The Tension of Grace

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I read through the Beatitudes this morning and I was struck by how it parrelled with many thoughts I've been sifting through in my own mind the last couple of weeks:

Matthew 5:3-10

*Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

*Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

*Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

*Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

*Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

*Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

*Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

*Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

When I look back through the front half of these verses I see vulnerability, pain, fear, emptiness, boldness, courage and bravery; in essence I see humanity displayed. 

* Poor in spirit

*Mourning

*Meekness

*Hunger and thirsting

*Mercy and compassion

*Pure in heart (vulnerability)

*Peacemakers (those who go into hard and difficult places to pave a way for peace)

*Persecution for choosing the right way

These are the attitudes that Jesus calls blessed.  These are the empty, human places in all of our hearts that make space for God.  The second half of these verses show that it is in these empty places that God is going to come in and fill.  But what is not answered for us in these verses is the how and the when.  Just that it is.  

As I've ministered to individuals over the last 9 years I've found many sitting at the front end of these verses: those poor in spirit from traumatic pain in their past.  Those mourning because of lost dreams whether spiritual, emotional or relational.  Those hunger and thirsting for a deeper reality of God.  Those showing mercy over and over to loved ones and only left feeling hurt by the brunt of rejection.  And do you know how they often feel spiritually in these moments?  The answer is not "blessed."  The answer often is shame, fear, guilt and doubt.  They feel shame that they do not have enough "faith", guilt that their lack of faith has caused these situations to take place.  Frustration that they have a nagging need in their heart for more of God and that they haven't found "satisfaction."  But according to Jesus, these are not the emotions people have to feel during these seasons, they should instead feel "blessed"? 

What exactly is meant by "blessed?"  Is it a feeling? Is it an emotion?  As I stop to step back and look at it I don't think it is either.  Rather, I see it as a protective truth, that people should be able to tuck their minds into when they are in the midst of the first part of these truths.  Because the journey from part 1 of the verses to part 2 can take time and it can be painful and the only way to make it to the other side is by trusting God's heart.  But sadly, what has often been taught to people living in the midst of the first half is that God is disappointed in them, or He wants them to get their act together and so in their very deepest moment of need they end up turning to themselves to try and fix themselves instead of to God to receive the blessed truth of His healing grace in their deepest time of need.

I can give you one example from my own life.  When my niece, Nevaeh died - I "held it together" for a half year.  I knew that she was in heaven and because of that fact, I had "learned" that it wasn't really right for Christians to mourn.  The result of trying to ignore my humanity was that it began to reek havoc in my life. I became filled with fear, anxiety and depression.  It was a struggle to get out of bed every morning and I was in constant fear about my children.  Through a series of events God began to chip away at my religious walls and as I result I began to mourn.  I mourned deeply and I cried out in frustration, fear and pain. It didn't happen all at once.  It happened over a couple of years (and in fact continues to happen), but in each key moment when God put His finger on my heart, I have allowed myself to truly mourn.  And do you know what I received?  Not a pep talk of," Just get your act together."  Not rejection.  Not a lecture from God that I shouldn't question Him or have doubts or fear.  No, what I received was true, lasting, life-giving, healing comfort.  

Beloved, what I see when I look at Jesus, is God breaking through all the barriers, the misconceptions, the lies, the separation that kept us from understanding and accessing His heart and I see Him coming in taking on our humanity and showing us that God is able to meet us in our humanity.  What I don't see is Jesus showing us that humanity is a cinch and if you just try hard enough you will never experience pain.  Jesus wept before Lazurus' tomb, Jesus sweated blood before the cross, Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"  Jesus was not afraid to wear the fullness of humanity: the agony, the doubt, the fear, the loneliness, the rejection and at times the blindness to the hand of God.  Why? Because He knew that there was a second half to it: the place where God meets us and fills in our emptiness:

