Being Dressed for Service

We all have heard different expressions about our “dress”.  A good portion relating to our jobs.  Some examples are come dressed appropriately for the type of work you will be doing. Or come looking professional.  If in the medical field come in your scrubs, they should be clean and pressed.  Your shoes should be clean and polished.  Your hair pulled back neatly.  When I started my nursing career nurses wore white.  I took great lengths to be sure my uniform was sparkling white, no wrinkles, white hose, and clean white shoes.  Now it is totally different.  Nurses wear many colors.  My husband worked in paper mills.  That is very laborious work, 8-12 hours per day.  He had to wear what the mill requested.  Heavy duty work pants, shirts with the mill emblem, and steel toe boots.  Our son is a professional musician.   He wears what is appropriate for the audiences they play for.  A lot depends on the venue.  No matter what type of work we do, it seems all of the jobs require a uniform.  And that uniform tells us to be neat, orderly, professional, and ready to perform our duties.  I would also include in these descriptions is to come prepared and dressed appropriately and with modesty.  

I can hear responses now, what does this have to do with serving God?  My faithful readers, plenty.  God has given us specific tools to equip us with.  He even tells us in Ephesians 6 what we must put on to be prepared.  

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Jesus tells us all through the Scriptures that He will send us a helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us understand.  He will give us tools to help us, He will teach us what we must know and how we should minister to those He sends us to.  These things are part of our uniform.  We must put them on to help us be ready.  

“Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭HSCB

Jesus cannot make it any clearer.  We do not have the goods to stand on our own.  We need Jesus to empower us, equip us, fill us with His Spirit, and to give us the knowledge and discernment to minister to others. We must put on our uniform that is ready to go, to enable us to do the work He has asked of us.

Now that we know how to dress and to prepare for the tasks that Jesus gives us we should have no excuse but to get up and go and do those things. We all have excuses, we all have things come up, some of us have illnesses, some of us have large families to take care of, some of us have crazy work schedules. I am totally convinced that Jesus will not ask us to do something that is physically impossible for us to do. He knows each of our needs, he knows our limitations, but he also knows exactly what it will take to empower us to complete the tasks he has given.

I’d like to encourage you this week to pray and seek the Lord. Ask Him what he would like you to do for Him and not for our ourselves.  I am quite sure that I am not alone when I think “I want Jesus to say to me well done good and faithful servant” .  

Holy Saturday

We have now gone through Holy Week and the Scriptures.  I do pray you all go through these posts again. And take in the love that Jesus has for you.  

By now, Saturday morning, we all know what happened to Jesus.  He was murdered, crucified, tortured on that cross so that we can have life.  So we can have forgiveness.  There is no more for me to say.  

I’d like you to listen to this song.  And more importantly, I’d like you to pray, ask Jesus to forgive you and cleanse you.  That is the only way to reach heaven for all eternity.  There is no in between.  Either heaven or hell. No magical island for you to sit on.  I choose life, for eternity.  

I ask you all to pray, and go to a Bible believing Church on this Easter.  There is no judgement.  Just those willing to accept you into their family.  Jesus Christ’s family.  

Part 6, GOOD FRIDAY

 Wow here we are to GOOD FRIDAY.  By early Friday morning Jesus was already arrested, had been before the Roman and Jewish authorities.  No one could decide on Jesus’ crime.  That is because He had no crime.  He was full of love.  Enough love for everyone.  And more.  

Early Friday morning Judas Iscariot was beside himself because of betraying Jesus.  He went to a cliff and hung himself. 

As the day moved along, must have seemed forever to all those who loved Jesus and followed Him, Jesus was beaten, scorned, mocked. He was whipped with rods that had burrs on them.  Jesus was beaten so severely that the flesh on His back was peeling off.  Not only all of that, they jammed a “crown of thorns” on His head.  These thorns weren’t little rose bud thorns.  They were at least 2 inches long.  They didn’t just place this softly on Jesus’ head.  They jammed it on him.  Blood streaming from every place possible on Jesus’ body.  Then they made Him carry the heavy cross to Calvary.  They continued to spit on Him, defame Him, and mock Him. 

How devastating this had to be for Mary, Mother of Jesus, His disciples and followers.  How much worse was it going to get.  Many wondering why Jesus didn’t save Himself.  Because of LOVE. 

By Friday afternoon. Some say near 3 PM, Jesus died on that cross.  I will post the Scriptures here for you to look up what took place that evening, before burial.  Then tomorrow will be my final posting of this mini series.  I hope you all have enjoyed it.  I wouldn’t normally do this, but I felt very strongly the Holy Spirit nudge me and encourage me to do this.  

Another thought- why is this called GOOD FRIDAY?  

The Bible account of Good Friday is found in Matthew 27:1-62, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 22:63, 23:56, and John 18:28; 19:37.

What’s So Good about Good Friday?; The Seven Last Words of Jesus

Don’t forget to read Part 1 again.  

May you feel the love of Jesus today and everyday.  

Part 5. Maundy Thursday: Passover and the Last Supper

 Jesus and the disciples were preparing for the feast of Passover, or commonly known as the Last Supper.

Jesus spoke with them and shared the meal.  He was telling the disciples it was His time.  This would be His last meal with them.  

Luke 22:15-16 Jesus explained communion and told them what the bread and wine stood for, and why it was so important.  Even to this day we share communion amongst our churches with one another.  Luke 22:19-20

After the meal, Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room and went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in anguish to God the Father. The book of Luke states that "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" Luke 22:44

Late that night in Gethsemane, Jesus was betrayed with a kiss by Judas Iscariot and arrested by the Sanhedrin. He was taken to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the full council had assembled to make their claim against Jesus. In the early morning, as Jesus' trial was beginning, 

We remember this being spoken about in our Scriptures earlier in the week, Judas betraying Jesus to the Sanhedrin. There were other events that took place also.  I have included those verses for you to look up on your own.  My goal is to keep this about Jesus and His promise to us

The Bible account of  Maundy Thursday is  Matthew 26:17-75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-62, and John 13:1-38.

I do hope this format has encouraged you and helped you dig in a little deeper about this whole week.  2 More days left after this.  I hope you join me in reading the verses and praying for others at this time.  Maybe you will come in contact with someone to invite to church for Easter services.  

The Holy Week part 4. Holy Wednesday

 Here we are to Wednesday already.  The Wednesday before Easter.  This day for Jesus and his disciples was less active than the previous days.  There isn’t a whole lot written about this day.  Jesus continued to teach the crowds.  And many thought that Jesus used this day to rest a bit, knowing what was to come.  And the disciples needed a day of rest as well.  There isn’t much scripture about this day’s events.  We know that Judas was out for his own gain.  He went to bargain with the high priests for giving up Jesus to them. MATTHEW 26:14-26.

While most people were preparing for the Passover meal the next day, the Chief Priests and Scribes were trying to figure out how they were going to kill Jesus.  

I wonder if any of them felt remorse in their heart before they even arrested Jesus?  

I pray that as you have your time with Jesus today, you ask Him to teach you something new in the Easter holiday.  Sit back, put your feet up, rest easy, and soak up what our Lord Jesus has for you today.  Amen.

Don’t forget to look at day 1again.  

  https://kathrynpacco.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-events-of-holy-week.html.