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Have You Opened Your Gifts From Jesus?

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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

I trust by now you’ve had your fill of Thanksgiving leftovers. And now, I’m guessing that ornaments, evergreens, and sparkling lights are quickly replacing any decorative pumpkins and fall leaves. I’m excited to share that my own home has begun its holiday transformation.

December ushers in one of my very favorite seasons. Christmas has filled my heart with wonder for as long as I can remember. When we hung the lights, and holly and evergreens made their way inside our home, the joy that flickered deep within told me that this time of year was special. Christmas simply felt different than the rest of the year.

As a child I looked forward to it with great anticipation. I loved the family gatherings that accompanied Christmas, complete with caroling, special foods, and holiday smells. But nothing inspired quite as much awe as the sight of the gifts spilling out from under the tree.

Lots of extended family gathered in our home for Christmas, and large numbers of people meant a large number of gifts! Packages and ribbons beckoned our exploration, and I joined my brothers to examine the nametags, searching for the owner of each new possession. Joy would ripple through me when I found my name. This one’s for me.

And hope would rise to the surface. Perhaps this is the one I have been waiting for!

Do you remember how it felt to experience Christmas with the heart of a child, dear one? Can you recall the sensation of sugarplums dancing in your belly, a delightful mingling of anticipation and hope?

For many of us, routine has replaced much of the marvel of the holidays. And let’s be honest; the work often overshadows the wonder! Many have even lost the thrill of surprise on Christmas morning, having purchased and wrapped the gifts bearing their name beneath the tree with their own hands.

And Jesus, the One whom we gather to celebrate, is almost forgotten, worked into our festivities with brief mentions and a visit to church on Christmas Eve.

Perhaps we have been missing something.

I’d love for you to entertain this thought with me. What if Christmas still holds something worth anticipating? What if its offer of joy, hope, and wonder extends to more than just children? What if you and I could experience that child-like awe as we unwrap the gifts the Christ-child came to bring?

Consider Jesus’ words to His disciples during His earthly ministry:

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-3

Do you have a child-like heart, beloved?

Jesus said that unless we approach Him with the heart of a child, we will miss His kingdom. He wasn’t just referring to the eternal kingdom He will establish when He returns. He was also warning us that we can miss the kingdom blessings we’re supposed to experience on this earth until He does.

Jesus came to the earth to draw us to Him in divine relationship and reveal the glory of what’s to come. He came so people like you and me could know Him and experience a foretaste of heaven.

Have you tasted it, dear one? You’re meant to!

What if we tried a new approach this Christmas? What if we choose to see Jesus as the all-surpassing gift scripture claims He is? What if we open our hearts to believe like little children and take a chance on believing God for more?

Let’s invite the wonder of Christmas to return! Gifts bearing your name await your attention under the tree. Jesus invites you to explore them so you can claim them as your own.

This one’s for me.

What gift do you need to open, beloved? Healing. Restoration. Redemption. Forgiveness. Reconciliation. Power. Purpose.

And Jesus said to him, “‘… All things are possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23

‘Tis the season for believing, dear one.

Allow your heart to open with the wonder of an expectant child. Approach Jesus with hope and anticipation.

Beloved, Jesus holds the gifts you’ve been searching for all your life.

Only Jesus Can End Division

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For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Ephesians 2:14

Peace.

It’s an alluring prospect, isn’t it? The eternal longing God set within each of our hearts yearns for it. Yet hatred and hostility rise in our midst, driven by fear and deception.

The recent presidential election has brought out the worst in us.

We watch in horror as hate prevails in this nation. Without seeking to understand another point of view, fellow citizens hurl insults at one another like daggers, hoping to draw blood.

Our forefathers gathered to form a more perfect union. What we have now is anything but.

Beloved, peace will never come through convincing arguments and carefully framed rhetoric. Peace comes through Jesus.

How?

Jesus suffered the breaking of His own flesh in order to destroy the divisive nature of ours.

Yet somehow the church is missing the message, although it remains the very heart of the gospel. The cross conquered sin, overcoming the destructive power of the flesh. Faith in Jesus provides believers with a new heart, and a new Spirit to guide them.