*theirs is the kingdom of heaven

*they will be comforted

*they will inherit the earth

*they shall obtain mercy

*they shall see God

*they shall be called the children of God

*great is their reward in heaven

There is a place of tension between part 1 and part 2.  And that is where Jesus steps in and gives us His grace,the enabling power of God.  So if you find yourself in the midst of part 1 of these verses I encourage you to hunker into the blessed protection of God.  He is not disappointed in you, He is not waiting for you to get your act together, He is not ashamed of you rather He says, "I've walked this way before you, I will now walk beside you and yes, I will even walk behind you (Psalm 139:5)."  Fear tells you that if you open yourself up like this - to being real and not holding yourself together - you will fall flat on your face and perhaps find out that in fact God isn't real.  But Jesus, says no, if you open yourself up in this way, you will find God and that He is big enough to meet you in your deepest, darkest places of agony and fear.

In Christ,

Jaime

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Spiritual Editing

One of my favorite characteristics of Jesus is that He is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).  I have always thought of this as a "future" truth that Jesus is busy writing the next page of my faith... but as a writer, I began to view it more fully.  Whenever I write, I am always going back, making edits, moving paragraphs around, refining what I have said and deepening it.  Thinking about this helped me to realize that editing is a natural and necessary part of the process. 

As I sat before His Word this morning, I felt like I was going in for an edit.  Some rearranging needed to take place in my mind, some clarification and some renewal.  As a human author, I enjoy the process of reworking my words, strengthening what I have said, deleting confusing paragraphs, etc.  As the author of our faith, Jesus uses our time in His presence to edit us.

"Lord, how do you edit our stories?" The process He uses is called grace.  See we are a work of art, an entity. But within our being lies patches of confusion, misunderstanding and chaos. When we come in for an edit the Lord doesn't scratch the whole thing, nor does He get frustrated and disappointed that work needs to be done. Instead, I believe He smiles, grateful that we've come to work with Him and that He actually enjoys the process of filling in the gaps, removing sources of confusion, adding detail and understanding to truths that were already there. 

I know that there have been seasons in my life where I have dreaded going before His Word. Sometimes it has come out of fear of what I might hear.  Other times, it has felt like a lifeless duty. But the more I have grown in understanding God's great love I truly treasure these times in His Word and it has become as necessary for my ability to function as food and water. 

My prayer for this post is: if you've been absent from spending time in His Word for whatever reason that you would see His heart towards you and His call to come:

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In Christ,

 

P.S. If you are looking for a way to get into God's Word check out Daily Prayer.

Symposium of Psalm 103

My morning prayer this morning included Psalm 103.  This Psalm is all-encompassing of the Gospel message; for me it is centering and life-giving.  I've written on it several times and since it blessed me this morning, I am including my post that combines my reflections on this particular Psalm:


As you read, you will notice that this Psalm starts out with bless the Lord, O my soul.  In the beginning, it appears that the Psalmist is going through a hard time, a moment of confusion and despair and therefore he is telling his soul to praise the Lord and not forget all His benefits. He then goes on to list many of the benefits of the Lord.  You will see his mood change and accelerate so that by the end the Psalmist is excitedly telling everyone to praise God, from the heavenly hosts, to the angels, to his very own soul. His mood changes from a place of discouragement to the place of declaring, believing and understanding what is true: THAT HIS LOVE IS GREAT, so GREAT we can't help but praise the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103 (AMP)

1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

All that is "deepest" within me: In the past, there have been  places, thoughts and ideas in my heart that I've wanted to hide from the Lord. This Psalm has encouraged me to "bless" Him from every place. During my quiet prayers I'm learning to praise Him with all areas.

2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits-

3Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
4Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption,
Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

I once wrote a post called Spiritual Wardrobe, which lists some of the clothes God offers to dress us with. I didn't include this one. I absolutely love the imagery in it - beautifies, dignifies and crowns - to have His loving-kindness and tender mercy on top of your head flowing down!!!

Life in the dumps by Wigstruck

Day 137 by Velo Steve

 5Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!

Who redeems your life from the pit... so that your youth, is renewed, like an eagle: I was driving past a dump the other day. It was a windy day and above the dump were hundreds of seagulls "soaring" around the dump. I began thinking in my mind about the differences between a seagull and eagle and I began to wonder how we as Christians actually tend to live.

