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In the summer of 2006, I had the opportunity to lead a mission trip to New Orleans as the spiritual leader for nearly 90 people from a handful of churches and the high school from which I had just graduated. It was a hard, tiring, emotional trip that for me is marked by the amount of tears shed that week. Among the wreckage of this natural disaster, amidst the craziness of that many youth together in the summer humidity of the deep south, God worked in a powerful way. I remember so clearly exact moments in that trip where God’s presence was so strong that I literally couldn’t ignore it.

I have a number of pictures and videos of the trips that we made down to New Orleans and every time I watch them, I am back in those moments. I remember the presence of God in my life, and how He demonstrated His love to me in the revelation of His glory. I remember the work He did among a misfit group of teenagers and adults. I remember the grace He showed to me as an inexperienced, ill-equipped leader, and even now it brings tears to my eyes…

A Jewish rabbi by the name of Baal Shem Tov [the founder of Hasidism] wrote, “Forgetfulness leads to exile while remembrance is the secret of redemption.”

Remembrance is the secret of redemption…

The Old Testament of the Bible is an account of God’s people from creation to fall, deliverance and to exile. It is the historical account of God’s work within the world, among the people of His creation. Along each step of their journey, God is with them, loving them, teaching them, correcting them. Ultimately, after the fall, God continually worked among them teaching them what it actually means to be human and live fully. After their deliverance from slavery among the Egyptians, God gives the people of Israel the ten commandments (or the Law) to do a number of things which include, giving them a framework to live as God’s people as well as showing them their genuine need for God’s continued love and mercy.

God wanted them to remember His love and work among them…

The book of Joshua gives an account of the people’s deliverance from the desert just before they reach the land that God had promised them. In order for Israel to enter the promise land, the entire nation had to cross a river, that was a significant obstacle. In an act of great power, God stops the river and promises to give them the land now inhabited by their enemies. Joshua tells the people, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jeubusites.”

The people prepare themselves, and just as He promised, God stops the flow of the Jordan river so that the entire nation of Israel can cross it on foot.

Then, God tells Joshua to command the people to gather 12 stones from the bottom of the Jordan river, to take the stones with them and place them where they camped that first night after this miracle. Joshua tells them to do this, “that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘what do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord… So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

The purpose of the memorial stones was to serve the people of Israel in a way that once they were living safely and comfortably in the land of the promise, they would not forget what the Lord God had done to bring them there. They would all remember passover in which God slayed the first born of Egypt as the final plague due to the Pharaoh’s rebellion. They would remember now too God’s fulfillment of His promise to bring them into the promise land… However their forgetfulness would lead to rebellion, and in turn lead to exile…

Unfortunately much like many of us today, the people of Israel were quick to forget all that God had done for them to bring them out of Egypt and to deliver them into the promise land, and the people of God were scattered and led into captivity. However, the people did not stay in exile forever, God again delivered them in His steadfast love. During their time in exile, though, God sent prophets that told of a Messiah, an anointed one, who was to come and make things right with the people of God…

Jesus is that Messiah…

Jesus as the Son of God was born into a poor family and lived a humble life. At the age of 30 Jesus began his ministry after being baptized by John, recognized by the other two members of the trinity, and tempted by the Devil. His message: Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand. Much like his Father had done in the Old Testament, Jesus gave people instruction on how to be human and fully live. Rightly people recognized Jesus as the Messiah and submitted themselves to him. They heard his claims, they saw his miracles, and recognized that he taught with authority. Furthermore, Jesus pointed out the people’s ultimate need for salvation and for God Himself.

Jesus, too, wanted the people to remember.

During the last night Jesus spent with his disciples, he gave them what has now come to be known as the Lord’s supper.

And he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, “This cup is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Jesus, gives them a meal, a practice, that they would remember the sacrifice he made to bring them deliverance, to bring them salvation. As Joshua said about the stones, this meal would be something that others will ask about, through which believers can give an account, a testimony of the Lord’s grace and mercy.

