Light Thrives in Darkness - Pastor Karena Lout

“A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched.”  - John 1:5 - The Voice translation -  Light seems to be the theme in my life lately. Whether I turn on the radio, open my bible or have a conversation with someone, light is mentioned. I recently spoke about human trafficking and the safe house I help at to some students from Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. After I spoke, one of the students told me, “Even though you’re talking about such a heavy topic, I could see light the whole time. You gave us permission to partner with hope.” Her words really encouraged me. Even though our world often feels upside down and there is so much injustice around every corner, my prayer is that I would see light increasing.   This increasing light can also be applied to our hearts. There have been times that I was afraid to uncover pain in my heart, fearing that I’d be judged, disappointed or left to deal with it on my own. It takes time and trust to believe that Jesus not only enjoys being with us on our “mountaintops” but also in our “valleys.” He IS light and in Him there is no darkness, so when we invite Him in, every corner and every space of our hearts gets illuminated with light. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.”  - Psalm 27:1 When my nephew, Zion was little, he had a difficult time pronouncing his name and would go around saying, “My name is Shiny.” As cute as that sounds, it’s true! You are shining ones. Even as you brave your way through the seemingly dark places, the light inside you will lead you home. I pray for courage to invite Jesus to shine light on the places of your heart that have felt untouched and hidden. As the light of His face shines on your heart, you will thrive through the throes of every storm that comes your way. I pray that you would experience that in greater measure than ever before.

A Little Patience Please by Pastor Todd Lout

The other morning an interesting, and rather humbling, thing happened at the gym.  Having just climbed stairs in place for 15 minutes, I made my way over to the next set of machines I like to use.  When I got there I could see that both of them were occupied so I changed up my stubborn routine to wait.  I spent a little time on the chest workout machine, which is positioned such that I can keep an eye on those other machines I was waiting for.  While there I could see that both people, whose backsides laid claim on those two machines, were not actually using them, but were staring at their phones…and staring at them…and staring at them…and staring at them, all while sitting on MY machines! There I was, sitting on that chest machine, starting to get all judgey, impatient and crabby and trying to use my eyes as an unfruitful poking stick to knock those two off of those machines.  I mean, how dare they take up all this time at a machine that someone else, (who they don’t even realize is there, giving them the eye from across the room), wants to use it?!? Then I felt something.  I felt a something coming towards me that was very familiar because it was the very something that I was doing, pertaining to those two ladies across the room.  There was a guy staring ME down.  He was staring me down because he wanted to use the machine I was sitting on, not using because I was sitting there judging other people for the same thing!  When I realized this I was apologetic, “Oh, I’m sorry.  I’m finished with this one.”, and left my perch….or judgement seat.  When I walked away I heard Holy Spirit in my heart, “Ya’ll do this in many areas of life.  You waste time being overly concerned with what other people are doing.  Doing wrong and otherwise.  All the while you aren’t moving forward.  You could have followed My lead on things, gotten My heart, My energy and wisdom.  Instead, you stay in one place and often duplicate the very things you don’t like…..but I love you all and I’m still here saying, ‘Come up here.  Come up now.’” Also, I was reminded of Matthew 7:1 - 5 (The message tells it more like I talk) “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. Here’s what this little incident spoke to me: “Toddy, remember that you have the fruit of the Spirit in you.  Patience and Kindness are two of them.  Let’s focus on those a bit more for the rest of today. I’m so proud of you for listening and being willing to grow.”  This was one of those times where I felt HIS correction and I welcomed it, knowing He has the best in mind for me.  Oh how He loves His kids so so much!

Jesus: The Slain Lamb, The Conquering Lion by Pastor Todd Lout

There are some seemingly contradictory themes in our beloved Bible.   For example, it tells us to seek God out:        *Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you see Me with all your heart.        *Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found.   - But then it also tells us that God and HIs traits are unsearchable:       *Psalms 143:3 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised!  His greatness is unsearchable.      *Job 5:9 God Who does unsearchable wonders.      *Eph 3:8 The unsearchable riches in Christ.        *Isa 40:28 His understanding / wisdom is unsearchable. These are mysteries that God actually invites us into, which requires intimacy with Him.  Lean into Him and come to know His heartbeat more and things will not only start making more sense, but the wonder of His depth and vastness will be revealed.  It also means that He is HUGE, TOTALLY OTHER THAN, so we are invited to just dive into Him and trust. Another such contrary concept is the Jesus is both the "Slain Lamb" and the "Conquering Lion".  In Revelation 5 we see an epic scene where God is holding a scroll with important revelations in it.  An angel announces a great search for anyone worthy to open this scroll and know it's contents.  The search explores all of Earth's history, all of Heaven and even Hell.  John is there, feeling stressed out that nobody worthy can be found.  Finally an Elder tells John, "Duuuuuuuude!  Stop cryin' dude.  Check out the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David.  He's the one we've been looking for!"  John turns to see this Lion, but rather, sees a Lamb that's been slain.   Right here in this scene Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 49:9 when Judah is referred to as a "lion's cub" and is the Messiah Who would come from the tribe of Judah.  As the Lamb of God He is the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin.   Why is Jesus the "worthy" one here?  Because He has conquered.  We know this because of the massive passion expressed on the cross, defeating your sin, my sin and the sin of everyone throughout history. But He continues to conquer as a lion in Revelation 19 where He returns to defeat all of God's enemies.  HE'S AMAZING!!  A lamb and a lion! Jesus is the Gentle Shepherd, Who takes care of us, fostering the tenderness of our hearts while also acting as our fierce bodyguard.  Oh yeah.  He's got our backs while nurturing us.  It's a beautiful, wonderful contradiction that we get to benefit from, because we are the darlings of creation.