Wednesday, April 27, 2011

His Joy in Us

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,…"
Galatians 5:16,22






It is so freeing to understand that the fruit of the spirit is not something that we can muster up, it is the characteristics that the Holy Spirit develops in us as we walk with Him in an intimate relationship. To me, an intimate relationship includes reading God's word, praying about my response to what I have read, worshiping, and choosing to walk in obedience to Him. It would also include being very present in life and noticing exactly what God is doing in me, around me, and through me. When we experience God's love we are filled with His love and able to respond by loving Him and other people. Joy is similar in that it is born out of a deep, trusting relationship with God. It, just like love, is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Joy is not necessarily happiness, excitement, or pleasurable emotions that we so often search for. It is a steady feeling of contentment and trust that is not based on our circumstances. It may evoke other feelings that overflow into tears of joy or laughter that we experience as we are broken or excited by what God is doing. The joy can be present in positive situations like weddings, births, baptisms or hearing a believer’s testimony. It can also be experienced in extremely difficult circumstances like rejection, sickness and death. I have had a couple of friends who always praise God when I share something difficult I am going through, because they know that it will produces growth in me.




Several years ago, one of my best friends got married and excitedly began her family. Their first pregnancy ended in miscarriage and then her second baby died of an accidental suffocation at six months of age. She got pregnant right away with twins only to have one of the twins die in her womb. She had to lie in bed for a month to give the surviving baby a chance to survive while hoping it would not get an infection. They learned tremendous lessons about God and His love for them as our church family surrounded them and supported them through the grief process. People were saved and drawn closer to God as a result of what they went through. They grieved deeply, but there was hope in the midst of their grief that was beautiful to behold. They had the same deep hurt, questions, guilt and anger that anyone in their circumstances would have, but because of their relationship with God they could pour their hearts out to Him. They had a deep assurance of God's abiding love constantly bathing them and they had joy because they chose to believe in His goodness, faithfulness and love even in the face of the losses they experienced. It was because of their choice to cling to God that the Holy Spirit was free to fill them with His joy even in the midst of the deep pain they were feeling.




There are several things that rob us of our joy. One robber is not knowing God's word or even more importantly not knowing God. Another joy robber would be having a distorted view of what the Christian life is supposed to be. We are never promised a problem free life in this world, however we are promised that God will never leave us or forsake us and that He will work all circumstances for our good. Another joy robber is basing our worth on people’s opinion of us rather than God’s. Another joy robber we face is the misconception that Christians don’t experience painful emotions like sadness, anger, frustration, guilt and confusion. If we believe we have to hide those emotions and don't talk to God or other Christians about them our joy is blocked. It is important to know that God's desire is for us to be full of joy (John 16:24). It is just as important to know that joy comes through a transparent relationship with God and His people as we go through painful circumstances. By that I mean bring our hearts and our questions to the light. When God in His sovereignty and love allows deep hurt to occur, we have to believe and trust that if we will keep walking with Him we will experience His love at a deep enough level to turn that pain to joy. (Jeremiah 31:13). Lastly the last joy robber is our own rebellion. When we sin we make a conscience choice to turn away from God. If we continue in a sin, we will feel like God has deserted us. Part of that is due to the fact that we feel guilty and begin to justify our sin and turn off the guilt. As we harden our hearts that part of us that senses and experiences God is numbed. If we continue in the sin God remains with us, but the hardness of our own hearts and possibly our unbelief prevents us from experiencing Him in order to make us so hungry for Him that we will give up the sin. Psalm 51:12 is an example of David crying out to God to restore the joy of his salvation following confession.




The questions we need to ask ourselves is do we trust God enough to be open and honest with Him? Do we believe in our heart that it is okay to take our doubts, anger, hurt and questions to God? Do we trust Him enough in all circumstances to ask Him to change our sadness into joy? Do we really believe it is His desire for us to experience great joy? Life can be really hard, but there is joy in being a child of God and not having to do it alone.






Prayer:
Father, I thank you for people like Paul in the Bible and the different friends You have given me who have walked faithfully with you through very painful circumstances. Seeing You produce joy in the middle of their pain has strengthened my faith tremendously and helped me to hold on when it was hard to do so. Lord, please help each one of us be transparent with you. Please show us what to do with the uncomfortable emotions we experience, especially our anger, hurt, confusion, and doubt. As we grow in our faith through that transparency please develop in us spirits full of your joy! Amen.

