Good morning,

At times as I have been praying, I have had some interesting thoughts about God and Jesus Christ. I want to be careful here and make sure you know I am not claiming these are thoughts inspired by God. At the same time I think they align with who we know God is through His word. I have tried to write these thoughts out over when this happens. I am moved, really prompted it seems by the Holy Spirit, to share these thoughts.
 
We all experience pain, suffering, trials and tribulations (of course, to varying degrees, but none the less all of us). Often we lament, pray to God, plead with God, even blame God for our pain or the pain of others we know – or even walk away from God.
 
So starting at the beginning, On the sixth day God created man and woman. (See Genesis 1:26-31). And it was very good.
 
We came to life through God’s breath (Genesis 2:5-8 – “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” And Job 33:4 – “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”)
 
Just let this sink in…God’s breath brought life. The origin of our breath and life is from God…
 
So imagine God before he initiated creation. He had a perfect vision and plan of creation. He also knew that for His creation to be truly perfect and right, that we, who were to have dominion over all the earth and all creatures, needed to be made with free will. The ability to choose. In doing so God knew, as an all knowing, ever present God, that we would fall, we would sin. And God’s plan from the beginning accounted for that fact.
 
So think about pain and hurt you might have felt in your life. Was it at times at the hands of someone else? From maybe a sinful act on their part? Or maybe the pain and hurt came from something you did – a sinful act on your part (similar to Adam and Eve)?
 
We can see in this that our sins between ourselves and by ourselves cause us pain and suffering...
 
You are likely wondering where I am going with this. If we are image bearers of God and we feel pain and suffering wouldn’t it make sense that God does as well. I am not sure I will be able to give you any specific scripture for this but want to put this before you to consider –

• God created Adam and Eve – it was very good
• Imagine the pain and hurt God felt (even in the joy of His very good creation) first knowing that Adam and Eve would sin – and then the pain and hurt when Adam and Eve when they sinned. Even though this was a part of His plan and He knew, I imagine He knew His plan would bring the Trinity pain and suffering.
• How about the pain of punishing them and sending them out of the Garden?
• I imagine our fall, every sin that followed the fall through all the offspring of Adam and Eve all the way to us – imagine His pain, this hurt likely dampening the tremendous joy the Father, Son and Holy Spirit experience.
• The pain each time we rebel and sin
• The pain God felt knowing the Son would be sent to live among sinners, lowering himself to serve us – coming for us as sinners – knowing the Son would take all the sins on Himself, spilling His blood in both physical and spiritual pain and agony – in order that God’s Plan be fulfilled
• God knew this as he conceived us before the foundations of the world right? He knew this as he knit us together in our mothers’ womb – we were perfect in that moment – yet God knew we would be marred and he would be hurt as we entered the world – Adam’s and Eve’s sin would stain us
• God knew the cost would be His Son Jesus Christ.
• And finally what about the pain God feels knowing that many will reject Him – and be lost

 
Yet, despite all this pain, in it we have hope – our hope is literally born out of God’s pain and His sacrifice of His Son on our behalf. And in that we are asked to have hope and joy – even when we pay the cost of discipleship or the consequences of our past sins – we know the joy because we know reconciliation with God has happened through Jesus Christ. Would not knowing that God felt the pain of our sin deeper than we could ever imagine increase or deepen our understanding of the love He has for us in providing the way for our reunion with Him?
 
I think sometimes we think all of this should be like a fairy tale – or a story without pain and hurt and sorrow. God knew His perfect creation required it go through the fire of pain, hurt and sorrow including His pain, in order that His creation is made perfect when we return Home to him.
 
It was no magic wand God waved to create us in perfection but rather He sacrificed for us from the beginning in ways we do not totally understand so we could stand and worship perfectly in His Holy presence breathing in His breath of Life.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us going into this weekend is that we realize our lives, the crucible of pains and suffering are meaningful in God’s perfect plan to bring us home as transformed and made perfect children of God filled with the breath of our Creator! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

My wife Kathy shared this with me several years ago. It spoke to her as to how the Bible should be regarded. What a great perspective on the Word of God:
 
THE BIBLE - A beautiful paragraph, found in the introduction of every Bible produced by the Gideon’s International:
 

• The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.
• Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
• Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
• It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. 
• It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter.
• Here too, Heaven is opened and the gates of Hell disclosed. 
• Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end.
• It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. 
• Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.
• It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
• It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever.
• It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

 
I am reminded in reading this of Matthew 7:24-27 were Jesus shares – “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
 
If I do not have an unshakeable basis for my faith, I have nothing. When I came to faith, not only did I receive the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ, in that moment of transformation, I needed to decide if I trusted God fully which means not only making the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior but also accepting the written Word of God in the Bible as that rock foundation.
 
