This is MY Body

“…Take, eat: this is MY body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me…” (I Cor. 11:24)

Over the course of the last couple of years, the Lord has been teaching me what it means and how to enter into rest, making my thoughts obedient to Christ. I literally just think about Him. I see Him in the garden or on the Sea of Galilee. I see Him on the cross, and see whatever sin, symptom, or dis-ease I may feel in my body or mind, on His body as He hung there.  I watch Him resurrect and ascend, conquering it all completely. I meditate upon the fact His work was a perfect one, and I thank God for Jesus continuously.

To rest in the midst of mental anguish, bodily discomfort, or a struggle with a behavior I wish to cease, I envision one of my favorite “Jesus encounters” of the New Testament. Sometimes I just imagine Him walking on the beach calling out to Peter, or His compassionate feeding of the 5000.  I may replay His encounter wither the leper, and how He WILLINGLY cleansed, touched and healed the man who had not been touched by anyone in probably years.  I might play over in my mind His defense of the woman caught in the act of adultery, how He restored the woman who struggled with the issue of blood for 12 years, or how He made the invalid by the pool of Bethesda to walk.  I picture His journey to the cross from Gethsemane all the way to Golgotha, His final words reverberating in my mind’s ears.  I imagine what His hands and feet looked like, or His eyes and facial expressions.  I imagine the tone of His voice. I dissect the words He spoke to them and meditate, or chew over and over, on each one. 

Recently, the above is one of the verses I paused to feast on, really chewing on the word MY. 

Jesus said this is MY body broken for you.  It is not just some mortal man’s body that was broken. It was a perfect Body- a Body that never even had a head cold.  It was not a nobleman’s body or a president’s body.  It is the Body of the Only Begotten of the Father.  It is the Body of His Delight.  It is not the body of any created being, but the Body of the Creator Himself.  The Word made Flesh- His Body.  It was the Body of God broken for you.

This is MY Body broken FOR you.  Take and eat.  Keep your eyes on MY Body.  Just as those who looked at the bronze serpent received healing when they looked away from their own bodies and the bodies of those around them, so it is when you look at MY Body. I will keep him in perfect peace (Shalom- completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord) whose mind is stayed on Me. 

The Lightning Rod of God

The Lightning Rod of God

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all…” (KJV John 12:32)

A lightning rod is a metal rod usually made of copper or its alloys, lifted on top of a structure, made higher than the surrounding structures, to protect that structure and those surrounding it from a lightning strike.  Its purpose for being is to attract lightning to itself and conduct it away from the objects around it in order to avoid their destruction by fire or electrocution.  It has to be grounded to work properly.  It requires a connection to the earth to perform its protective function. 

Do you know Jesus literally became the lightning rod of God?  Jesus was the only man whose purpose for being born into this world was to die.  His 33 years on earth was leading to the cross (Jn. 12:27).  He came with the purpose of being lifted on a cross of crucifixion to receive the punishment of death for all of our sins.   As he was lifted up from the earth onto the cross, He attracted fire of God’s judgment for our sins unto Himself.  He came to earth, or connected to earth so to speak, on purpose, to conduct destruction away from us and to Himself.

There is an account in Numbers 21 when the children of Israel, in their wilderness wandering, complained against God and Moses.  As punishment for their sin of complaining, God sent fiery serpents among them.  Those bitten by the serpents died, and many died.  In great distress, the Israelites went to Moses and confessed their wrongdoing and begged him to intercede with God on their behalf to take away the serpents.  God’s solution was to have Moses make a bronze (or copper) serpent and lift it up on a pole.  Anyone who was bitten could look at the bronze serpent as it was lifted up on the pole and live. The serpent attracted the judgment of death away from any offenders who would simply look at it.

