shaped life is a flourishing tree." It will be a new kind of treasure hunt to allow God to shape our lives by pressing on to find the answers for what we ache for, hope for... I pray that we will be giddy with excitement to keep searching, to keep or find for the first time that childlike faith required to flourish.
Founder and President of Women’s Journey of Faith , Jodi Kozan is passionate about our vision “the Restoration of Women”. She works diligently with her fabulous team to cast that vision through the many avenues since it’s inception in 1999. Excited to enter into our 15th year, WJOF shares the journey through Faith Stories, Journey Wings, our upcoming Israel Tour, and emerging partnerships with our speaker team and other incredible ministries throughout Canada to strengthen our vision...Restoration begins in the heart, extends to the family and seeks to infiltrate the world!
For more information about WJOF, visit www.wjof.com
Imagine with me for a moment what our God in Heaven is like when we find His treasurers, His eternal promises as found in the Word and through a relationship with His son Jesus. It's one thing to go through the motions of Easter and focusing only on the finite blessings and traditions, it's quite another to grasp the profound reality of what the true meaning of Easter is all about and applying it to our faith journey...
Take the story of Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha. Although they were mourning his death while trapped in the temporal abyss of chaos they pleaded with Jesus. By doing so, they were reminded of what they truly believe as recorded in the book of John chapter 11:
It is a joy to reflect on my faith journey and realize that I serve a personal God who continues to ask me, asks us time and time again if we truly believe the promises outlined in scripture. God in His gentleman like way gives us the freedom to embrace all He has for us without forcing us to believe. But when we do- when truth and faith collide, It's a beautiful thing to experience and witness. That is why I am passionate about our vision: "The Restoration of Women". Leading WJOF for 15 years with such incredible team members, speakers and ministry partners has caused me to flourish in so many ways. True, there are other areas in my life that I continue to press on in faith to believe but I trust that He will answer those prayers in due time according to His plans and purposes and not mine...
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| http://www.wjof.com/2014/ |
Easter's promise of eternal life, resurrection power and hope beyond the grave can be appropriated to all we face on the journey. It is my prayer that we would look to the cross this Easter season and throughout the year and listen for the voice of Jesus himself whispering to our hearts when we experience doubt, tend to loose faith, become discouraged, wrestle with fears or deal with anxieties of many kinds... and hear Him ask us "Do you believe?"
Our theme verse for 2014 as well as for our 15th annual conference Flourish is taken from Proverbs 11:28 "...a God shaped life is a flourishing tree." It will be a new kind of treasure hunt to allow God to shape our lives by pressing on to find the answers for what we ache for, hope for... I pray that we will be giddy with excitement to keep searching, to keep or find for the first time that childlike faith required to flourish.
Founder and President of Women’s Journey of Faith , Jodi Kozan is passionate about our vision “the Restoration of Women”. She works diligently with her fabulous team to cast that vision through the many avenues since it’s inception in 1999. Excited to enter into our 15th year, WJOF shares the journey through Faith Stories, Journey Wings, our upcoming Israel Tour, and emerging partnerships with our speaker team and other incredible ministries throughout Canada to strengthen our vision...Restoration begins in the heart, extends to the family and seeks to infiltrate the world!
For more information about WJOF, visit www.wjof.com
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