Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Friday, August 12, 2016
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Monday, June 6, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Monday, May 23, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Piece by Piece
In our culture it isn’t unlikely to hear of absent fathers or to have experienced it first hand. It’s not uncommon to hear that most people live without a dad or if they have one they were less than ideal. Even though our circumstances may be different it is something that we all see on a day to day basis.
"It is estimated that 24.7 million children live absent their biological father”, in recent events Kelly Clarkson performed a song that made us feel those numbers in our homes across America. Her song "Piece by Piece" begins like this…
"And all I remember is your back,
walking toward the airport, leaving us all in your past.
I traveled 1500 miles to see you,
begged you to want me, but you didn’t want to."
Too many of us experience that feeling of abandonment, it’s not uncommon for us to be able to relate to those lyrics, even if we were fortunate enough not to be one of those 24.7 million children, even if our fathers were all that they should be to us, we know what it feels like to feel alone.
As a women who lost her father to sickness at the age of 11, I understand that feeling all too well, even though in my case it wasn’t his choice to leave, I struggled most of my childhood feeling unwanted. I mean after all if the statistics are right, to a little girl her dad is her first love. The one who models the way we allow ourselves to be loved by other men in the future.
To young men the role is just as important, a father is the role model of life, how they are expected to perform as men, husbands and fathers, they are the ones who give approval and acceptance.
They are in essence the foundation of how we treat the relationships we have for the rest of our lives, being a dad is a really important task but we live in a world that is broken, a world where people leave, a world where people are hurt and abused by the ones who are meant to protect them.
Amazingly, further on in her song she tell us there is hope, she continues with..
"But piece by piece, he collected me,
up off the ground, where you abandon things.
Piece by piece he filled the holes that you burned in me
at six years old and you know, he never walks away
He never asks for money, he takes care of me
He loves me
Piece by piece, he restored my faith
that a man can be kind and a father could… stay."
You see, no matter where we are, whether we have been abandoned by our fathers, or lost them to illness, whether we have had a difficult relationship with them or have no relationship at all, if we see them all the time or have no clue what they look like.
We all have someone who is willing to step into those shoes for us, someone who will be there for us, someone who will never forsake us. Even though this world has taken too much from us and asked way too much of us we have someone who is offering to give it back and the only thing He asks of us in return is our faith and trust in Him.
John 1:12 says
"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."
He gave us the “right to become children of God.”, I don’t know about you but that gives me relief, I no longer have to worry about being fatherless because no matter what HE is my father.
Galatians 3:26 tell us "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus”
Through Jesus we have the ability to live our lives with the best of role models, someone who never falters, never fails to come through for us, someone who is always consistent and never changing.
Numbers 23:19a
“ God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind…"
Once we are His we are always His, something this world and the people of it can never promise us!
Piece by piece He promises to make us something new “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17, to pick us up from where we are and give us hope ”And so at last the poor have hope,and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut” Job 5:16 , he promises to heal our broken hearts and the scares that we are all too familiar with “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” Psalm 147:3, He promises to be more to us than what we had and way more than we deserve!
Friday, March 4, 2016
Who is God Calling You To Be?
After the crucifixion of Jesus the bible tells us that many of the disciples seemed to have lost hope and returned to the lives they had left behind. It's arguable that Peter had felt the worst after His death, I mean after all Peter had denied his walk with Jesus not once but three times! Even after being told of this betrayal hours before, in Peter's guilt ridden mind there was no other option but go back! Back to the life he had left, back to fishing. Mark's gospel tells us Jesus sent word to His disciples of His resurrection verse 7 says,
"But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"
In this passage something stands out! "Go, tell his disciples and Peter," Why Peter, out of all the others who walked with Jesus, why single Peter out? I believe it was because Jesus knew that Peter felt unworthy, I believe He knew that Peter felt immense regret for the moments following his denial. I also believe He knew that Peter desperately needed to know the Messiah still loved him and still considered him His!
That is why I believe this remarkable encounter took place, John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Notice how Jesus begins, "Simon son of John", as if saying, I know who you truly are! I knew you
when you were just Simon the son of John and I know that you feel a lot like the person WE left behind. See, Jesus came along and changed not only Peter's name but the person that name was attached to. When Peter denied Jesus, Peter wondered if he had ever truly been changed in the first place, it's obvious Jesus knew what Peter was feeling!
All three times Jesus begins by acknowledging the person Peter feels like and all three times He asks the same question, essentially saying Peter I know you feel unworthy, you feel like Simon, but "do you love me, do you love me, do you love me?" It's interesting that Jesus chose to ask this question THREE times, allowing Peter to see that every time he denied Him was made new. Not because Jesus NEEDED to be apologized to but because He knew that Peter needed to see that Jesus still loved him despite his denial.