This is a shadow of Jesus.  In the Bible, bronze or copper, represents judgment (interestingly a conductor of electricity), the serpent represents evil and the curse, and the pole represents the cross.  The account is a picture of Jesus who would later be lifted up on the cross, becoming sin Himself, to receive the judgment for the sin of all mankind, and those who would look and rightly discern that truth, could be spared destruction.  Now, when we see Jesus lifted, and believe he was lifted in our place, we escape destruction and receive eternal life.    

Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus tells people His purpose in coming to earth was to be lifted.  There are several Greek words for lifted, but the word Jesus uses every time He speaks of Him being lifted on the cross, and only concerning Him being lifted on the cross, was the word huper.   It comes from the word hupsoo, and conveys this meaning:  To be elevated or lifted for the sake of, instead of, or on behalf of another. 

In John chapter 3, when Jesus talked to Nicodemus by night, Jesus used the word huper to explain His purpose in coming to earth, even telling Nicodemus that the account of the bronze serpent in the wilderness was really a shadow of that which Jesus is the true substance (Jn. 3:14-15).  Again in chapter 8 Jesus explains to the Pharisees that when He has been lifted, they will understand that He is God (Jn. 8:28).  Lastly, Jesus says it again John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

You may say to yourself, “The verse says Jesus will draw all MEN unto Himself, not all judgment.”  Most of our English translations of the Bible do say that, but in the original Greek text the word men is not there.  That is why you may see it italicized in the King James Version of the Bible; italics means it was not part of the original text.  If you consider this rule of Bible translation, and also believe that Jesus was telling Nicodemus the truth about Himself as being the substance of the shadow of the bronze serpent account, you can read John 12:32 in its context of John 12:31 and see that Jesus was referring to judgment.  “Now is the judgment of the world…if I be lifted up out of the earth, I will draw all unto me.”  Jesus became a lightning rod when he was on the cross. 

Remember the bronze serpent in Numbers 21?  “And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the [lifted] bronze serpent and live.” So it is with Jesus.  “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”  His lifting protected you.  Will you discern Jesus as God’s Lightning Rod?  Will you see Him having come to establish a connection to the earth, to be lifted up from the earth, to protect you from something you could never have survived?  See Him being cursed on your behalf.  See Him as your Divine Lightning Rod.  Because of Him, you have been spared.  This Easter see and believe that Jesus was lifted up on your behalf.  Will you see Him? Will you believe it and receive it?

How to Love Your Life and See Good Days

“Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit…” (1 Pt. 3:10)

God wants you to love your life! He wants you to have and enjoy good days! I Peter 3:10 and Psalms 34:12-13 remind us of God’s desire for us to love and enjoy the life He has given us, and tells us how to make sure it happens. God said the way to a life you love and days you enjoy is by keeping your tongue from evil and lips from speaking deceit.

Often times, we think this only to mean don’t curse, don’t tell lies, or don’t gossip. Of course, we should not do those things. However, we should not relegate evil speech to just those things and expect to enjoy life. In Numbers 13:32 we learn that 10 out of the 12 spies who went to search out the land of Canaan came back from their reconnaissance mission and “brought up an evil report of the land.” God calls their report, or their speech, evil. Why was it evil? For the most part it was factual. So why did God call their speech evil?

You see, the 10 spies spoke in direct contradiction to what God said. Earlier in verse 2, God told Moses He was giving the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. Yet the 10 came back saying, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we.” They spoke in direct contradiction to God’s word. In fact, in the next chapter of Exodus in verse 9, the Bible even calls this line of believing and speaking rebellion. The 10 spies with the evil report died in the wilderness without ever living in the good land flowing with milk and honey, but the other 2 spies, Caleb and Joshua came back with a good report, one in alignment with God’s word. These enjoyed the good of the land. They loved life and saw good days, because they kept their tongues from evil and rightly aligned to God’s good report and promise.

God wants you to love life and see good days. He gave you the way: say what God says. Even when the facts are contrary to the Truth, say what God says, and love your life and see many good days!

Thoughts: Take ‘Em or Leave ‘Em

“Therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we wear? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Mt. 6:31)

We often read or hear a sermon about the above passage, and chalk it up to a Don’t Worry Be Happy or God Doth Provide message of encouragement.  And those are indeed true and encouraging words.  Yet, there is a deeper message found here.

