Grace for Your Journey

Last week in worship I had a vision in which I saw Jesus standing tall, looking at each of us. His eyes blazed with light, his mouth wide with a smile.  Individual beams of light shown out from his eyes, each directed towards a person, straight and unwavering. I realized these beams of light were illuminating each person’s path, with God radiating His love and affection towards them, while at the same time drawing the person back to Himself.  Occasionally a person would get distracted or lose focus and wander off this “narrow” path for whatever reason.  When this happened, the path of light would widen out to where the person was.  Then a very subtle, gentle wind would start blowing them back toward the center of the path.  The wind was so gentle that it could be resisted, and not always recognized if you weren’t paying attention.  God was seeking to get their attention, but with a whisper.  And I sensed in His patience He would continue to nudge them as long is it took, without feeling anxious or upset with them.   When I was a young parent watching my children wander away from doing what I thought was best for them, I didn’t always respond with a “subtle, gentle wind”.  Often, out of fear or impatience, I would try to control the situation.  But our Jesus never responds out of fear or a need to control us.  And I could see, as He continued watching with those eyes filled with joy and affection, His smile never left His lips.  He wasn’t worried.  He had total confidence that the wind of His love would find His sheep, every time, with patience, with kindness, with truth.   His love is understanding, generous and constant.  His grace is sufficient, and He is gracious to extend help to us even when we don’t recognize the help for what it is, as He guides us along our journey in this world. I pray we all continue to grow in recognizing the grace that is extended to us every day.  As Graham Cooke would say, God is not looking for us to make a mistake, He is looking for opportunities to give us an upgrade! Love, Pastor Susan

Alive In Christ To Choose Loving Connection

Suzanne and I had the joy of going to four church services last weekend, one of them being Blazing Fire’s. Four different churches reflecting on the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus. Four distinct flavors and traditions all celebrating the indescribable gift of grace. It was the beauty of the Body of Christ—one body and many parts—each part fully alive because of the head, Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 1:22-23)   One of the many ways Jesus’ death and resurrected life has saved us is by making us one in him. By reconciling us to Himself, the Father’s dream was for his children to enjoy their oneness with the Trinity and thereby, enjoy their oneness with one another.   I share this because we’re living in a time when we’ve been very tempted by the enemy to make the choice to be right rather than choosing loving connection. Our flesh (i.e. our selfish ego) finds many reasons to divide. Far too many. Fear causes us to recoil and look for distance from those who don’t see life the way we do. The inherent problem with dividing ourselves from those who think differently is that we will isolate ourselves down to the lowest common denominator…and life with our own self can become very lonely.   We were meant to share life with people who are different than us which, by the way, would be every other person on the earth. Those who choose to be right over choosing loving connection with others will read this article and immediately begin to justify why protecting yourself from those who think differently than you is the better course of action.   Love is always the better course of action. Above and beyond the doctrines of what each of us believes about Jesus and about our own life’s purpose, is the person of Jesus Himself. What I’m saying is that the Scriptures were never meant as a weapon to cause division and disconnection, but to draw us more deeply into the very heart of Jesus who personally teaches us about the ways of love.   The Author of Love placed Himself within us because only love can overcome all fear (1 John 4:18) so that we can choose connection over isolation and polarization.   Jesus said, “I give you a new command: Love one another in the very same way that I have loved you!”   Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends, said, “Above all, preserve an intense love for one another.”  (1 Peter 4:8). Above everything else, do this one thing!   Paul, the writer of most of the books in the New Testament who was radically changed by a face-to-face encounter with Jesus, said, “Love never does the graceless thing; never insists on its rights, never irritably loses its temper; never nurses its wrath to keep it warm. Love’s first instinct is to believe in people; love never regards anyone or anything as hopeless; nothing can happen that can break love’s spirit. Love lasts forever.” (portions of 1 Cor 13 in Barclay’s Translation)   Loving each other, then, appears to be the biggest deal to God.   Remember that all transformation in our lives—the living Jesus within us—happens by grace! So, if you are willing, pray this (out loud preferably):   Father, soften my heart with your tender love. I choose, by your grace, to love others with the very same love you have for me. Holy Spirit, show me where I’ve made being right more important than loving connection. I choose to turn away from my flesh and yield to your life in me instead. Jesus, thank you for demonstrating on the earth what love looks like. As your follower, I am a new creation—one with you and with your life flowing through me. I receive your grace to walk in the fulness of your prayer (John 17:21) that we would all be one just as you and the Father are one.

The Devastating Beauty Of The Cross

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. - ISAIAH 53:4 & 5 -

There was a particular Saturday, a couple years back, when I was not feeling like I would be able to lead worship that night. During the day I was carrying several burdens, struggles and even wrestling with some internal things that I considered to be sinful.  I remember feeling overwhelmed and like I would be a hypocrite and performer if I attempted lead others to adore Jesus that day. My attempt to get out of leading failed.  Not all that long before the service I was crying out to God for help and repenting also.  There was this beautiful moment when God broke in with a clear picture and placed it in my heart and mind.  I saw myself in war trenches, covered in mud and as broken as broken can get.  My thoughts went to what it's like for men who have been in those trenches together.  They hold each other up.  They wildly encourage each other to keep going.  They see each other in the most vulnerable, broken and gritty place possible and still move to protect.  They still have a love for each other that's unique.  They come out of that situation with a bond unmatched by other bonds.  Jesus spoke to me that He was in the trenches with me.  He showed me that He is right there in the grime and agony of the struggle and He wants to walk me into victory....into freedom. Somewhere in this vision I began to see the cross. Jesus likened the devastation of the pain, suffering and intense burden of everyone's sin to being in the trenches with me...with us. I saw how beautiful this sacrifice is, how beautiful such a friendship is, how beautiful such a love is.  And I saw how devastating and absolutely gnarly the same moment is.  The overwhelming beauty of Jesus' acceptance of me right where I was caused my heart to become so so tender that I couldn't wait to worship Him as deep as I could. I felt so honored that He allowed me to take others with me, even on such a day.  We can talk about this every Easter season and always in between, but none of us quite grasp the fulness of what was done for us and how it is a reality right now, even in the muddy, scary trenches.  Bless you all as you reflect on what Jesus took away from you and how He did it...and as you rejoice in the new life that sprang up from the ground!!! Love, Todd