It is important to recognize what Jesus says here. This meal is to be a representation of the wrath that he experienced on the cross. His body was broken and his blood was shed as the new covenant.

To quote a couple of authors speaking about covenant:

“Commitment is a big word these days, but covenant is a bigger word. Covenant implies that relationships is more important than performance, that belonging is more important than succeeding, that being is more important than doing. Contracts are conditional; covenants are essentially unconditional… It is an invitation to go deeper with God and God’s people. Without saying so most people want contracts – negotiated exchanges of goods and services – that can be broken if one partner breaks contract. [However] there is a “for better, for worse” about it [covenant], a bonding and binding agreement to work this thing out for God’s glory and for the upbuilding of the body of Christ because we belong together” (Stevens & Collins 1993).

Jesus’ act on the cross was a covenant made with man, where the deal is sealed not by our work or our merit, but by Jesus’ sacrifice. It cannot be broken or overruled. There are no loopholes or conditional clauses. Our only part is to respond to the proposal, then to live “for better, for worse” with the loving God of the universe.

My prayer as you read this is that you will remember two things. First, I pray that you remember the work of Jesus Christ to guarantee salvation for you through his death and resurrection. Second, I pray that you would remember all of the great work God has done in your life so far. Look back and praise God for the many instances of deliverance God has provided within your journey.

May we all take up the cup of the Lord’s Supper and remember God’s redemptive act through the sacrifice of His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would have the right to be called children of God. Likewise may we all, like the people of Israel, learn to commemorate all that God does in our lives with “memorial stones” of our own, so that, “When your children ask in time to come, ‘what do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them…” May we tell them of the goodness of God… the faithfulness of God… and the steadfast mercy of God, made new each morning…

Grace and Peace to you.

I have recently gone through some things in my life that have brought me to a new appreciation of God’s provision as well as his presence. I have felt pains in my heart that seemed to make the simple act of breathing feel like one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I fought through sadness, anger, depression, and fear. I cried out to the living God and felt no immediate relief. Time slowed and the world outside me was overshadowed by the dark fog that hung over my mind.

I knew that this couldn’t be the end, that somewhere there was hope, that in some way God would deliver me.

The writer of Hebrews commands us to trust God in what he has given us because he has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And there amidst the loneliness and pain, there is hope in God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people such as me. The almighty God has made a promise to us and in his promise there is life.

In the last week I have come to experience God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in some amazing ways. He spoke to me reminding me of his love and peace.

Genesis 37 through 50 gives an account of the life of Joseph, a simple shepherd boy that becomes second in command in Egypt. While Joseph’s story in the whole seems to be a tale of success, it is scarred by betrayal, dishonesty, loneliness, pain and loss. Joseph is betrayed by the brothers he loved, thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and forgotten for two years in prison. Yet somehow Joseph gets through it all. He doesn’t give in to the anger he felt towards his brothers, the fear he felt in the pit, the shame he felt as a slave, the bitterness of being framed, or the complete loneliness that must have come with being forgotten in chains.

Scripture doesn’t point towards Joseph’s inherit strength or positive attitude as the source of his ability to continue on, rather it states time and time again throughout the account of his life that Joseph moved along because, as scripture says, “the Lord was with him.” The powerful truth in this phrase is subtle, but profound. The Lord’s presence is essential to life and growth.

After all of his hardship Joseph is thrown into a position as second in command of the entire nation of Egypt. After interpreting the dreams Pharaoh has concerning famine, Joseph is put in charge of preparing for and surviving the famine of Pharaoh’s dreams.

It is during this time that Joseph’s brothers, starving and afraid, go to Egypt with the hopes of buying some provisions. When Joseph sees his brothers, instead of being overcome with anger and getting the revenge that most would say is due to him, Joseph shows them mercy and grace. He doesn’t punish them or kill them, but instead gives them great provisions and shares with them all of the benefits that God has bestowed upon him.