Seagulls are scavengers. They like to live above the trash and look at it all the time. They don't want to miss out on any of the junk. Like eagles they can "soar" on the wind but they choose to stay close to the earth and all the trash.

Eagles, on the other hand, build their nests high on the cliffs. When they soar on the wind they soar high above the earth. They have been given keen eyesight and when they need to eat they see the tiny item that they need to attack and they can dive down, grab and attack it with the strength of their legs.

I think God is very intentional when He chooses analogies for our lives. He chose an eagle on purpose and I think it is important for us to compare our lives to see if we are operating in the fullness of what He purchased for us.

Do you act like a seagull or an eagle? Both birds soar on the wind (the wind in the Bible is often compared to the Holy Spirit). But where do you let the Holy Spirit take you? Do you only allow Him to raise you high enough to see your trash and the trash of those around it? Or are you like an eagle? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to take you to the heights, where the things of this world become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace (line from "Fix Your Eyes on Jesus")? Do you soar in the glory of the Holy Spirit and in the strength that He has placed in you? There are times when we do become aware of the things of this earth, our prey and we return to the earth with great precision and insight because He has pointed out something for us to attack and take. We attack with strength; it dies and then we return to the heights.

6The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.

I'd encourage you to pause here and reflect on that one powerful statement.  This is the heart of the Father - this is what He is doing.

7He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

8The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.

9He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.

If you ask the average person walking along the street what is the God of Christianity like, do you think their answer would include: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, PLENTEOUS in mercy and loving-kindness?  If not why?

10He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.

12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Did you know scientists today have still not found the ends of the universe?  So guess how far He's removed your sins... Do you live your life in light of that knowledge?

13As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

14For He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust.

I again love the imagery in these verses: as a Father loves His children so the Lord loves us... We are imprinted on His heart.  What better or safer place is there to be than that?

15As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.

17But the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord are from everlasting to everlasting upon those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, and His righteousness is to children's children--

As many of us know all too well, this life we live is so brief, but what a beautiful and precious reminder of the weight of who God is for all eternity. For me personally, it is a precious reminder that His love will never fade away and that He has promised to carry the message and benefit of His love to my children and my grandchildren.  The contrast between our frailty and His strength is astounding, so where should we rest - in our momentary troubles of life or in the everlasting mercy and loving-kindness of our Lord?

18To such as keep His covenant [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it] and to those who [earnestly] remember His commandments to do them [imprinting them on their hearts].

We've been invited to imprint Him on our hearts, just like He's imprinted us.

19The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

20Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.

21Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, all you His hosts, you His ministers who do His pleasure.

I love this - you who do His pleasure. As children of God, we have the opportunity to carry on the message contained in the Psalm of His love, mercy and grace to those around us!

22Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion; bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul!

Oh! I just love this Psalm. My thoughts only scratch the surface of this Psalm - I'd encourage you to consider meditating on it for a season. Your soul will be blessed.  By the time I'm done reading it, I always want to start this Psalm over again because it wraps up the immensity of our salvation into one prayer!

In Christ,

360 Vision: Lacking Nothing

As Christians, we have the benefit of 360 vision, to bring us through each and everyday.  We have the past saints to look at for inspiration and understanding of how the Lord moves and weaves in an individual's life.  We have the living and active Word of God today - that moves and interacts with us.  Finally, we have the book of Revelation that gives us a glimpse of the reality of our future.  So today, I would like to interact with this 360 vision to help us to see how God invites us to walk with Him into a life that lacks nothing.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Revelation 9:16

Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,’

nor any scorching heat.

17For the Lamb at the center of the throne

will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

These are all familiar Scripture passages, but for this post, I appreciated reflecting on the connections between them.  We all love the imagery of Psalm 23: being led beside quiet waters, having our souls restored.  Yet we don't always find ourselves in those situations.  Sometimes we find ourselves faced with the valley of the shadow of death...Then we are confronted with James - "Consider it PURE JOY, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."

