MOVING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY

MOVING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY
TO THE ASSURANCE JESUS GIVES US – we will experience the reward of Easter. There was one disciple who did not fall away in the turmoil and fear of the events around Jesus’ death.   26 “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’  27 Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”   We know very little of the details but there was only John at the foot of the cross. The other disciples were not there. This says something of the faith and courage John displayed that day. John is an example for us of the kind of behavior in uncertain situations we need to ask for, in prayer.

None of the disciples knew exactly what would be happening that week, as they entered Jerusalem. They were trying to keep up with it all, but by the time it was all over, John was the only one left to offer support and love to Jesus. The rest had scattered in fear. They had a human reaction to a frightening situation. But John must have been operating on a different spiritual level. He had been closer to Jesus, and may have had a vision of what was required of him. All the disciples had been given the same spiritual resources as John, but something clicked in him that didn’t in the others. We are all given the same opportunity to receive the spiritual resources that were given to the disciples. Eventually they all rose to a better plane of spiritual behavior, and used what they had experienced with Jesus to do the work of God they had been called to do. Through prayer, we can also realize the potential for acting in God’s name, and doing the work God has for each of us to do. God will do this in us when we open ourselves up to let the Spirit work in us. May we all know this blessing and willingly use it for God.   Ever-present God, we are grateful for your abiding and loving presence in each of us. Give us the understanding to rely on your power you have put within us, from our birth. Help us connect to you inside of us, and know how loving and beneficial your guiding Spirit is in our lives. Help us let go of fear, and learn to trust that you want only good for us, and for others. Use what you have given us to spread love and mercy everywhere we go. In the name of your son Jesus, who gave up his life for ours to be more complete.     Amen.         PEACE

ACTS OF LOVE AND DEVOTION

ACTS OF LOVE AND DEVOTION
AS JESUS GIVES UP HIS SPIRIT – in the final moments of his earthly life. Since the night before, when he was arrested and taken to jail, Jesus had endured mocking and scorn, ridiculous questioning over and over, only to be beaten without mercy. He had stripes of red welts and torn flesh from the whips and perhaps chains the Romans had used to beat and degrade him. For Jesus was accused of calling himself another king of the land, so said the Jewish authorities. There could be only one emperor. But for the Jews, he had called himself the Son of God, a blasphemy to them, who knew only the God of Israel. This could not be tolerated, or it might upset the delicate balance for the Jews, now living in their own country ruled and occupied by the Romans. They were very afraid, and could not see the hand of God at work in their very midst. Jesus endured all this and then dragged his own crossbar to Golgotha, sustained through all this suffering by the Father, who was with him in all the agony.

If we ever have cause to doubt the great capacity of Jesus to love beyond all human suffering it is expressed for us in John 19.  14 ‘It was the day to get ready for [Passover] the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. It was about noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “See, your King!”  15 They spoke with a loud voice, “Take Him away! Nail Him to a cross!” Pilate said to them, “Do you want me to nail your King to a cross?” The head religious leaders said, “We have no king but Caesar!”  16 Then Pilate handed Him over to be nailed to a cross. 17 Jesus carried His own cross to a hill called the Place of the Skull.  18 There they nailed Him to the cross.’  They took Jesus and led Him away. In contrast to all this, near the end of Jesus earthly life, as he hangs on the cross, struggling for every breath, he turns to those few who are with him in his last hours – his mother, her sister, and Mary Magdalene, plus the one disciple, John. He acknowledges their devotion to him in asking John to care for his mother, as if she were his own.  26 “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”

With that act of devotion and love satisfied, he speaks one last word, a completion of the process he had been talking with the disciples about, of not leaving them without help for their calling. He spoke of a comforter, who would be with them, and guide them in the work God had called them to do. In one last act of love and devotion he gives up his spirit, to be our comforter and guide.  30 “When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  May we, in great humility, also receive this spirit into our lives, so that we may walk in the way Jesus has set for us all, to complete the calling we have all received.     Amen.        PEACE