Monday, April 18, 2011

The Wounded Healer

“But he was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5


What do we do with the question of pain? So many of us question God because of the pain we experienced or the pain our loved ones endured. Many of us have been deeply wounded by abuse and as a result we became expert pretenders, living in denial, repressing memories, and stuffing the emotions that surrounded the painful events of our pasts. Many of us were wounded by others and believe something in us wasn't worthy of God’s protection and we find it difficult to turn to Him for the healing we desperately want and need. It is imperative that we understand the truth that God never promised us a pain-free life in this world. For us to respond to God’s love with love, He had to give each of us the freedom to choose and sadly, Adam and Eve's choices resulted in us living in a sinful, pain-filled world. It also resulted in each of us being born with the potential to do great evil. Because of this, we often struggle with toxic shame as we live with the consequences of our own sin, as well as the traumatizing consequences of other people's sin.


The verse above makes it clear that Jesus understands our pain. He was stripped and beaten until He was bruised and bleeding and then hung between heaven and earth for all to see. He understands what it feels like to bear consequences of others' sins for as He hung there our sin was laid upon Him. He knows what it feels like to be blamed for what another has done, because He took our blame as He bore our shame. He knows what it feels like to be condemned, being condemned in our place. He knows what it feels like to feel crushed and wounded, for He was crushed for our sin. He also knows what it feels like to be falsely accused, to be misunderstood, and to be despised for simply being Himself. He even understands how it feels to be alone as His friends ran and His heavenly Father didn’t even intervene. He understands what it is like to be used as many seek His gifts rather than the Giver. He knows what betrayal feels like, because a disciple betrayed Him with a kiss. 

Only Jesus loved enough to choose to experience abuse, pain, and shame on our behalf and He has the understanding, the compassion, and the power to heal hearts that are deeply wounded by abuse of any kind. The verse above reveals that He didn’t just come to pay for our sin, He came to heal us. We falsely believe that others can heal us. We falsely believe that if our abusers, those who betrayed us, and those who neglected us, or those who sinned against us apologized, we would be healed. While an apology may validate our story and can pave the way for restoration, it cannot mend a heart torn by betrayal. It cannot ease the anxiety triggered by overwhelming powerlessness. It cannot calm the fear that trauma evoked. Nor, can it fill a love-starved heart. I have known people who think they can’t be healed until they get an apology, but that isn't true. Nor did it automatically restore trust; that came through hard work, speaking truth, setting godly boundaries, and giving grace upon grace.

It is humbling to really get honest with God about the pain we have experienced, about the anger we have often buried deep, and the lack of grace we are giving to others. I was fortunate enough to pour out the pain in my heart to Him in the presence of godly people I trusted. I have asked God questions, some of which He has answered and some of which He hasn’t. At times I have wrestled with the ambivalence I felt over what seemed like inaction on His part and He kept drawing me back to the Easter Story. To know my Creator understands the pain I experienced and the sin I sinned and chose willingly to suffer that kind of pain for me so I could have a relationship with Him blows my mind. To know that He sees me, to know that He hears me, and to know that He understands even the feelings of my infirmities means so much to me. It was through the fellowship of suffering that I learned so much about His heart and HIs love for us. That was the precious gift that came from the dark I experienced. I don't want to ever forget that the Lion of Judah first came as the Wounded Healer. 


Prayer: Father, help us to have the courage to look at the painful places in our hearts and in our lives. Provide people to hear our stories and to help us connect with God at a deep enough level that those painful places can be healed. Remind us often that you get us and understand what we go through. Thank you for dying in our place and not just redeeming us, but healing us. Amen.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Godly Fruit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is not law." Galatians 5:22-23



What kind of fruit is produced in my life? Is it the sweet precious character of God that is produced? I know that an intimate relationship with Christ will change my heart and enable me to produce spiritual fruit and godly characteristics in us. The first character trait on the list above is love. I have shared before that when I heard a sermon on loving God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves that I asked God to teach me to love Him with all that I am. I didn't understand at the time what a love that was so encompassing looked like. I had believed the concept of God being more of an angry and distant Father than an Abba or personal Daddy. Because of that, I expected His answer to come in the form of admonitions. However, for over 4 weeks I was overwhelmed by daily lessons about His love for me. They came in the form of the Scriptures, sermons, books, encouragement, emails, praise music, and life events.