Christians are supposed to live changed and unified. But most of us look remarkably like the unsaved.

Our nation stands divided, dear one. Even worse, so does the church. Christians all over this nation are taking sides. Yet we continue to choose the wrong side. We forget that we’re supposed to be on God’s side.

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.” Isaiah 30:1

You and I need to carefully consider this question, beloved. With whom have we made our alliance? You see, we can’t align with God’s Spirit when we fight one another. Jesus’ own words defy our discord.

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:22-23

Beloved, Jesus imparted His glory to us so that we could become perfectly one. So why aren’t we? Why aren’t love and unity evident among God’s people?

According to Jesus, love and unity among the body of Christ should prove that He was exactly who He claimed to be.

Beloved, the division and disunity so prevalent within the church is of far greater concern than the rantings of the lost in our nation. Dissension reveals enemy strongholds that must be cast out. Consider scripture’s warning.

As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. Titus 3:10-11

Beloved, love and unity don’t just describe God; they define Him. Where His presence manifests, those qualities will be evident. So will the other fruit of His Spirit… joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Hatred and division reveal God’s absence, dear one. How it must wound God’s heart that His people push Him out of His own church, aligning themselves instead with the divisive spirits governing the flesh.

“Ah, stubborn children, … who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit…” Isaiah 30:1

As we watch our nation battle with division and hatred, we the church must take an honest look at ourselves. If we alone carry His Spirit within us, we alone bear the responsibility for His absence. We ourselves have quenched His Spirit in our land and blocked His movement.

Forgive us, Father.

The church must unite, dear one, unite with Christ and with each other. Disunity reveals the absence of His Spirit. We must learn to discern the false from the True.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude 1:17-23

Only the people of God hold any real power to bring unity because we alone carry His Spirit. And that Spirit reveals His nature when we yield to Him.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4

Beloved, Jesus suffered to destroy hostility, greed, selfishness, and hatred. Let’s submit to our Lord and let love prevail.

What if God Gave Us Everything We Ask For?

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Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.” Mark 10:38a

We like having our way.

We think we know what’s best, and we’d like God to cooperate by fulfilling our desires. After all, scripture teaches that ours is a God of grace. He blesses with gifts we don’t deserve.

So when He withholds something we think we want, we tend to get a little angry. It doesn’t seem fair. Sometimes we even get bitter.

Can you relate, beloved? Maybe you’ve asked God for something—trusted Him for a desire of your heart—and He didn’t seem to come through. So you began to question His goodness.

But what if God’s “no” actually flows from His mercy? What if He refused to submit to your desires because it wasn’t really in your best interest?

You see, you and I tend to be a bit nearsighted. We see what’s right in front of us, and we shape our desires based on our understanding and perceptions. But we often forget how very limited that understanding is.

Yet while we see very little, God sees all. He sees the consequence of every choice. He also sees what giving us our present desire may cost our future blessing.

God weighs that cost when He gives His answers, beloved.

In Matthew 20, the doting mother of James and John—two of Jesus’ first devoted disciples—approached Jesus with a concern regarding their future. Bringing her sons with her, she knelt before Jesus to make her request.

And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Matthew 20:21

I can hardly imagine kneeling before Jesus to ask such a thing! But I can relate to longing for great blessings for my own two sons. And I admit that I’ve asked God to use both of them mightily with great Kingdom purpose.

Jesus gave an interesting response to her question.

Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking.” Matthew 20:22a

I wonder how many times you and I have begged something of Jesus, convinced that what we asked would be the very best for us or for our loved one. And I wonder how many times Jesus has looked upon us with eyes of mercy and answered, “You do not know what you are asking.”

I’m grateful He chooses to act on what’s best for us. You should be too.

Jesus offers us some insight into this mother’s error a few chapters later. Let’s see what He said about His coming kingdom.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:31-34

In love, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to place one son at His right hand and the other at His left. Yet when He comes to establish His kingdom, only those positioned at His right will inherit the kingdom prepared for them.

And what of those on the left?

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41

Dear woman, you do not know what you ask of me.

Can you imagine her horror if Jesus had given her what she asked for? But He didn’t. Grace didn’t permit Him to comply. And with compassion, Jesus turned His attention to her sons.

“Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” Matthew 20:22b-23

Indeed, scripture teaches that God knows and has already determined those who will inherit His Kingdom. And Jesus will lose none that His Father has given Him.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:28-30

Thank you, Jesus.

We Only Have One Savior

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Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:20-21

America has spoken. So has the God who holds America.

Beloved, God alone sets up and removes kings and presidents. And according to His purpose, He has positioned Donald Trump in the White House. Time will reveal whether God intends to bless our nation through this choice.

Yet my heart is filled with hope, because God’s Word rings true.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

This nation has united in prayer this past year unlike any time I have known. God’s people have answered His call to bend the knee, and now we have an opportunity to see some real change. We must continue to pray with the same fervor.

Donald Trump is not our Savior. The God who got him elected is. And for God’s redemptive purposes to prevail, we must choose to stand united with the God who made us, boldly living His Word and proclaiming His Truth. Love must flow from our hearts instead of judgment. We must unite in the Name that is above every name. Jesus.

And pray.

The river of life must flow through His people to heal our land. Healing comes through the Healer.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. …

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 46:1-7, 10

Despairing of Hope, or Living With It

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But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. Job 30:26

I wonder if you’ve ever felt the heavy weight of our opening scripture.

Perhaps you allowed your heart to hope for good—believed God for something good—but the good you hoped for didn’t appear. Instead evil leered at you, taunting you with a darkness that overwhelmed.

And you were tempted to disbelieve John 1:5.

 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I faced that temptation last week, beloved. Pain has a way of casting a shadow that seems impossible to escape. Especially pain evoked from loss.

And I recently lost someone I love to glory. The frail tent of my dear aunt’s body gave way to the cancer she battled. Now my mother grieves the loss of her beloved sister while facing another three months of chemo herself. Chemo she didn’t anticipate. Her doctors and faithful prayer had projected remission.

It didn’t come.

Now faith is tested while hope dwindles. Darkness approaches, proclaiming a message of hopelessness, sucking away life like a vacuum. Only the emptiness isn’t a void. Fear fills it. Unimaginable pain. Sorrow. Despair.

We so easily allow the darkness to rob our hope, beloved.

But what if we refuse to let the darkness win? What if we recognize that we are the light that overcomes darkness? What if we choose to believe what God says despite what circumstances declare?

I know my God, dear one, and I know His goodness. He is incorruptible. Perfect. Kind. And He always keeps His Word. Always.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

It seems impossible to believe. Can God really bring a great good from death and suffering?

Yes, beloved. Just look at Jesus. What appeared to be humanity’s darkest hour became its brightest. Jesus’ suffering unleashed life and blessing that still produces a harvest.

And now He challenges us to follow His example.

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:13

Glory looms on the horizon for the heart infused with faith. And hope for a future joy that waits beyond the darkness.

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. Psalm 119:49-50

Life flows into the hearts of the afflicted when we choose to believe God’s promises. I am living proof of the miracle faith produces when we yield our hearts to the will of our good, good Father. My heart hurts for the people I love. But I do not despair. Hope in my Father’s Word engulfs my heart with peace. It beats with purpose, anticipating a harvest we cannot yet conceive.

Joy released through suffering.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Beloved, God loves us too much to allow us to live lacking. He wants us perfect and complete, and He will do whatever it requires. He gave His Son to remove our lack. Will we also trust Him by surrendering our loved ones?

The Holy Spirit recently gripped my heart with Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29-30.

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”

What are you willing to leave for Jesus’ sake, beloved? Will you relinquish your suffering loved ones? Will you entrust them to God’s will, feeling the sorrow but releasing all bitterness?

No one who has surrendered a loved one for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the gospel will fail to receive a hundredfold blessing, now in this time. This isn’t just about heavenly crowns. It represents an earthly harvest. But the fulfillment of that blessing will be released through persecutions. Pain. Suffering. Loss.

And faith.

What is that harvest worth to you, beloved?

Surrender your heart to your Father’s will. Find hope as you believe His Word. And experience His resurrection life.

You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Isaiah 57:10

I believe, Lord Jesus. Bring life.

