The One Thing - by Susan Fochler

When David said in Psalm 27:4, that “the one thing I seek above all else;  … living with him every moment in his house, finding the sweet loveliness of his face, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace”,  he meant that more than winning a battle against Saul, more than becoming the king, more than fame and wealth, he wanted to live in the presence of the Lord every day of his life.   David knew this was not to simply be a transactional relationship but an intimacy in knowing, enjoying and beholding Him, recognizing His beauty, glory and love.  And as we read in Song of Solomon 2:`14, God is calling us into the secret place not just that we would behold Him, but that we would experience Him beholding us;  for he wants to see our face, hear our voice; it may be hard to believe, but He actually finds us sweet and lovely!   When I first got saved, I came to Jesus out of an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame, simply because I felt so unworthy of love.  I deeply yearned to be freed from my prison of depression, and hoped, somehow, Jesus would “fix” me.  I had no grid for a heart to heart connection with Him, or anyone as far as that goes.  It was like I invited Him into the entryway of my heart, but no deeper. It wasn’t until years later, as I was introduced to Holy Spirit and hung around people who engaged in passionate worship that I began to realize Jesus wanted to be invited into every room of the house of my soul.  What a difference that made!    I began to spend time simply enjoying Him, and started to realize how much Jesus wanted to be with me too.  The “one thing” Jesus invites us into is the realization that being in His presence is the sweetest, most satisfying place we can live from.  And it is not for now and then, but a living experience available to us every day, every moment of our lives.  It is a simple awareness that once we have said “Yes” to Him, God gives us the key to His heart.  That means, the door into His presence is always open.  As I look back on my earlier life, I can see how filled with self-hatred and self-rejection I was.  I didn’t know how to respond when kindness was extended to me.  I couldn’t believe it was really true that someone could care so deeply and actually want to be with me.  As I have gradually learned to accept myself, It’s become easier to believe He wants to fully indwell the house of my soul, not out of obligation but because of the high value God has for me.  If we struggle to believe we are lovable, it can be hard to believe God wants  to be with us.  If that’s you, this is where grace becomes our only sufficiency.  Psalm 84:3 says that even the “sparrows and swallows” belong in His courts, how much more a child made in His own image, like you?  Jesus has laid down a red carpet of His sacrificial love and grace straight into the throne room.  Come with confidence into His welcoming arms With Love, Susan

Better Than Our Best Understanding - by Jason Clark

Two thousand years ago Jesus was a living expression of perfect theology. His life, death, and resurrection revealed exactly what God is like. And God was not like what we thought He was like.   Jesus seemed to do stuff God wouldn’t do. He also often seemed to contradict scripture. He was counter-cultural, challenged cruel ideology, and confronted punishing theology. He was simply better than our best understanding, and often offensively so. For instance.   He healed people on the Sabbath, something many were convinced God wouldn’t do. “Stretch out your hand,” Jesus said, and the man with a shriveled hand “stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.” And many of those who believed they knew best what God was like, were murderously offended. They “went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”(See Mark 3:1-6)   Jesus seemed to value children more than His disciples thought God would. “Let the little children come to me…” He said, confronting His disciples who were in the midst of rebuking parents. “Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (See Matt 19:14)   Jesus’ kindness and mercy toward women, especially those most oppressed, was offensively better than what the Pharisees thought about God’s kindness and mercy. “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!” they thought with their hierarchy of disdain. (Luke 7:39)   Jesus even valued gentile women in a way God surely wouldn’t, “tell her to go away… she is bothering us” the disciples said. But Jesus ignored his disciple’s offense, engaged with the woman’s faith, and released eternal life. He was offensively better than how His followers thought God should be. (See Matt 15:21-28)   And remember when Jesus didn’t call down fire on that village? Remember when He didn’t savagely rain down holy hell on men, women, and children even though His disciples not only believed it was something God would do, they wanted God to do it. They even had biblical precedence to support their malicious offense when Jesus confronted them saying, “you know not what kind of spirit you are of.” (See Luke 9:55)   And Jesus didn’t cruelly punish that woman caught in adultery even though those who had dragged her naked before Him were certain that’s what God would do. They were so convinced that they had already picked up rocks as willing accomplices. They too pointed to scripture to justify the us or them, for or against, punishing spirit they participated in. And yet Jesus said, “where are your accusers” and there were none, not even God. (See John 8:10) Even on the cross, torn flesh, bones out of joint, a death rattle in His lungs, Jesus just kept offending us with God’s goodness. “Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” He said, even though it sure as shit seemed like they knew what they were doing. (See Luke 23:34)   Jesus constantly did things that were better than how humanity believed God would do them. Even better than how the Bible seemed to describe what God was like. And all along the way, in every act of Greater Love, in every expression of kindness, in every interaction of forgiveness, mercy, and grace, Jesus offended people with how good He believed God was. Especially those who thought they knew God best.   And nothing has changed.   Humanity has always had ‘god-boxes.’ We have often demanded God’s goodness fit within our capacity to comprehend. We measure His forgiveness through our insecurity, fear, and shame. We balance His grace with our often-cruel thoughts about Him and ourselves. We determine the measure of His mercy and kindness based on our finite thoughts about mercy and kindness. And we use the word justice to make God small. Mankind has been submitting the goodness of God to our broken experiences since the fall. But thankfully, Jesus is the goodness of God revealed, and He climbs inside every god-box we create and blows them up from the inside with His goodness. Jesus continues to reveal that God is better than our best understanding, even better than our best Biblical interpretations. And He continues to confront our certainties with the Cornerstone of all certainty, Greater Love…

There In The Middle - by Karena Lout

“Beloved, we are God’s children right now; however, it is not yet apparent what we will become. But we do know that when it’s finally made visible, we will be just like him, for we will see him as he truly is.” 1 John 3:2   We’ve all received prophetic words and promises that we haven’t seen fulfilled in our lives yet. The waiting can sometimes cause pain, disappointment, and disillusionment. Paul told the Galatians that he felt labor pains until he would see Christ fully formed in their lives. We live in the tension of “the already and not yet.”   “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:28 (The Message)   Isn’t it comforting to know that Jesus acknowledges our condition? What is God developing and forming in you? He is right there with you in the middle of your story.   While we’re waiting to see some things come to pass in our lives, it’s also important to recognize what God is doing right in front of us. So many didn’t recognize Jesus when he came to earth because they had preconceived ideas about what their Messiah would look like. Our prophetic words and promises might not always come in the form we thought they would. God is always bigger than the boxes we try to build around him.   I encourage you to take some time and ask Jesus, “How are things working FOR me and not to me?” I’m confident he will show you how he’s already fulfilled promises in your life and he will be faithful to you in your tomorrow.   Love, Karena