One of the most important lessons He teaches us is that our loving depends on the fact that He first loved us. It is only as we experience His love that we can begin to understand how to love Him and how to love others. I Corinthians 13 gives us a really clear picture of what godly love looks like. It is patient and kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrong, and does not delight in evil. It rejoices in the truth and seeks to protect, trust, hope and perseveres until the very end. It is not like the love our society has which is often selfish and manipulative and wanes when things get tough or the brain chemistry changes. God's love satisfies the love hunger in each of our hearts.


In loving us, God took the initiative. He demonstrated His love for us when we were His enemies and while we were still in bondage to our sin. He did this by sending Christ to live on earth and to die in our place for the sins we have committed. Christ invited sinners to live and walk with Him and many of them came. Even in His perfect holiness, something in Him invited them to live transparent lives before Him. When they had doubts they told Him. When they were prideful, they did not hide it. When they sinned they did it openly and He exhorted them to grow.


He demonstrated eternal love in that He loved in the face of adversity and hatred. He chose to love when in His humanity it caused Him great pain to do so. I wonder if we are really willing to walk with Him in such an intimate way that we can take the risk to initiate that kind of sacrificial love with others? Can we love in the face of hatred and adversity? Can we love when it hurts to do so?


We can't ever lose sight of the fact that loving God and loving people is intricately intertwined. Matthew 25 tells us that when we love people by meeting their needs we are actually demonstrating our love to God. We are also called to love non-Christians like He does – even while they are lost in their sin. We are called to love our enemies just like He did. John 13:34 gives us a new commandment to love others not as we love ourselves, but as He loves us.


Remember from the vine lesson that we can’t produce the fruit of the spirit ourselves. God produces it in us. No matter how hard we try we will never be able to muster a sacrificial godly love on our own. There will be times that we are too tired or too sick to have anything to give. There will be times that we are just too human and selfish to love as He loves, but He will produce it in us. I have been on mission trips in areas of Mexico where the dirt and the smells were hard to handle and yet have been able to hold and weep with hurting women. I had the privilege of holding a baby sick with aids even with the fear that disease evokes. I have been able to share the gospel when I felt timid and overwhelmed by the barriers of language, culture, experiences, and economic differences. I was able to teach in spite of extremely painful headaches and exhaustion.


I honestly don't understand this love thing. It will always be a mystery to me. I can walk into a room simply out of obedience with nothing to give, only to have God fill be with a passionate love that wells up from deep inside and compels me to do what is unnatural for me. I may wipe away a stranger's tears, share Christ boldly or exhort a stranger in a strange land to cling to God who loved them enough to have died for them…but then there are days I walk by a homeless person unwilling to make eye contact and pushing down harsh judgments of which I am ashamed. I hope we all learn to sit at Christ's feet and experienced His love at a level deep enough that it compels us to love Him through obedience and to love others sacrificially in ways that are not natural for us.



Prayer: Father, thank you for your love and for giving us the ability to love you and other people through your Holy Spirit. Fill us with your passion and the desire to love sacrificially and consistently. Fill us with you love and the fruit of Your holy Spirit. Amen.

The Fruit of His Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23

What kind of fruit do you produce with your life? Is it the sweet precious character of God that is produced? In the last blog we saw that an intimate relationship with Christ would change our hearts and produce spiritual fruit or godly characteristics in us. The first character trait on the list above is love. You might want to read some of the following passages for more understanding: Romans 5:8, I John 4:19, Matthew 22:37-40, John 13:34, 35 and Romans 5:5.

I shared before that when I had heard a sermon on loving God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves that I asked God to teach me to love Him like that. I didn't understand at the time what a love that was so encompassing looked like. I had had somehow developed the concept of God being more of an angry and distant Father than an Abba--personal Daddy. Because of that, I expected His answer to come in the form of admonitions. However, for over 4 weeks I was overwhelmed by daily lessons about His love for me. They came in the form of scripture, sermons, books, encouragement, emails, praise music, and life events.

One of the most important lessons He taught me was that my loving depended on the fact that He first loved me. It is only as we experience His love that we can begin to understand how to love. I Corinthians 13 presents us with a really clear picture of what godly love looks like. It is patient and kind. It does not envy. I doesn’t boast. It isn’t rude or self-seeking. It is not easily angered and doesn’t keep records of wrong doing. It doesn’t delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It seeks to protect, trust, hope and persevere. It is not like the love our society has, which is often selfish and manipulative. In particular, God's love satisfies the love hunger in each of our hearts.

