Relational Bridges

WHERE IS MY SECURITY FOUND? We feel most secure when we know what is going on around us and that in knowing, we have some degree of feeling like we are in control. Being "in control" can be synonymous with feeling secure. But then, how "in control" are we actually? I believe that a great part of human anxiety and insecurity come from the tidal wave of information about what is going on worldwide. I think that we were never wired to know EVERYTHING going on behind the closed doors of nations and peoples. We cannot fix the brokenness and madness around us. Most things being reported by news agencies are things traumatic, chaotic, evil and sensational. That's what sells newspapers and fuels viewer statistics from news outlets. The vast majority of "news" postings serve to emphasis how little control we actually have over life-events. We are deceived into thinking IF I know about stuff, I then have greater control over the terrifying "stuff." My ...

 WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR? Am I seeking evidence of God's Kingdom or am I recognizing that, regardless of what I can see or feel, God's absolute sovereign control is eternal, and nothing can alter it. The fact is, God has been there all along, but I could not see His Kingdom at work until I received His very nature for myself. Then life begins to be transformed. Life transformed, sanctification is the theological term, is not my idea of what I want God to do for me. Sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do in me.

 WHERE GOD SAVES US Psalm 91:15, God declares that He will be with us IN trouble. God saves us IN trouble, not from it. Jesus made it very clear that in this broken and sin infected world, followers of Jesus Christ will have troubles, tribulations, persecutions and the like. We have to face the truth that the world we live in is broken and hates God. So, since we are His, Christian, the troubles aimed at defying Him, the lies spewed out to defame Him, the hatred for the only truth that can save mankind will flow toward us. Jesus told us that this is so and will be our experience as we follow Him and share the Good News of His salvation. The Lord also told us that He has overcome the world. Satan is a defeated foe, and Jesus Christ has given us His authority to dismantle the works of the kingdom of darkness. As His own, we can only lose in our sufferings things that are expendable, for the Kingdom the Holy Spirit lives out in us is eternal and cannot be defeated. The real "you...

 TRUE WEAKNESS There is no one more ineffective than a dead man. There is no hope for change or renovation if it is to be initiated by the dead person. There is no hope of resuscitation. Everyone born of woman, except for the Lord Jesus Christ, is born with the active DNA of sin embedded in them by heritage and inheritance from Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve lost this indwelling Presence when they rebelled against Truth and believed the damning lie that they needed something more than God had already given them to grow into.  Real human life is to have the Life of God uniting us to Himself and filling us, replacing sin and death with forgiveness and the Resurrection Life of Jesus Christ. True humanity is mankind filled with the Life of God, the Power of God for living each day, and an ongoing adventure of being changed, transformed, and conformed to the Image of Jesus. Weakness is not a random circumstance in me, but the real condition of my life in every aspect. Apart from a livi...

 BECAUSE JESUS IN THE MESSIAH Because Jesus is the Messiah, because He is the Word of God made flesh, fully human while remaining Who He has always been, fully God, we can expect (and expectation is not demanding something; it is embracing the truth of who Jesus is) Him to always do what He always does. We can have this expectation that what the Lord did in His ministry on earth as the Incarnate Word He will continue to do because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has chosen to do these things, to manifest the power and victory of the Kingdom of God through His present-day disciples, His followers, sons and daughters of God, the Father's own heirs, fellow Christians. Jesus clearly stated that the things He was doing His church would continue to do because He was going to the Father and the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all His people, saturating, anointing, soaking and indelibly dying us with the color of Heaven's glory. He even said that greater things would...

 HIS SHEEP In His Word, God calls us His sheep. Jesus Christ, Eternal God the Son, the Word of God made flesh, is our Good Shepherd. That is true. And so, I can trust Him to lead me through life. The sheep don’t lead, they follow. Trusting that God has both told us and shown us His Good News of rescue and salvation through Jesus Christ alone, we can follow. The real issue of faith is Who is the object of our believing, our faith? The strength of our faith is not in how we feel, but is grounded in the One who has called us by His grace to follow. It is Who we have put our trust in. Only God is worthy of your trust. A disciple is a follower, a learner. Our Savior’s Life and wisdom are infinite. Thus, I am assured that He will teach me, transform me, and lead me by the Holy Spirit. Always being a learner is a great freedom. It’s about Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done. I have Life because He is life within me. Adventure is before me! He enables my humility, my obedience, my...