Jesus said, “…take no thought saying…”  Did you catch it?  TAKE no THOUGHT by SAYING.  You take possession of a thought, and own it unto yourself by saying it.

Did you know you could actually TAKE a thought or LEAVE a thought?  Did you know you do not have to take possession of every thought that crosses your mind?  Did you know that instead of your own base, earthly thoughts you can own the high thoughts of God?

II Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ.  We take the thoughts of God concerning us by speaking from the perspective of Jesus’ finished work on the cross where HE was obedient unto death (Phil. 2:8).  For example, if you have the thought “I’ll never be anything or do anything of significance,” you can bring it unto the obedience of Christ by SAYING, “I am God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”  If hear a voice whispering in your head “I’m never going to get over this recurring sin,” you can bring it unto the obedience of Christ by SAYING, “I’m the righteousness of God I Christ Jesus and have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.  Jesus conquered that sin.”  If you or a loved one has a symptom in your body that leads you to think of the worst possible scenarios, you can own the very thoughts of God by SAYING, “Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities, chastised for my peace, and by Jesus’ stripes I am healed.”  Maybe you spend time thinking about how much you need to make ends meet.  Make those thought obedient unto Christ by SAYING, “My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God has a high thoughts about every situation you are facing, and good plans for your life.  So which thoughts will you take?  Your thoughts or the thoughts of God?  Get in the Word to learn how God sees and thinks about you in light of what Jesus did on your behalf at the cross.  Now take it by saying it!

Simply Receive

        Recently I was speaking to a friend about our new identity in Chist and renewing our minds in Christ Jesus. As I was speaking to my friend I shared the scripture Romans 12:2 which says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” In our discussion we were talking about our new identity in Christ and how we received this new identity during our salvation experience. When we receive the free gift of salvation we recieve our new identity too. Our sinfullness is exchanged with God’s righteousness which is possible because of the Cross. We dont have to earn our salvation and all that comes with it; we just have to recieve it. The concept of receiving can be hard to grasp because we as finite beings believe we need to earn everything we receive especially something good. This is not the case with God’s grace. Grace simply means to receive something you dont deserve ;unmerited favor. During our conversation I was putting an emphasis on earning our new identity by using Romans 12:2 as a work based scripture rather than a grace based scripture. I was saying to my friend “I find myself falling short of renewing myself daily whether it be through prayer or reading God’s Word.” My friend shared with me a reveletory truth about renewal in regards to out new identity in Christ. He told me that you dont have to “work” at renewing yourself. You just have to receive. Then it hit me. I had been trying to still earn my new identity by working at renewing rather than just receiving. So today be encouraged that all of God’s promises you just have to receive by faith. You dont have to earn them. Simply receive them effortlessly. Even in your failures simply receive who you are in Christ; God’s Righteousness! You will see the promises of God in your life manifest when you stop trying to earn them and Simply Receive them by faith!

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (II Cor. 3:18)

Are you beset by a weakness? Do you desire to see change in a particular area of concern? Behold Jesus. Meditate on His perfection in that very area of your weakness.

Maybe you are grieving a loss or mired down in a deep depression. Behold Jesus in His joy. Are you confused? Behold Jesus in His wisdom. Maybe you are struggling in your finances. Behold Jesus in His richness and fullness. Are you striving in a relationship? Behold Jesus in His peacefulness. Or maybe you constantly try to manage a recurring sin? Behold His sinlessness…His cross…His payment.

Behold the perfection of Jesus in the very area in which you fall short. Fix your gaze and set your meditation on the perfection and loveliness of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will go to work to transform you into His likeness in that specific area of your lack, “for as He is so are you in this world.”

Keep your eyes on Jesus!

Take that Irene!