It is helpful to know that in loving, God took the initiative. He demonstrated His love for us when we were His enemies and were still in bondage to our sin by sending Christ to live and die for us. Christ invited sinners to live and walk with Him and they came. Even in His perfect holiness, something in Him invited them to live transparently before Him. When they doubted they told Him. When they were prideful they did not hide it. When they sinned He exhorted them to grow. He demonstrated eternal love in that He even loved them in the face of adversity and hatred. He chose to love when in His humanity it caused Him great pain to do so. I can’t help but wonder if we walk with Him in a continuous intimate way, if we too could take the risk to initiate that kind of sacrificial love with others? Would we also be able to love in the face of hatred and adversity? I don’t think we should ever lose sight of the fact that loving God and loving people is intricately intertwined. Matthew 25 tells us that when we love people by meeting their needs we are actually demonstrating our love to Him. We are also called to love non-Christians in the same manner He does – even while they are lost in their sin. We are called to love our enemies like He did. John 13:34 makes it so clear that Jesus gave us a new commandment to love others not as we love ourselves, but as He loves us.

Remember from the vine lesson that we cannot produce the fruit of the spirit ourselves. God produces it in us. No matter how hard we try we will never be able to muster a sacrificial godly love on our own. There will be times that we are too tired or too sick to have anything to give. There will be times that we are just too human and selfish to love as He loves, but He will produce it in us if we yield to His Spirit. I have been on mission trips in areas of Mexico where the dirt and the smells were hard to handle and yet been able to hold and weep hurting women and sick children who were covered with snot and had rashes all over their little bodies. I even held a baby sick with aids with all the fear that that particular disease evokes. I have been able to share the gospel when I felt timid and overwhelmed at the barriers of language, culture, experiences, and economic differences. I have been able to teach in spite of extremely painful headaches and exhaustion. I honestly don't understand this love thing. It will always be a mystery to me. I can walk into a room simply out of obedience with nothing to give, only to have God fill me with a passionate love that wells up from deep inside and compels me to do what is unnatural for me. I may wipe away a stranger's tears, share Christ boldly or exhort a stranger in a strange land to cling to God who loved them enough to have died for them.

Have you sat at Christ's feet and experienced His love at a level deep enough that it compels you to love Him through obedience? Has it compelled you to love others sacrificially and in ways that are not natural for you?

Prayer: Father, thank you for your love and for giving us the ability to love you and other people through your Holy Spirit. Fill us with your passion and the desire to love sacrificially and consistently. Amen.

Bearing Fruit

"…Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me…" Read John 15:1-17

Christ often used physical pictures to teach spiritual truths. Because of this, a passage can become more meaningful when we look at both the physical picture and then the spiritual truths. In the beginning of the entire passage, Christ, the God-man, calls His disciples “friends” when He is talking to them. That word had never been used before in describing a man's relationship with God. It is indicative of the deep intimacy, which comes out of a "branch" relationship with Christ. Often a grape plant will have a healthy root system with branches that produce small fruit. A vinedresser will then take a branch that produces large fruit and graft it into the main branch. From then on the branch is fed and nourished by the original root and branch, which enables it to produce good fruit. After the graft has taken it is difficult to determine exactly where the vine ends and the branch begins because they are so interconnected. The same sap flows internally through the vine and out through the grafted branches.

This picture tells us that we can have lives that are so interwoven with Christ's life that we can't tell one form the other. To be honest, I know it isn’t hard for other’s to tell my life apart from Jesus’ life. But I can continue to grow towards that. It is out of that deep intimacy and growth that the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, faith, patience, etc, will begin to grow. I can’t develop spiritual fruit apart from Jesus any more than a branch can produce grapes without being connected with the vine. I can and do often try to muster up those qualities on my own, thinking that that is what I am supposed to do, but I always fall short.

