Why is it easier to weep along with a television show than it is to weep with a friend? Is it just me? Maybe it’s because show writers know how to draw out our emotions unexpectedly. Do we listen better when we’re watching a show than when a friend is grieving? Maybe we would listen better if everyone knew how to put their grief into poignant soliloquies. Continue reading
approach
with confidence
toward the throne of grace
receive mercy and grace to help
our need
Hebrews 4:16 Cinquain
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
When my husband and I start getting excited about some new endeavor, we get carried away talking about the plans. At some point one of us quotes a one liner from the movie True Stories, “I personally believe I can see Fort Worth from here.” It’s kind of obscure as far as jokes go, but we’re poking fun at the way our imagination wanders—as though saying what we’ll do makes it so. Unlike this quip, these verses in 2 Corinthians say we are something new. What we had been is now gone. This is an unbelievable claim! Continue reading
You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Galatians 5:4-6
By faith we wait for the hope of righteousness. When I think of faithfulness I usually think of the ways I’m not faithful. For some reason the word immediately draws my attention away from the concept of grace to the opposite concept–my failures. This reveals that I have a faulty idea of what faithfulness is, because these verses are saying we do not become justified by works, but the only thing that matters is faith working itself out in love. Continue reading
John 13:1-5; 20-21
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.
Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.
This preamble to the washing of the disciples feet starts out with a lot of subtext. It says Jesus is aware that his hour has come, he will soon be crucified. Then the verses move on to say that the devil had already entered Judas to incite him to betray Jesus. The passage goes back to Jesus reflecting on who he is, his mission and his relationship with God. After doing that he washes the disciples feet—including Judas. That piece can get lost in the mix because our focus is often on the interaction Jesus has with Peter, but Judas is also there.
Something inside of me wants this to not be how it went down. Continue reading
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7, NASB
Sometimes it’s tempting to use the Bible like a “Christianity for Dummies” with step by step instructions on how to do Christianity. We can’t do Christianity that way. The Bible is more like a really long letter from a person who’s rescuing us and who loves us. When people use the Bible like a car manual, this is a favorite verse because its so plain and there are clear instructions that are so easy to foll…… Wait a minute—this is one of the most difficult instructions in the Bible to actually follow (aside from “be perfect like my heavenly father is perfect”). Continue reading