Putting Love Into Action

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“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”
James 2:5

The aftermath of Hurricane Matthew leaves the nation of Haiti in desperate circumstances. Homes are destroyed. Loved ones have been lost. Survivors starve.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine such life-changing devastation. We see it on the news and feel it briefly, but we have so much distance from it, we don’t really comprehend its impact.

Yet I’m grateful for those who don’t settle for distance. Who stare suffering in the face and serve on the front lines to do something about it. Our friends at HBM stand on those lines. They don’t share the luxury of keeping a safe distance. They see the faces of starving children. They watch the sorrow over extreme loss. And they give of themselves hoping to enable change.

But they need our help, beloved. Would you consider offering your aid?

Here is an update from HBM from October 9.

Hurricane News:  Food Distribution

Thanks to Mission of Hope’s arrival yesterday with a boatload of food for Jeremie, we were able to start distributing supplies today!  6000 pounds of food and supplies were distributed today in the city of Jeremie to provide relief to the suffering people in the city.  We are so happy to be working in partnership with other missions in the area, and excited to get another 6000 pounds distributed to our Te Wouj, Kolimo and Des Champs areas tomorrow.

Tin for roofs is scarce, and one of the biggest immediate needs to make other houses livable again.  Our team at HBM bought what they could find today to begin distributing it in our community.  They plan to give 25 pieces of tin to each family toward roof repair and replacement, which costs $125 per roof.  If you would like to “donate a roof” toward this cause, simply click here, choose “Hurricane Matthew Relief” and write “Roof” in the comments box.

We also have a praise report that our first grade teacher at Te Wouj and wife of our Te Wouj Church pastor, Madam Marc Lapais had her baby this past week!  Both baby boy and mother are well!  We have been praying hard for her this week that her hurricane baby would arrive safely with no complications for either.  God is already working and facilitating new life in our community!

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HBM Paster Eldet Tine and his family stand where their house once stood. Notice their smiles. The joy of the Lord is their strength.

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Here’s what’s left of the HBM church plant in downtown Jeremie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this season of so much chaos, this world needs love. Love that takes action. Let’s be that love.

Donate to HBM’s Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Does God Have Your Vote?

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When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” Joshua 5:13 ESV

We all want God on our side. In fact, we often claim He is without ever bothering to ask Him. We assume we have the power of His name behind us, fighting for what we believe.

And Christians fight against Christians, fully believing that God stands with them. Only God never battles against Himself.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4

God never gives mixed messages. He never disagrees with Himself. We fight one another from our flesh.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? James 4:1

It makes us feel better—especially with our passions roused in an election year— to say that our convictions come from God. Unfortunately, they often don’t. And sometimes we stand opposed to God without even realizing it

Even the Apostle Paul opposed God’s work because he made assumptions about what God would want and how He’d move. He wrote of his mistake in Galatians 1:13.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

Paul didn’t just raise his voice against God’s church. He raised weapons. His “zeal for God” imprisoned, wounded and killed those who loved Jesus, God’s beloved Son. He’d convinced himself he fought to uphold God’s desires when really, he fought to uphold his own.

The real question, beloved, isn’t whether God stands on our side. It’s whether we truly stand on His.

I’ll say this as delicately as I can. What you want to see out of this election really doesn’t matter. Your opinion on economic policy doesn’t make any difference. And your perception of each candidate holds no weight in God’s economy.

What matters is whose policies align most closely with God’s Word.

We stand at a tipping point, beloved. This nation must decide if we remain true to the One whose blessing and favor exalted it to the power it became. God’s hand inexplicably prospered a group of farming colonies into a national superpower because they chose to unite and establish themselves as One Nation Under God.

Yet we have systematically written into law statutes that deny the very God responsible for our great victories. And we stand amazed as our prosperity declines amid increasing instability.

It doesn’t matter if the lost among our nation refuse to recognize God, dear one. What matters to God is when His own do.

As this presidential election hastens toward us, I understand the frustration over the candidates. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t particularly like either personality. Both fall far short of the high moral ethics I’d like to see in a candidate.