After everything he has been through Joseph says to his brothers,
“Come near to me please… I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life… it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

Joseph recognizes that God was with him every step of the way, and now calls his brothers to draw near to him. As painful as it was God brought him to a place that he could help not only his family, but an entire nation. While his brothers would be tempted to live in depression about what they did to Joseph, he speaks against this telling them that God ordained what had happened.

There are two things that really come out of this that help me to focus on the grace that God has for us. First, as the writer of Hebrews says, God is with us and will not forsake us. In the midst of the darkness and pain God was with Joseph. While Joseph may have faced depression and loneliness in the pit, he was never really alone. When he was forgotten in prison by the servant of the Pharaoh, God never forgot him. God never betrayed him or judged him unfairly.

While at times it may be hard to relate to the stories of the Old Testament, great truths are often revealed in light of the New Testament. Throughout the account of Joseph’s life, scripture purposefully points out that the Lord was with Joseph and all that he did. This is a huge parallel with what we see God doing in the redemption of the world through his Son Jesus. When Matthew gives an account of Jesus’ life he makes reference to a prophecy concerning Jesus’ birth.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

We were initially created to be in a relationship with the one true God, but sin changed our relationship. Essentially in our sin, we each say to God that we are in control and therefore have no need for him. We rebel against the way our lives were purposely ordered and in turn we rebel against the one who gave it order. However instead of giving us the punishment that we justly deserve, like Joseph in Genesis, God has mercy on us.

Michael Wittmer writes about this saying, “when [mankind] rebelled and got themselves in trouble, this God would do anything necessary to love them back to wholeness.” When we rebel against God we are rebelling against a part of ourselves, the part that gives us life and meaning. God will not allow us to continue on in our brokenness. Therefore He willingly sent Jesus, fully God and fully man, to restore our relationship. What man needs to fix his brokenness is God himself.

Immanuel… God with us… Jesus…

The entire land of Egypt as well as Joseph’s family was starving and in great need of sustenance, and God provided for them through Joseph. Joseph’s painful life ultimately led to God’s provision for Joseph and his family. Likewise all of mankind is spiritually starving for a relationship with the living God, and God in his infinite mercy provided. Jesus himself said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

In the moments of my pain and sorrow that I have recently known, I have found great comfort in these truths. As God’s child, redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, I have never been forsaken. God has never abandoned me despite the appearance of my circumstances. I have never truly been alone. As beings created to live in community we long to be near others, however we often overlook the most important relationship, our relationship with our creator and redeemer, who has given us both his presence and his provision.

Before Jesus allowed himself to be arrested and crucified, he comforted his disciples saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

Though we are not able to physically walk with God in flesh in the actual man of Jesus Christ, God has provided his presence for us even today. Jesus’ words about not leaving us as orphans are a reference to his Holy Spirit that lives among us and within the heart of believers today.

In 1 Corinthians Paul writes to the church of Corinth against them blatantly living in sin arguing that the Holy Spirit dwells within them. He writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

God has given us a helper and guide and ultimately his presence in our everyday lives. And it is in this presence that God has really given us hope for a future.

While you may be suffering now, joy comes in the morning.  1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” I pray that you would trust that He has given you the opportunity to be called a son or daughter of God for those that believe upon the name of Jesus. He will never leave his children.

In the darkness of your pain you are not alone. There is hope. God will provide. Jesus Christ provided a way for us to know God and to experience the same mercy and grace he showed to Joseph, which Joseph in turn showed to his brothers…

God’s greatest provision came in sending Jesus to live and die an innocent death in order to turn away the wrath of God. While we may be hungry, lonely, in pain, or poverty I pray that we would cherish and cling to God’s gift of salvation. In due time we will be delivered from the darkness and pain in this world, if only we give up trying to control our lives and allow Christ to work through us for his purpose. Let us all learn to love as he loved, believe as he believed, and live in a relationship with our Father in heaven as His perfect son lived. For it is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we are able to do these things.