JESUS THOUGHT OF US ALL

JESUS THOUGHT OF US ALL
AS HE PREPARED FOR DEATH – he prayed to the Father in heaven and asked God to glorify him. He had told all those who were following him, about God, and through him they had come to know God. The time of Passover was celebrated together as a community, and as a part of this the foot washing and the last supper with his followers took place. Then he went on, as we hear in John 17, to include all those in the future that will come to know him.  “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me . . .”  Jesus is promising that just as he and the Father are one, we will also be one with them in the faith. Through believing and faithfulness, we will be together in an unbreakable bond with our God. Jesus’ prayer is for community – the disciples and followers of the time and all those in the future would be a part of God’s fellowship in the future – drawn together by the word and Spirit and through our relationship with God.

This unbreakable bond is why we know God is with us, in everything that happens to us. Just as the Father was with Jesus in everything he was about to experience throughout his trial, death and resurrection, Jesus declares God is with us as we walk or crawl, skip or run through our lives. In whatever obstacles we meet, we have a comforter and guide. The beginning of verse 21 is particularly dear to me, “that they all may be one” is the central idea for the United Church of Christ, the denomination I am part of, and have been all my life. That verse is not only a declaration that we all are one in Christ, but that it is our goal to treat others in that loving way. It is a hope that the world may be transformed into a community where that is truly the reality. It also speaks of an attitude of justice, where there is no difference in the way we treat each other. Finally it is a description of the way things will be when God’s New Creation comes to us all. As we walk with Jesus, and see him betrayed, is put on trial and crucified we feel the pain, but know we are all one in him, as he suffered and died for our cleansing, and will give us strength for our journey.   Loving and merciful God, who is with us in every experience of our lives, we are grateful. Thank you for your presence in trials and joy. Teach us to extend that same love and mercy to all others around us. Guide us in seeing everyone as you see them, in utter love, without judgment. Help us pass on your words of love and mercy to all.     Amen.         PEACE

34-36 ”When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” 37-40 ”Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”  Matthew 22, The Message

GOD’S LOVE MOVES US

GOD’S LOVE MOVES US
THROUGH MANY STAGES – as we grow with God, through prayer and action. As we live with God every day, the love that is God moves us into new and unknown experiences. We may not feel ready until we are tested. If God is moving us, then we are ready. God has been preparing us for new and bigger challenges God needs us to face. We have been given lives of purpose, in order to help change the world and bring it into God’s sphere of love. God needs us. If and when we have taken God into our hearts, we will begin to know how God needs us to help in God’s plan of transforming the world with love. This is not the burden the world tells us it will be. Just when we are feeling overwhelmed, we can remember these words of Jesus, from Matthew 11, and know God is and will always provide the support we need to do God’s work – 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Because we are human and imperfect, we have trouble relying on this promise from Jesus. When we are living with God in our hearts, we may take a leap and do something to see if it is true. God will forgive our testing and lack of trust, while providing just what Jesus said would happen. Our burdens no longer feel heavy and the weight is literally lifted from us. It becomes easy to do this the next time, and we move forward in our path of learning how to love God, ourselves and the world.

When we allow God to live within our hearts, we keep moving forward, changing into the person we were created to be, instead of something the world offers. Each time we let our day move toward living with God, we grow closer to loving God from our very souls. When we approach this level of loving God, our selves have not disappeared. We have actually become brighter and our light shines into the darkness of the world, a beacon to those looking for God’s light and truth. As we love God from our souls, we will see more clearly how we have been created to share what we have been given, in ways that glorify God and honor the work of God’s transforming love in the world. Everything that we find joyful to do has some practical application God has in mind for our ministry in the world. Even our past suffering has a purpose in God’s matrix. Our lives are blessed with purpose, in this life and beyond. That is the connection at the soul level – that we know God’s love is with us every step we take, and our steps are sure and untroubled. We will be contributing substantially in this life and beyond, to the great work God is doing in our midst – of loving us and creation without boundaries or limits. God will transform creation and needs us all to be a part of this vital work. When we reach for God from our souls, we will know the certainty of this love and mercy transforming all the ugliness and hatred in the world and we will see our part in God’s plan.  God of love and mercy, we want to be your servant in the work of transforming the world through love. Bless our souls and help us see the vision of what our place in your work is. We are grateful for the transformative power that is working within all of us.     Amen.         PEACE     