By :Allen Ancheril

There are storms. There are tornadoes. There are blizzards and there are earthquakes. Then there are also doubt-quakes and doubt storms. Every now and then, a doubt storm has rolled into my life, bringing a torrential downpour of questions and aftershocks of instability and chaos. Every so often, a burst of peace and calm will shine through.

The past few weeks I’ve been watching the news every night, to keep up to date with what’s going on in the world. Some nights I have wondered why I watch it, because typically my mind is overloaded with gloom as a result. From the steps of the Supreme Court to the shores of Africa, the news is very depressing. The news anchorman/woman is typically a very attractive and well-dressed individual. They call this person the “Anchorman”.

Fitting title…one needs an anchor in today’s tempests.

I’ve’ lay in bed many nights, and wondered…How can our world get this crazy?

Sometimes the storm comes up when I am at work. I listen to the stories of people in homes that won’t heal, and cold hearts that won’t thaw out…As a representative of a Christian institution and believer in an Unseen God; I do my best to convince a complete stranger that this Unseen God still hears….

And sometime I still wonder why so many hearts have to hurt…

The questions I have to ask is…do you ever face this storm of doubt…like I have? Some of you don’t. I have talked to you. You have this “David-like” optimism…that can defy ANY Goliath. I used to believe you were naïve at best and phony at worst…

I don’t think that way anymore.

I think you are gifted. You are gifted with faith. You see the rainbow before the cloud parts…If you have this gift, then skip the rest of this paragraph…I won’t say anything you need to hear

Others of you wonder what the latter group knows that you don’t. You wonder if you yourself are blind or if they are. You wonder why some proclaim “Eureka” before the gold is found, or shout “Land-ho” before the fog has cleared. You have wondered how some people believe so confidently, while you believe so reluctantly. As a result, you are bit uncomfortable on the padded pew of blind belief. Your bible hero is Thomas; your middle name is Caution. Your queries are the bane of every Sunday school teacher.

“If God is so good, why do I feel bad sometimes?”

“If His message is so clear, why does confusion set in?”

“If the Father is in control, why do well-intentioned people have gut-wrenching problems?”

I have wondered if it is a blessing or a curse to have a mind that never can truly rest… However I would rather be cynical than hypocritical…I’ve found myself praying with one eye open sometimes. About;

-Hunger stricken people in Africa

-The real power of prayer

-The depths of grace

-Christians with cancer

- The times where I gauge my worth in the sight of God, and who am I to ask such questions anyway?

These are tough questions. They are the “throw-in the towel” type questions. I am pretty sure the disciples asked them to Christ, especially in the tumultuous occasions. such as the storm on the Sea of Galilee. All they could see were black skies as they bounced in the battered boat. Swirling clouds and wind driven -white tipped waves. Pessimism that buried the coast line. Gloom that swamped the bow. What was intended to be a pleasant trip became a white knuckled ride through a sea of fear.

I’m pretty sure they were asking: What hope do we have of surviving such a stormy night?

My question: Where is God, when this world is stormy?

I am typing my thoughts as the news is flooded with the coverage of Hurricane Irene. The skies on the horizon are dark and foreboding, I sit looking out my bedroom window, with the wind slowly picking up speed and force, and the few glimpses of sunlight fade behind the clouds. These are turbulent days in the minds of everyone,

the enemy seems too big, the task seems too great, the future too bleak and the answers way too few.

I find it fitting that as I write this, we had just experience an earthquake 2 days prior. Never have I felt my world shake in such a manner. Even in a figurative sense

My childhood fantasy of a perfect life is breaking and imploding like a dream from the movie “Inception.” The days where I wonder how will I pay my debts, will my family survive various dramatic and unnecessary ordeals… begs the question “God where are you, when my world is getting dark?”

As I sit here in my window, the dark clouds slowly creep closer and closer. I was asking “God, just a lil light….please????” 

 A little more light in my family ordeals, a little more light in my heart, a little more light in my financial, physical and social problems.

