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Posts Tagged ‘Hope’

Brokenness to Beauty

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

God is truly the God of redemption. He is in the restoration and redeeming business. My experience shows that He does not go to work uninvited, but when we turn to Him in our brokenness, He is there. One of the most humbling aspects of grace is that no matter how many miles we wander away from a close relationship with Jesus, it only takes one step toward Him and He is there. The Psalmist described this beautiful idea in Psalm 139:7-12.

Where can I flee from your presence? What a powerful image of grace that should bring relief, peace and hope. God is always near – even when we don’t realize it. And He is always ready to bring about restoration and redemption when we ask.

Scripture reminds us that we are dead in our shortcomings and sin, but because of His great mercy, we are offered a new life – a restored life – a redeemed life in Christ. Jesus came, died and rose again to offer us that redemption. All we have to do is trust Him.

No matter how broken you may feel or how far you have wandered, turn to Jesus for His redemption and restoration. He is ready to create something beautiful from the pieces of your brokenness.

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What Is the Last Thing God Said To Me?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 15, 2024| 2 Comments »

Isn’t it interesting how fast life happens? As I sat down to put these words together, I realized how long it has been since I have offered any thoughts here. I get busy and priorities get bumped around like a pinball against the bumpers of an annoyingly loud pinball machine – if I allow. All of us get pressed into the rat race and we, once again, buy into the “do more, get more” mentality of the culture. Then a question comes along that stops us in our tracks – – “What is the last thing God said to me?”

Which immediately begs the question, “Does God still speak to us at all?” I believe that God does still speak – through His word, through others and through that still, quiet, inner voice. God is at work all around us each and every day. I have come to see that the issue of hearing from God is not that He is not communicating but rather that we are not paying attention.

When I slow down and consider what God is saying to me, it is intimidating. But it is an exercise that forces me to get serious about listening and reflecting on God’s interaction in my life. It should come as no surprise that as I have forced myself to pay attention and listen, what God has been saying to me for months now is, “Slow down! Breathe! Just trust me and be present with me.”

Even as I type these words, a mix of calm and peace and stress all swirl together. There is a true sense of relief and peace that comes when we slow down and become present with God. But, there is the constant nag of the pressure of getting things done that is incessantly calling for our attention. It takes effort on our part – discipline to slow down.

For me, I have committed to slowing down daily to listen. As you slow down and listen today, what is God saying to you?

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A Different Holy Week

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope, tagged , , , , , , , on March 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

How will this Holy Week be different from all those before? Or will it be different?

Perhaps, you focus on Jesus and His sacrifice every year. Perhaps, life halts for you at the cross while you stare up at the horrific scene and fully realize you have some responsibility for putting Jesus there.

There is an understandable tendency for believers to rush to the empty tomb. We read the resurrection story and we relate to Peter and John as they ran to see for themselves what they were being told – that the Savior was not there. Likewise, we rush to celebrate the empty tomb.

Make no mistake, it is good and proper to celebrate the resurrection – and come Sunday, we will!

But there would be no empty tomb apart from the rugged cross. The cross, by itself, would just be a terrible means of execution. But when we take the two together, we truly have something to celebrate.

That is why we must not rush to the empty tomb without first pausing at the foot of the cross.

Let the weight of the scene come to rest fully on your heart. Jesus endured torture, humiliation, rejection and death all because of love. It was the price of my sin and your sin that cost Him everything. How majestic the love that paid the ultimate price for us.

May this Holy Week be different. May our eyes be opened to the depth of His love and may our hearts be forever changed.

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Who and What You Trust Makes All the Difference

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, one of my readings was in the book of Psalms. Psalm 146 begins with a reminder that we are to praise the Lord each and every day – “all of my life” and “as long as I live,” the psalmist says. God is truly worthy of our praise and this season is a reminder of why. Because of His great love, God stepped into time and space and took on humanity – the Creator became part of His creation. And so we praise Him. Our gratitude and relief should spur us to praise each day.

The psalm then moves to a reminder of the importance of where we place our trust. Verses 3 – 4 of this psalm are the words that have haunted me since yesterday.

3 Do not put you trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.

“On that very day their plans come to nothing.” What a stark reminder of what matters in this life. We can easily fall into the trap of hustle to get more, to do more, to be more. We, in our humanity, are never satisfied with getting more and more. But at the end of our lives, none of that matters – it all ends in nothing.

There are two lessons I am processing from this verse. The first is as stated above, we need to make sure our striving is for what does not fade or rust nor for what thieves can break in and steal. Our striving should be for treasures laid up in heaven – striving to love Jesus and to show that love to others.

The second lesson is one of trust. Who do I trust? The “princes” of this world, we might use the word “influencers,” are not where we should place our trust. All human plans will come to nothing. All the scraping, working, striving and sweating will come to NOTHING. Placing our trust in people is trust that will always let us down.

The only one we can trust is Jesus. His love is trustworthy. His act of incarnation proves His love and the length to which He would go because of that love. Trust in Jesus is the only thing that will lead to all that matters.

So this Advent season, let your mind and heart move to a renewed focus on Jesus and the trustworthy love that He has for you. And let that focus result in praise.

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