Praise be to God for his abundant grace and steadfast love.

May the God of all provision bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and give you peace. Amen.

I’ve recently found myself completely broken and weak at the work of my own hands. At some point in my arrogance and pride I began living as if I could walk on my own, away from the strength and provision of God. I drifted away from God’s word and truth and honestly lived without a fear of God, which I have now come to see is vital to understanding salvation. I got along patting myself on the back and eventually awoke in a spiritual ditch unaware of how I got there. Even then I caught myself fighting to pick myself up and push myself along as if by my own might I would make a difference. Then when I finally got to the point where I recognized my total need for Christ as savior I beat myself up for not realizing this before and not submitting to his authority. The problem with this self abuse is that it again is me working to teach myself a lesson as if I could change on my own power. This is a vicious and brutal cycle that has caused me and those around me great pain and suffering. This is pride.

Some have written that pride is the beginning of all sin, but I would go on to say that our sin really stems from a desire to dethrone God in order to take his rightful place as king. We wage war against God that we might rule and then in our “kindness” or “grace” we offer God a place under our new order as a wise counsel or personal aid. However this goes against everything that Scripture reveals about the character and nature of God. I assure you that God will not be threatened by a weak and feeble creature as me, yet we still vie for his authority.

We see this from the very beginning of the story of man. Our nature has been tainted with this wicked desire from the earliest of days. Genesis gives an account of the creation and fall of mankind: God creates man in his own image, blesses man with woman, and then gives them a beautiful world not only to live in, but to rule and cultivate. They had dominion over “the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over everything that moves on the earth.” The entire world was submitted to their authority, giving them more power than any man after them, outside God incarnate in Christ Jesus. It was there in the midst of their earthy dominion that Satan comes to the woman and tells her God is a liar and tempts her saying, “For God knows that when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Scripture goes on to say, “So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.”

There are a couple of important things to note about this. The first is with what Satan tempts her. Woman’s fall comes in the belief that she could be like God. With all that God had given them, they wanted more and were willing to dethrone God in order to get it. Now remember Satan has planted the seed in the woman’s mind that God cannot be trusted, and I think that this is something that leads us down some very dangerous paths and must be addressed.

Throughout Scripture God not only encourages, but commands that we not worry. Jesus likewise commands us not to worry about what we will wear or eat, or what we will say when we are accused on his behalf. Worrying stems from our disbelief that God will provide when he says he will. It ultimately comes down to us not trusting God’s character. Worry then, while sinful in nature (for who are we to question God?), leads us to then act on our own behalf out of fear that God will not or cannot. This is Pride.

Now this act of pride can be identified in the heart of those who refuse to trust God with their salvation because of the belief that their moralistic lifestyle (good works) can save them. It also is seen in the heart of those who completely disregard morals and a need for salvation because ultimately they challenge the just and holy nature of God. Others still while they believe in his justice, doubt his ability to forgive or redeem. It also can be seen in the lives of believer’s lack of complete dependence on God when it comes to the deliverance from sin and judgment, which often leads to legalism, more pride, and more brokenness. All of this is pride for it is man saying that he knows better or can do better than God.

Against this I want to warn you with all of my heart. The majority of my writing to this point has been very encouraging and uplifting, but now I must be firm in order to stay true to the Gospel of Christ. We are by nature enemies of the cross of Christ. By this I mean that Jesus, fully God and fully man, came to live among us and teach us, and voluntarily sacrificed himself only to rise again to free us from the bondage of sin, and yet we daily make light of this, if not disregard it all together.