This light came for the disciples. A figure came to them by walking on the water. It wasn’t what they expected. They thought it was a Phantom, a wraith…a Ghost coming to get them…the ultimatum to their current predicament.

They were more than likely expecting Angels to descend from heaven in a Beam of Light…or for the sky to suddenly split open. I don’t exactly know what they were expecting, but it wasn’t Jesus walking to them on top of rough water.

“It’s a Ghost, they cried.” (Matt 14:26)

Since Jesus came to them in a way they didn’t expect, they almost missed the answer to their prayers. Unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake. God shines in the darkness, like the stars illuminate the vastness of Space; we just have to be looking in the right direction.

I found myself looking in the right direction, and seeing these “lights” in the darkness.

Light number one was definitely unexpected.

I was at the post office one day before work, attempting to pick up a package. The package wasn’t delivered to my home due to an insufficient amount of postage, and a poor packaging job by the vendor. I was at the front counter, discussing the cost with the patron, almost ready to pay my debt with a debit card. I handed my card to the gentlemen, but then he refused my card claiming the card system to be down. My jaw dropped with frustration. I didn’t have time to return later, nor did I have cash to pay. I had 10 minutes to get to work, which was a 20 minute drive.

Suddenly the gentlemen behind me, a complete stranger, walked up and handed the patron, cash in the amount that I had needed to pay. I was shocked. The guy just smiled and said “God bless you son, now get to your job on time this morning.” Talk about entertaining Angels.

I still manage to  have a 3 finger grasp on my faith in humanity

Light number two came from a nursing home:

I used to volunteer at this nursing home back in High-school. I can’t recall the name of the guy I was talking to, but I can remember his face very vividly. His wife was a dementia patient, and a resident of the home. For the sake of this story, I’ll call him John.

“We just celebrated 40 years last week.” He said this as he fed his wife. She sat there, with sunken eyes, a faded expression, and almost a vegetative composure. She stared blankly into space, as he fed her and only opened her mouth when John drew the fork near to feed her.

I remember his vivid words as he mentioned that his wife had been sick for 5 years. “She can’t walk, take care of herself or even feed herself, but I love her…”

In a society plagued by narcissism, it was very re-assuring to find a man who would serve his wife, and expect nothing in return. In recalling that moment God once again offered a sinew of light, which was beaming through the clouds.

Light number three came from a world I thoroughly despise..the world of celebrities…

Never do I hold celebrities in high esteem, but I can make one exception.

Larry Brown is the coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

(I don’t know him personally but rumor has it he wants to sign me a mult-year contract and play point guard for the …….fantasy league… It’s ok to dream isn’t it? ;) 

Story has is that Coach Brown once spent an afternoon at a sporting goods store signing autographs. He was scheduled to spend 2 hours there, but ended up doing 3. Numerous amounts of people were thronging to see him, wanting to shake his hand and ask him questions.

As the meet and greet session ended, Coach Brown headed out to his car, and sat inside. As he prepared to depart, a touching sight gained his attention. A young boy rode up to the store window on his bicycle. He peered inside, and realizing that he was late, slowly turned away disheartened. Coach Brown turned off his ignition, walked out and greeted the boy. They chatted for a few minutes and walked over to a nearby Dairy Queen and ordered some ice cream….No reporters were near, nor were there any cameras present.

I’m sure Larry Brown had other things to do that evening, such as keeping other appointments. But it’s doubtful that anything he might have done that afternoon was more important than what he did. In a world of over-paid professional sports, I was glad to hear one coach was still ….a coach at heart. Hearing what he did was good enough to blow away any lingering clouds of doubt and warm me with God’s light…His gentle light.

Gentle lights. ..God’s solution for the storms of doubt…golden radiance that blows away the darkness. Not thunderbolts… or explosions of light… Just gentle light. A stranger having compassion, a husband selflessly caring for his wife. A celebrity with a heart.

All visible evidence of an invisible hand.

Soft reminders that optimism is not just for fools. Ironically, none of these situations were “religious”. They didn’t occur in a church setting. Nothing will be in tomorrow’s headlines either…But such humility is the very essence of God’s heart.