This passage makes it very clear that those qualities are the byproduct of intimacy with Christ. That takes a load off of my shoulders in trying to muster it up on my own. This passage was spoken to disciples and is not about salvation. He tells us up front that we are already clean. He tells us that we are to abide or remain in Him and He in us. From other passages we know that Christ promised to never leave or forsake us, and that the Holy Spirit was a permanent indwelling so He could not be talking about a physical staying or leaving in the passage. It is a conscience awareness of living in the presence of God and understanding He is living in us through the Holy Spirit and His word. In verse 7 He even talks about Christ's words dwelling in us. I think that means that His words become a part of our core belief system so we are actively living them out at a gut level. What is cool about that is that is begins to feel natural when those things become our core beliefs. He also tells us that He loves us the same way that God the Father has loved HIM! I hope that it is a love that we find irresistible.

He then points out that the way we remain in His love is to obey His commandments. This doesn’t mean that when we disobey Him that He removes His love and His presence from us. The word makes it clear that it is His love that disciplines us and calls us back to repentance. I am confident that it is something in us. When we sin we feel unlovable and we hide! That is no surprise if we think back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve hid from God. Nor is it a surprise when we think back to the cross. As our sin was laid on Christ, He cried out, "Abba, why have your forsaken me?" By his use of the intimate word Abba we know He's confident of his relationship and is not questioning God about His love. We also know that the cross is a demonstration of God's deep love for us, not an act of rejection for the beloved Son! It was a cry from the depths of His humanness and it fully describes the emotional affect that our sin had on Him…and ultimately on us. We "leave" God in a spiritual sense when we sin, yet we feel and sometimes believe that it is God who leaves us. To remain in His love means to remain in the state of joy of relating openly and honestly and lovingly to God – a state that is without fear. It means to confess known sin immediately and to continuously choose to obey. It means that to have that sense of belonging we need to obey Christ's commandments. It means to be in a constant state of awareness of His presence and continuously discussing with Him all that concerns us and praising Him for who and all that He is. His love and the other fruits are manifested and enjoyed by us only when we walk in obedience to His word. When we don't obey our own guilt distorts our picture of love and distorts our beliefs about God.

In conclusion are you abiding in Christ and His love? Are you letting the Lord nourish you by memorizing and meditating on His word? Are you letting His words take up residence in your soul? Are you remaining there by choosing to obey Him? Are you willing for Him to prune away what is not holy so that the fruit of the Spirit will be produced in your life? Are you letting Him abide in you by spending enough time with Him that His character and His goodness is starting to rub off on you? In other words, is He affecting your decisions, your character, your words, and your actions?

Prayer: Father, it is such an interesting picture to think of ourselves as branches that have been grafted into Christ. As we worship, read your Word, and meditate on it may we begin to let it permeate the deepest recesses of our hearts and begin to reflect your nature and character and love to those around us. Thank you for loving us and sending your son to demonstrate your love to us. Thank you for telling us that He loved as in the same way and with the same depth that you loved HIM! Amen.

Godly Sorrow Is A Good Thing

"Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while--yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us." 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

Sometimes I struggle with the concept of "body life" or community within the church? Most of us enjoy the warm fuzzy parts like encouragement, kindness, or serving each other. However, the harder part we call "speaking truth to one another" or exhortation is harder to for us to appreciate. Let's look at the process and motivation for speaking the truth, what to expect when we speak truth to someone, and what we can expect from ourselves when someone speaks it to us. By "truth," I want to make it clear that I mean speaking the truth of God's word, not just our perceptions or what we think. We all interpret things through our own personalities, our pasts, and our giftedness. That is why getting several perceptions and considering all the information on an event or relationship difficulty will get us closer to the truth. Biblical truth is truth that comes from the Word and never ever changes. However, we can lose sight of it in our sin or in our pain. We can also misunderstand a truth and having someone correct our thinking is speaking truth.

Relationships evoke all sorts of emotions, some of which are extremely uncomfortable. Emotions are God given and nothing of which to be ashamed. However, we are responsible for expressing them appropriately. The emotions we would call negative emotions aren’t really negative. They are uncomfortable, but that serve as a barometer that signals us that something is wrong and they tell us valuable information about our hearts. When godly boundaries are being subtly crossed we may experience things like uneasiness. With more blatant offences we feel stronger emotions like hurt and anger. God wants to use that anger to motivate us to speak the truth in love rather than react defensively and damage the person. We first need to determine where our emotions come from. Is it our own baggage, exhaustion, or hormones or is the other person's behavior triggering the emotional response in us? We are responsible for confronting sinful behavior with an attitude that invites reconciliation or restoration. The motive is always to helping them be the best person they can be. Reflecting Christ to others doesn’t mean ignoring our own needs and hurts. Hurt often means another person's behavior does not line up with scripture. Speaking the truth to people requires great humility because we have to come to Christ and admit our needs and our hurts first and check our own hearts. It is only as He fills us with godly wisdom and heals our hurt feelings that we can see that our hurt is secondary to the fact that a person we are confronting is sinning against God. Our hurt really is only a catalyst for God calling us to minister to the other person by helping them mature in Christ.



