Now Is The Time

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1 (NLT)

Someone recently mentioned that they didn't know if God could use them because their past was full of "colorful" things. I've had this thought. How can God use someone who has made so many embarrassing mistakes? How can I represent a pure and Holy God when my past has been anything but.

We often forget that God's plan for our lives has nothing to do with our merit.  Let's face it, if it did he couldn't use any of us. It's about Jesus. Always about Jesus and the gift of grace we are given when we accept him as our Lord and Savior.

Jesus said, "It is finished." He didn't say "It will be finished when you get your act together." He knew we couldn't. He knew we were hopeless and helpless. Yet, he did what he did anyway.

Today's text says "So now there is no condemnation." Now. Not when you get it together. Not when you make up for your past. Not when you are sure some of the ugly won't show up again....NOW.

Let's accept this grace that we have been given. Let's believe in it and cherish it. And then, we should let it change us so we can share it with others.

Happy Monday, Child of God!

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31 (NLT)

Welcome to Monday morning!  Sometimes that thought isn't always so inviting. Right? But think about it. If the God of the universe, the God that controls everything, the God that is involved in our intimate details is for you, is there anything at all that can stand against you?

Maybe part of the problem is we don't really believe that he loves us that much. We look at ourselves in the mirror and think "He can't possibly be for me, look at my life." What we forget is that we are looking at the wrong reflection.

What we should be looking at is Jesus. How can we look at his death on the cross and believe that God is not for us? How can we look at the decision he made to take it all the way through his suffering to his death and not know that it was for each of us individually that he died?

When those voices in your head tell you that you are a failure, look at Jesus.
When the voices say that there is too much in your past for you to be a child of God, look at cross.
When you feel like you just don't measure up, look at the One who said "Whosoever believes in me will not perish."
You are a Whosoever.
You are the one he died for.

Happy Monday, Child of God!  You are loved!

Facing The Lions

Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.  Daniel 6:23 (NLT)

The story of Daniel in the Lion's Den resonates with me. First, the part of the story where people are trying to find a way to destroy him because they are jealous sounds like our news stories every day. People attacking each other and scheming against them.  Can you tell I live in Washington DC?

But that's not the part that resonates with me. Can you imagine how Daniel felt when he was arrested and thrown in the Lion's Den? Do you wonder if he, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, said "I know you are able but even if you don't I will not stop worshipping you." Did he wonder if the Lion's would kill him? And when he realized they were going to lay there and cat nap while he waited, oh the praise that must have come from that den.

There are mornings that I wake up and my mind is full of worry. Not because someone is going to seek to destroy me or throw me into the Lion's Den but because I am not sure I am smart enough or making the right decisions. I am worried about finances and next steps and a too-full schedule. But then, I remember.

I remember that the same God that rescued Daniel is alive and well today. I remember that he has spoken to me in the past and convicted me when I am walking the wrong path. I remember that he is in charge of my life, my work, and my ministries. And as I kneel there, I submit. I submit it all to him and trust, like Daniel did, that he who shut the lion's mouths can also lead my life.

A Minute In It - After The Dust Settles

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Reach the passage below and answer the questions after the post.

But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. 11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”
Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”
14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”
16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.
19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God. Daniel 6:10-23 (NLT)

Have you ever been punished for doing what you believed to be right?
How did you handle it? Did you trust God to work it out? Where you punished anyway?
Did the people involved see God in you and in your behavior?
During the situation, Daniel was able to say he didn't wrong the king. During your situation were you able to say you did not wrong anyone?
And the ultimate question, did you trust God and know that He was in control even if it didn't work out like you thought it should?
 

It Has To Be Personal

In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. Romans 8:3 (MSG)

One of the things I know is that life is messy. Everywhere you look, in most people you meet there is something that is not as it should be. We struggle with sin; sometimes choosing it over what we know is better. We live in the middle of the ripple effect of people that have chosen sin and deal with the damage it does to all those associated even in the slightest way. We see the horror on the news every day that results from those decisions.

In light of all this, I stand in amazement that Jesus would come, place himself smack in the middle of it. In the Message it says that he entered into the disordered mess of struggling humanity. Why? Because he loves us. Because living in this mess with us was better than living in heaven without us.  That thought gives a small glimpse into the power of his love.

It also gives us a glimpse of what our life is supposed to look like. When we love the way Jesus does, we will pour ourselves into the lives of the people God puts in our path. We will come alongside the messy and point to Jesus. Why do we get to do this? Because we showed up. Just like Jesus did.

Nana's Legacy

Therefore, go and make disciples....Matthew 28:19 (NLT)

When I was growing up, my grandmother was the first disciple maker I ever knew. She would come faithfully every weekend, pile all of us into her car and take us to church. Lest we misunderstand what a disciple-maker is, let's talk about what it is not.

Being a disciple maker is not about getting someone to church. As a matter of fact, that is the last thing it's about. Being a disciple maker is about pouring yourself into someone's life so they begin a relationship with Jesus. Of course, you can't pour out what you don't have so it also is about you being discipled as well. Who disciples you?  God. It's about listening to the Holy Spirit and following the leading of the Voice.

Back to my grandmother. Every day she spent time in prayer and with Jesus. I knew until the day she died that I was prayed over daily. She would call the house on a regular basis and talk to us. She was involved in what we were doing and every weekend she'd come pick us up and take us to church.

She was a disciple maker. She invested in the lives of those around her. She lifted  them up to the Lord daily, she was involved in the day-to-day and she reflected the love of Christ that was in her heart.

As I walk this journey of being a disciple of Jesus and discipling others, it had not occurred to me until just this weekend that I had witnessed this in action. Today, I am praising God for the folks who spoke Jesus into my life. Now, I have to go and do that for others.

Completely Illogical

So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  Luke 15:3-6 ( NLT)

As I tried to figure out a modern-day scenario to this parable, all of the examples that presented themselves made me kind of cringe. One would be a mother with lots of kids leaving the majority to find the one that got lost. That's a scary thought. One would be a person in charge of a group of people in a somewhat dangerous situation leaving all of them to find the one that wondered off. Who would do that?  It's irresponsible.

But isn't that exactly the point of this parable?  God's love for us is irresponsible. It's reckless. It defies logic. No matter what else is happening, he will come find us. His love is not dependent on other circumstances or responsibilities. It is truly incomprehensible.

We can't imagine this kind of love. We can't fit it into our boxes because it is not of this world. And that is exactly the point of this parable. God's love doesn't make sense. It's not something we can ever really understand. But, that doesn't make it any less real.

Do You Hear The Whisper?

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)

Science tells us that a baby in utero can recognize and respond to his mother's voice by 7 months. The baby has been imprinted with her voice and responds neurologically when he/she hears their mother speak.

We are also imprinted with God's voice. He begins speaking to us before we are even born and continues that conversation until we die. He is whispering to our hearts and our minds. The message he is saying over and over again?  I love you. No matter what you do, I love you. No matter where you go, I love you. I will always love you.

Sometimes we drown out that whisper by our choices and our distractions. That's when life doesn't seem right.  That's when there is a big, empty hole in our soul. But remember this. No matter where you go, what you do or what you've done, God is still whispering to you.

He's saying "I love you." Turn around....come fill your soul.