How? Why? 

This is where the 360 vision comes in handy (you can start from any spot) but for this post we will start at Revelation 9.   See the Lamb, seated on the throne and what does He promise to be for us - our Shepherd.  We are reminded in this very picture, that He, himself, the Lamb, walked through a very dark valley of death to get to His throne.  We see His promise to us is to Shepherd us and one day to wipe every tear from our eyes.  We get to step into life with Him, from this place of trust knowing that He sees, He knows, He understands and He offers to come along with us.

From this vantage point we can pan back to present day: consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds... It develops perseverance/ patience and you will NOT lack anything...

Pan over to Psalm 23 - the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...

Do you see the circle? Do you see the benefits we receive from our current position? 

The Message ends Psalm 23 with this:

Your beauty and love chase after me

    every day of my life.

I’m back home in the house of God

    for the rest of my life.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ - consider it pure joy - no matter what you are going through, because the Lord is your Shepherd.  He is walking beside you, leading you and guiding you with love and beauty.  Sometimes by streams of water and sometimes He is walking with us through a valley, a shadow, a place of trial and uncertainty.  The path may be unclear to you - but the end destination is clear and sure.  There will be a day when He will wipe every tear from your eyes.  

You are not alone and you were never asked to go through this life alone.  Lean on your Good Shepherd today - the Lamb of God who alone is worthy.

In Christ,

Photo courtesy Melanie Guest Photography

Daily Prayer

For the last four months I've started using Daily Prayer from the Church of England as a way to start out my mornings.  You might ask, "What is someone who grew up in an Evangelical church doing using Liturgical prayer?"  This is a question I've asked myself at times, but the beauty and enjoyment it has brought to my faith has practically erased the question. I will share with you the pieces from my journey that have led into Liturgical Prayer.

A couple years ago, I read Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas.  The book was profound for me on so many levels.  The one thing that Dietrich Bonhoeffer had integrated into his life was Daily Prayer, three times a day: morning, noon and night.  He also said that he daily prayed the Psalms.  After reading his book, I started praying through the Psalms and it really did open new doors in my faith.

Then last year, I read Our Favorite Sins by Todd Hunter and he would end each chapter with a prayer from Daily Prayers.  The prayers started to intrigue me and it got me interested in exploring Daily Prayer.  I would return to his book periodically and grab one of the prayers he wrote to use it as a springboard for prayer.  Then one night I typed "Daily Prayer" into Google and I came across Daily Prayer from the Church of England and I've been doing it ever since.

Finally, I read Monk Habits for Everyday People by Dennis Okholm and it solidified the purpose and the reasoning's behind the rhythm of Daily Prayers.  As he discussed his faith journey, he infused the beauty of how participating in Daily Prayer affected his spiritual walk.

So why do I love Daily Prayer?

1. The connection to the larger body of Christ: It amazes me that people all over the world are reading the exact same prayers and Scriptures on the same day, during the same time slots.  I find it encouraging to be reminded that there are other Christians out there being encouraged and strengthened by the exact same Scriptures as I am.  It helps me to tangibly feel a part of the body of Christ.

2. It connects me to the history of the Church: The Church of England celebrates the saints and the history that their individual lives have given to the Church.  I have learned so much about Church History since I've started doing Daily Prayer.  At the beginning of each day, they list the saint or the holiday being celebrated.  If and when I have time, I look up the saints on Wikipedia (I almost always find the time when it is a woman).  I have been utterly amazed at the women of the church and the movements that they have started, which have literally changed their cultures.  Starting my day with the thoughts and inspirations that these saints bring once again, reminds me that today really does matter.  It may seem like I am making, small insignificant choices but the Lord truly does move through our everydayness and it does impact history in tangible ways.

3. Praying through the Psalms:  Daily prayer always includes Psalms.  The thing that stood out to me from what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said about praying the Psalms was that Jesus himself used the Psalms as prayers.  That thought reminds me of the humanity that Jesus carried along with His divinity that He used His physical mouth and His physical mind to celebrate and praise God.  To have the privilege and opportunity to do the same, daily is a huge blessing.  Also, using Scripture as a platform for prayer instead of just filling my mind with information has helped me to interact with Scripture differently.

