Category Archives: Knowing God

The Beauty Of Hope

DSC_0213By Judy Villanueva

So I want you to realize that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his covenant for all time to come. He keeps it with those who love him and obey his commandments. He shows them his love. (Deuteronomy 7:9)

I once heard a delightful story of a little boy who is discovered by his mother in a barn shoveling manure.  She sees the sweat on his brow and hears the fullness of his breath as he scoops and throws manure through the air.  When she finally asks what on earth he is doing, he responds, “Where there’s manure, there is sure to be a pony!”  I love this story because it points my face at the beauty of hope!  It also makes me smile because it reminds me of my husband.  He, even in the most dismal of circumstances, keeps on shoveling convinced that a pony awaits his discovery!  I love the hope with which he engages the challenges that face him, even when he’s tired.  It is inspiring to watch a person persevere under trial with hope.  It seems to push them from behind toward their dreams.  As I think more about it, I realize that hope is more than an attitude or feeling.  

It’s a GRACE, a fountain that springs up from the reality of a Hope Giver!  

Hope lives within us, like a friend who prompts us to dream with God and catch the vision He has for our lives.  It is a light that shines in our souls, a song that wants us to remember our Faithful King.  Can you feel it?  Look around and you will see evidence of a majestic Dreamer!  Slow down and awaken to the the song that Hope sings within you.  It’s a melody of promise grounded in our promise-keeping God! There are others songs, as we all know, that intrude with sour notes on our ability to feel hopeful.  Pain and disappointment, loneliness and loss can effectively drown out our “hope songs”. 

But, HOPE LIVES, not in our power to muster a positive thought but in the heart of TRUE LOVE, our faithful God, who cannot be drowned out. 

He is the author, heartbeat and fountain — the WHO, WHAT AND HOW of hope!  So, how do we refresh our hope fountains?

Have you ever studied the names of God?  Each one is a revelation of His face and whenever we point our face at His we are joined to a powerful river of hope!  Deuteronomy 7:9 reveals a name of God only mentioned once or twice in Scripture.  

It is “Ha’El hanne’eman” and it means, “The one true God is faithful.”  

Words cannot capture the magnitude of this divine name but if I were to add a few they would be,  “ALMIGHTY, FAITHFUL, TRUSTWORTHY and TRUE.“  Stop for just a minute, and let the power of His name touch you!  Breath in, “The One True God,” Breath out, “is faithful.” And, God has more names!  His name “El Roi” means “the God who sees me”, “Yahweh shalom” means “the God of peace,”  “Jehovah Jireh” means “God, our provider,” and the  most intimate name of God, “Abba,” means “Daddy Father.”  

Hope stirs in the presence of God and becomes a flow of life inside us, but we must sit now and then, and look at His face.

How are your hopes doing?  Are they alive and  well?  Have they drifted off to sleep?  Have they been crushed or buried?  Then, get out your shovel and with God’s help, dig because there is indeed a treasure waiting to be discovered and His name is Faithful and True! (Rev.19:11) Jesus IS the beauty of hope!  Point your face at His.  Listen to His words.  Follow where He leads you.  Trust Him with all your heart.  REJOICE  because Ha’El hanne’eman is here!

“Father, your name helps me to see you better and in seeing you better I feel hopeful!  Thank you for your faithfulness and love.  Help me to point my face at yours and fill my heart with hope. Amen.”

What about you?

Do you know the Hope-Giver who hopes for you?

How are your hopes doing?  Has life beaten and buried  them?

Do you need your hope fountain refreshed?  I pray the power of Ha’El hanne’eman over your life and ask that God will help you turn your face toward His.

Dig!

Worship

Martha and Mary

gardentree 2By Judy Villanueva

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

To sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him be my one distraction sounds both enticing and elusive. More often than not, I find myself in the kitchen with Martha, scowling at Mary and wishing so badly I could be the one sitting at Jesus’ feet.  I like to think that Martha loved Jesus from the kitchen amidst her many distractions and wish I couldn’t relate to how she let them postpone the joy of entering God’s presence.  But, I can.   As I slow down with this passage and take my pulse, I become aware that I am stuck in the kitchen!  I want to be next to Jesus, close enough to see the expression in his eyes and hear the tone of his voice. I know he is in the room with me but am not quite sure how to drop all my doing and find a place at His feet.  Do you ever feel that way?

