Relational Bridges

  ONLY GOD CAN Think about these things. Can someone dead exert any cure or strength to make themselves live again? Can a deaf person make themselves hear again? Is a blind person able to restore their own sight? Can someone with Leprosy heal the disease and restore their nerve endings so they can feel again? Can a person overcome by and possessed by a demon exorcise themselves? The obvious answer is “No” to all the above. Sin and death entered the world by Adam’s and Eve’s choosing to believe the satanic lie that we do not need God to be fully human and to flourish. All the brokenness, sickness, despair, hatred, envy, strife, and war that is endemic in humanity began to rule in the world. Everything was marred, even creation has been stunted and cut off from what it was meant to be. The reality is that, without Jesus Christ living His life in you, you are spiritually dead. You cannot change the fact that you are separated from Life Himself. There is a desperation in every he...

  HUMILITY Reflections on a word preached by my brother priest, Drew Witt. Philippians 2:5-11 “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God   as something to cling to. Instead, He emptied Himself of His divine privileges;   He took the humble position of a slave   and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form,   He humbled himself in obedience to God   and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor   and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,   in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,   to the glory of God the Father.” It is not humility for me to acknowledge that Eric Clapton is a better guitarist than I am. That is simple honesty. True humility is when the greater sets aside their greatness ...

  OUR CONFIDENCE Philippians 3:3-4 “For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort”   Circumcision was given to Abraham as a physical sign in the body of a spiritual and eternal covenant given by grace to Abraham and his progeny. It was given long before the Law was given to Israel at Mount Sinai. The covenant God gave to Abraham had nothing to do with Abraham’s efforts or achievements. It was never based on what Abraham would ever do, but on what God would do. Salvation, the restoration, and transformation of human life from slavery to sin and self could only be accomplished by what God would do. Those in true covenant with God are in that covenant because they have believed in what God has done in and through Jesus Christ; that plus nothing. Human pedigree, human accomplishment, or ability count for nothing, for we could never, ever change the tr...

TO BECOME OUR TRUE SELF Ephesians 4:17-24 “With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Pagans do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.   But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.   Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.    Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” I can only become my true self by living as I was created to live. It is by obedience to the Lord God, My Creator, My Redeemer, and the One Who transforms me from one who was dead to...

 GOD HAS MADE A WAY EPHESIANS 2:1-3 “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.     You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.   All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. ” In this world, there is no neutrality in the spiritual realm. There is no spiritual “Switzerland” that some humans can just watch things from the side-lines of life. Either one is alive with the Life that come from God, or one is spiritually dead under the control of the devil. People will take great offense at my reporting what God’s Word makes very clear. God makes it clear that the human condition of every soul born on the planet after Adam’s rebellion, is spiritually dea...

 HE KNEW Before I ever was, God knew me fully. All my days were known. He knew my beginning and knows my end here on earth. Nothing, absolutely nothing has even been hidden from Him. All my thoughts, every motivation, every intent, every action, all I would ever do or fail to do, every sin and failure, He knew before the foundation of the world. Struggling to know that reality, that truth, I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God. I am astounded by His compassion and the immeasurable nature of His grace. I am stunned by the love of His judgement, the power of His salvation and redemption of one (me) who was dead, separated from Life. He has given me a new heart and a new life without any reference to anything I have ever done or left undone. He rescued me. He brought me into a relationship with Himself. He opened my blind eyes. He took out my stoney, dead, and rebellious heart and gave me a new heart, a new spirit, new Life in Himself. I am wonderfully undone by His love that resc...

 ANSWERED PRAYER In the final analysis of things, Jesus Christ, all He is and all He has done, is the answer to our deepest longings and our most fervent prayers. Our hearts cry out with words that even we cannot understand, but the Holy Spirit knows those deep intercessions from the new heart and new spirit we were given when, by God’s power, we were born again into a radically new and eternal life. The Lord God will, because He knows infinitely better than we ever will what is best for us, deny a request so that we might receive what is best…His will. He may deny a request, but He always hears our prayer. The commitment we have from Him is that He will work in us both to “will” and to “do” His good purpose. The knowledge of His will and His power working in us will do far above and beyond what we could have ever asked or imagined. God always hears the prayers of His people. He has answered the deepest cry and need of our lives in Jesus Christ. You can put the full weight of y...

 HE HOLDS ME I cling to God because He clings to me. It is the Vine that holds the branches, not the other way around. My confidence and peace in life is not due to any ability I possess or any effort I could ever exert on my own. If I am now truly alive and have meaning and purpose in drawing my next breath, it is because the life I now live, is truly the Life of Jesus Christ being lived in me by the Holy Spirit.  That is why a follower of Jesus Christ can have confidence to keep following Him when nothing around them seems to make sense.   That is why a follower of Jesus Christ is not shaken by the information overload flooding the world masquerading as “truth” because the believer draws their identity and reference for what is True Truth from the Word of God.

 HIS ABILITY...NOT OURS 1 Corinthians 1:8-11  "We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, Who raises the dead. And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us. And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety."  This testifies against the demonic idea that God will not give you more than YOU can handle. If we COULD handle anything, Jesus would not have come to die and rise again to give us life in the place of our death. There is no one more ineffective than a dead person. We live now by His Life being...

 BEARING HIS NAME One of the Ten Commandments states, “You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.” Using the name of the Lord flippantly as a cuss word or a byword shows profound ignorance and indifference to the One Who is our Creator and the only Redeemer of humanity. Christians speak of doing things “in the Name of the Lord” or speaking blessings “in the Name of the Lord.” The “Name of the Lord” is a phrase that connotes and denotes the fullness of all the Lord God is. To say, “In the Name of the Lord” is to convey the Omnipotence, the Omnipresence, and the Omniscience of all that the Triune God is. It is not something to be taken lightly. Follower of Jesus Christ, do you realize that God has put His Name upon you; You belong to Him and to no other? He has put His seal on you by anointing you with the Holy Spirit. You are not your own. You have been bought with the price of the precious Blood of Christ. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have f...

  HUMILITY Philippians 2:1-11 “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?   2  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.   Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God   as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;   He took the humble position of a slave   and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form,   He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.   Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest hono...

 PRAYER 1 Samuel 12:23 “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” If you know anything about honest, healthy, and growing relationships, you know that communication is key. There must be sharing and listening. That listening must be the kind that strives to understand what is being said to you, not merely listening in order to respond. A marriage and other kinds of true friendships grow and are strengthened by the sharing of our hearts, our concerns, out victories and our failings, our hopes and dreams, our perceived needs and assumed wants and listening to the same from our friends. Real communication is vital. If you say that you have a living relationship with God and then in the same breath state, “Well, prayer is not my thing.”, then you need to ask yourself the hard question, “Do I really have a relationship with the Lord Jesus?” Prayer is vital to anyone who is following Jesus Christ as Lord. You articulate your utter depende...