Love shows up

In a week where millions of people will spend a lot of money trying to reveal how much they care for their loved ones, I want to teach you a little secret. You actually don't have to spend much money at all. The Bible teaches us this simple truth - LOVE SHOWS UP! Jesus showed up when all seemed lost and he made his love clear to everyone. Our response is to 'show up' in our love - shown towards God and others. 

The writer of Psalm 30 expressed his understanding of God's love in this way:

² Lord my God, I called to you for help,and you healed me.
³ You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.

 

⁶ When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”
⁷ Lord, when you favoured me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (Psalm 30)

 

In every way possible, God shows up!

How will we respond?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Rescued for a purpose

"So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful." - Jude 1:5

I find this verse quite hard to fathom in some ways - it leaves me feeling a little uneasy. It could give the notion of God as a revengeful tyrant, who delights in squashing his subjects. However, I believe it is good to read it with the background understanding of God's great compassion and mercy. 

It is true that the Lord rescued the Israelites from Egypt and later he condemned the disobedient to death, but it was because they chose to turn their backs on the Lord. All the promises the people made were broken through their own disobedience and this left the Lord with very little choice, but to discipline that generation. Jude is remind the people of how the old Covenant relationship was all about promises and consequences. 

Thankfully, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has now atoned for our sins and we can turn to Jesus as our Rescuer and Saviour. For all who receive this gift, we are given a renewed hope and opportunity to show our allegiance to God. 

For this reason, I believe we need to honour the second chance we have all been given.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Fight with everything

"Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish." - Jude 1:3 (The Message)

Living as Christ-followers is becoming more and more complicated. We are definitely moving into a time where we will need to 'content' more for our faith. Of course, this doesn't mean that we have to attack people, but rather be willing to stand up for what we believe in and to 'guard' the gift we have been given.

What does this verse mean for you in this time of your life?

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." - Winston Churchill

Living in Grace

D3LM3

More and more

"I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, 

who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love." - Jude 1:1

Sometimes when I begin to write a letter, or even a blog post, I wrestle with how to start. What opening sentence would get the letter going, or convey the right tone of the contents. As I read through the letter of Jude I am struck by how he gets it spot on. Just the very thought of someone asking God to bless you with "more and more" of something amazing - that gets my attention. In this instance, Jude asks that God would give us more:

Mercy

Peace 

Love

I can live wit that!

May you receive some of God's mercy, peace and love today. And once you have recognised those gifts, may God give you more and more!

"When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness... all the good things." - Maya Angelou

Living in Grace

D3LM3

God is in touch with our reality

I am sure that there are many times where we feel God may have lost touch with our reality. Today's scripture passage was such a great reminder to me, that God IS still in touch with us. Jesus is our High Priest and we can approach his throne of Grace with great confidence:

"Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help." - Hebrews 4:14-16 (Message)

"But Jesus the Son of God is our great High Priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us; therefore let us never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned. So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need." - Hebrews 4:14-16 (Living Bible)

I have added the Living Bible translation of this passage because I love the words in bold - Let us never stop trusting in him.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Purpose of prayer?

Have you ever considered this question? "What is the purpose of Prayer?"

There are many different answers to the question and I think a lot of them would be correct:

Communicating with God
Handing over our problems to God
Waiting on the Lord
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Here is another response that I stumbled across in my sermon prep. It is from George Knight - "Prayer for Jesus was not an end in itself. Rather, it involved preparation for the task ahead. After he prayed Jesus arose to preach and heal throughout Galilee..."

William Barclay seems to agree - he says that "prayer will strengthen us for the tasks that must be done."

What do you think and feel? Please let me know if you have time.

Colossians 4:12 - "Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Taking risks

One of the books I have just finished is The Choice, by Edith Eger. When you understand the pain and trauma she had to endure as a teenage prisoner of war, surviving the hell of Auschwitz, then her words make a huge impact on your life. 

Edith embraces the desire to forgive and to work hard at allowing healing to take place. In her book she never glosses over the journey of healing and the commitment to live a better life. One of the things she wrote really stuck with me:

“Taking risks doesn’t mean throwing ourselves blindly into danger. But it means embracing our fears so that we aren’t imprisoned by them.”― Edith Eger, The Choice

Here are a few other insights she shares in her book.

“We can’t choose to vanish the dark, but we can choose to kindle the light.”

“Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief.”

I am grateful that Jesus has offered us the gift of healing and forgiveness. Jesus took numerous risks and I know that following him is also a risk worth taking.

Luke 7:9 - "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

Living in Grace

D3LM3