This moment of awareness becomes a prayer and I ask Jesus to take my soapy hands and lead me out of the kitchen. “Help me, Lord, to turn away from the many things that fill my heart with worry and teach me to want only one thing — only One.”  I suddenly realize that one simple nod from Jesus is all it will take to help me drop my dishes and run to Him. Imagine this moment with me.

Can you see Jesus looking at you in the middle of your day and inviting you to come sit with Him?

Prayerfully, with my Bible on my lap, I imagine the scene and I look at Jesus.  He looks at me!  I see Him seeing me and hold my breath.  THEN, He gives me a smile and a nod and I run to Him!  I realize as I make my way over  that I didn’t think there would be room for me and I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.  But, looking up at Jesus face I find a big welcome and looking down at His feet, I find a place prepared just for me!

“Jesus, thank you that always see me. I give you permission to nudge me out of my busyness! Thank you that I will always see a “welcome” in your eyes and find a place in your presence prepared just for me. Help me today to bring that same welcome to others. Amen.”

How about you?

Where do you find yourself in this Bible story? Are you in the kitchen, busy with preparations? Or, are you sitting at Jesus feet?

Does the pace of your life leave room for noticing Jesus beckoning you to come to Him?

Do you define yourself by the “many things” or by the “only One”?

What do you need from Jesus today? As you sit at His feet and have His full attention, how can He help you today?

Worship

Grace and Peas

DSC_1265By Judy Villanueva

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses;  grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Grace takes its rise far back in the heart of God, in the awful and incomprehensible abyss of His holy being; but the channel through which it flows out to men is Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.(AW Tozer)

Staring down at my plate, I exhaled in defeat.  The pile of peas had won again!  I knew that unless I ate every one of them, I’d be stuck at the dining room table indefinitely.  The sun would go down and I would miss out on all the playtime left in the day.  I hate peas.  I find all other vegetables edible and some, even delicious, but peas make me gag.  Regardless, the rule in our family was to finish everything on our plate or die.  Well, that’s how it felt to a seven year old!  On one occasion, however, my dad sat down next to me and watched as I plugged my nose and attempted to swallow these horrible green little balls.  He gave me the most curious look and finally said, “Judy, if you finish this last pile of peas you will never have to eat another pea in your life.”  I couldn’t believe my ears!  I gave my dad a fierce hug, swallowed the last few bites of peas, and haven’t eaten one since!

This may seem too silly a story to use to talk about grace, something so massively beautiful.  And, I would agree except that I have a sense God’s grace, while grand and glorious, also offers healing through the sweet and small things of life, like when a dad sets his little girl free from the law of sin and peas.  Rules are generally designed to help us live within good boundaries for our physical, emotional, relational and spiritual health.  We count on Biblical statutes, in particular, to guide us toward a lifestyle and choices informed by wisdom and love.  Don’t lie.  Don’t steal.  Be nice.  But, we fail.   We fall short and suddenly find ourselves at the dining room table facing our plate of peas and our inability to keep the rules.  We all need grace, both big and small, from the cross on calvary to the daily graces we give and receive from one another.

Grace is a precious and powerful thing.  Every time we open ourselves to the grace of God we are changed by it. 

And, each time we offer a gift of grace to another, whether through forgiveness, generosity, or a kindness —  a little bit of Heaven spills out of us! 

Its beauty heals.  Grace is always free and undeserved.  The fact that it is “unmerited favor” can be difficult to accept and even more difficult to offer.  We’d rather earn our favor and extend grace only after it has been merited.  This, of course, is not grace at all and points to the fact that grace is conspicuously bigger than we are.  It requires that we turn to its author for the power to give and receive grace—

to the beautiful, generous, gigantic heart of God the Father.  

Here is the dad who sees us in our peaful predicaments and has compassion on us.  Here is our kind and loving Father who sets us free and fills us with grace for others.  He is full of grace.  Grace is who He is!  

“Thank you, Father, for your grace.  I want to be a grace giver and understand that first, I must be a grace receiver.  Open my eyes, Lord. Let grace spill out from heaven and change me.  Amen.”

What about you?

Have you felt the power of grace touch your life?

Have you received the gift of grace offered  to you at the cross?

Is the power and beauty of grace changing you?

Do you like peas?  (Sorry, just had to ask!)

