Jesus knew that His mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture He said – “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. When Jesus had tasted it He said – “It is finished !” Then He bowed His head and released His Spirit. (John 19:28-30 NLT)
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17 NLT)
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming !
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 10 days ago – I took a nearly spontaneous day trip over to Lakeland. I briefly considered Lakeland as a retirement location several years ago. It’s a rapidly growing city (and metropolitan area) along I-4 between Tampa and Orlando with all of the big box stores and chain restaurants – and all of the traffic that goes along with it. Located just shy of 60 miles from home near Sebring – some 125,000+ residents call Lakeland home, but perhaps close to 800,000 people live in its metro area.
This short day-trip served a few purposes. I wanted to experiment with a somewhat non-traditional way of driving to Lakeland – by staying on U.S. 98. (My neighborhood is located along the concurrence of U.S. 27 and U.S. 98.) About 14 miles north – U.S. 98 splits away from U.S. 27 and heads westward to U.S. 17 where the two old U.S. highways form a concurrency to Bartow. (U.S. 98 then continues northwestward by itself to Lakeland and beyond.)
It was a nice drive along U.S. 98. I actually enjoyed a late-Breakfast at a popular local diner in Fort Meade. I think I may have driven through Fort Meade on a previous road-trip many years ago. It deserves its own edition of #TravelThursday, as I’d like to explore more of this historic small town – including the Museum presented by my brothers and sisters at the Historical Society of Fort Meade.
(On that day trip of 10 days ago – I ended up taking the more traditional route of Florida State Road 60 eastward from Bartow to U.S. 27 and then southward to return home.)
That day trip served as a “dress rehearsal” of the start of my upcoming retirement road-trip. It’s a road-trip that’s nearly 40 years in the making. I’ve frequently dreamed of taking a long road-trip clockwise around the perimeter of the country at the start of my retirement. I envisioned driving some 10,000 miles from Florida to Texas to California to Washington and then along I-90 from coast to coast across the northern U.S and then down the Eastern Seaboard back home to Florida.
My actual road-trip will be a much scaled-down version of those lofty dreams. I’ll be staying south and driving to and from North Texas via two different routes while mostly avoiding the Interstate. I’ll be journaling my life and times while on the road again. It’ll provide plenty of material for #TravelThursday through the next several months. I hope that you’ll hop along for a virtual ride !
Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about a couple of historic museums in Bartow Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back over 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday March 24TH 2024 – the 371ST week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:
PATRICK MAYBERRY – His 3RD hit in 2 years is now his 1ST # 1 smash atop my chart. “Lead On Good Shepherd” ascends to the pinnacle in its 16TH week on my chart. (It debuted in December.) It follows “Holy Spirit Come” (# 2) and “Easy To Praise” (# 6).
SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime simply by heading over to my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.
Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. God used loud music on the radio to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.
Be blessed my friends ! May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Greetings my friends. It is Sunday March 24TH 2024, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.
This is my 300TH edition of this weekly blog series known as #SundayScripture. When I started this series with the debut edition a little over 6 years ago on the last Sunday of February of 2018 – I never expected that it would continue this long. It has not just continued, but it has thrived and expanded. God had bigger plans for this series than I had, and He led me on this journey, and I kept following Him with His guidance and direction.
The next day – the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, “Praise God ! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord ! Hail to the King of Israel !” Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it – fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid – people of Jerusalem. Look – your King is coming – riding on a donkey’s colt.” His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory – they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him. Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb – raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet Him – because they had heard about this miraculous sign. Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look – everyone has gone after Him !”
The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem appears in all 4 Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Scripture above is from John 12:12-19, and that’s the New Living Translation (NLT).
I greet you each Sunday with the words of Psalm 118:24 – This is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it.
The next 2 verses right after that are quoted in John’s Gospel:
Please – LORD – please save us. Please – LORD – please give us success. Bless the One who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless You from the house of the LORD.
My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord, and get closer to Him with each new day.
If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !
Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:
The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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