4. The connection of Scripture:  The majority of Daily Prayer, is straight Scripture.  In the morning, there is always a Psalm, an Old Testament Passage and a New Testament passage.  As I read through all three of these at the same time, I continue to be amazed at the continuity of Scripture and the themes that seem to jump out at me even more clearly through Daily Prayer. 

5. The repetition:  There are a few Scriptures that are a) either repeated daily or b) repeated on a weekly basis.  These Scriptures contain the foundational truths of God's daily love for us and His plan of salvation.  Having them before me daily helps keep me oriented to the truth of God.  John Eldredge discussed in one of his books - our amnesia of God.  How easy it can be to lose sight of the reality of God when we get bogged down in life.  For me, Daily Prayer, has kept God and his purposes at the forefront of my mind.

6. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.  

Throughout Daily Prayer, these words are repeated several times.  I am still reading through Practice Resurrection by Eugene Peterson and now he is covering the Trinity.  Being confronted with these words multiple times on a daily basis keeps me keenly aware of the Trinity and how I can allow the Trinity to shape my life this day.

7. It gives order, purpose and direction to my prayer: After reading and praying through all the Scriptures there comes a point towards the end which states, "Pause and pray for : the day and its tasks,  the world and its needs, the Church and her life."  The reason I love this is because by this point in time, my troubles, worries and fears have been greatly minimized from when I first entered my time of prayer.  The glory of God and what He is up to has reshaped my mind and helped bring perspective to my day.  It also helps me to take time to look outwards to the people in my life that might need prayer, and to have concern for the greater issues that may be affecting our world, at this moment.

So these are the things that I love about Daily Prayer.  Growing up, I always thought liturgical prayer was so boring, so restrictive and so unnecessary but I had never delved into it because I allowed my preconceived biases to block my path.  However, now that I've experienced it, I've discovered that rather than constricting my faith it has helped to direct it, strengthen it and encourage it. 

Daily Prayer does have a morning, noon and night prayer - all different Scriptures, directions and focuses.  I have yet to fully venture into doing all three prayers on a daily basis, but I love that it is there and I love that when I need a middle of the day refocus, or a night-ending wrap up, Daily Prayer provides that for me.

In Christ,



All thoughts in this post are from me and have come from my personal interaction with Daily Prayer from the Church of England.

A Story to Embody: August 5, 2012

Psalm 51:1-12 NCV

"God, be merciful to me because you are loving. Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs. Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again. I know about my wrongs, and I can’t forget my sin. You are the only one I have sinned against; I have done what you say is wrong. You are right when you speak and fair when you judge. I was brought into this world in sin. In sin my mother gave birth to me. You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom. Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you crushed be happy again. Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt. Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit."

 Romans 15:8-13 NCV

"I tell you that Christ became a servant of the Jews to show that God’s promises to the Jewish ancestors are true. And he also did this so that those who are not Jews could give glory to God for the mercy he gives to them. It is written in the Scriptures: “So I will praise you among the non-Jewish people. I will sing praises to your name.” The Scripture also says, “Be happy, you who are not Jews, together with his people.” Again the Scripture says, “All you who are not Jews, praise the Lord. All you people, sing praises to him.” And Isaiah says, “A new king will come from the family of Jesse.  I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Ephesians 3:1-13 NCV
"So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews. Surely you have heard that God gave me this work to tell you about his grace. He let me know his secret by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this. If you read what I wrote then, you can see that I truly understand the secret about the Christ. People who lived in other times were not told that secret. But now, through the Spirit, God has shown that secret to his holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret: that through the Good News those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in God’s blessing. They belong to the same body, and they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus. By God’s special gift of grace given to me through his power, I became a servant to tell that Good News. I am the least important of all God’s people, but God gave me this gift—to tell those who are not Jews the Good News about the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully. And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret, which has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the One who created everything. His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God’s wisdom, which has so many forms. This agrees with the purpose God had since the beginning of time, and he carried out his plan through Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ we can come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this through faith in Christ. So I ask you not to become discouraged because of the sufferings I am having for you. My sufferings are for your glory."