Worship

The Cross

cross (2) 2By Judy Villanueva

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. ..  Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Do you remember the first time you heard the story of a man named Jesus who died on a cross?  Were you told of his deep love for you and the price he paid to save your life?  I remember as a kid watching The Greatest Story Ever Told and crying at the part where Jesus was crucified.  So young, I couldn’t have understood the magnitude of this scene, but I remember my little heart breaking for Jesus and sensing something powerful at work.  As Easter approaches, I feel the need to touch the most beautiful story ever told — ever lived.   I want to remember the cross  in living color so that my heart might be awakened from its stupor… so that I might drop to my knees in tears and utter amazement and feel the power of love pour over my life again!

The cross marks a turning point in human history, an unprecedented sacrifice that culminated in Heaven’s Son nailed to a wooden beam.  It wasn’t a divine whisper.  No! 

It was a shout, an earthquake, an avalanche of love that pierced God’s heart and spread itself out over all mankind.  

Can you feel it?  The King of kings took the rap for us, His creation.  He traded a royal crown for a thorny one and surrendered His life for ours.  How in touch are you with this gift?  I confess that I live mostly out of touch with the beauty and power of the cross.  How do I know this?  Because, whenever I do wake up and touch even the hem of this reality, I can feel it speak to my soul!  It immediately imparts a bright and broad perspective.  It fills me with bold hope and deep gratitude!  It’s more real than anything and nothing compares to it — no earthly enticement, no worry or fear.  

Too many Easters come and go with colored eggs and cute furry bunnies, but little notice or heart-connection to the astonishing reality of the cross, let alone the resurrection!  I admit it’s hard to live conscious of the cross 24-7, but I wonder what would happen if we tried to set it in the foreground of our days and let it bump into us!  Instead of a once-a-year experience, what if we took deliberate moments to remember when God shouted, “I love you” on Calvary! 

What if everything in our lives had to stand next to Christ on the cross — 

joys and sorrows, wins and losses, births and deaths, fears, failings, hopes and dreams.  I want to live in the shadow of the cross and at the opening of the empty tomb!  Don’t you?

 “Lord, I want to live awakened to the beauty and power of the cross.  Thank you for what you endured to save me.  It is finished and I am forever grateful.  Amen.” 

What about you?

Have you heard the greatest story ever told of a cross and man who loves you?

Where is the cross of Christ in your life?  Is it in the foreground, background or is it missing?

What IF everything in your life stood next to Christ on the cross?  Can you imagine how you would think and feel?

Take time to stand quietly before the cross.  Look.  Listen.  Receive.

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Worship

Trading Places

IMG_6759Matthew 27:15-26

Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.   At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas.  So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you:  Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”  For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

…But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.   “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.  “Barabbas,” they answered.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.  They all answered, “Crucify him!”  “Why?  What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.  But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”…Then he released Barabbas to them.  But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 

We sat together in the hospital waiting room so grateful to see one another, even under these circumstances.  Mom was in the center of our little circle smiling as we, her grown children, bantered and teased one another.  In between the light-hearted exchanges were knowing glances as we held our dad up in quiet prayer.  He was missing from our circle.  Dad used to promise us that he would live to be a hundred, so I never really worried about losing him as a child, but now at 86 years of age, the notion of it seemed to hover around us.  Our prayers that day reached far beyond a good surgical outcome to a time when this beloved man will say “yes” to the gift of love given on Calvary…the one where God’s Son traded places with us!

Have you ever put yourself in Barabbas’ shoes?   He was on death row for murder among other things.  What was he thinking that day, I wonder, when all of a sudden he was yanked from his cell and placed before Pilate and a rabid crowd?  Had he heard of the “other” Jesus, the one they called the Messiah?  Imagine for a minute that you are Barabbas standing next to Mary’s son awaiting your fate. Go ahead.  Look at Him.  Feel His presence, see His eyes seeing you (the guilty one) and hear the governor ask which of you should walk free.  You know who should walk free but instead you hear your name being lifted up by the people— and you, who deserve death, are set free!

Now let’s take a walk to Golgotha.  Notice as we approach the three crosses silhouetted against the darkening sky and the crown of thorns that seems to distinguish the man in the middle.  The scene is utterly still until the silence is pierced by a Voice that whispers, “Father, forgive them…”  Stop!  Oh, look up at Love as He dies for you.  Lift your eyes to His and see a devotion so deep that it gives all it has…to have you.

 THIS love is mighty and make no mistake, trading places with us was His idea!