Instead of disregarding our sin, we must come to realize that the pain we suffer now is a consequence of our own actions. The responsibility lies with us.  The book Lamentations gives a good example of what a righteous acknowledgment of our faithlessness looks like:

“My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand… The Lord is in the right for I have rebelled against his word…”

How often do we come before the Lord and honestly accept our sin and its consequences as the result of our own actions? In this, my prayer is that for those now living in the dark valley burned by your actions that you would first come to realize and accept your part in your situation. I had a high school teacher that made us all memorize the definition of responsibility: “Responsibility is the acceptance of oneself as the cause of one’s current situation, and it is the willingness to cope with that situation.”

Now here is where my biggest struggle comes into play. I will admit to you now that I am sinful and broken. I will even acknowledge that I have lived in direct rebellion to the living God, fighting against him, for his position as Lord and King. In the moments after my rebellion and sin, when the dust is settling, and the reality of my actions set in, I am almost always VERY aware of my wickedness. I am usually very convicted and sorry for what I have done. I find myself disgusted at my actions and character, which I believe is an appropriate response. However, I often become stuck in that moment. I don’t know where to go or what to do with my guilt. I know I must go to God, but I feel as though I must do something first. I feel as if I must earn his forgiveness or merit his mercy (which be definition can’t be done, google “mercy definition”), but that feeling never leads to anything.

I think that it’s important to look back at Genesis and continue with the story of woman and her husband. So after they had openly decided to act against God’s command and plan for them, something happens. Scripture says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” For them, this was that moment when they realized what they had done. They originally acted believing that this fruit would make them more than they were, only find themselves naked and ashamed… They were ashamed because they were now broken and marred creations. They were ashamed and wanted to hide their now imperfect forms. And here you have the birth of all insecurity. Ever since then, mankind has fought to produce something beautiful in order to cover its deformities. Men’s need to be strong providers for their wives, and women’s need to be seen as beautiful are both forms of the insecurity that began that day.

And like the men and women of today, man and woman acted to cover up what was now undesirable. “And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Then they hear God walking in the garden and the man and his wife hide. (Note that sin drives people further and further into the darkness.) God then calls to them asking them where they are. This is vital because God knows where they are, just as God knows where we are when we fall in our sin. He knows exactly where we are and what we have done, but he calls to us inviting us back to him.

Eventually man and woman come out and confess, after passing the blame where they could. They have come out of hiding and presented themselves as they are before God, then comes the judgment. Now this is key. While God makes clear the consequences of their sin and the actions he will have to take because of them, He does NOT abandon them. Rather, take a look at Genesis 3:21 which reads, “And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them.”

In the moments after their sin man and woman acted to cover up that of which they were ashamed, but their coverings were not sufficient. God sacrificed an animal, the first death, in order that man and woman would not be naked and live in their shame. In his love he acted on their behalf to cover them since they were unable to appropriately cover themselves. God then puts man out of the garden in order to protect him from living for eternity in a fallen state, and puts him to work. And I think that this is where we must find our hope.

As I said, my struggle is often what I do after I have fallen in sin and rebelled against God. I am ashamed of my wickedness and am afraid to go to God. However, God already knows my brokenness and my sin. He knows what I have done. Scripture says that God demonstrates his love to us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. He knows. I cannot cover what I have done. I cannot hide from him when He calls. I must give up my weak pathetic attempts to cover what I have done and allow God to cover me, for this is pride even amidst my brokenness.

1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” Jesus the Son of God died to cover our shame. He willingly sacrificed himself that we might have life. So whenever I punish myself after my rebellion, in order to earn God’s forgiveness, I am essentially saying that the sacrifice He made to cover me was not good enough, and again is pride saying that I can do better. Therefore I must allow Christ to cover me with his grace and accept his forgiveness despite the arguing of my flesh.

The reason that this is hard for us is because we desire power. We desire to be a part of our salvation and forgiveness. If we can somehow “help” God forgive us then we have some control and don’t have to fully depend on God, and this is wickedness and pride all over again. In the beginning, before the fall, God provided the man and woman with all the food they could eat. He gave them a task to accomplish and gave them the tools with which to accomplish it. We must realize that God is unchanging and that his provision then is the same provision he offers us now.