But God doesn’t ask us to vote for a candidate, beloved. Party affiliation means nothing. As Christians we must vote for policy that most closely agrees with God’s Word and honors His position.

A great debate rages among the people of this land over the rights of an unborn child. I would like to ask you for a moment to shift your gaze from personal feelings and public opinion and look upon the question from heaven’s view.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Jeremiah 1:5

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13-14a

The question, beloved, is this. Do you believe God’s Word is true?

If not, it really doesn’t matter how you vote. But if you do, a new question surfaces.

If every life is, in fact, created by God and ordained for purpose, do we have a right to override what God has decreed? Does man—created by God from the dust of the earth—have the right to tell God He was wrong this time? Can we really believe that we are entitled to tell God we know better?

Such thinking displays arrogance that sets itself up in God’s place. When we exalt ourselves where God deserves to be, we position ourselves on very dangerous ground.

If you’re a believer, I don’t need to tell you whose nature that resembles.

I understand that my words might upset some people. In fact, scripture promises they will. For we find ourselves in the days described by Isaiah 59:12-15.

For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

We can’t allow the public square to define our truth, beloved. Public opinion no longer recognizes truth. The deceiver has lifted his voice, establishing false wisdom that denies our Lord. And we have believed him.

Forgive us, Father.

Wisdom cries aloud in every street (Proverbs 1:20) begging our return to the Lord our God. He alone holds the right to create life and deny it. He alone established the covenant of marriage and maintains the right to define it.

Everything else hinges on whether we believe that’s true.

You see, economic prosperity, victory in battle, and the safety of our borders all fall under God’s blessing when we stand in agreement with His Word. And He repeatedly promises that when we stand for Him, He stands for us and will make Himself known on our behalf.

Your vote this election will announce your answer to this question, dear one.

Do you believe Him?

That Real Place

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I imagine you’ve struggled with feeling distant from God. Empty. Lost in a sea of messages insisting the God you set your heart on won’t be found.

Doubt sets in as you grieve the loss of that mountaintop feeling—the one that made you excited to follow Jesus. Now the loneliness of the valley makes you wonder if the feeling you long for came from your imagination rather than your memory.

Today I’m excited to share a post from the teenage daughter of a friend of mine. I pray you will see yourself through her transparency. More than that, I pray you will see your God.

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That Real Place

By Alia Dyke

 “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

So lately, my heart has been far from where it was created to be. From where it belongs… And when you’re far from where you belong you get homesick and lonely, you crave that place of belonging. I didn’t blame that on anyone but me and I tried and tried to sit down and focus on Jesus. To actually take away something when I read my Bible. To feel something… And I just didn’t. I was far enough away from the place I belong that I didn’t know how to get back.

I am writing this post from that place. That place of being lost. It’s a real place.

Over the time period of my heart trying to stay above the waves of the world that were constantly pulling me right back down, Jesus never stopped pursuing me. He never stopped loving me. He never stopped speaking to me. It’s just that sometimes when someone is speaking to you and you are caught up in yourself, you don’t hear anything they say until after the fact.

Knowing Jesus is there but feeling nothing… That is a real place.

My day to day life was me trying so hard to feel the closeness of Jesus, but being too caught up in my feelings to do that.

One thing Jesus spoke to my heart time and time again is that it isn’t about how I feel. He is still God and He is still good. If I feel happy, sad, lost, confused, loved, lonely… He is still God, and He is still good.

Who knew you could be so caught up in your own feelings to feel Jesus.

When we feel distant from God we try so hard to feel something. We try to connect to a good worship song and feel his nearness. We try to read a verse that we know we like because maybe we will feel the way we did the first time it was read. We try to sit outside with our Bibles in hand and feel his peace. We try to go to church so that hopefully we will hear a message that just relates to our life.

That place where all you do is want is to feel something, that is a real place.

But what if we are trying too hard to feel? What if human nature is all about feelings. And Jesus’ nature is not.

So, I sat down and read Psalm 121 without trying to feel anything. I put on worship music and didn’t listen to it just to feel something. I wanted to be still and know that even when I don’t feel close to God he is still God and he is still good.

That place of sitting and knowing God is good no matter how you feel, that became a real place for me.

