As the dust settles

The anticipation of the Resurrection has been fulfilled. We arrived at this glorious reminder on Sunday morning. It is a miraculous sign of Hope in our world filled with darkness and fear. When the followers of Jesus thought that evil and death had won, God revealed his ultimate hand and raised Jesus from the dead. 

This miracle will keep perplexing us, just as it did the first eyewitnesses, but when the dust settles, we will need to live with conviction and belief. Of course, not all of us are like Simon Peter or John - some of us are more inclined to be like Thomas - but we are all given the choice to 'see and believe.' 

For the followers of Jesus, he is not a dead hero, but a living person. It would be very sad to follow someone who had their 5 minutes of fame but then faded into history. The story of Jesus is far more remarkable than that - and we are invited to witness to this miracle. 

For this to take place, I believe we all need an encounter with the Lord - this is where we are moved to faith. This is my prayer for you - may we all experience the Risen Lord.

Matthew 28:6 - He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.

He is Risen indeed!

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Meeting half-way

In his letter to the church, Paul urges them to "Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5)

The word gentleness gives us some idea of what he was getting at, but other translations of the Bible translate the original word as patience, softness, the patient mind, modesty, forbearance, or magnanimity. The nearest translation would be something like “let the world know that you will meet a person half-way.’

I think this is something that is severely lacking in our world today, yet Jesus went out of his way to encounter people in such a way. When Jesus showed gentleness to others it was always with the heart of compassion and bringing them into a living relationship with God. 

What do you think? 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Pulling us forward

Our encounters with God are never meant to be kept private, but rather to inspire us to share the good news with others. Each moment with Jesus is a further reassurance that God is with us and that he has given us all we need for the future. God's spirit lead us continually forward - and sometimes it is almost as if he is pulling us into the next stage of this adventure.

§       Melissa Bane Sevier - "We leave our place of worship, the reminder of our baptism, the ringing in our ears of the voice of God heard in the scriptures and the voices of our friends who encourage us, and we walk back into our everyday life, with a sure sense that God is pulling us forward."

Galatians 5:25 - Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Almost

Christmas is ALMOST upon us.
That word 'almost' is an interesting word, isn't? It speaks of a closeness, a nearness, and of something about to happen or of something that could happen in the future.

With Christmas ALMOST here, let us not let the word 'almost' apply to our acceptance of God's geneous love and peace. Wouldn't it be sad if we found ourselves saying:

"I almost believed in God's grace."
"We almost experienced the peace of Christ this year."
"I almost made amends with my loved one."
"We almost gave our hearts to Jesus."

Let us vow not to make our Christmas an 'Almost' encounter with God.

Romans 13:12 - "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."

Living in Grace
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