So what? I understand that at this point it seems that we should do something… I mean we have to have some sort of action, right? And I will say yes, BUT I very much want to clarify. Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” He goes on to say, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So what do we do? We immerse ourselves in God. We become completely dependent on everything that He has to offer. How do we do that? Jesus quotes Scripture when tempted by Satan saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s Word is Essential to our walk with God. It is to be our sustenance and our strength. So I very much challenge you to think about how often you feast upon the Word of God. How strong will you be spiritually if you simply snack upon His word for a few minutes in the morning or less? I will admit that I am very guilty of being spiritually malnourished because of my own unwillingness to partake in what God has prepared for me.

And along with that, I believe that service is important. I’m not talking about a service project you do once a month. I’m talking about a way of living your life in which you genuinely serve those around you in real ways, encouraging, uplifting, providing, feeding, clothing, teaching… When the man and woman fell and faced the consequences of their sin God placed them to work outside of the Garden. They were not simply left to contemplate their actions as a kid in time out, rather they were given the duty to continue the mandate they had been given. Likewise Jesus says that with loving God with our everything, we are to love each other as we love ourselves. So in a culture that tells us that we should do everything to ensure our own survival and profit, God says that we should do everything to ensure the survival and profit of our neighbor, friend or enemy. How are you legitimately serving as God has called you to serve?

See there is something that comes with living out God’s word and serving as he has called us to serve. Both of these things reveal our selfish sinful nature and create a need for Christ in our lives. When we avoid Scripture we are more likely to cover our sin from those around us and even ourselves, which leads us to pride that says we can continue on in this life without God. We begin to believe that we do not need salvation or forgiveness or God’s daily provision. And for believers we actually get to the point where we believe that we are doing a good job at following God. If you would say to yourself right now, “I struggle with this and that, but overall I’m not doing too bad of a job,” you seriously need to evaluate how much you are depending on God. I know. I’ve been there. We are constantly failing and constantly betraying a God who loves and provides for us. We must recognize our complete inadequacy and go to our Loving God to work on our behalf.

Likewise when we serve others we realize our own selfishness and pride, which again must lead us to throw ourselves at the feet of Christ, dependent on his supernatural mercy and grace. And if we ever believe that we are doing a good job of serving, let us consider serving our enemies as Christ served us.

Now I know that this is a lot to deal with. I thank God for allowing me to share this. In all of this, here is my prayer: That we would be overcome with our fallenness, that we would come to realize how hopeless we really are on our own. I pray that we would no longer try to live independent of God, but that we would through the reading of scripture and obedience to his word become painfully aware of our need for a loving and merciful God. I pray that we would realize that outside of the cross, there is nothing that we can do to cover our sin, our wickedness, or our shame. I pray that we would all be brought to a place where we realize that God is great and mighty and will not be taken off his throne, and that He is also merciful and offers forgiveness to every rebel that is willing to accept it.

I love you friend and pray that this edifies and encourages you. To God be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

When I was in high school I took a lot of art classes. Honestly I think that a lot of the reason was that it was pretty much the only way to stay out of choir or band. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and think that I learned a lot about myself in all of those art classes, not to mention the fact that I really grew to love my art teacher. I was thinking about that art class and a particular project we were assigned. Everyone who entered into Advanced Art had to keep an art journal. We took a book decorated and designed the cover then we were supposed to turn the pages into mini-art projects. For those who stayed in art beyond that were expected to continue the book throughout their high school career. I still have my book. It’s a decent attempt that got me a decent grade, but in the end I really just wasn’t very motivated about the project as a whole (I was very distracted during high school and I’m pretty sure I missed the whole point of the experience).

