Short Reflections

A Hostile Environment

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Genesis 30:1- 31:16; Psalm 12; Proverbs 3:13-15; Matthew 10:1-23

“The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.” Psalm 12:8

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

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Hostility is as old as time. Jealousy over one another’s blessings; resentment of the righteous. Human relationships are messy because we are sinners. We see the competition between Leah and Rachel in the baby race. My heart aches for both of them because neither had everything they wanted- a loving husband and a house full of children.

In this same passage Laban attempts to diminish God’s blessings on Jacob. The wicked freely strut about as the righteous are mistreated.

Jesus warns His disciples what to expect when He sends them out in His Name. Expect hardship. Rebels of God will not welcome His friends.

Christians live in this world with eyes wide open to the evil around us but also with hearts wide open to sharing the Gospel. We offer full hope even in the face of hostility. The hope-filled are not deterred because God’s promises remain true since the beginning of Time. God is with us and He is for His people. We are simply to be obedient with what we have been given and what we are called to do.

Grace upon grace,

April

Our Compassionate Shepherd

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Genesis 28:1- 29:35; Matthew 9:18-38

“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” -Matthew 9:36

 

Leah is not loved. God sees Leah’s loneliness and blesses her with sons.

Jesus shows compassion to the crowds of hurting, broken people. Sickness, death and disappointment are attached to this world. We are all in need of a Shepherd to see us, love us and tenderly care for us. God sent Jesus as the Lamb of God so that He could be our Shepherd, our Hope.

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Our Father sees the broken-hearted, whatever struggles you face. He mends us with truth, reminding you and me we are healed and we are being healed. Living between the two advents means becoming who we already are in Christ. Jesus has secured the place of every believer with Him.

Jesus went to the cross for sinners. He loves you and sees your need. His compassion for the helpless is still relevant today. Come ye sinners, poor and needy, Jesus will remind you of His love and power. Jesus makes us whole.

Grace upon grace,

April

 

Enemies of the cross

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Read Genesis 25:1-26:16; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 3:7-8; Matthew 8:18-34

 

The wicked are wise in their own eyes despising God and His people. Ishmael’s descendants fulfill prophecy as people who live in hostility toward others, rejecting the true God. Esau cared more for gratifying his flesh than protecting the spiritual value of his birthright.

Anyone who is not a friend of God is His enemy. Neutrality or indifference are also choices made to stand against the Lord, refusing to believe His promises. All forms of rebellion are pride- man’s desire to live apart from God, out from under His authority.

The contrast to rebellion is a life of faith in Jesus. Still, God proves His faithfulness to us over and over again so that we will trust Him. He calms the wind and waves, exorcises demons from two men, showing the world He possesses power over creation. He holds the key to life.

Here we know in part, living in the shadows. When it feels like evil is winning, and the weak are crushed we remember the Story isn’t over yet. What is yet to come will be the unveiling as we see Christ in full glory. God’s enemies do not have the victory. We are on the right side.

 

Grace upon grace,

April

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” -1 Corinthians 13:12

Jesus Heals

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Read Matthew 8:1-17

This passage shows how Jesus healed different people with just a touch or a word. His unlimited power displays the Lord’s authority over every kind of physical and mental ailment- leprosy, paralysis, fever, demon-possession, and yes, even death (John 11:1-44). Jesus is willing to “make us clean” as the leper asks of Him.

He did many miracles in the sight of the people, relieving them from physical suffering and sorrow. Yet our longing goes much deeper than relief from temporal afflictions. We are in need of divine spiritual resurrection (Ephesians 2:1-5). Jesus has done this for every believer.

Even though you and I must endure trials of various kinds on earth, we are not like those without hope. Jesus was willing to heal us from our sin sickness. This is the miracle that matters the most. All who were physically healed by Christ during His earthly ministry died eventually. This is the curse of sin- Death. But those in Christ are made clean and whole. We get to live.

The effects of sin’s curse all around us in the world- political havoc, mental illness, hunger, injustice, divorce, abuse, incurable diseases. The world is broken and not as it should be.

But this isn’t the end of the story, not by a mile. If we hold onto an eternal perspective then we remember ourselves as pilgrims in a transient world (Hebrews 11:13-16). Final restoration when all things are made new is coming. One day, on the very last day, the Lord’s healing will be complete. And we who are called His sons and daughters will be Home forever.

 

Grace upon grace,

April

 

“He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases,” -Isaiah 53:4

 

The Cursed Serpent

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Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Psalm 2; Matthew 3:1-6

Christ became sin for us, becoming a curse, bearing God’s wrath so that believers will never have to. Jesus has made us free (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It’s interesting that Satan is identified as a serpent in Genesis 3, to tempt the first man and woman to sin. Later on in the book of Numbers, Moses obeys the Lord’s command to construct a bronze serpent for God to heal the Israelites bitten by venomous snakes. They had complained against God’s provision and Moses’ leadership. Realizing their sin, the people repented. When they looked at the bronze snake set up on a pole, the people who were bitten lived. (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-15).