When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their storm, they called him a ghost, an apparition…a bad omen. To them, the glow was anything but God. When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as “apparitions, accidents or anomalies.” Anything but the hand of God.

“When Jesus comes,” the disciples in the boat may have thought, “he’ll split the sky. The sea will be calm. The clouds will disperse.”

“When God comes, “we doubters think,” all pain will flee. Life will be tranquil. No questions will remain.”

Because we look for the spotlight, we miss the candle. Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper. But it is in the burnished candles that God comes, and through whispered promises He speaks: “When you doubt, look around; I am closer than you think,”

We can be certain that God will give us the strength and resources we need to live through any situation in life that he ordains. The will of God will never take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us. 

Billy Graham

Do You See the Beauty of Your Season?

I love the change of seasons.  Fall is my favorite time of year, and probably the season that doesn’t last long enough.  It enchants me and takes me back to simpler times and places.  I love the way it feels and all its sights, sounds and smells.  I love the bright orange pumpkins, the dozens of varieties of apples and the kaleidoscopic chrysanthemums crowding roadside farmer’s markets.  I’m enraptured by the vivid colors at the peak of season, and how the morning sun shines through the trees almost setting them ablaze.  It is truly majestic!

I love to follow a single yellow oak leaf as it floats gently downstream out of my sight to wherever its journey will end.  I love to watch the windswept trail of leaves in my rearview mirror as I drive down my curvy, country road.  I walk through piles of leaves on purpose, just because I love to hear them crackling under my feet.  I love to breathe deeply then see my breath when I exhale.  I love the fragrance and crispness in the air that is almost tangible.  The redolence of cinnamon seems to be in every home and store I enter.

Sometimes I go outside in the stillness of the early morning to watch a single leaf fall quietly to its final resting place- a solemn, yet miraculous moment, to which God and I are the only witnesses.    I would like time to stand still in that moment.  I know God is there.

It all happens too fast.  So fast, in fact, that I quickly forget all the magic I enjoyed and the beauty I beheld just a short time ago.  The colorful leaves that I loved so much are now staining my porch and being tracked indoors.  They are clogging the gutters on my house causing rain to spill over to create puddles in inconvenient places.  My pumpkins are rotting and my chrysanthemums are fading.  What was the once the magnificence I delighted in, is now bothersome to me.

The falling leaves have given way to a bleak barrenness.  No longer is my house hidden by the bulwark of forest that is my yard.  Instead it is bare and exposed to the elements and passersby.  The crisp air that once invigorated me has turned into a frigidity that is oppressive, painful and disheartening.  It reminds me that the next season is one of arduous harshness.  Why didn’t time stop like I wanted it to?  Where is God now?

Some seasons are definitely easier to enjoy than others.  It seems our favorite seasons are so fast-fleeting, while the others linger much longer than their welcome.  We relegate the remaining and less favorable seasons to be just markers of the passage of time until our favorite one comes back around, so we can enjoy the former one more time.

Why?  Could it be because we neglect to look for the allure during the other seasons?  Maybe it is because we don’t easily distinguish the amazing in the midst of such seeming cruelty.  Sometimes we just have to look more closely, because the grandeur is less obvious, yet still very grand.  Though we have this proclivity to overlook the good in the less desirable seasons, goodness is there.  Even in the busy, waiting, harsh and heartbreaking seasons goodness is there.  God is there.

For example, when I intently observe winter, I see that it is not bleak and unforgiving at all.  It is a season of tranquility and absolution.  The early nightfall gently insists that I slow down and gradually forces me to much needed rest.  Troublesome insects and pests no longer plague me.  I can turn my porch light on without attracting an army of bugs, and the snake that has been circling my house is no more taunting me.  There is a new smell wafting from the rooftops… the smell of fire… a reminder of the purification the winter months bring with them.