Here in Hebrews 11:8-10 you see the writer of Hebrews declaring God the designer and builder of the foundations of our eternity in the promised land where we will live with our designer and creator – “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
 
Does reading scripture deepen your relationship and understanding of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ?

Does reading scripture leave you standing on rock and not sand?

I have found that when I read God’s Word, He is speaking and often directly to me.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that each of us builds our lives on the foundations that come from God; His Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ and His Word as shared in the Bible! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick

Good morning!

These verses from God's Word caught my attention during a sermon I heard a few years ago.

• Matthew 13:3-9 “Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.””

Many of us have heard this part of the Matthew’s gospel and we know that what follows is the disciples asking why Jesus spoke in parables. We know from His response that, if our heart is hard our eyes and ears will be closed and we will miss His message and call to us.
 
I remember listening to a sermon where this part of scripture was the main focus of the sermon which looked at what this might mean to us - the idea being commitment (an inflexion point in our relationship with Jesus)…when we make our commitment to Christ, when we receive Him, surrender to Him, our eyes and ears are opened.
 
We know this is not a one-time event – that keeping our eyes and ears open means deepening our relationship with Christ – what makes that possible is God is now indwelling through the Holy Spirit.
 
So how can we deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ?
 
As I was listening, a clear thought came to mind about the idea of “good soil” or “rich soil”…our soil – our hearts become good or rich (we receive a new heart when we receive Jesus - our heart's of stone are replaced with hearts of flesh) when we spend time with God… through His Word…we can enrich the soil of our faith and how we live it every day, we can enrich the openness of the hearts (openness of the soil to receive and nurture truth) by spending time in God’s Word.
 
And for me, this thought becomes really interesting when you read John 1:1-5 and 1:14:

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

• “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 
Here John shares that the Word of God is not just scripture, it is God and through Jesus Christ, the Word became one of us.
 
This seems to all tie together – even with Jesus back in heaven, we have God with us through the Holy Spirit and we have God’s Word in scripture which tells us the Word was God.
 
So if we want to enrich the soil of our hearts, open our eyes and ears, and to really understand and embrace our relationship with Christ, have our faith grow and be shared in the world and for Christ light to shine and overcome darkness…we need to spend time in the Word and with the Word (in prayer)– it will bring us to closer to God. 

We need to abide in Him...John 15:4 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."
 
So much for my musings.

Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into the weekend is that we each are finding time daily to enrich the soil of our hearts, where our faith is nurtured and grown through the presence of the Holy Spirit, by being in The Word. Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick
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Good morning!

The Lord has been speaking to me the last couple of days (well maybe the last several years...), convicting me of some lingering sin and of the need to change. And I praise Him for such clarity! The need for humbling creeps into my life often and the last few days/years God pointed it out.

This is so appropriate as we just walked through Holy Week, drawing near to the Cross, God’s Cross - and the Resurrection, His solution for bringing us home.

We need to be humble when we approach the Cross – because we know what Jesus Christ suffered – so that God could, through the power of the Resurrection, allow us to approach Him.
 
This conviction this week (and in the past) forced me to re-engage God’s Word and look again at what humility looks like from a Jesus perspective – so I love in those moments to turn to the image of Jesus kneeling before each of His apostles to wash their feet – as I imagine this in my mind, I see the love and humility of Christ pouring out into the room, humility on display as we should be humble…read and reflect:

John 13:3-17
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

I need to serve others humbly including those I clash with at times and including my enemies. It is just that simple – I need to live it out in all my relationships.
 
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we find You speaking to us of how we can live to glorify You through humble, peace and love filled living that looks like You Lord Jesus – beautiful in expression of perfect love! Amen!
 
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Patrick