OUR LOVE FOR GOD

OUR LOVE FOR GOD
MOVES FROM MIND TO HEART TO SOUL – as we grow in our bond with God.
Growth in our relationship with God comes in stages as we grow in our faith – through life experiences, our ability to allow God to work in us and our level of trust with which we are able to place in God – for whatever we are facing. We can get stuck at different stages, finding it hard to move on past where we are and move further into our relationship with God. Many of us, probably the majority of us in the world are unable to get past the mental idea of God. We rationalize the truths God has for us, and are not able to take them to an emotional level. We have discussed this often in the blog – how fear stops us from moving forward and growing. This phenomenon happens at any stage in our growth. As we grow closer to God, it will be less likely to happen. Prayer is the tool that will help us overcome the obstacles, whatever they may be. Our fear of things in the world can creep into how we see God. This does not have to happen. God is steadfast in the unconditional love offered to us, and our sins are forgiven before we even do them. Such is the depth of God’s love for us. Because of the world and what it constantly says, it is difficult for us to take that in. If we are relating to God on an intellectual level, then we are blocked by the world’s view of how unlikely and illogical God’s actions and motives are. God still loves us anyway.

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ Matt 22  A smaller number of us, with God’s guidance, have taken God into our very hearts and have been blessed with the gift of connecting at a deeper level, so that understanding how God works and why have been shown to us. We are all given eyes to see and some have been able to use this sight to let God re-order their lives. Again, prayer is the most important way we have of communicating with God, as well as other ways God develops through the wisdom of our hearts. Visioning also becomes more important and happens more often. We will be able to operate in the world with more certainty, with the assurance we have from God. When we falter, the bond we have with God will bring us back sooner, as we grow in these experiences with God. Our hearts will make it possible to be more in tune with God’s love and purposes. God voice will be louder within us, so that the voices of the world will have less influence. We get to this level by wanting to connect more deeply with God, and then letting God accomplish this within us. Again we let God know our hearts through prayer, and not necessarily with words.  Loving God, you know our hearts and our greatest yearnings for you. We do not have the words to express our dismay over the emptiness the world offers. Fill our hearts with your unconditional love, and teach us to express it to all whom we meet, that this love may spread and infect the whole world with its transformative power.     Amen.       PEACE

BY GOD’S LOVING GRACE

BY GOD’S LOVING GRACE
JESUS DIED FOR EVERYONE – yes all of us. “ God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory, so he made the One, who leads people to salvation, perfect through suffering.” Hebrews 2: 10  When we consider this verse, we see part of God’s plan at work, that God loved us enough to plan his only son’s life with a purpose – to redeem our sin. There is nothing more considered and mindful than this. When God gave us free will, sin came into the picture, so God planned for a way to release the hold sin would have over those who ask for forgiveness.

As we approach the experiences of Holy Week – Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we need to consider the suffering Jesus endured for each of us. In John 10 Jesus forewarns us that he is a “good shepherd” who gives his life for the sheep, who literally makes his body the door of the sheepfold, to protect the sheep from thieves and robbers who would not think twice about killing anyone who got in their way. We then hear that the authorities tried to take Jesus from the crowd, but he escaped. Later in John 15 he directs all who heard him, to “love one another just as I have loved you”, and describes the extent to which this love should go – “the greatest love one can show is to lay down his life for a friend. You are my friends”, he tells us. We are called by God to live as Jesus showed us how to live. We gain strength when we humble ourselves before God, and share a little of the suffering and sorrow endured for our sake. Consider and contemplate this and God will support us as we put ourselves into the place where Jesus showed us so much love as to lose his own life for our redemption.  O loving God, we are humbled by the experiences of Holy Week, and the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, for our sins. We are blessed by the unearned love you shower on us all. Help us to return your grace by loving those around us, no matter who they are. Guide us in the footsteps of Jesus in this present world, that we may be part of the reconciliation you have in mind for all.    Amen.      PEACE

JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM

JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM
KNOWING HE WOULD BE KILLED AND DID IT ANYWAY – with strength and courage, and to fulfill God’s goals. Near the end of chapter 13 in Luke, it says some Pharisees warned Jesus that the authorities were looking for him.  “Herod Antipas wants to kill you!”  Jesus did not waver, but continued on his journey of teaching the disciples, and preaching to the crowds that gathered, and those that were following him. We get two important messages from this: first that this ministry was too important to change the course he had set, and second, that he would not let fear get in the way of doing what God had set as his path to take.

It is all the more impressive, that we know how Jesus was determined to do God’s will, no matter what the risks or outcome. He entered Jerusalem as the next step in the great task of spreading the gospel, as God had shown him. He met the challenge with the strength and courage given him by God. Jesus modeled this for us, so we may do the same, relying on God as well, not in our own strength. The human side of Jesus felt pain and fear just as much as we do, but he opened himself to God, with the knowledge that God would support him in whatever he was asked to do. We, like Jesus, can know the ways God has ready for us, to follow our path, and persevere no matter what evil puts in our way. God’s love will reward our faithfulness.   O God, who shows us our pathway, may we connect to you and know the way to dispel evil, when it blocks our pathway. We are thankful for the unwavering love we are shown, and the infinite forgiveness available as we stumble along toward the goal you have set for us. Guide us with your presence each day, as we share your love with others.    Amen.         PEACE

ABIDING IN CHRIST

IN A STATE OF EXPECTATION AND ABIDING
AS THOSE WHO FOLLOW CHRIST – we are called to journey through life in this way. For many of us, this seems impossible to make happen. If we follow the advice we hear around us, even if it comes from a church source, what we hear may not be very helpful. The worldly influence in the church has so thoroughly melted into what many Christians think that it can be hard to figure out what is sound and what isn’t. So how do we get to this state of abiding in Christ? If this is our goal, then God’s grace will guide us, when we allow God to do that. In Matthew 11 we hear some good counsel.   28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”   As we talked about recently, this passage shows us how God gives us energy for the work we are called to do, and all the other tasks in life.

When we abide in Christ, we will learn about how to live a life we are called to live. We will be shown the paths to walk and the ones to avoid. This is a product of a personal relationship, a part of our transformation into the life God wants for all of us. Through prayer and learning to hear God’s voice within us, we will come to the place of abiding in Christ. Through living in the grace from God, as we spend successive days abiding in Christ, we will be graced with the expectation that life will be different and joy-filled. Living in the abiding love of God in Christ, we will see and be grateful for the expectation and assurance of our days being filled with love, as long as we continue to allow God in Christ to abide within us. This comes from our allowing God to work in us. We give up control to God, knowing to the very core of our being, that God is better at guiding us than our feeble attempts are at making the right choices. We give up control to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We can expect to be a part of a great movement of love, and what that is able to accomplish. We will be able to expect a different world, one that is very different from what seems like the reality around us. We will be blessed with the vision of what the world as the new creation of God will look like and feel like. For many of us, this vision alone will get us through difficult days, and allow us to still have joy in our hearts, and an eagerness to face the next day too.   Great and loving God, we are grateful for your abiding love that comes to us in Christ. We are humbled by our invitation to be able to live and work in this state of abiding in Christ, and the gifts that life brings with it. We are in awe of the choice we have to live in Christ each day, and the expectation and assurances about a life lived in love can bring to us. Thank you for this opportunity, and give us the strength and wisdom to use these experiences, and share the love and vision with others around us. We pray in that abiding love of Christ for us.    Amen.       PEACE