Yes, we are Barabbas!  Most of us cannot be accused of murder and we may even feel that our lives have been “good enough” but the holy truth is that each one of us sits on death row except for Christ!  He took our place. He paid our debt and He implores each one of us to go ahead…make the trade!

“Thank You, O God, for trading places with me!  Help me, Jesus,  to hold this gift thoughtfully every day and offer my life back in gratitude and love.  I pray You will open my dad’s eyes to this beautiful invitation…and others who need  Your love.  Amen.” (PS My dad did finally say yes to Jesus!)

What about you?

Can you identify with Barabbas?

Have you ever felt the relief of being set free, declared innocent, or taken “off the hook”?

Do you feel your need for a Savior?

How does it feel to imagine looking at Christ on the cross, knowing he chose to stay there for you?

Have you received His gift of love?

Worship

Thresholds

DSC_1219By Judy Villanueva

I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and will dine with Him and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” (John 5:5-8)

I hate surprises. I read the end of books first and fast forward movies to relieve the pressure of not knowing what will happen next.  I have a picture of me standing at the threshold of a patio full of friends who had gathered to surprise me on my 30th birthday.  As I approached the doorway I could hear excited whispers and immediately clued in to what was coming. If I’d had time to think about it I might have turned around but momentum pushed me forward and through the threshold!   There, I was welcomed by the joy of people who loved me. I remember lots of doorways over the years, some happy and some sad, — some I ran through and others I felt dragged through.  Each one invited me to enter, even though I never knew quite what would happen next. “Come live life with Me!” Jesus keeps saying. “I am knocking. Open the door.”

Thresholds.  They are doorways of invitation or at least, that is the way I have come to view them.  We relate most readily to the ones that physically, emotionally or relationally initiate change in our lives like getting married, having a baby, starting a new job, losing a loved one, or becoming ill.  But, are you also aware of the spiritual thresholds that exist all throughout our lives?

These relate to the work of the Spirit in us and, if we learn to listen to the inner urgings of our souls, we discover brilliant and beautiful invitations to be formed by the hand of God.

All of life holds the potential to form us.  Jesus stands at the doorways of our lives and knocks.   We become aware of the knocking when and as we clue in to our own internal life. Curiosities, yearnings, distinct observations while reading the Word or worshipping — a lack of peace, a sense of being awakened to a Voice that says, “Come!”  Listen and follow His voice.  It’s not necessary that we know what will happen next, only that we will find Jesus waiting for us with a table prepared, mud for our eyes, and fish for our tummies!

Something in me identifies this morning with the man by the pool who feels helpless to get into the healing water. Tears burn in my eyes as I read that “Jesus saw him lying there and knew his condition”.  My heart aches as I listen to the man tell Jesus that no one will help him get into the pool and suddenly, I hear knocking!  I become aware of my own soul wound that relates to feeling invisible sometimes and find myself standing at a threshold.  I have a sense of what’s beyond because I have read the end of this story!  So, I lean forward to peek in and see Jesus seeing me and asking, “Do you wish to get well?”

It is an invitation to wholeness that is irresistible and while I cannot know what exactly will happen next, I know by now that Jesus always calls me toward life!

So, I open the door to Jesus and hear the words “Get up!” There is power in His voice and healing in His eyes and before I know it, I am upright, embraced and walking — welcomed with joy by Jesus who is ever faithful to form holiness in me and heal my life with love .

“What a gift it is that you always see me and know me, Jesus. Thank you for the thresholds in life that invite me to Your heart, heal my wounds, and form my soul. Please help me to hear you knocking. Amen.”

What about you?

Are you aware when you are standing at a threshold, a doorway of invitation to healing and new life?

Can you hear when Jesus knocks?

Can you sense your inner life?   Your desires curiosities and angst?

Do you want to be well?

Let the love of Christ meet you right where you are today.  He welcomes you with joy.

Worship 

Remember Me

aspen cross2By Judy Villanueva

Luke 23:32-34, 39-43

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left… One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:  “Aren’t you the Messiah?  Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Today would be his last. He knew he was guilty and deserved what was coming, but that didn’t stop his stomach from wrenching. He was a thief and today justice would be served on the same dusty hill where he’d seen countless others hanged for their crimes. Part of him was resigned to the inevitable and part of him ached for a second chance at life. The guards were coming! He could hear their footsteps approaching and almost without thought he murmured a desperate prayer. The iron gate screeched open and before he knew it, he was grabbed and thrown face down in the dirt. Far beyond anything he could imagine, this would be a day of cosmic reckoning!