 Matthew 22:1-14 NCV

"Jesus again used stories to teach them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people, but they refused to come. “Then the king sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ “But the people refused to listen to the servants and left to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. The king was furious and sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their city. “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come. So go to the street corners and invite everyone you find to come to my feast.’ So the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not dressed for a wedding. The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not dressed for a wedding.’ But the man said nothing. So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’ “Yes, many are invited, but only a few are chosen.”"

In Christ,

Jaime

For more information on why I include these posts read "A Story to Embody"

Scripture readings from this week are from Holy Trinity Anglican Church.  Sermons that accompany these posts are available there.

Symposium of Psalm 103

This morning, my daily prayer time included Psalm 103.  This is a Psalm near and dear to my heart and as a result I've written on it several times.  I went back through my previous writings on it and I decided to combine them together for today's post.

As you read, you will notice that this Psalm starts out with bless the Lord, O my soul.  In the beginning, it appears that the Psalmist is going through a hard time, a moment of confusion and despair and therefore he is telling his soul to praise the Lord and not forget all His benefits. He then goes on to list many of the benefits of the Lord.  You will see his mood change and accelerate so that by the end the Psalmist is excitedly telling everyone to praise God, from the heavenly hosts, to the angels, to his very own soul. His mood changes from a place of discouragement to the place of declaring, believing and understanding what is true: THAT HIS LOVE IS GREAT, so GREAT we can't help but praise the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103 (AMP)

1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

All that is "deepest" within me: In the past, there have been  places, thoughts and ideas in my heart that I've wanted to hide from the Lord. This Psalm has encouraged me to "bless" Him from every place. During my quiet prayers I'm learning to praise Him with all areas.

2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits--

3Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,


4Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption,

Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

I once wrote a post called Spiritual Wardrobe, which lists some of the clothes God offers to dress us with. I didn't include this one. I absolutely love the imagery in it - beautifies, dignifies and crowns - to have His loving-kindness and tender mercy on top of your head flowing down!!!

Life in the dumps by Wigstruck

Day 137 by Velo Steve

 5Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!

Who redeems your life from the pit... so that your youth, is renewed, like an eagle: I was driving past a dump the other day. It was a windy day and above the dump were hundreds of seagulls "soaring" around the dump. I began thinking in my mind about the differences between a seagull and eagle and I began to wonder how we as Christians actually tend to live.

Seagulls are scavengers. They like to live above the trash and look at it all the time. They don't want to miss out on any of the junk. Like eagles they can "soar" on the wind but they choose to stay close to the earth and all the trash.

Eagles on the other hand build their nests high on the cliffs. When they soar on the wind they soar high above the earth. They have been given keen eyesight and when they need to eat they see the tiny item that they need to attack and they can dive down, grab and attack it with the strength of their legs.

I think God is very intentional when He chooses analogies for our lives. He chose an eagle on purpose and I think it is important for us to compare our lives to see if we are operating in the fullness of what He purchased for us.

Do you act like a seagull or an eagle? Both birds soar on the wind (the wind in the Bible is often compared to the Holy Spirit). But where do you let the Holy Spirit take you? Do you only allow Him to raise you high enough to see your trash and the trash of those around it? Or are you like an eagle? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to take you to the heights, where the things of this world become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace (line from "Fix Your Eyes on Jesus")? Do you soar in the glory of the Holy Spirit and in the strength that He has placed in you? There are times when we do become aware of the things of this earth, our prey and we return to the earth with great precision and insight because He has pointed out something for us to attack and take. We attack with strength; it dies and then we return to the heights.

6The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.

I'd encourage you to pause here and reflect on that one powerful statement.  This is the heart of the Father - this is what He is doing.

7He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

8The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.

9He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.

