Relational Bridges

  Next, I want to look at the Exodus. But before I get into the story of how God delivered His people after 400 years of slavery, read Exodus 6:6-9 below. ““Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’ So, Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.’” God was promising to fulfill His promise to Abraham and to bless the Israelites beyond their imagination. The ...

  Here we go….I’ll start with Noah’s story. The flood of Noah’s time showed that sin carried a decisive consequence. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. God made a way of escape. God Himself offered redemption for all who would believe. Noah preached for 100 years that judgement was on the way, a flood. People refused to give any credence to Noah’s warnings. God, Himself, shut the door of the ark just before the rains began. Time came when there was no more opportunity to be saved. The deluge came. There is an end coming to time itself; an end to all injustice, all deceit, all deception, all self-centeredness, all pride and prejudice, all evil, all wrongdoing, all inhumanity, all sin. There is a judgement coming that will sweep away all who choose to continue to hold on to sin as a way of trying to make them whole again. But God has made a way for all who will believe to be rescued, to be made new, even now, with a new heart and a new spirit, a new spiri...

  People often refer to the things God has done, His “mighty acts”, as the things He is famous for. There are events like the saving of Noah’s family and all the animals in the ark, the Exodus from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho falling down, and the Promised land. Then there’s young David dealing with Goliath, fire falling from heaven for Elijah on Mt. Carmel, a young man being resurrected from the dead by falling on Elisha’s bones, and the deliverance of Jerusalem from three armies in Josephat’s reign. Even in the Jewish exile in Babylon we read of the saving of the three Hebrew young men in the fiery furnace. Then there’s the shutting the mouths of lions for Daniel, Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming together to make really disjointed and very dead people alive again, and so many others. Those acts recorded in the Old Testament along with the New Testament accounts of Jesus raising to life again people who were really dead, healing the sick, making d...

  I think we can, too often, attribute to people in the Bible something more than the common humanity we share. Even St. Paul states in 2 Corinthians that there was a point in time in his ministry that he was under such pressure; far beyond his ability to endure, to the point of him even despairing of life. In fact, he states that he expected to die. But, he added, that this happened to him so that he would learn not rely on his own resources or experience, but upon God, Who raises the dead. We tend to think the Apostles and others must have had resources we don’t. That is a lie. The same resurrection power of the Holy spirit lives in every born-again follower of Jesus Christ. The Presence of God in us, working in us, living in us does not change when it “feels” like God is on vacation somewhere lightyears away. God’s Love for us never changes, never alters, never wanes. It is always as eternal and omnipotent the One Who bears that love for us. St. Paul writes that God bears toward...

  When you hear the words, “God loves you.” what comes to mind? Is it your past self, your present self, or your future self? Stunning though it may be, it’s the WHOLE of you. God sees all of you at the same instant. Time is His creation and thus not a barrier to Him in relation to you. His grace doesn’t compartmentalize or segment you. He loves YOU. God sees life as His creation, His gift. He sees all people-groups & individuals clearly and personally as those who have meaning and purpose, a destiny, a future and a hope designed and offered to all by Him. God has no favorites. He tells us that He is “no respecter of persons”. He doesn’t look at what we call celebrity and say, “Wow, I want them on my team! What influencers!” God sees all people as the unique creation they are and He sees the purpose for which they were created and given life by Him. He desires that ALL people come to know Him through Jesus Christ & to follow Him into Life. God loves you.

  Every "-archy" we have ever designed as human beings ends in ruins...from anarchy to patriarchy to matriarchy to oligarchy. We fight against one another because we have lost the singular wholeness that comes from God alone and think that we can construct the "kingdom" on earth without any reference to the actual King of kings. It's heady to amass a throng. It's harder to humble our hearts.

“There is a necessary separation of good from evil, of true from false, of the right from wrong that constitutes the criterion of moral judgment of human behavior. “Inclusivity” opposes this distinction, allowing oneself to be deliberately contaminated by evil to adulterate the good, equating the true and the false in order to corrupt the former and give legitimacy to the latter.” Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò The Gospel includes us all. It is the singular "inclusivity". For all of us have sinned and fallen short of the Glory God intended for us to know as full human beings. We lost that glory of being fully alive. As it is written, all we like sheep have gone astray; we have, every one of us turned from God to devise what we think would be a life better than He defined. And it has ruined us all. Human history teaches clearly that humanity will never be its own salvation. Sin will never save humanity. Going "our own way" in rebellious opposition to what God says ma...

  The silence of God in no way indicates that He is uninvolved. His promise to never leave or forsake us does not change when we are unaware of His Presence. The work that He begins in the life entrusted to His grace and mercy will continue by the power of the Holy Spirit until we stand before Him, Face-to-face. Do not lose hope. Your hope in not grounded in your circumstances. It is grounded in the Person on Jesus Christ.

  I will not make an idol of a nation, a people, a movement, a denomination, or a man. I will walk with all who will follow Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit (by the grace & power He gives) to change us as we need to be changed, to stop us when we need to be stopped, and to move forward when He designs and directs. If anything takes the place of that singular allegiance to Jesus Christ, I have in some way become an idolater.

  In the Gospel of John, chapter 2, we read the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast. Weddings in Jesus’ day were celebrations that lasted for days. The bridegroom provided food, drink and music for not just the whole town, but for any and all even distantly associated with the bride’s and groom’s families. There was a lot to be provided. To have either food or drink to run out was a massive faux-pas. It was tantamount to saying, “I can’t provide for you and thus it’s a sign I may not be able to provide for my bride…and you really don’t matter to me.” Running out of wine was not something the bridegroom anticipated. The wedding revelers must have been a very thirsty bunch, because they ran out of wine. There was a failure in planning. Jesus’ mother, Mary, comes to Him and tells them the wine has run out. She knew Who He was and what He could do. Jesus responds, “Woman, what is that to me? My time has not yet come.” Jesus was telling her that human expectati...

  Recently, I’ve been paying closer attention to the lyrics of some Christian artists. Lines like, “Even at my worst, you’re still there for me…” strike me as a bit odd. I’m aware of what is being communicated, that God never stops loving us regardless. He’s seen the end from the beginning, so there is nothing about us that surprises Him. The thing is, even at what I would consider “my best” I am in just as dire need of Him as when I am what I consider “at my worst”. There is and never will be a time where I am not absolutely dependent upon Him for all that life is. Hebrews 12:1-2 makes it clear that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the One upon Whom our faith depends from start to finish. The indwelling Person of the Holy Spirit is life within us. He had united us to the death and to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has given us a new heart and a new spirit where He dwells. He is righteousness within us, He is power and anointing for life and ministry within us. He is producin...

  God's call on us is a covenant call that in being blessed we will be a blessing to the whole world...all of it. God love the world so much that He gave His one and only Son. He did not give us ecclesiastical polity so the world could adapt to us. He empowered us by the Holy Spirit to engage the world at street-level. Like the Good Samaritan, we need to "get off our donkey" and be His hands and feet to help where the needs are. The Spirit was not poured out on us to keep us safe, but to give us the power to get our hands dirty so that the world gets blessed.

  I pray for you the best in this new year. However, to make sense out of life, you actually need to be alive! That means surrendering your will, heart and life...all of it...to Jesus Christ. It’s a personal commitment of your life to Him, acknowledging your need (sin), receiving His forgiveness (grace) and being empowered for life (Holy Spirit). You then begin to find and understand God's will for you.

  Each day, each year, will bring with it difficulty. That’s because we live in a world that has been broken and distorted by sin; sin that humanity has both internalized and personalized. The world has gone wonky and it can’t rectify the problem, because what is broken cannot fix itself. That is why Jesus Christ came, lived, died in our place and was raised to life to bring about a new creation in all who would believe Him and receive His gift of eternal life…a new heart and a new spirit filled with His Spirit. Remember, Jesus told His followers that “In this world you will have tribulation, but take good courage, I have overcome the world.” In Isaiah 43:1-7 the Lord God states clearly, ““But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the One who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. Whe...

  Knowing that 2022 will experience the ongoing spiritual warfare that has been going on since Adam and Eve fell for the "lie", it's important to know that Satan will not rule over anything at the end. It's important perspective. Jesus states that the "lake of fire" had been prepared for the devil & his angels. Hell is not a dominion Satan has any control over. It is not a Gary Larson cartoon. Human beings who choose to rely on self or some system of moral rectitude or ethical achievement to restore life rather than put their trust and confidence in what God has already done for the world in Jesus Christ, reject the grace of God. They turn away from the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life bought at an eternal and devastating price. Sin carries its own consequence as sure as jumping off a roof brings into play the sure law of gravity. Hell is real. Jesus Christ said it is. The Risen One says it is real. Jesus came so we would not be separated from a...

  As you begin your pilgrimage into this baby New Year, I am trusting that when God reveals His vision for the days ahead, that it becomes your vision, that you trust Him for the anointing and power to live into what He has prepared for you to live into. His will, His vision, is only ever accomplished by His grace and power. God has given you gifts and as you exercise them, like muscles, they get stronger. I am cheering you on. I am praying blessings over you. I am trusting that He who began a good work in you WILL bring it to competition. He has a way and a vision for you in this season of life. When Jesus said, "Ask...keep on asking...and you will receive; seek...and keep on seeking and you will find; knock...and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you..." it was a promise to all who would follow Him. He always keeps His promises. Keep running the race. He is your hope. His promises your confidence! God's blessings!

  Today is January 6 th . It is known as the Feast of the Epiphany, a date celebrating the visitation of a number of “wise-men” from the East, the region around Babylon. We don’t know how many of these men there were, we just that they brought the three gifts that would have traditionally been given when a king was born. Gold was the symbol of royalty, frankincense was the sign of worship, myrrh was the sign of preparation for burial. They had come to “worship” this new-born King of the Jews. Mary and Joseph were still in Bethlehem and Jesus was nearing two years of age. Joseph was a carpenter/stonemason and, with relatives in town, had apparently set up shop to ply his trade till the boy, Jesus, was old enough to travel. Traveling with a two-year-old even with a car-seat today is a challenge. It was a greater challenge back then. The family was living in a house, we read in Scripture. They were not still residing in the stable. As a side note, remember that it was only a remna...

  On this 12th and last day of Christmas, I may be tired (true), I could be frustrated (not a lot), I have been, heretofore, sad, but I’m so very grateful that how I feel is not the measure of who I am. I can feel like “who did it & ran” and yet know with certitude that who I am is a function of Who God is and what He has done. My circumstances, my feelings, my “whatever” will never alter what Jesus has done nor what He has promised to bring to competition in me. I am grateful for a security that is unassailable by anything in all creation. Thank you, Eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And you know, whether the Lord is telling you to raise the dead, heal the sick or take a nap, the pay is the same. You just do what He asks of you. Right now, I hear the Lord saying, “My son, go take a nap.”

  On this 11th day of Christmas, I am grateful, so very thankful that the Lord is patient with me. He knows how and when to work His salvation into regions of need in me that I never knew existed. His commitment to me is so specific, so detailed, infinitely wise and good, that He will not let me continue to not be my best self. His love is not some form of human sentimentality, it is like a refiner's fire, intensely personal and pointed. His will is not that I limp through life, but that I run and not be weary, walk and not faint, that I mount up with wings as eagles...that I wait upon Him. He is the One who alone can satisfy the deepest longings I have as a human being. I was made for Him; to know Him, to hear Him, to grow in an everlasting relationship with Him. As C. S. Lewis once said, "God cannot give us joy apart from Himself. It doesn't exist." I am so grateful that I am His and He has given Himself to me for good!

  On this 8th day of Christmas, I am so thankful for life and breath. A New Year has opened and God has great things to do within us and through us. We must not limit Him by what we have seen thus far. He is able, by His power that NOW at work within us, to DO far above and beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine. His Kingdom is not just Words, but the demonstration of the Holy Spirit in power. Our faith does not rest in the eloquence of man, but in the power of God! Blessed New Year!

On this sixth day of Christmas, I am grateful that the Word became flesh and made His home among us. I no longer have to wonder what is true or not. I have been given a gift. He has come and made my heart His home. I don’t need to be deceived by the “voice of my own thoughts”. I know that sin ruined that as a source of determining what is truly true. Jesus Christ is the only true Word. His Word written is the only reliable “plumb-line” by which to determine if the voice of my thoughts are true. I’m not without a Compass with a True North. Grateful I am today!

  On this 10th day of Christmas, I am grateful for the love of family, both by blood and by the Spirit. To be known and yet loved is a great gift. I am not and, while still bound by time, will never be “perfect” in anything. That doesn’t bother me, because Jesus has told me that the good work He has begun in me, HE will complete. It’s not what I could ever do, but what He has already done that fills me with hope and confidence as this new year marches onward. He gives the strength to follow as He leads. Thank you, Jesus!