Hanging with his arms tethered to horizontal beams and his legs roped to a post, he is roused by a jeering voice and suddenly realizes he is not alone on Golgotha.  The sneers and taunts emanate from a despicable thief with whom he must apparently share his last hours.  Sighing in disgust, he starts to turn away when he notices another cross…the object of his neighbor’s ridicule.  “Is it Him,” he wonders, “the One he has heard about?” As he scrutinizes the face covered in blood and shrouded beneath a thorny crown, the man’s eyes lift and a holy power rushes toward him!  In desperation and hope, he hears himself utter, “Lord, remember me.”

It all happens in an instant — an awakening, a reckoning, and a heart made whole!

The placement of Jesus’ cross between two thieves is an astounding and graphic picture!  It is no accident that on one side hangs a man full of pride, living and dying for himself, and on the other, a humble and broken thief pleading for mercy.  And, there at the center is Jesus offering life to a lost soul…even as He dies.

Knowingly or unknowingly, we live on either side of Jesus each day.

We see Him or we don’t.  We live full of pride and self-sufficiency, or ask to be remembered. We curse what cannot control or surrender in faith to a holy God.  We breathe each breath disgruntled or full of gratitude. And finally, a day arrives when we either reject the greatest gift ever offered us or follow Jesus to paradise!

“Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me.  When I slow down and let the cross touch my life, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  I want to be like the thief who humbled himself and asked to be remembered, not just in my final hour of life but always.  Amen.”

What about you?

Have you ever ached for a second chance at life?

Do you feel your need for Jesus?

Which thief are you?  In other words, are you trusting in yourself for your life or trusting God?

Have you said “yes” to the gift Jesus gave at Calvary?  Have you received the gift of being found, forgiven and made whole?

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Worship

 

Ordinary

IMG_0891By Judy Villanueva

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.  (Romans 12:1)

A few weeks ago, I decided to start my days by asking God to show me my purpose for each day.  I imagined it would be something extraordinary, you know, something that could be measured as worthwhile and good!  I  guess it’s not a big surprise that instead, ordinary encounters and simple daily chores became my purpose.  To be honest, the “ordinary” felt a little disappointing so I googled the word and found these descriptives:  usual, normal,  regular, typical.  Not exactly what our culture invites us to aspire to, right?  Then, I bumped into Romans 12:1 in The Message and felt splashed with the coolest most refreshing  perspective!  I found myself inspired and relieved and called to bring my everyday, ordinary, “walking-around life” to God — as an offering!  What a mind and heart shift!

It will never be the profound and amazing me that pleases God and always instead, the me offered to God in my walking-around life.  

Do you ever wake up with an ache in your gut to have your life matter?  I do.  Some seasons are so full of people and tasks that there is little room to worry about such things.  But, other seasons are quieter, lonelier where questions of meaning surface along with the steady conviction that God made us ON purpose and FOR His purposes.  These can be tricky ruminations because we are naturally inclined to compare ourselves with others, supposing everyone else’s purpose to be shinier than ours and more important.

But, the astounding truth is that our lives, when offered to God, are placed in Divine hands — the same hands that made Heaven and earth!

So, how do we place our lives before God as an offering?  Paul helps us understand the need for a shift in focus away from an “all about me” way of living to an “all about Him” life of worship.

“Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves…The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” (Romans 12:3)

What a relief and what a way to approach the day!  By calling to mind the wonders of God, Who He is and what He does for us, we can start the day focused on God and stirred up with gratitude.  We can trust Him to use us as He wills AND, we can pray for His help to stay alert so that we will notice His presence in the this and that of the day — and obey as He leads us into His purposes.  We can even relax when we feel ordinary because, offered to God, we are held in extraordinary hands!

“I place my life before you, God, as an offering today.  Fill my mind with thoughts of You!  Turn my focus to Your face and help me to trust that you have made me and know just how to use me.  Amen.”

What about you?

Have you considered that God made you ON purpose and FOR His purposes?

What might your day look like if you were to place your life before God as an offering?  What would be on your mind?  How would that feel?

Like me, do you need God’s help to shift focus from an “all about me” way of living to an “all about Him life of worship?”