If you ask the average person walking along the street what is the God of Christianity like, do you think their answer would include: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, PLENTEOUS in mercy and loving-kindness?  If not why?

10He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.

12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Did you know scientists today have not found the ends of the universe yet?  So guess how far He's removed your sins... Do you live your life in light of that knowledge?

13As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

14For He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust.

I again love the imagery in these verses: as a Father loves His children so the Lord loves us... We are imprinted on His heart.  What better or safer place is there to be than that?

15As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.

17But the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord are from everlasting to everlasting upon those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, and His righteousness is to children's children--

As many of us know all to well, this life we live is so brief, but what a beautiful and precious reminder of the weight of who God is for all eternity. For me personally, it is a precious reminder that His love will never fade away and that He has promised to carry the message and benefit of His love to my children and my grandchildren.  The contrast between our frailty and His strength is astounding, so where should we rest in our momentary troubles of our life or in the everlasting mercy and loving-kindness of our Lord?

18To such as keep His covenant [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it] and to those who [earnestly] remember His commandments to do them [imprinting them on their hearts].

We've been invited to imprint Him on our hearts, just like He's imprinted us.

19The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

20Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.

21Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, all you His hosts, you His ministers who do His pleasure.

I love this - you who do His pleasure. As children of God, we have the opportunity to carry on the message contained in the Psalm of His love, mercy and grace to those around us!

22Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion; bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul!

Oh! I just love this Psalm. My thoughts only scratch the surface of this Psalm - I'd encourage you to consider meditating on it for a season. your soul will be blessed.  By the time I'm done reading it, I always want to start this Psalm over again because it wraps up the immensity of our salvation into one prayer!

In Christ,

5 more days for a chance to win a $25 Target gift card!  

First Sunday in Lent

rainbow by Skroski

Every Sunday, I am including this week's readings from the Lectionary.  You can find the reasons why in my post, A Story to Embody.

If you take the time to read through them you will realize why I included a picture of a rainbow.  As I read through the readings, I was once again amazed at the connections through Scripture.  I also was reminded of the invitation we have to rest in the promises and character of God.  Finally, I was in awe of how Jesus embodies the covenant promises of God.  Be blessed.

Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and his sons, "Now I am making my agreement with you and your people who will live after you, and with every living thing that is with you—the birds, the tame and the wild animals, and with everything that came out of the boat with you—with every living thing on earth. I make this agreement with you: I will never again destroy all living things by a flood. A flood will never again destroy the earth."

  And God said, "This is the sign of the agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you. I am putting my rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the agreement between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and a rainbow appears in them, I will remember my agreement between me and you and every living thing. Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth. When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the agreement that continues forever between me and every living thing on the earth."

  So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is a sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth."

Psalm 25:1-10

Lord, I give myself to you;
  my God, I trust you.
    Do not let me be disgraced;
       do not let my enemies laugh at me.
  No one who trusts you will be disgraced,
       but those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.

  Lord, tell me your ways.
       Show me how to live.
  Guide me in your truth,
       and teach me, my God, my Savior.
       I trust you all day long.
  Lord, remember your mercy and love
       that you have shown since long ago.
  Do not remember the sins
       and wrong things I did when I was young.
    But remember to love me always
       because you are good, Lord.

  The Lord is good and right;
       he points sinners to the right way.
  He shows those who are humble how to do right,
       and he teaches them his ways.
  All the Lord's ways are loving and true
       for those who follow the demands of his agreement.

I Peter 3:18-22

 Christ himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit. And in the spirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for them while Noah was building the boat. Only a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. And that water is like baptism that now saves you—not the washing of dirt from the body, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. And this is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Now Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God's right side ruling over angels, authorities, and powers.

Mark 1:9-15

At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Immediately, as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven open. The Holy Spirit came down on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with you."

Then the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert. He was in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels came and took care of him.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the Good News from God. He said, "The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!"

As I read through the verses I was also reminded of Ezekiel 1:27-28 so I am including these verses too:

 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.    This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. 

