Relational Bridges

 WHAT GOD HATES Jesus Christ hates sin in people and His death on the Cross is the measure of His hatred.  Sin separates us from Holy God, twisting and perverting the crown of His creation. He hates what destroys us. That is why Jesus Christ died on the cross, receiving the just wrath of God against the sinful rebellion of humanity. The eternal debt that we owed God but could never settle, Jesus alone being fully God and fully man could pay the price for the sin of the whole world. Sin has no ability to create. It can only distort and pervert the good gifts of God making them life-deleting rather than life-enhancing. Human sexuality, strength, wisdom, labor and its reward, friendship, and even the created order and beauty of nature round us become idols as people try and draw ultimate meaning from them. They reflect the goodness of God but can never replace the necessity of God being the sole ground of life if one ever hopes to be fully human. Things that do not contain the wh...

 LIVING IN HOPE When life seems hopeless (and it can certainly feel that way at times), it is only because I cannot see as God sees in my present circumstance. God, Himself, is our hope and He does not change, is not altered by time or public opinion. I need to bring all I see and all I think I know and lay them all down at His feet, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal in me the Word of God, the will of God, and the power of God. The Holy Spirit is at work in the follower of Jesus Christ to do far above and beyond what we could ever think or imagine. He is truly Resurrection Life within us. Seeing eyes and hearing ears are from the Lord. He will never leave or forsake anyone who has put their trust in Him. He is THE Good Shepherd who trains our hearing to recognize His voice. He is in control, not us. He leads, not us. He provides, He protects, He anoints, and our "cup" overflows because He is the One filling it. He is eternally trustworthy. Believer you live in hope because He ...

 BEWARE It has been said that we must be on our guard not to believe that the world can ever offer us something that we need for a full life as humans. If we are not vigilant, we may find the world betraying us with a smile and a kiss akin to that Judas gave to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is utter folly to thinks that I can comfort, help, heal, or grow into what God created me to be by using the things the world offers to me rather than relying solely upon the Lord who is my Life and salvation, my Creator and Redeemer. It is by the Holy Spirit that I am comforted, healed, encouraged, protected and sustained, and transformed, changed into His likeness again. God alone can provide the very thing my heart hungers for, longs for, and desperately needs for my life to be whole and complete. True humanity only exists when God's Life is being lived out within me as my life. That is what Adam and Eve knew before they believed the lie that they needed something more than what...

 LIFE AT WORK WITHIN YOU God's eternal righteousness is given, imparted, not merely imputed, to the one He has saved by grace through faith. "If anyone is in Christ, they are a NEW CREATION. Old things HAVE passed away. A new life has begun. And this is the gift of God Who reconciled us to Himself by Christ Jesus." 2 Corinthians 5:17. It is because God has made us righteous in Christ Jesus, because the Holy Spirit is Life within us that we can experience the reality of being transformed to become who we are now in Christ Jesus. As a baby has all it needs to grow up into full human maturity, even so infinitely more have those who have been born again, born from above by the power of God, received the power of God to both will and do His good pleasure. Imparted Life eternal in the follower of Jesus Christ is their hope of ongoing life transformation and ongoing sanctification, for..."He Who began a good work in you will bring that work to competition by the day of Chri...