Worship

Forever and Ever

ImageBy Judy Villanueva

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.  (1John 7-8)

When I was little, my dad promised my siblings and me that he would live to be one hundred years old.  I look back on this now and wonder if this was such a good idea since he had no control over the hour of his death but, he said it and we believed it.  My dad also said, and still says,  “I love you.”  Pause.  “Forever and ever!”  We do the same, and when we part, we press our cheeks together and say, “Eeee-Eeee.”  As I write this, my dad lays at home in hospice care, gently (and sometimes not so gently) letting go of this life and preparing for the new life that awaits him.  We, too, are in the throws of preparing — saying our goodbyes and struggling to accept and surrender to the loss of a man who has shown us what it looks like to love well.  I might even go as far to say that the power of my dad’s love led me to Christ, even though he was a stubborn agnostic.

There is no doubt in my mind that love has power, and I mean that with all the intensity I can muster.  The love of God is a force!  It holds and heals us.  It imparts life and touches a soul-place in us that nothing else can touch.  Think of the last time LOVE reached out and touched you, or the last time love flowed through you to touch another.  It is not benign!  Giving and receiving love changes us, and always for the better because…

Love cries out with a message from Heaven!  

It tells us that we are known and connects us to the reality that we are loved by God.  Do you know that you are loved by God?  This is the truth that pours pure joy over our heads and empowers us to live life to the full.  This is the reality that I believe God wants to make manifest in and through our lives.  

It’s unlikely that my dad will make it to his 90th birthday.  He is ten years shy of keeping his promise, but we won’t hold that against him because, while he may not have the power to live to be one hundred, he’s always had the power to love and that he has done generously for decades!  Did I forget to tell you that he finally gave his life to Christ 3 months ago?!  Knowing that when he leaves our embraces he will be received by the most faithful arms of God, is absolutely the most precious gift I can imagine!  I recently found the letter my dad wrote to me on my eighteenth birthday and, at the risk of being sentimental, I’d like to say back to him what he said me so many years ago. 

“Now, your time is here.  Fly, my love, and drink in all the happiness and Love that waits for you” — in Heaven. 

I love you, dad…forever and ever.  Eeee-Eeee!  

“Thank you, Father God, for the dad you gave me and for all the ways his love led me to you.  Surround him with your angels now and give him the cheek hug of his life!  Amen.”  

Worship

 

 

 

What If And If Only

DSC_1025By Judy Villanueva

Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…”

Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

What if the plane crashes?  What if the cancer comes back?  What if ____?  Fill in the blank.  The what ifs of life are peace stealers, and as you might guess, their author is Fear.  What ifs depreciate faith and direct our focus onto future unrealities. Then, there are the if onlys!  If only I’d been more patient.  If only I’d stayed home.  If only I’d chosen a different path.  Regret is the author of if onlys.  It beats with condemnation and cultivates sorrow.  If onlys are immobilizing, joy-drainers.  They direct our attention to the past, a time that has ended, a place that is frozen and inaccessible.  If you hear yourself saying, “What if” or “If only,” be alerted that you’ve left the present moment, the very place where the peace of God awaits you.

CS Lewis so poignantly writes in his book, The Screwtape Letters, that “the future inflames hope and fear…and is of all things, the least like eternity…the past is frozen and no longer flows.”  But, he goes on to say,  “The present is the point at which time touches eternity.  The present is all lit up with eternal rays.”  What a thought!  The peace of Emmanuel, God with us, touches our lives in this present moment.

He holds the future and can heal the past, but God’s company, His heart, His voice, and His love joins us right this minute and in every present moment!

I wonder what would happen if we went on the offensive with what ifs and if onlys.  Rather than fearing the unknown, what if we trusted that God remains sovereign over all the events that happen in life?  What if we stayed in this moment, welcomed God’s divine company and rested with Him a while?

What if we brought our fears to Jesus, laid them at His feet, and then —- sat down next to Him?!

Instead of living under the weight of regret, suppose we carried ourselves to the cross and looked up.  Rather than taking another beating, what if we made peace with our mistakes and accepted the things we cannot change.  If only we’d help ourselves remember, especially when we are afraid, that God is always brave for us!  He IS who He says He IS, the great I AM, our dearest Friend right here, right now, and always.

“Thank you, Father, that you are my most faithful friend, that you watch over my life with kindness and that you stay with me every minute of every day.  Help me to stay in the present where I find peace in your arms.  Amen.”

What about you?

Are you troubled by What ifs and If onlys?

Does fear intrude on your present moments with God?

Does regret drain you of joy?

May the peace of Christ, Emmanuel, spread out around you, with renewed hope and joy in His presence.

Worship