And you know what? He met me in that real place. Just like he met me in every other real place. I wasn’t overcome with emotion, I didn’t hear an audible voice, or even feel a change in my heart. I told myself that whether I felt anything or not I would sit knowing that God is good.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, From where does my help come? My help comes from The Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

Who am I to doubt God simply because I cannot feel him? He meets you where you are. In every place.

God says be still and know. Not be still and feel.

God says be still and know. Not be still and feel. Click To Tweet

So I sat and knew that He is good. I didn’t sit trying to feel His goodness. And He met me there. And I felt him.

After sitting and knowing, I felt.

And He said to me, “my daughter, it is only from knowing me that you can feel me.”

You’re a Star! You Just Don’t Know It.

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“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5:14-15

Jesus called you and me the light of the world.

It only makes sense, really, since He is the “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9) and now He dwells within us. As His body, saved and redeemed by His blood, Jesus asks us to shine His light. And according to Matthew 5, that light should never remain hidden. Instead, it should light up the sky like a city on a hill.

Do you shine, dear one? Are you giving Jesus what He asked for?

I can’t help thinking of the song I used to sing as a little girl in Sunday school. We’d proudly hold up our hands with fingers pointing toward the heavens and proclaim, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”

Only it didn’t shine. I never let it out.

We often make the mistake of trying to act like Jesus. We think we shine His light by simply imitating what He would do. But we don’t have the strength to act like Him all the time, so that inner “self” we try to hide through our good behavior reveals itself more often than we’d like it to. And the watching world looks at our version of Christianity and calls it hypocrisy.

Can we really blame them?

You and I aren’t supposed to act like light, dear one. Jesus intends for us to become light.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus carried the burden of our sin to the cross so that we could become His righteousness. He actually changed our nature. Now He invites us to believe it.

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

Beloved, Jesus doesn’t want us trying to act like something we’re not. He wants us to know who we truly are and allow His Spirit to empower us to live it.

Jesus doesn’t want us trying to act like something we’re not. He wants us to know who we truly are and live it. Click To Tweet

Jesus gave us His nature the moment we put our faith in Him and received His Spirit to dwell within us. Now we need to let Him out. We need to yield to the power of His Spirit and let His nature take over.

You see, beloved, Jesus shines through a transformed heart.

Have you offered Him your heart to mold and change, dear one? Have you told Him you’re willing to let go of your bitterness? Have you invited Him to circumcise your heart to love with His selfless love?

It’s time we stopped pretending and let Jesus set us ablaze with His light!

Times are changing. Evil shows itself in increasing measure. Scripture foretells of astonishing things to come—some of them terrible, some wondrous—but all of them remain certain.

Yet in Christ, we have glorious hope!

But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:1-3

Those who walk in truth drawing others to their light will shine like stars. When will these things be fulfilled? God made this astonishing announcement to the prophet Daniel centuries ago.

“… When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.” Daniel 12:7

When the power of the holy people has finally been broken? Why would God break His own people?

Consider the power struggle that rages within you. Each day you must choose whether to bow to your own self-will or submit to the Spirit’s leadership. More often than not, your flesh wins the battle, quenching the Spirit’s power.

Our selfish desires have remained too important to us.

Yet in the last days, the power of the Spirit will rise victorious. Christ’s own will finally overcome and claim the victory Jesus purchased for them through the cross. Like in the days when Christ first birthed the church, believers will choose to abandon self-will, leaving its power broken. His church will rise, yielding to His Spirit in glorious surrender, uniting in the love and unity glimpsed at the birth of the church and restored in time for the return of the King.

Beloved, you and I can hasten His return.

You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. 2 Peter 3:11-12

As we choose to surrender to the Spirit’s work in our lives, allowing Him to sanctify our hearts and renew our minds with His purpose, we move toward the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom.

Like the Disciples who first answered Jesus’ call and paved the way for us, will you choose to live radically for Jesus, abandoning all else to the rise of His glory? I pray that you will, beloved,

. . . so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. Philippians 2:15

Then our eyes will finally gaze upon our Lord and King without a veil. Glory rises, dear one. Will you allow Christ to reveal it in you?