Monthly Archives: October 2018

A Word Breathed By God

vMOUNTBy Judy Villanueva

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him… In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”  (John 1:1-4)

“We have it in us to be Christ to one another… to work miracles of love and healing…to bless with him and forgive with him and heal with him…to grieve…and to rejoice…. And, who knows but that in the end, by God’s mercy, the two stories will converge for good…His story will come true in us at last. And in the meantime, this side of Paradise, it is our business…to bear witness to, and live out of, and live toward, and live by, the true word of his holy story as it seeks to stammer itself forth through the holy stories of us all.”  (Frederick Buechner)

I was lucky enough to witness the birth of my first grandchild.  It is difficult to describe the joy that swept through the room when that precious baby came into the light and drew her first breath.  The miracle of birth proclaimed itself and the beauty of new life reached out with gifts of hope for all.  She gasped and inhaled for the first time. I gasped and exhaled dumbstruck at the sight of her little hands and feet, her mouth wide open in protest and her eyes straining to see the new world around her. She is a little word breathed by God with a story to tell, of Life and Light.

Have you ever considered that you are a word breathed by God?  Who did God breathe you to be?  What story did God breathe you to tell?  These are the questions that have kept me company as I have kept company with John 1:1-4 this week.  The God, who moved over the surface of the waters and spoke “Let there be light,” also spoke me into existence.  And you, too!  “Let there be a you,” and there was!  God’s words create life and light. 

He speaks and it is, and IT IS with a purpose and a story to tell. 

How does it make you feel to consider that you are a word breathed by God with a purpose and a story to tell?

It makes me a little giddy!  It might also make me anxious if I slip into thinking that I must figure out the point and purpose of the word that is me!  Do you know what I mean?  “We have it in us to be Christ.”  That is the truth that keeps setting us free and lighting our way. 

Christ in us IS our hope and power to bless and forgive, heal and grieve and rejoice and love!   

He IS the story that comes true in us at last, one day at a time, as we seek to know Him and as we “bear witness to, and live out of, and live toward, and live by, the true word of his holy story as it seeks to stammer itself forth through the holy stories of us all.” 

“Prompt me, Lord, to pray as I inhale and exhale throughout the day.  To take time to breathe in Your refreshing presence that fills me up and to breathe out with surrender and faith and gratitude.  Amen.”

What About You?

Have you ever considered that you are a word breathed by God with a story to tell? 

Who did God breathe you to be?  (He knows even if we do not)

What story is your life telling?

Have you breathed in the Life and Light that Christ offers?  

 Worship

Are You The One?

DSC_1050By Judy Villanueva

Matthew 11:2-6

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

John’s was the voice that cried out in the wilderness “Prepare the way of the Lord!” He is in the guy who wore camel hair shirts and ate locusts with wild honey. We definitely get the impression that he was sold out for Jesus, and bold in his message to repent and be baptized! Yet, here in this passage, we find him in prison sending his disciples to Jesus to ask a curious question. “Are You the One, the Messiah or should they wait for another?” It seems to suggest that John was off balance and in need of reassurance. It makes me wonder if he wasn’t scratching his head trying to make sense of the life unfolding around him. Was being in prison part of the plan or did something go wrong? No doubt, his circumstances were not what he had expected!

John the Baptist might seem like a hard guy to relate to, but as I witness him straining toward Jesus in need of strength and direction, I feel an immediate connection! John’s question is my question and was my question this very morning.  I ask it often during times of disappointment or fear, and certainly, whenever I cannot make sense of how the pieces of my life fit together.  You know those times when life is not how we imagined, or when it seems like God is taking forever to answer our prayers?  I’m afraid we might find Jesus’ response to John less than comforting. He doesn’t say, “Hang in there, cousin! I’m on my way to break open the prison doors!” Instead, Jesus tells John that the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised and the good news is being preached to the poor. In other words, “Take heart. I am He! I am the One!”

Jesus’ words feel both reassuring and disconcerting because while they announce His reign as Messiah, they do so right alongside John’s plight in prison. This is always the case!

Jesus is Lord and Messiah, always AND right alongside the life that is ours…the life that we may love, as well as the life that may include the hardest trial we’ve ever faced.

It was John’s challenge, as it is ours, to hear Jesus announce His reign and to trust beyond his own understanding. I need to hear Jesus say, “I am the One!” when life has caused my heart to falter…and allow the reality of His reign to strengthen and remind me, that despite present conditions or anything I may not understand, His kingdom has arrived.  It’s already here! That’s what Jesus was telling John.  That’s the good news being preached to the poor and that’s the blessed Truth that sets us free today. Take heart. He is the One! Look no further!

“Lord, help me to hear you announce that You are healing, raising the dead and reigning over all!  Help me to lay down my need to know everything and instead, to bow in faith. Thank you that you are the One! Amen”

What about you?

When do you feel off balance and in need of reassurance?

What does the arrival of God’s kingdom mean to you?

Are you able to rest, knowing that Jesus reigns?

Above and beyond whatever circumstances you find yourself in, God is good and He reigns!

Worship