All too often we tend to be just like Peter, we walk this amazing walk with Jesus and like the transformation from Simon to Peter we begin to change the way we think and act, we begin to see ourselves becoming more like Christ and then... BOOM! Something happens and we begin to question if the walk we were walking was actually what we thought it was, it becomes unclear to us if the changes we thought were happening were legit or if God was truly changing us at all! So instead of dealing with guilt for the mistakes we made we turn back to the old life we left, becoming the person we were before Jesus changed our names.
Jesus began a good work in Peter the same as He has begun a good work in us! Unfortunately, there are going to be days that what comes out of us is going to make us question what's inside of us and that's understandable! So we need to cut ourselves some slack and remember who Jesus is! Just like He asked Peter once for every mistake he made, He WILL give us forgiveness and redemption for every mistake we make and yes, even the ones we consider the worst! I am confident that He has began a good work in us and He WILL finish it just like He did for Peter!
"being confident of this, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
**Written by Jessica Evans**
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Is the bible just a self-help book?
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, - John 5:39 (NIV)
Too often we read the bible, Old Testament specifically, and relate it to our lives. We use it to gain good morals and motivation for our day to day, which is not a bad thing, but it soon becomes it's only purpose in our lives. We look to the Old Testament and only see how we can conquer our own Goliath's or find our own Promised Land, and we miss the main point. We get so consumed with our own lives and how scripture can help us that we overlook what it is really saying. Jesus says the purpose of the events in the scriptures were to testify of Him, the Coming Messiah! (John 5:39) The purpose of both the Old Testament and the New Testament is Jesus. You can look in every book of the Old Testament and find the foretelling of Jesus, every story testifies of His coming.
Moses' Bread
When Moses and the Israelites escape Egypt, they begin the long journey to the Promised Land. The people begin to grumble and were losing hope because they were hungry (Exodus 16:3) but the Lord took care of them and promised to rain down bread from heaven every day to feed them. (Exodus 16:4)
This event was just a foreshadow of Jesus, in the book of John Jesus tells the Pharisees that it was the Father in heaven that gives the true bread from heaven. (John 6:32-33) He goes on to say that He (Jesus) is the Bread of Life whoever comes to Him will never go hungry or thirsty. (John 6:35)
David and Goliath
The Phillistines had a champion named Goliath, he was a giant and was thought of as unbeatable. (1 Samuel 17:4) No Israelite soldier could face him, he was just too powerful. There was a shepherd boy from Bethlehem named David, David was the youngest of 8 sons and his three eldest brothers followed Saul and fought for Israel. (1 Samuel 17:12-13) One day, David's father Jesse sent David to deliver some food to his brothers on the battlefield. He came just as Goliath was challenging anyone from the Israelite army, overhearing Goliath and knowing he had the Living God on his side he chose to enter battle with the giant. He took with him only a sling and five stones. He struck the giant in the head with a stone killing Goliath immediately, he overcame all odds and won the battle for his people. David was exalted and crowned king of his people.
Fast forward a few hundred years, we have another shepherd from Bethlehem. (John 10:14) His name is Jesus, and like David he is facing a giant of an opponent. That opponent is sin, and sin has been laughing at and taunting Jesus' people. Sin is unbeatable, it is too powerful. Jesus brought even less then David to the battle, where David brought a sling and 5 stones, Jesus brought a cross and three nails. He struck sin down, overcame all odds and won the battle for His people. Jesus was exalted and crowned King of Kings. (Revelation 19:16)
Hosea and Gomer
Hosea was a faithful prophet of God, and God commanded him to marry a prostitute. (Hosea 1:2) He obeyed God and married a prostitute named Gomer and had two sons and a daughter with her. Now, even though Gomer had a faithful husband and a loving family, she could not let her previous life go, she eventually left Hosea and went back to her life as a prostitute. (Hosea 3:1) Not only does Hosea go and get her back, he also pays a great price for his own wife. Even when she turned to the pleasures of her past, Hosea still loved her and still considered her his bride.
This is another foretelling of Jesus, the church is called the bride of Christ. We(the church) are a lot like Gomer, we are married to a faithful and loving Partner, yet we constantly look back at the pleasures of this world. We often times choose these things over the relationship we have with Jesus, because of this Jesus had to buy us back. Like Hosea He paid a great price to buy us back. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
**These were just a couple of examples that I really like, but we can look at every event in the bible and see Jesus. Share your favorites below. Thanks!**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)