A person being confronted often gets defensive and shows hurt or anger at first. If we have prayed and know we are confronting in God's will by showing her how her behavior caused us pain, we don’t have to feel any guilt over their response. It is helpful to be gracious and allow the person to have her initial emotional response. At the same time we can pray that their sorrow, which may begin as selfish sorrow will turn into godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Pray that they will not become revengeful or run from the issues or your relationship. As godly sorrow begins to emerge, the person will usually no longer be hurt by your confrontation, but be sad that they grieved God. That is the time to come along side and offer support and encouragement. When you are focused on loving the person the temptation to stay angry goes away. Lastly, it is important to realize your success is measured by your obedience to God, not in effecting a change in them or confronting them without making them angry with you. It is ok to gently point out defense mechanisms like anger, tears or justifying a wrong action, but God has to change the person’s heart. Remember, to be like Christ is being more that a warm fuzzy friend -- Christ was warm, kind, tenderhearted, but he was also bold and firm.


How we respond to confrontation is an indication of our own maturity. I had friends who cared enough to confront me for an eating disorder and they saved my life. At first I was angry, but today I continue to be thankful that they cared enough to confront. What is your gut reaction to confrontation? Do you try to end the conversation, justify your behavior, get angry or show great hurt by bursting into tears? If a friend has the gumption to confront you, do you have the gumption to listen and examine your life to see if there is truth in what they say? The pain of confrontation is a good pain in that it motivates us to change if we have open hearts. It is okay for any of us to need some time to process during a hard conversation and then meet to respond. There may be times where we have not sinned, but there is a difference in expectations that a calm loving conversation can clear it up. On the occasions we are confronted for something we did not do, but we might be able to minister to the person if we remain calm and loving.


Even though words that lead to godly sorrow often wound at first, we must recognize that they are precious expressions of love? Do you love boldly enough to confront? Do you praise God for friends who confront you? Can you receive and give correction with grace?


Prayer: Father you are awesome to call us to deeper growing relationships that are like iron sharpening iron. Sometimes in our humanness sparks fly in that process. Give us hearts that are humble enough to hear people who are confronting us in a godly way. Also give us hearts that are bold enough to confront and love a person through their initial responses. Fill us with you Holy Spirit and heal our hearts so that we can reflect you to others. Amen.

Introduction

Several years ago I realized that I often sped through my Scripture reading and gave it little thought. Yet, when I had meaningful conversations with friends or family members I replayed them over and over in my head. One day it occurred to me, that if I thought more about what God says in his word that I would not only know more about Him, but I would come to know Him in a personal way. I would know more about His thoughts, His character, His intentions, His passions, and His actions. So, I began to take one verse at a time and think on it and then journal about it. At the time I was served as a volunteer in youth ministry and shared my “Thoughts on God” with those girls. For a while I have been rewriting and posting them on this blog. I have realized when I am in the Word or move through my day focusing on God's presence that I have wonderful opportunities to Meet God in the Everyday. The Everyday can include storms, blessings, hard things, scary things, exciting things...just any where, anyplace, any time. I hope that you will be able to engage with what I write with both your head and your heart. I also hope you will be challenged to love, trust, and know the God of the Scriptures. It is my prayer that as you read you will experience Him at a deeper level and share pieces of your journey in the comments. It is my desire that we form a safe community of believers who pursue the God who loves us radically, eternally, and without reserve. As a precious pastor once told me, "Don't forget, Wendy, God is Good!" I find myself compelled by His Goodness and His Love to share so others can know Him through all the ups and downs of life. Please feel free to dialogue back and to share how each passage impacts you. If if there is a passage you would like me to write on or if you would like to be a guest blogger, please let me know. I am just learning to navigate this blog and appreciate the kind comments you have made in the past...I promise I will even try to respond if you leave a note. If you are blessed please share the blog with friends!