So I was having my quiet time today just sitting next a stream that is right outside where I live, and all of a sudden I started thinking about this journal. It has been nearly three years since I worked on that little spray-painted book and it just popped into my head. As I thought about it I realized that it was actually a really great project. We had free range to do whatever we wanted to this book and make it our own. We could pour our heart, our mind, and our soul into it, with complete access to pretty much any kind of art supply you could ever imagine. We had a small opportunity to create something that honestly reflected our “true self,” who we really are. I wish someone would have explained it to me that way whenever I was in high school (I don’t know if it made much difference, but still it might have helped).

After all of that I firmly decided to buy a new book and go to hobby lobby and buy a bunch of materials to make a new journal. How great would it be to have something to pour myself into like that? I mean how good would it feel to be able to look at something I have created that is a true expression of myself? But then again there were a couple of reasons I decided against it. I remember how frustrating it was even when I was excited about it. I would get a great idea for one of the entries, I would spend all week trying to perfect it. But no matter what I did, whatever ended up on the page was never what I wanted it to be and looked very little like what I had in mind.

I wonder if that’s how God feels about us sometimes… He spent so much time perfecting us, creating us in His image, only for us to end up completely different from what He had intended… I can just imagine Him looking at where I mess up saying, “this isn’t anything like what I wanted.” I look around at the world and I just know deep down that mankind was intended to be better than it is. Life was meant to be better than it is. I see loving families destroyed by divorce, I see great friendships lost over poor communication, and I see lives full of potential wasted away all because sin entered the world and somewhere along the line we lost sight of our heavenly Father. It isn’t supposed to be that way.Though you as a reader may not have experienced these particular things in your life, I know that there are pains and struggles in your life. Let me tell you, it was supposed to be better than this. More importantly, it can be better that this.

Because we live in a broken world where there is trouble and pain, our lives can never reach that “as good as it’s gonna get” point. We’re always going to have problems and we’re always going to mess up and make bad desicions in our lives, but despite that there is hope for improvement. Sin truly is an attitude of the heart that says, “I am the lord of my life.” The problem with each of us is that we turn away from God. We refuse to look at God and take what He has to offer us, life and freedom. And it is whenever we go our own way that things go wrong, that we are hurt and move a little further away from how God intended us to be. God’s heart breaks at the fact that each of us hurts and gets lost. This is why He sent His Son. Jesus came and lived as a man to show us the way to God. He came to show the broken world that their Heavenly Father was reaching out to them, that He isn’t a distant being, and that He loves them. This is how we grow closer to God. If we follow Jesus in his teachings and model ourselves after his life, we start growing closer to how God intended us to be. Our sins marred the beautiful creation of God, but Jesus’ blood gives God the opportunity to mold us once again. I love this passage from 2 Corinthians 3:

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

I don’t know if anyone has told you, so I will. God saw an opportunity in creating you. When He made you, He poured all of His being into who you were to be. He created you as a masterpiece that reflected who He truly is. You were made in the image of God. And maybe now when you look at yourself and your life you don’t see that, but it is true. The world is messed up and we are messed up, but there is always hope. We must simply turn our face back to God’s and welcome Him as our Father. If we allow Him, He will come into our lives and bring us back to where we belong. There will still be troubles and there will still be times when we hurt, but how much better will it be when we can run into the arms of the creator of the universe? Jesus is the only way to our Father. He is life.

I pray that we would all be able to see God’s original intention for our lives and that we would all turn back to Him for life. May all of our faces shine with the brightness of God, that the whole world would see the light of God. Then maybe the world would slowly become the original masterpiece God created it to be.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

This labor day weekend I had a really great time just getting away and spending some time with a lot of people that really mean a lot to me. I spent the weekend visiting with my mom out at the lake house and then yesterday I drove with a few of my closest friends down towards Austin for the day. We were going to go tube down the Guadalupe river, but it was closed because it was flooded. We ended up tubing down the Comal river instead. It’s a much smaller river, so we figured we’d go down it a couple of times. We soon found that the water was freezing. After shivering for about 30 minutes we were ready to get out of the river and head back to Dallas, but we endured the entire hour and a half. We had such a great time.

