Joyful News

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, 
The gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him,
We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  EPHESIANS 1:13

I say it here again, once and for all, that you should understand the Gospel as nothing other than the divine promise of His grace and the forgiveness of sins.  For that is why it happened that previously Paul's Epistles were not understood and could not be understood, because they did not know what the Law and the Gospel really mean.  For they regarded Christ to be a lawmaker, and the Gospel a mere doctrine of the new laws.  That is nothing else than locking up the Gospel and concealing all things.  

The word "Gospel" [Evangelium] is Greek and signifies "joyous news," because it proclaims the wholesome doctrine of life by divine promise and offers grace and forgiveness of sin.  Therefore, works do not belong to the Gospel, for it is not Law; rather, only faith [belongs to the Gospel], for it is altogether a promise and an offer of divine grace. 

Whoever now believes the Gospel received grace and the Holy Spirit. This causes the heart to rejoice and find delight in God, and [the heart] then keeps the Law voluntarily, gratuitously, without fear of punishment, without seeking reward since the heart is perfectly satisfied with God's grace, by which the Law has been fulfilled.  

Excerpt from 365 Day Devotional Readings from Martin Luther Day by Day, August 9

Abundant Resources

When we think we don't have sufficient resources to do what God is calling us to do, we can be courageous and look to Jesus as our example.

First, Jesus notices... 

he always notices what's happening.  

Jesus beckons us to notice
and to have compassion.

... Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.  JOHN 6:1-6

One of the disciples responded with and excuse...

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

How often do we respond in the same way?  Jesus notices and speaks, we hear and fail to notice, or find excuses to not have compassion enough to act.  We think we don't have the resources, when in fact, God has all the resources we need!  We may not have them in our hand, and yet, when we take a look around, there they are!

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

The resources are all around us.
When we take what may seem like a meager amount to Jesus,
he has the ability to bless and multiply them into enough!

Do we fail to look or take those meager provisions to Jesus because we don't really believe he can multiply them?  Jesus never panics, he never worries, and he is never in a hurry.  

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

Jesus orchestrates the distribution of food

with complete confidence that there will be enough

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

It is only after the crowds see the miracle that they truly believe Jesus is the Prophet, the promised Messiah, who was to come into the world. By choosing to not notice and act upon what Jesus may be prompting for us, we are prohibiting those watching from the blessing of seeing evidence that Jesus truly is the promised one of God. 

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus notices.
He has compassion.
He asks his followers to seek a solution.

My friends at FiveTwo say it this way:  The five thousand plus were fed by five loaves and two fish belonging to one of the five thousand plus.  The disciples were blind to the resources in front of them and blind to Jesus’ power to multiply them.  

Jesus notices.
He has compassion.
He asks his followers to seek a solution.
And... everything the we need to serve the community is already in the community.  It just needs to be brought to Jesus for blessing. 

I challenge you to notice what may be all around you, not only what you have in your hand!

All Access Pass

Often in people's prayers I hear: "Lord, send more of your Holy Spirit" or "fill me with more of your Holy Spirit.  

Could it be that we have this backward? 

After Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, He released the Holy Spirit that now lives within the people who believe 

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20

Thinking back to Isaiah's vision:  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  ISAIAH 6:1

If the train of God's robe filled the temple, we can know that God's Holy Spirit fills us in the same way.  The issue isn't that we need God to give us more - rather, we need to loosen the secured places and private spaces that we protect and give God more access to our lives.  

God wants an 

ALL ACCESS PASS

Jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with ALL our hearts, ALL our minds, ALL our strength and ALL our soul.  We are to give God access to our WHOLE BEING!

So, the next time you desire God to give you more of the Holy Spirit and more answers to your prayers, also consider how much more of YOU God may need to access in order to accomplish what you desire. 

Forgive them... Is this my prayer?

Forgive them...  

Stephen, full of faith, respond like Jesus.

I'm reading the book of Acts and noticed something that I had not caught before.  Stephen was a man chosen to serve from the multitudes of disciples.  He is described as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit who did great wonders and signs among the people.  

Some disputed with him; it is said: "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke."  He gave testimony to the work of God and spoke truth.  

The Stoning of Stephen
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.  

ACTS 7:54-60

 They cast him out of the city and stoned him...Stephen responded with:

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” 

Stephen, a man full of faith, is persecuted and stoned to death and his response is to advocate and intercede for his perpetrators!   On the cross, Jesus set the example - Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.  