From the Fall the serpent foreshadows Jesus becoming sin for us and His sacrificial death on a cross. We see directly after the Fall how sin corrupted mankind. But God in His mercy sends Jesus to redeem His people from eternal death and give us life in Him! The serpent symbolizes our curse, but God uses this very image as a means to save us through Jesus taking on our sin. He is lifted up on a cross, like Moses placed the bronze snake on a pole. Anyone who looks to Christ will be saved from death and the serpent of Satan will not have victory over you.

Jesus crushed the head of the serpent overcoming death and sin, restoring His Beloved (Genesis 3:15). Those in Christ Jesus are called to continue this mission of mortifying the flesh, crushing the will of Satan as we engage in spiritual battle every day (Romans 16:20). This is the power of Christ at work in us. Satan does not have the final victory. The war does not belong to Him. God has already won. Praise be to God!

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”  1 Peter 2:24

 

Grace upon grace,

April

 

Perfect Love (Short Reflections)

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“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 

1 John 4:18

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When I am abiding in the Spirit (perfect love) I don’t fear that I am not His. I’m not afraid of losing His love or of being rejected. I have peace and confidence that not only is Christ keeping me, but He is continually doing a good work in and through me.

To be like Him.

When I am set in this truth He makes my face like flint, burying my roots deeper as I draw life giving water from His well.

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So what does abiding look like in our day to day lives?

*Seeking God’s Presence in His Word daily to learn and listen and grow

*Prayer throughout the day that’s more like a conversation with a friend, who happens to also be the God of the Universe.

*Memorizing Scripture- this one is hard for me but always worth the challenge. Learn by heart a few verses to carry with you during your day when you can’t have your Bible open in front of you. It’s a blessing to give your future self in those moments.

This list isn’t comprehensive, but it can nudge us in the right direction. Start with one today. When we abide in the Lord, He helps us remember just how much He loves us by pointing us back to the Cross.

Christ is our Perfect Love.

 

Grace upon grace,

April

The beginning to eternity- (Short Reflections)

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Hi there! I wanted to give you a little encouragement as you head into your weekend. Typically ‘Short Reflections’ will be just that, short 😉

Happy Friday and hallelujah for March! Spring is around the corner you guys!

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“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

-Revelation 22:21 (The last verse recorded in Scripture)

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Revelation 22 is the beginning of our eternity. This is Home. It’s true that our eternity actually starts here, as we walk on earth, but the complete fulfillment of it is yet to be.

I can worship the Lord now in a broken world, knowing this isn’t forever – the hope of Jesus Christ finally fulfilling all of Scripture is what I hang my hat on. In the in-between we wait, seek and live as He has called us to.

May God’s grace go with you throughout this day and into your weekend. Because the Kingdom of God is here, among us, the Church. And you know what?

This is only the beginning to a very happy ending.

 

Grace upon grace,

April

Growing in grace

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If you haven’t noticed, on Fridays I’m taking time to post short reflections or prayers. Hopefully you are encouraged by them. This is a prayer from the Valley of Vision. It would make a great Christmas gift for someone, or for yourself 🙂

May you grow in God’s grace today. Blessings to you.

Spiritual Growth

“May I be consistent in conversation and conduct,

the same alone as in company, […]

May I never be satisfied with my present

spiritual progress, […]

May I never neglect what is necessary to constitute Christian character, […]

May I cultivate the expedient,

develop the lovely, adorn the Gospel,

recommend the religion of Jesus,”…

 

 

Grace upon grace,

April

 

 

Immanuel

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Love came down quietly, like through the backstage door.

Jesus chose a humble birth of lowly means to parents without money or status. He was delivered in a first century barn surrounded by stench and filth.

Christ became flesh, experiencing life as we do yet did not sin.

He appeared at the appointed Time in history to turn His kingdom upside down from the expectations of the world.

Taking on our humanity Jesus became ‘Immanuel’, “God with us”.

Always.

 

Grace upon grace,

April

Love without End

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God is Greater Than,

more Beautiful, Wonderful,  or Powerful

than I can fully understand.

He spoke Everything into existence,

faithful to hold all things together.

By His command I am at His mercy.

Yet this Almighty, Divine Lord also moved in Love, toward people who would disobey Him, reject His Son, and hate Him or anyone claiming to be His children.

But He also knew that some would not rebel forever- fellowship restored.

His Greatness consumed my insignificance and wrapped it in unending love.

 

Grace upon grace,

April