 In Christ,

The ladder of grace

The last couple of days I have been captured by Romans 5:1-5.  Here it is in the AMP version:

THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to [b]enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

2Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.

3Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

4And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of [c]character (approved faith and [d]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] [e]joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

5Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

As I have been sitting in reflection of these verses, I've been picturing a ladder of grace. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that are overwhelming. The LORD understands this and I believe these verses in Romans 5 give us a clear picture of the ladder we can climb as we work through these troubles.

The foundation of this ladder is justification.  Any difficult journey you embark on needs to be rooted in justification.  The AMP did a good job explaining justification for us: being declared right with God.  Because of that truth you can confidently grab a hold of the first rung on the ladder: peace with God.  This peace with God, means that we have been reconciled unto Him.  The second rung is access to God.  Because of our justification and our peace with God, we have complete access to God on our journey.

I'm going to skip for a moment to the very top of the ladder: sharing in God's glory.  Often as we climb ladders, we continue to look up to see where we are going and how far away we are from the top.  Romans 5:2 reminds us that God allows us to share in His glory.  There is a weight and a permanence to the glory of God so remember as you are walking through that the end result will be God's glory.  When His glory comes it will have a permanent change and He allows us a share in that!

The sides of the ladder, I have marked as grace and love.  I believe these are the stabilizers for the rungs.  Grace is God's enabling power given to us for the journey that we are on.  Love is how He continuously feels about us.

So now we can look back down to our ladder and see that we are on the third rung, joy.  If you see the last steps (justification, peace and access), and what you are surrounded by (grace and love) the immensity of situations begins to fade away and you can have joy, because you know that God is taking you somewhere and He is doing something.  This joy allows you to take the next step to patience.

As I'm sure you've learned by now, God's time table and our time tables do not always line up.  But when you see that God is up to something, He loves you and He is helping you, you can have patience in your circumstances.  The next step is character!  Yes, your character can grow and deepen as you walk through times of trouble.  And last of all there is HOPE.  Romans 5:5 says that the hope we get up this ladder will not disappoint us!  God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon us as we journeyed to the top.

If you've ever watched the Biggest Loser, you've seen the step ladder that continuously rotates.  Depending on your situation, it might not be a 1,2,3 and you are at the top.  Rather, it might be like the rotating ladder where we have to go back and immerse ourselves in these truths.  But I believe this visual helps us to see why we can have joy and hope as we walk in and through hard times.

In Christ,

PS Feel free to print out the visual and look back at the verses with the ladder in mind.

The Limits of His Love

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC-6217

As we all know, we live in a microwave  society.  We want things taken care of as quickly as possible.  We often apply this same philosophy to our understanding of how God feels about  us and our problems.  We feel like God has set a time limit on His mercy, grace and love for us.  We need to hurry and get our act together before His time limit runs out.  It goes something like this: 

 You are going through a difficult time, there is grace but only for a season. 

 It has been one month.  Are you getting any better? 

No, not yet. 

Alright, you have 6 months left and then you are on your own...

 Is that true?  What exactly is God's time limit?

Psalm 106:3

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Forever.  Really?  We have no grasp of understanding for this.

Jeremiah 31:37

This is what the Lord says:

"Only if people can measure the sky above

and learn the secrets of the earth below,

will I reject all the descendants of Israel

because of what they have done," says the Lord.

Good news for us, here is what scientists today still say about the universe: "How indeed, do we measure something that many believe to be infinite?" (from "How to measure the universe?")

So let us change the way we think about God and His love.  Stop applying limits to the depths of His love.   He has gone to great lengths to prove it with His infinite universe and He has declared it through His word: His love ENDURES forever.  The word endure implies withstanding, holding firm, not wearing out, or giving up.  In our lives, especially in times of pain, we as humans want to do the exact opposite.  We want to give up and throw in the towel.  Instead, we need to learn to lean on the arms of Him whose love ENDURES Forever:

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Finally, if for some reason, you did want to put limits on God's love the picture from above is from a galaxy 6 million light years away.  So you could start with that limit:)

In Christ,