GOD’S LOVE IS STRONGER

GOD’S LOVE IS STRONGER
THAN FEAR – but is that our experience? It depends on who is influencing us at the time. Fear is the tool of evil, and it works in us in very subtle ways, undermining our confidence, encouraging self-doubt, and a critical nature. We have all had times when we let evil creep into us. There are even cultural habits that support and encourage these behaviors, and so encourage and give a voice to evil in the world. God can help us recognize these habits, and through grace and love help us turn away from evil ways of living. It takes a decision from us, but the strength to do it comes from God, as Matthew 28 reminds us.  15 “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. … 18 Such love has no fear.”   So in order to begin on the path of love or renew our intention to do that, we pray and give thanks to God for living in us, and ask in whatever way comes to us to live in love and not fear. A helpful habit, inspired by this scripture, is to say to ourselves the affirming statement “I love Jesus, so fear has no place in me.” Others similar words can be used whenever we become aware of fear creeping into to us.

Practicing love is the best way to defeat evil. When we love God and each other, in the strength and knowledge we get from God, evil shrivels and runs away to find a more willing host. Evil recoils when we invoke the name of Christ and state our love for him, along with our desire to follow Jesus. Evil and love are both energies, but because we live in a world created by God, love will win over evil every time, when we connect with God. 1 John 4: 20 “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And God has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.”  God promises we need not live with fear when we are in God’s hands.     Loving God, prompt us to ask your help to protect us from evil, chase it from our lives, and when we have the intention, give us the strength to live with the love that strengthens us for the journey. Open our eyes to recognize the subtle forms of evil around us, and guide us to commit to loving you and others every day, always with your help and strength.    Amen.        PEACE

LEARNING TO USE GOD’S ENERGY

LEARNING TO USE ENERGY
FROM GOD IS SOMETHING WE ALLOW – to happen within us, not work we do in our own strength. If we allow it to happen, God will provide the needed energy to do the impossible tasks we face each day. When we know that is true, we can meet each day gladly knowing the resources from God will come to us in order to live into it with joy and anticipation. There are many of us in the world who wake up every day and want to go right back to sleep. A day stretches before all of us, with many things to be accomplished, and we may not know or understand how it will all get done. It can be overwhelming and discouraging to realize we do not have the energy level necessary to fulfill all the expectations placed on us. It can lead to depression, overeating, drugs and even suicide. This does not sound like the joyous life God intends for us, and yet if we try to do everything in our own strength and energy, it may lead to some or all of these outcomes. God’s vision for us can help us avoid all this, and give us what we will need to get through to the other side.

God envisions a different day to day kind of life for us, where we are working with God, and God will provide all we need to get ourselves there, or we can continue to think we must do it all and not see how God is available to us. But how do we get there? We allow God to get us there. We know that what the world teaches us only leads to discouragement and exhaustion. We can make the decision to walk a different path that God will show us. How will that happen? Through prayer, in our own way of talking to God, we can ask for our lives to change, to become closer to God. Through continuing to pray in this way, God’s love will begin to open our eyes to things we never saw before, and our hearts will understand new concepts we never understood before. God’s grace will change our way of thinking, and open us to the new path God will show us. When we allow this to happen within us, we will be given the words we need when we need them, and solutions will appear to solve our challenges. This is God’s energy that will be working in us, to do things we never believed were possible. God will show us ways to not only get through all we have to do, but will help us do even more along the way, like loving others around us, instead of ignoring them. There will be a domino effect, as others around us are affected by God’s love and the energy behind it. Best of all, our life will become fun and filled with joy for all that we have to do. Our load will become lighter, because we have power from God, helping to bear the weight of the load. We will become unaware of how heavy it may be, because we are not alone. It may seem like magic, but it is real and possible when we allow God in. In Matthew 11, we have Jesus’ assurance he will help us with our burdens.  28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  O God who helps us bear our burdens, and makes our tasks lighter, we look forward to what can be accomplished in the energy you give us, when we allow you to help us, and show us the vision of our new path. Inspire us to take the steps we need to take, to begin the exciting journey with you.    Amen.        PEACE

^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The Message  [ANOTHER VERSION TO CONSIDER]