On the way back we got stuck in traffic for an extra two hours, so I had some time reflect on some things. I was really just completely thankful for having such amazing friends. Even though any other time I would have been miserable in the freezing conditions, I had an amazing time, all because of the people that I was with.

Later, I got to thinking about how much of an effect the people around us have on our lives. Something as small as an encouraging word from a dear loved one can change how we perceive just about anything. And in those times of need the smallest act of service can make the difference between hope and despair.

Imagine how big of an effect Jesus had on the people He came across on the street. There are probably that were touched and completely changed from meeting this strange Rabbi just one time. I think in particular of the leper that calls out to Jesus from the side of the road saying, “If you are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus walks over to the man everyone had outcast and touches the man. Imagine how much change happened in this man’s life all because of that one day, that one encounter, that one touch.

Then I started thinking about how much of an effect complete strangers can have on our lives. I remember there was one night that I was at starbucks having a deep conversation with a very close friend of mine. My friend was really struggling with finding God’s will in their life and was very upset about this. After talking for about two hours, out of nowhere, this mans comes up to us and says,

“Life’s a journey. Sometimes we want all of God’s blessings at one time, But sometimes we just need to grow. But He’s real.”

I will never forget that night. It may not seem so deep as you read it now, but that night in that moment what he said spoke exactly to the situation and said more that I said all night. After saying this the guy just walks away without any other response or anything, just left. I don’t really remember what the guy looked like so I wouldn’t remember him if I ever saw him again. And even though our lives crossed paths for about 20 seconds, this guy really had a big impact.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is that we all really need to stop and take the time to appreciate the people around us in our lives. We should take the time to tell our closest friends how much they really mean to us and through that maybe we can encourage them in one of their times of needs. One of my close friends always says, “Be kind to everyone because everyone is fighting some sort of battle.” And this saying is so true. We really should be able to see the pain inside of everyone and do whatever we can to lead the hurting and sick to the only one that can really do any kind of healing. Jesus. I pray that we would all be able to see the many blessing in our lives and to use that to become a blessing to other people around us.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

Last night I watched Constantine staring Keanu Reeves. It was referred to me by a good friend of mine. Its a really good movie and I strongly recommend it. The story is about John Constantine (Reeves) who acts as a sort of mediator keeping the balance between good and evil, angels and demons. Throughout the movie Constantine tries and tries again to earn his way into heaven based on how well he keeps the balance. There are a couple of times when Constantine speaks with Gabriel an angel trying to guide him. Despite Gabriel’s insistance that Constantine merely needs to repent to gain his place in heaven, Constantine continues to try and buy his way in. In their first conversation Constantine asks Gabriel “Haven’t I served Him enough? What does He want from me?” And Gabriel replies, “Only the usual, self sacrifice and belief.”

When we really think about it, how do we try and control everything? How often do we reserve parts of our lives or parts of our selves from God? When it comes down to it are we really willing to give our very life to God. In Psalm 51:16-17 David writes:

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

In Romans, Paul writes that nobody is worthy of God’s love. God has given us everything that we have. What can we possibly give Him that could impress Him? Another translation of the passage from Psalms says, “A flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.” It doesn’t matter how often we attend church, how much we put in the offering plate, or if we pray before every meal. These thing’s don’t impress God and they don’t get us into heaven.

Paul later writes in Romans that we are all now justified and made right with God through the grace which He demonstrated through Jesus. We must simply be willing to give our live up to God, to give Him control and to aknowledge our own unworthiness. God has given us the most precious gift, life. It isn’t to gain our way into heaven that we attend church, but to learn more about God’s wonderful love for us and to learn how to live our lives for Him. It is love and gratitude that we should give anything to God. How amazing is this love that our King should die for us?

Plus, whenever our lives are about returning love to God and not about working our way into heaven, we are given a peace and joy that only comes from the Love of God.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty