A Thrill of Hope in the Wilderness

In the summer of 1986, my dad decided to take our family on their first ever vacation. He chose Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. We left Arkansas and finally arrived at Scenic, SD at which point dad announced he would take us in the back way, through the Badlands. Alone and on that gravel road, close to ten miles from any human being, a rock hit our gas tank and we were stranded in the wilderness. So, my brother and I walked through the Badlands back to Scenic where we called a wrecker to come get us.

My guess is you’ve had moments like that in life. Nothing seemed to go well. You felt isolated, alone, and no one knew your situation. We all felt like we were in a wilderness during COVID. Everyone did the best they could but it was a long time alone.

Maybe you’ve been asking questions like, “When do I no longer have to be alone”, “When will I finally get out of debt”, “When will I get a job”, “When will the cancer be gone”, “When will my child come home”. We’ve all had moments when it felt like we were stranded and we couldn’t see how we would ever move forward to a more positive space in our story.

We love the mountain top experiences with God. I mean, who doesn’t? But it’s interesting in the Bible, wilderness moments typically follow mountain top experiences. It happened to Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He’s baptized by John and then hears the words of the Father, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” And right after that, Jesus is lead into the wilderness to tempted by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights.

Maybe you’ve had a bit smaller of a difficult time. Your relationship is great only to discover that person wasn’t being totally honest with you. You thought you had a rock solid marriage only to find out your spouse has been stepping out on you. You thought you were on the road to financial stability only to be laid off.

However, your deepest need becomes a gift when it drives you to depend an almighty God.

There’s a story in 1 Kings 19 about Elijah who runs away from a wicked queen. He runs to Mount Sinai and hides in a cave. The LORD appears to him to remind Elijah who he is and how God is with him, even in the wilderness. So God passes in front of the cave with Elijah standing there. There is a strong wind, an earthquake, a fire, but God isn’t in any of those extraordinary things. There’s finally an ordinary, every day whisper and that’s where God is. God asks Elijah in the whisper, “What are you doing here?”

And why does God whisper? It’s because He’s close…He’s near. He’s right there with you in your wilderness. So, what’s He saying to you? I will never forsake you. I will never leave you. I’ll hold you up with my strong right hand. I’ll stand by you. I will be light in your darkness. I love you more than you can imagine.

The Psalmist says in Psalms 34:17-18, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” God is close to those who feel they are in a wilderness moment. But he whispers, “Hang on! I’m right here.”

You and I can trust God is Immanuel, “God with us”. He is with you and will never leave. He loves you more than anything. Blessings on the journey.

Seek the Kingdom

Usually about an hour after I eat dinner, I’m back in the kitchen looking for something sweet. I look in the fridge, in the pantry and on the countertop, narrowing down the choices for my sweet tooth. But I’m looking because there something I don’t have. If I was satisfied, I wouldn’t be in the kitchen.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom and live righteously and God will give you everything you need.” Notice he didn’t say everything you want. Jesus is calling us to seek the kingdom or look for kingdom living because he knows we don’t yet have it. We are missing something. We aren’t satisfied and we end up trying all kinds of things that aren’t good for us. Jesus knows exactly what we need to be satisfied: His Kingdom.

So, Paul calls us to imitate Jesus in life and character in Philippians 2:2-3. He calls us as followers to have the posture of Jesus. As followers and believers, we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, the Chosen One, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet, Jesus left all that to be killed for you and me so we could be reunited with our Heavenly Father. See, Jesus posture preceded his position. And we are called to that kind of living as well. Seeking the right posture yields righteousness, not because of anything I’ve done but because of all that Jesus has done and is doing.

So if we are going to be formed into imitators of Jesus, there are some things we can do in our lives to be better molded to look like Jesus. There are four things to know that will help build a Jesus’ posture in your life.

Be a part of community. Robin and I have been married 33 years. I’m grateful for what we have. But since the first week of our marriage, people who are believers have pulled us in and walked with us on our journey. Randy and Robin in Minnesota, Larry and Cindy in Ponca City, John and Sharron who known us since the mid-90s. Being in community or part of a church faith group is paramount. That family of believers gathers around you and helps shape you into someone who looks more like Jesus. You can’t have Jesus without the church.

Secondly, giving your resources helps build a Jesus’ posture. When we talk about money and possessions, we tend to get uncomfortable…nervous. But 15% of Jesus’ preaching was about this subject. It’s clear we are to manage our resources and not them manage us. There is a principle Robin and I use called tithing; giving 10% of our income back to Jesus/the church. We want to do what we can so that other’s can hear the message of freedom…the message of Jesus. When you decide to give back, you’re saying, “God, I think you can do more with my 90% than I can with my 100%.” It’s trusting God will provide and I share the blessings I have recieved.

Jesus said he had come to serve not be served. That’s our third shaping characteristic. When we serve others, we look like Jesus. There are so many ways to serve in the context of a spiritual family but also ways to serve our country, city, and schools. The principle of Jesus in this vein is that others are more important than you, which is a breath of fresh air in our culture. Americanism claims you are number one and you are all that’s important. In Jesus’ upside down kingdom, putting others ahead of yourself is looking like Jesus.

Finally, living an authentic life is how we are called in Jesus. The biggest knock against the church is that we say one thing and do another. That’s called hypocrisy. David Kinnaman, president of Barna, wrote two informative books using data his company collected that measured culture and church. The world doesn’t want any part of the church because we tend to be hypocritical. Three of the six things Barna discovered where the church is judgmental, hypocritical, too political, and too sheltered. There were more findings but these would remind us of the need to be authentic: making our voices and lives mirror Jesus.

As believers, we want a life and story that match our declaration that Jesus is Lord and King. To call for us as believers as that we’d count the cost of following Jesus and sign up. That we would be the kind of people who have a life that looks like Jesus full of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, sacrifice, unconditional love. To help mold us better into that person make sure you are part of a community of believers, that you give freely of your resources, that you serve those around you and live an authentically real Jesus life. Blessings on the journey.

"You'll Never Change"

You have probably heard that lie, “You’ll never change”, about you in your life. Maybe from a parent or a coach or a teacher or even your pastor. You and I must discern between what is truth in our life and how the enemy lies to us about who we are. You and I must concede that God and his truth can and will set us free.

For several years, I was part of an American Civil War reenacting group called the Trans-Mississippi Rifles (that has nothing to do with gender identity, by the way). We were attached to the 3rd Louisiana infantry and “fought” for the South. Our U.S. Civil War pit us Americans against ourselves and for some reason we like to replay that.

We are spiritually in a civil war as well. We are fighting with who we are and whom God called us to be. Paul talks about his personal frustration with this civil war in Romans 7:15-19. You can just feel his frustration in the words he pens. “We don’t do what we want to do and the thing we don’t want to do, we do.” So how do we overcome this within ourselves?

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10 that we demolish the stronghold Satan has on us by taking our thoughts captive for Jesus Christ. We make our thoughts and then actions obedient to Jesus. And when we take every thought captive, the walls will fall. For some reason, we believe Satan and God are equally matched but NOTHING is equal to the power of God’s love for us.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” In other words, protect what you think about or dwell on each and every day. Whatever you’re allowing into your thinking will direct your attitudes, emotions, and behavior. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 not to conform to the world’s way of thinking but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So to do this, I want you to think about a couple of things.

First, think process, not perfection. Becoming more like Jesus doesn’t happen overnight. But use this metric…am I different as a follower of Jesus than one year ago? Since the first of 2024? Have a changed any since summer began? You’ll want to do some investigation in yourself to see if you are growing spiritually. We’re all in process. Even the Apostle Paul says that in Philippians 3 about himself.

Now we are justified or found to be righteous the moment we say “yes” to Jesus. But sanctification or becoming more holy and like Jesus is a lifelong process. We are made right through Jesus immediately upon making him our Lord and Savior but our journey is a life-long process.

Secondly, think God’s power, not your own. That word “transform” in Romans 12:2 in the original Greek is in passive form meaning we don’t do it to ourselves, it’s done to us. There is power with filling our minds with Godly moments and thoughts.

One final point. Paul tells us something so important in regards to power. Our enemy, Satan, gets us so busy and distracted we forget about the power of God in our lives. But Paul reminds us in Ephesians 1:19-20, “I pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” Wow! That kind of power lives within you if you’ve said “yes” to Jesus.

Jesus came to set us free. He’s come to give you life. He’s come to empower you. He’s come to change you. And if you will let him, your life will never be the same again. Blessings on the journey.

You Can Fix It Yourself.

We live in a DIY world. Every Saturday, I try to watch at least one house flipping show because I love that kind of stuff. It’s reassuring to me that I can save tons of money on labor if I do the work myself. I typically look at a project and say, “I think I can do that myself.” We’ve all been saying that since we were 3 years old though.

But many times in our adult life when we say this, it really isn’t true. It’s the lie of pride that states I don’t need anyone else. We are desperate to cover up imperfection, hide mistakes, not admit fault or that we are even capable of doing something so we just say, “I can fix it myself.”

Sometimes the thing we are fixing is the person we are married to or our kids or our coworker. Sometimes we are fixing a financial situation, our marriage, an addiction, a health issue, a broken relationship or a secret sin. Here in the good ole USA, we pride ourselves on being individualists. We celebrate self-starters and self-sustainers. It’s our mentality to not include others because after all, I can fix it myself. And this idea has been around for a long, long time.

Sarah thought this when she and Abraham were past childbearing years in Genesis 16. God had told them they would have a baby and their offspring would be more than the stars in the sky. They were an old couple so Sarah gave her servant, Hagar, to Abraham thinking that’s how God will do it. I can fix this myself. Hagar and Abram had a child together. All the issues between Muslims and Jews and Muslims and Christians can be traced to Genesis 16 where one person decided they could fix the issue by themselves.

If we buy into this lie, I can fix it myself, several things happen to us in our lives. First it increases pride. “I don’t need anything else or anyone to help me.” I can do it on my own is inherently prideful. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be humble and part of a community. Pride goes before a fall so the Bible says.

When we believe this lie, it minimizes the problem saying it’s nothing I can’t handle. We end up usually making the situation worse than it ever was and to avoid embarrassment, we just say it’s no big deal.

It can also feed guilt and shame. Internally, we acknowledge the mess of our situation and the reality that I can’t really clean it up. I can’t put it back in the package like it was before. So I take on guilt and wear it like a bad suit. Carrying the guilt intensifies the fallout. We think, “I can’t believe I let it get this bad.” We typically realize this too late when our addictive personality keeps bringing us back to the porn site or the intake of alcohol or drugs.

This lie will rob us of relational intimacy. We are ashamed of our situation because we thought we could handle it so we are not vulnerable enough to admit we need help. It can be the reason we avoid being in a church small group or attending Sunday morning Bible class. However, when we decide to have relational intimacy, it makes the person we interact with feel valued and helps us feel known.

Finally, when we buy into the lie, it fuels hypocrisy. We dare not let anyone know how broken we are so we put on the mask and pretend all is right as rain.

As a follower of Christ, I realize the truth in Hebrews 4:14-16. Jesus is there for us. He carries the weight. He understands our dilemma. He gets us. Jesus is our high priest who has taken on our guilt and created a pathway to the very throne of God. And because Jesus is our high priest, we can appoach the throne of God with boldness. We don’t have to, indeed we literally cannot do it on our own. We need Jesus. And with Jesus comes the church.

None of us were ever meant to journey alone even though that’s what Satan wants. Jesus calls us to follow him, not to walk alone. The church is the body of Christ so being in the body means we are never alone. If you’ve bought into the lie that you can do it alone, I hope you’ll leave that idea behind and realize you have a high priest who wants to be your advocate, your rock and your soulmate for the journey. Grab his hand and leave the lie behind. Blessings on the journey.

You Don't Have What It Takes

You’ve probably heard this phrase sometime in your life. Maybe on a sports team or from a parent or in a classroom. Sometimes we hear that phrase, “You don’t have what it takes”, and it is not true. That’s typically the Devil lying to us and trying to tear us down.

Jesus told us in John 8 that Satan is a liar. In deed, it’s his native language. But in the same chapter of John, Jesus reminds us that Jesus is truth and the truth will set you free. Too many times, we believe the lie and are bound and shackled by Satan’s whispers rather than listening the the truth that Jesus wants us to hear and know.

And Satan has been at this deceiving thing for a while. You go all the way back to Genesis 3 in the Garden of Eden and Satan is spinning his story to Eve. “You won’t really die but you’ll be as smart as God.” That’s what he told Eve and in that chapter, Eve believes the lie, eats the fruit and sin enters the world. That’s what Satan wants to do to us. Get us to believe the lie so that he can ruin our relationships with each other, ruin our relationship with God and break us. That is his goal.

We do this to each other as well through social media. We fall into comparison with each other and Satan whispers that we don’t have what it takes…we aren’t good enough…we are not worthy nor valuable. So we begin to work on ourselves by trying to be perfect so that none of this will be right.

But perfectionism is just not possible. It’s not attainable. The only way we can be perfect is through Jesus and even then, it’s Jesus, not us, that is perfect. But as we try and are unsuccessful at being perfect, we get angry. If we stay in that emotion long enough, we get frazzled, tired, and fatigued. Since we can’t handle that state of mind very long, we discover things we can escape with such as pouring ourselves into our work, or going to the gym every possible moment, or binging Netflix, or going to websites no Christian should be on. The enemy loves it when we buy into the lie so he can break us.

But this lie does have some truth to it. It’s not the whole truth. The whole truth is in Jesus, you have everything you need to accomplish all things in life! And Paul knew this. He states in Philippians 4:11-13, “…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

You can tell the enemy, “I may not have what it takes but I know the One who does.” His Name is Jesus. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. So be free from the pressure of culture and the lies. Jesus is your perfection. You don’t need to feel helpless. Jesus is your help. If you’re hurting, Jesus will heal. If you’re overwhelmed, Jesus will give you peace. If you’re lost, He wants to find you. Blessings on the journey.

Prodigal Father

Yesterday was Father’s Day and many of us called our dad or had lunch with him or at least sent a card to him with a Home Depot gift card in it. All of us have a father.

Yesterday was also Sunday when believers gather in one place to worship our Heavenly Father and thank Him for all He has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus entire ministry was working to tell the world how incredible that Father truly is. Jesus’ whole life was spent pointing people to the Father. So it’s no surprise Jesus shows us how full of grace and unconditional love our Father is as Jesus tells stories in Luke 15.

While the Pharisees are upset that it appears Jesus is condoning sin by eating with sinners and tax collectors, Jesus reminds us our Heavenly Father is too busy rejoicing over found coins, found sheep and found kids to worry about what they were doing while they were lost.

See, Jesus tells the story of young son who wanted his inheritance from his dad before the dad died. Amazingly, the dad grants his half to him and the son goes away to the big city where he blows his entire bank account on worldly living. Sleeping in the day and partying at night with conditional friends who love the son as long as there is money. After weeks of the party life, spending money on drinking, drugs and women, the money runs out and then the friends do as well. In addition, there is a famine in the land.

So with no money and no friends; no place to stay and nothing to his name, the young son finds a job at a pig farm, slopping the hogs. Every day, he’s in the pig pen, in the mud, in the feces, in the stink and longing to eat what the pigs are eating. Until one day, he comes to his senses. He says, “I can go home and just ask dad if I can be a servant. Even the servants have food to eat.” So he begins the long walk of shame home.

But we discover the dad has been watching for his son every day. And one day, he sees his son in the distance so the dad runs down the road to meet him. While the son is trying to get the words out about being a servant, the dad says, “Bring a new robe, the family ring, new sandals and start cooking. Welcome home, my son.”

Now while Jesus reveals how wonderful it could be for prodigals to come home, it’s disturbing. Because most of us want our pound of flesh. Most of us want the sinner to come home but groveling on their knees, not to a party. And the young son has spent his half of the inheritance so he’s coming home to live off his brother’s half.

Big brother comes home to find the party and is irrate! “I’ve been here working the whole time and you never threw a party for me,” he says. And in the moment, dad realizes he’s lost both sons, one to a life of reckless abandonment and another to angry self-righteousness.

See, what the older son doesn’t realize is that dad does love them both but not because of what they deserve. He loves them both because that’s just who he is. See this father is a prodigal too who never tires of giving his love away.

We all are so blessed to have a Father who loves us unconditionally. When you decide to come home, he doesn’t remember what you’ve done but just loves on you. So if you are looking for peace in your life…if you are looking for a father to hold you close unconditionally…if you are looking for permission to leave behind the shame and guilt of your past mistakes, then say “yes” to Jesus and come home. Making Jesus Lord of your life will allow you to drop the baggage and embrace a totally new and wonderful life. Blessings on your journey.

Marry Me!

In Jesus’ day, when a young man and woman wanted to get married, both dads and the couple got together to talk about it. The groom-to-be and his dad would go to the house of the bride-to-be and the four of them would sit at a table and negotiate the bride-price. You can bet it would rival the cost of a small house. But there would need to be some physical payment for the girl to get married.

Once the price was settled upon, the groom’s dad would pour a cup of wine and give it to his son. The son would then offer it to the girl he wanted to marry. She then had two options. She could refuse the cup of wine, indicating while was was flattered by the proposal, she didn’t want to accept the gift of his life. Or she could take the cup of wine and drink. In doing so, she was saying, “I accept the gift of your life. I give you my life as well.” After which, preparations would be underway for a celebration and wedding.

At the Last Supper with Jesus and the disciples, they are celebrating the Passover with the traditional meal. This meal was hosted by Jesus meaning he retold the Exodus story and how God had saved Israel from Egypt. During the meal, which lasts hours, certain things are eaten at certain times and four cups of wine are drunk at different moments in the story.

The first cup of wine is the cup of sanctification. God chose us to be His holy people. He promised to unburden us from the entanglement of our enemy. The second cup of wine is the cup of deliverance. God reminds us that we cannot affect our own release but in fact must depend on him for deliverance. The third and fourth cups of wine are redemption and salvation. God’s work requires both divine power and payment.

Suddenly, out of the norm, Jesus turns to his disciples at the Last Supper and changes the final cup. He tells them the cup represents a new covenant in His blood. Like our Jewish groom-to-be, Jesus offers the cup to his disciples and says, “I love you. Will you marry me? Will you be my spiritual bride?”

Every Sunday in our tribe, we gather around the table where Jesus presides. Jesus then says to you, “I love you. I died for you. Will you marry me?” How personal a moment…God looking down on us and says, “I love you.”

So each of us, when we take the cup during communion, we accept the life Jesus gives us and we give our life back to him. We say, “God I accept your gift and give you my life in return.” What an intimate and wonderful time we experience every time we share in the Communion! It’s a beautiful moment when we are reminded two lives have become one and in doing so, we celebrate a very bright future. Blessings on the journey.

Pour a Spiritual Footing.

North Texas soil is not the best to build on. In fact, most builders would say we should not build any houses in North Central Texas due to the shifting soil. Eventually, we all see cracks in our walls and ceiling. It’s not unlike our culture. We see the relational and social cracks all around from high divorce rates, to the high percentage of the fatherless. We see many families living at the poverty line and our economic and political system is in disarray.

Jesus calls us to a different life style. All through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus tells us if we want to have a blessed life then live how he’s calling us to live. He says, “You have heard it said but now I say.” He tells us the kind of attitude we should have, how we handle our relationships and what worship and prayer should look like. At the end of the sermon, he tells a story about two builders, reminding us if we don’t want cracks in our life and relationships, the foundation on which we build everything in our life is so incredibly important.

When you look at both builders in Matthew 7:24-29, we see both of them had a dream to build something. Both went to the same church. Both heard Jesus speak. Both lived in the same neighborhood. Both endured the same storm. Yet one is called wise and the other a fool. Which is which can only be determined by the foundation on which they build their life and dreams.

You see, wise people act upon the Word of God. Jesus says in Matthew 7:24, wise people hear Jesus and then go and do what he has said. Wise people put into practice how Jesus is calling us to live every day.

Wise people do not compromise the Word. Jesus says in Matthew 15:6, “You cancel the Word of God for the sake of your own traditions.” When we try to mix our way (sand) and God’s way (rock), it’s called being double-minded and God will not bless that kind of life (James 1:7-8).

Wise people anchor their house on the Word of God. Both houses had beautiful curb appeal until the storm hit. The house built on sand came crashing down. For those of us who have decided to build our life on Jesus Christ, the storms will still come. The difference is our house or life will not crumble at the first gust of wind.

What we discover is that our foundation will determine our future. So if you want longevity; if you want a life with purpose; if you want a life that will stand through life’s storms, build on Jesus. Jesus invites us to surrender to him and in doing so, we will have the ability to withstand the storms of life. Blessings on the journey.

Jesus, the Perfect Mediator.

We all need help. We all need a priest. But not the kind we see today in fancy robes—those who claim to be God’s representatives to modern society. We need a perfect and sinless priest to represent us before a holy God. We need a representative to stand for us in the place where our sinful lives could not possibly survive—someone to successfully petition God for mercy, kindness, and compassion on our behalf. And the Pharisees understood this better than most.

Among the first things a Jew might have asked about another religion were, “Who is your high priest? Who mediates between you and God? Who offers the sacrifices to atone for your sins?” A Jew during the time of the early church may well have asked a Christian, “How are your sins going to be pardoned when you have no one offering sacrifices and no one interceding for you? How can you claim that this New Covenant supersedes and is superior to the Old Covenant made through Moses, when it leaves you without a high priest?”

The Christian would have replied, “But we do have a high priest, a perfect High Priest. He has offered sacrifice for our sins. He does not confine Himself to an earthly temple, nor does He have to sacrifice yearly, much less daily. He made one sacrifice that atones for all sins ever committed by His people, from the beginning to the end of time. That is how great a high priest He is and how great His sacrifice was. Not only that, but our High Priest is seated at the right hand of God and continually intercedes for those of us who belong to Him.”

The heart of the book of Hebrews (chapters 5–9) focuses on Jesus’ high priesthood. His superior priesthood, more than anything else, makes the New Covenant better than the Old. He has done what all the priests together of the old economy did not do and could never have done.

Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:1-10 NLT

The priests under the Old Covenant were bridge builders to God. Men could not come directly into God’s presence, and God therefore appointed certain men to be ushers, as it were, to bring men into His presence. The way to God was opened only as the priests offered sacrifices—day in and day out, year after year—presenting the blood of animals to God. The priests were God’s mediators.

But with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the need for the Temple and for the Levitical priesthood was ended. There was no longer a requirement for a high priest such as those who succeeded Aaron, or for any merely human priest at all. Jesus was both High Priest and sacrifice, and provided eternally for man an opening into God’s presence. At His crucifixion, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, exposing the Holy of Holies to anyone who would come to God through the Son. In one perfect act of sacrifice, Jesus Christ accomplished what thousands upon thousands of sacrifices by a multitude of priests could never accomplish. He opened the way to God permanently, so that any human being at any time by faith in Christ might enter into God’s presence.

Praise God for what He has done for us. May you feel the embrace of our loving God. May you know how much He has done to adopt you. May you see there is now nothing to keep you from a beautiful relationship with your Heavenly Father. Blessings on your journey.

Come and See!

What’s the first big thing in your life you felt compelled to shout about? Maybe that first career job or graduating from college. It could have been standing at the altar with the one you would spend the rest of your life with or when you first held your new born in your hands. We’ve all had moments that we could shout and be as excited as we’ve ever been.

For those of us who believe Jesus is exactly who he said he was, the story in Matthew 28:1-8 gives us reason to shout. See, two women are going to Jesus’ tomb on the Sunday morning after he dies to prepare his body but upon arrival, an angel is there and has rolled away the stone covering the tomb. He invites them to do several things that are so applicable in our discipled life.

The angel says, “come to the empty tomb”. It’s an invitation to see that Jesus has risen from the grave, conquering death. Have you every noticed in Jesus’ ministry, he’s always inviting people close to him? He never says, “Stay away…I don’t have time…I’m too busy.” Jesus is wanting you and me to come to him. His invitation is real and authentic. Nothing you have done will undermine your ability to draw close to him.

And the angel also says “See.” That word is one of encounter and experience. He says to us, “Check it out and see if Jesus is really who he says he is. There’s nothing to hide here.” Come and see. The women at the tomb that morning would have noticed several things. They would have seen the humility of God. How far would God go to have a relationship with each of us? All the way to the cross. They would have seen the reality of sin. Sin killed Jesus and sin kills me and you everyday. We need Jesus for life.

The women would have seen the mortality of human beings. The future for all of us is death unless the Lord returns first. All of us are going to die. But the beauty of being in Christ is that death is a stepping stone to eternal life with Jesus. Finally, they would have seen the victory of Christ over death. Jesus was not in the tomb. He is risen!

Once the angel reveals Jesus is risen, he tells the women to “go and tell” the world the story. And that’s our invitation as well. It’s such a relief to see the tomb is empty but we can’t stay there. It’s more than good news…it’s great news! and you can tell that story of life with your family and friends, in your workplace and in your neighborhood. If necessary, use words but your life will reflect the risen Savior best. Now, go and tell how Jesus has changed your life. Blessings on the journey.