As I am walking out a life of faith, is this my prayer?

Lord, do not hold this sin against them..."  

For this to be Stephen's response, He needed to see the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.  Jesus, the perfect and sinless one, who was also persecuted and put to death, the one who took on the sin of the world is now in the glory of God.  Stephen, knowing he had received the forgiveness that Jesus won on the cross, was now asking that for his perpetrators. 

Freely you have received; freely give.MATTHEW 10:8

While Grace is free to the recipient, it is costly to the giver.  My prayer is, like Stephen, to be so focused on God's grace and glory, knowing that I have freely received, be able to freely give, without hesitation.  

Faith and Joy

Happiness and Joy can be so closely related...

Circumstances will be what they are.  

Life happens. 

Sometimes it's good, sometimes not.

What if, instead of seeking the way to happiness, 

we discover that joy is the way?

Jesus said: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  JOHN 10:10

Joy is different.  When life is challenging, it doesn't seem like the kind of full which Jesus speaks about having.  Happiness may be more connected to circumstances.  I've experienced times of great sadness, where there was definitely no happiness, yet joy was very present.  

Joy runs deep - transcending circumstances.

Could you agree that even when there are hard times, and in them you know you are loved, regardless, and in spite of the circumstances, that joy is present?  Not happiness, but joy.

Joy is rooted in relationship - one that loves unconditionally.  That's godly love.  The kind of love that always contends for the good of another.  When a person knows they are loved, there is comfort, and peace, and yes, even joy in the hard stuff.  

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines joy as:

• the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires - described as delight
• a state of happiness or felicity - described as bliss
• a source or cause of delight

Take delight in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.  PSALM 37:4

This verse captured my attention some years ago, and now here, contemplating joy, I find that DELIGHT and JOY are connected!  God says, I love you.  Delight in me - have joy in my love for you, and receive my love abundantly!  

Burdens shared are cut in half

Joy shared is doubled

When we are receiving the full measure of God's love, we have more than enough to share.  We can be generous.  And, when we are generous and bless others with this love, it produces more joy!  

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  LUKE 2:8-12

In these days of Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of the Christ child and Savior of the world, we wait on the promises of God, to send His love into the world through Jesus - Emmanuel (God WITH us).  He humbled himself and came down, love came down, and love poured out.

In receiving this love, everlasting joy is possible.  

Faith and Love

Love is something that flows from one being to another.  It is expressed from the one communicating love and received by the one for whom it is intended.  Others who witness love can't help being positively impacted by its allure.   

Love draws us in.

Love is always for our good.

Love always builds up and never tears down.

Love can't be manufactured - it either exists or it doesn't. 

In this second week of Advent, focusing on Faith and Love, I was traveling behind a vehicle that was decorated with two bumper stickers: 

My first thought was that we can coexist without loving or understanding one another, with a posture of tolerance, rather than love.    

We can believe in love, and not be loving.  

We can believe in peace, without being peacemakers.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8a

Jesus embodies love and peace, bringing them into the world. 

God is love.  1 John 4:16

In the same way, God calls his people to be loving.  

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  1 JOHN :7-12

  

The journey of Advent points us to Jesus, who entered this broken world to bring love and peace.  More than merely coexisting, or believing in love and peace, Jesus invites us to love others as ourselves because of the love we've received from God.  And, having experienced the reconciling nature of God, God calls us to be peacemakers. 

Love always enters in for the good of another!

People throughout the world are hurting in a variety of ways -  lonely, hungry, displaced, brokenhearted, desperate, angry... the list is long.  Imagine what love does in each of these situations...  Love says "you are not alone and I won't abandon you.  I'll share what I have and we'll figure this out together."  Love never says "it's someone else's problem."  

Through faith, the kind of redeeming love and peace

necessary to heal the strife in this world is possible.

Faith and Hope

HOPE

It's a powerful driver!

The HOPE of something better leads people to hurdle incredible challenges... 

and the lack of HOPE can drive another to despair.  

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  HEBREWS 11:1

Hope that comes from faith is far beyond wishful thinking. This kind of hope is grounded in the assurance of the redeeming work of God through the finished work of Jesus, the Messiah.

In this season of Advent, we wait for the birth of this Christ child, the one promised and hoped for.  Hope grounded in faith looks to the ONE that always keeps his promises.  Looking back, we can see promises fulfilled.  Looking forward, knowing the faithfulness of God in the past, we can trust that He will be faithful in the years to come.  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  JOHN 1:1-2, 14

There is great mystery in the work of God.

Faith stands in the gap between fact and doubt.  We wonder, we question, and we doubt.  Some reject.  The goodness and faithfulness of God calls people to hope.  

Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life... and He calls us to follow Him.  Human beings don't do this perfectly, we make mistakes and are frequent in our failings.  However, we can look to the ONE who walked this same journey of life and did it perfectly.  

All of human history points to the resurrection.  It is through this sole moment in time that faith pivots.  So in this week of Advent, the week of Hope, we have the opportunity to focus on what truly brings hope.

Hillsong wrote and produced a beautiful song.  Take a moment and look to the Hope of the World, Jesus.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone
Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless stand before the throne.

Glimpses of God

For the last two weeks I've set up camp and pondered these two verses:

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.

And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.  MARK 4:33-34


Jesus, God himself, knew the enormity of God's Kingdom.  Following Jesus through the Gospels, we find him sharing glimpses of this Kingdom in what he said and did...

• He healed the sick, raised the dead, restored sight, hearing, and physical infirmities... 
• He spoke forgiveness... 
• He taught about living in such a way that relationships with God, self, others, and creation are always honored... 

As Jesus journeyed through life, he shared illustrations and stories that gave people glimpses of God and His kingdom... 

A kingdom where love reigns!
A kingdom where relationships are never compromised!
A kingdom that has more beauty and abundance than humankind can fully imagine!

Journeying through life,
there is evidence of God's Kingdom all around!  

"The kingdom of God is like…”
 - a man who sowed good seed in his field.  Matthew 13:24    (it’ is good)

 - a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field  Matthew 13:31 
   (it starts small and grows)

 - yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of yeast until it worked all through the dough  Matthew 13:33 (a little bit can make a big difference)

 - treasure hidden in a field  Matthew 13:44 (it is very important and should be protected)

 - a merchant looking for fine pearls  Matthew 13:45 (it is precious and worth a great price) 

 - a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish  Matthew 13:47 (it is filled with variety and produces in abundance)

 - the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old  Matthew 13:52  (everything has value) 

 - a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants  Matthew 18:23  (it is filled with integrity)

 - a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard  Matthew 20:1  (there is lot of work to be done)

 - a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son  Matthew 22:2  (in it there is joyful celebration) 

Jesus is providing small glimpses
of what a life with God is like.  

He's inviting you in...

Do you see it?

Does it make you wonder? 

Come in, 

sit down with Jesus, 

let His Word,
 and the people who follow Him,
explain what he means!

Grains of Sand

Walking along the beach on a beautiful sunny morning, the Words of God that ran through my mind were 

"more numerous than the sand on the seashore."  

I paused... looked in front and behind me.  The beach stretched as far as I could see in both directions and I began to imagine all the beaches that I have visited.  It's quite an illustration to think about anything being more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashore.

Grains of sand...  each so tiny...  so many! 

I think of God's promises to Abraham.  Still childless at the age of 75, the Lord challenged Abraham to count the number of stars in the sky and promising that his heirs would be more numerous than that!   It took another twenty-five years later before Isaac, the son of promise, was born.  It's a long story of promises, faith, obedience, disobedience, forgiveness and restoration.  He left his country to go to a strange land, there were family conflicts that resulted in separation, there was adultery and abandonment.  

It's messy!

There was failure!

Walking with God is a journey!  

Many years later in the New Testament, Paul writes: 

We walk by faith and not by sight.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:7  

Sometimes the journey is filled with joy and at other times sorrow.  

Sometimes the steps are clear and at other times it's like groping in the dark.  

It's not that God's not clear, it's that our human understanding is clouded.  

That may sound trite...  But, it's true.  I have met some brilliant people, but none compare to the one who spoke creation into being!  It's hard to imagine that such a vast and complex universe that works with such precision and order could have been formed without intelligent design.

God is constantly at work on our behalf,
seeking to redeem and restore humanity.  

He can't bless sin, but he does bless obedience!

Here, we come to the point where the Lord is testing Abraham: 

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”  GENESIS 22:15-18

The blessing follows obedience!

Abraham now had enough experience with God
to know that He always kept his promises
and this encouraged Abraham's obedience when God spoke. 

Where is God calling you to believe him and trust him?  

It may be in believing that He is who he says he is.  It may be in other steps of faith. Abraham waited 25 years for the first step of God's promise to come to fulfillment.  As for the grains of sand, they are still being formed as one by one, people around the globe believe God at His word and act accordingly.  

Who will be blessed because of your obedience?

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.  PSALM 139:17-18

The Lord is true to His Word! 

A Mighty Fortress by Christy Nockels

Absolutely Everyone!

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  MATTHEW 7:7-8

Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven.  If we take this out of context, there are times we
might wonder if God really does answer prayer.

David writes in Psalm 37:

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,    when they carry out their wicked schemes.  PSALM 37:3-7



Jesus is saying...
ASK, beg, call for, crave, desire, require that God reveal insights about His Kingdom...
SEEK after these insights, searching for the less obvious deeper understanding...
KNOCK, literally rap on God's door, imploring him to share his thoughts and wisdom... 

Jesus is saying that
absolutely everyone
who earnestly asks, seeks, and knocks 

will discover God himself and His wisdom.   

Will everyone receive the answer they are hoping for when asking about their own desires? While we may hope for this, and sometimes conclude that God isn't answering if it doesn't come through just so...  the opportunity is there to gain deeper understanding.

Whenever it's difficult to make sense of circumstances, I look to Jesus.
On the night before his crucifixion, he instructed the disciples: Pray, that you will not fall into temptation.  

Then he moved about a stone's throw away, knelt down and prayed.
     "Father, if you are willing, take this cup of suffering from me; 
      yet not my will, but yours be done."  LUKE 22:42

We know this prayer was answered.  The cup of suffering was not removed, and yet God's will was done.  Jesus fulfilled the work he came to do.  He fulfilled God's will perfectly.  

It is much easier when God's will aligns with ours, and much more difficult when our desires aren't aligning with what's happening...  

And so I pray:
Good and gracious Lord, your ways are not our ways.  You tell us that we do not have because we have not asked.  Especially when it is difficult, when in times of trouble or tragedy or disaster, may we A.S.K. you first.  May we pray for your wisdom, to see how your will continues to be fulfilled, particularly when the immediate circumstances may not seem that way.  As we pray, may we seek where and how you might call us to be in it.  We give thanks for your longsuffering-patience and your everlasting faithfulness and your love that extends through eternity.  We pray this in Jesus name, AMEN.

Run for Your Lives!

There's danger ahead...
Retreat! 

Instead of retreating to safety,
Jesus repeatedly stepped into the mess.

The disciples were asked: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” on multiple occasions, to which Jesus replied: 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means:
   ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  MARK 2:17

What if we understood
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
as Jesus calling us into the mess
instead of retreating to safety? 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  MARK 8:34-35

Ever since Baltimore erupted in late April, I have been trying to gain a greater perspective about the underlying issues.  I really believe we live in the land of equal opportunity, however, not everyone has equal advantage that provides equal access to the opportunities.  The disparity between the Haves and the Have-Nots is growing.  

Focusing on issues regarding children and families...

I just read some startling statistics from the National Center on Family Homelessness reporting

1 in every 30 U.S. children are homeless!  

The U.S. Census reports there are approximately 321 million people
45 million people living in poverty.
Over 146 million Americans (45%) are considered "poor" or "low income"
57% of America's children live in homes that are "poor" or "low income"

32% of all working families are considered "the working poor" 
and don't earn enough to make ends meet

Does this bother you?

The things Jesus did when he was walking this earth are the same things that he calls "his body" to do, not retreating to safety.

Learn to do right; seek justice.
     Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
     plead the case of the widow.  ISAIAH 1:17 

Upon reading from the book of Isaiah, Jesus says, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." LUKE 4:21

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.  ISAIAH 61:-2

Jesus laid down for people
whom he calls to be the church!

The sacramental church gathers,
she receives nurturing that comes through the gathering and the Word,
she receives a tangible reminder of Jesus' restorative work in the Lord's Supper,

and she receives departing words to live out God's mission on earth.

Where has God called you to

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, 

back out into the world 

to do the work that 

God alone has prepared you to do?