The quiet sound of snowfall is like the intimate and holy whisper of God into my very own ear.  Like a baby soothed by the firm embrace of his mother, is the stillness of a snow laden day, as if all of creation has been hushed by the peaceful weightiness of His enveloping love.  This fresh, white blanket over the open fields reminds me of the clean and vast covering of His beauty over my ugliness.  My blemishes are no longer discernable; only His perfection is evident.

Without my toil, trees are pruned under the weight of the snow that finds rest on the sick and weak limbs.  Without my labor, the grass is fed by this lingering and penetrating arctic nutrition that prepares it for its next growth season.  All of nature rests, but God is working.  He is there.

Joseph experienced seasons of rejection, subjection demotion and accusation.  Esther endured a season of all things strange and unfamiliar.  Or were they really seasons of influence and divine appointments?

Jesus endured wilderness seasons.    Or were they really seasons of communion and times to simply enjoy the love and approval of His Father?

The Samaritan woman at the well and the widow of Nain each endured seasons of lost love and lost security, but wasn’t it really in that season that they experienced the deepest compassion, most careful attention and the strongest of any affection from their Shepherd?

Paul experienced seasons of isolation, imprisonment and dissertation.  Or were they really seasons of quietness and aloneness…seasons for revelation…seasons that positioned him to receive, and allowed him time to pen, the blessed message of the gospel of grace?

John experienced a season of exile?  Or was it really a season for the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved to actually see for himself the ultimate victory wrought by the conquering love of his Messiah?

What do you see in your season?  Let the encouraging words of the apostle Paul comfort you, “…Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord…For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal…”  What do you see in your season?  God is there, and He is working.

By: Erika Edwards Eades

Faith in, Not Merely Faith for

What is faith?  How does it work?  In times past “faith” has been a hard thing for me, and in times of anxiety or fear I have even asked my confidants to pray for me saying to them, “my faith is just not there yet.” I am sure everyone has said or thought something like that from time to time. At least, I hope I am not the only one. Thank God for those Faith Giants in my life and the comfort their prayers have been to me in those adverse times!  I have to ask myself though, where exactly is that place that my faith is not???

As a people of faith, we are a people who should have faith IN – not only faith FOR. Sadly, so often I think we relegate faith to merely the latter – faith FOR – and that is how I made faith a hard thing. Faith FOR cannot be separated from faith IN.  Faith IN must always come before faith FOR.  Really, the faith FOR is simply a byproduct of the faith IN.

I can’t have faith for provision if I don’t have faith in the Provider. I can’t have faith for healing if I don’t have faith in the Healer. I can’t have faith for wisdom in situations beyond my learning if I don’t have faith in Wisdom, Himself.  I can’t have faith for something good to happen in my life if I don’t have faith in a good God. So where is my faith?

In an article I recently read by Jeremy Pearsons, he challenged readers this way:

“As a discipline, every time you hear the word FAITH, complete the statement with IN JESUS… Doing this will force you to evaluate what you are really saying about your Christianity… We don’t just walk by faith; we walk by faith IN JESUS… We don’t just live by faith; we live by faith IN JESUS…”

When I say “my faith just isn’t there yet”, what do I mean? Do I believe Jesus is good, but not really that good? Do I believe that Jesus is trustworthy, but not really that trustworthy? Or am I just trying to muster up faith FOR something without having faith IN the Person who can make something happen?

Romans 3 and Galatians 2 tell that our right standing with God is revealed through our faith IN Jesus Christ.

I say all this just to encourage others to trust wholly IN Jesus… not only to a certain degree but all the way. God said in Exodus 34 that He is Merciful, He is Gracious, He is slow to Anger, He is Longsuffering, and that He is Abundant in Goodness and Truth. He was not merely listing His attributes, but telling us who He really is!

In times of adversity, when I feel that my faith is not strong enough to get me through, not only will I meditate on those promises He has made to make that thing right, but I will meditate on His loveliness, perfection and the promise of Who He is!  I want to be a person of faith— faith IN JESUS.