The Cross has Spoken

The Cross has Spoken

by | Mar 30, 2024 | Joy, Trust

Squeal with delight

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. As I strolled along the Gulf of Mexico, I saw an object beneath the shallow water. The sparkling waves disguised its identity, but the faint outline of a cross grabbed my attention.

I tried to get a closer look. However, the constant lapping of the waves obstructed my view.

The object looked like two wooden beams had washed up and lodged in the sand. . .  in the perfect shape of a cross.

Later, I discovered that the “cross” was simply buried pipes from a condo construction site forming a “T.”

That cross in the water spoke to me, reminding me of Christ’s great sacrifice and of His perfect love. It reminded me that God’s presence is with me no matter where I am.

His cross. Our burdens.

A. W. Tozer explains it in his book Mornings with Tozer (July 14). “The cross represents pure, selfless love in its fullest perfection.”

And that is what it is — a picture of selfless love.

The cross points us to Jesus. The cross bears our burdens. It promises fullness of joy and offers hope for the future. It represents His great love for us. The cross was the plan all along.

The cross speaks volumes.

I love it when God shows up anywhere to remind us of His presence, even through two pipes lodged in the sand. We can put our complete trust in God who reveals himself to us whether in a worship service, driving through traffic in a busy city or strolling down a quiet beach.

I am thankful for the cross.

I pray the cross and Jesus’ resurrection will remind you that in His selfless love, Jesus chose us. He sacrificed for us and today affirms us to the Father. He promises to give His Holy Spirit to those who know Him.

The cross has spoken.

Wishing you and your family blessings this Easter, Patricia

“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God,” (Hebrews 12:2).

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

 

Be Grateful and Press On

Be Grateful and Press On

by | Mar 22, 2024 | Encouragement, Gratitude, Joy

Squeal with delight

I caught my 6’5”, 240-pound son.

Have you ever seen something about to happen and could do nothing to stop it? I didn’t plan to be the barrier between my son and the floor, but it happened in an instant.

I saw the equipment in the physical therapy room and cautioned my son to be careful as he hobbled by with his crutches.

It was too late. His crutch caught the equipment leg and he lunged toward me. Only two days after his ACL/meniscus surgery, I knew he couldn’t put any weight on that foot.

Between his look of panic and my expression of dread, I braced myself as his chest hit my face like a brick wall. I held tight, shocked yet thankful he was not on the floor.

A moment of gratitude

What could have been devastating turned into a moment of gratitude.

He felt gratitude for me being there to catch him. I was grateful he didn’t damage the recent knee repair or crush me in the process.

Have you been there? Have you escaped something that led to disaster, but God supplied the rescue? Maybe he provided a way out or the encouragement to move forward and press on. You felt a sense of gratitude come over you.

Jesus’ crucifixion must have shocked and unnerved his followers. It must have hit them hard.

When Mary Magdalen and the other women went to the tomb three days later, they expected to find the broken and unrecognizable body of their Lord.

Instead, they found something far greater. Their weeping turned to joy. Fear grew to gratitude. Their despair changed to determination.

Energized to press on

Jesus met them in their time of need and encouraged them, energized them to press on and moved them to go and tell the disciples that He had risen just as He said. (See Matthew 28.)

Jesus champions our walk. He delivers us in our time of need. He catches us when we fall and encourages us to press on toward our goal.

A friend once encouraged me to stop what I was doing and go run. My mind told me I needed to run . . . for my health and my marathon training. Instead, I offered excuses. I had too many things to do so I didn’t want to take the time. Plus, the sky looked overcast with a threat of rain.

But I followed her advice. Not long after I started running, the sun broke out. As I ran, I felt better than I thought I would. I ran better than I thought I would. My outlook changed and I found encouragement to press on and stay in the race.

Commissioned to press on

Isn’t that so much like Him? Like a trusted friend, he encourages us. He loves us. Jesus nudges us to press on and stay in the race. He urges us to remain focused on the task He wants us to do. Whether in sunshine or storm, He stands there waiting to be what we need at that moment.

Jesus’ followers didn’t know it yet, but their race was just beginning. After His instruction and encouragement for 40 days, they went on to spread the gospel with passion and without fear throughout the first-century world.

So be encouraged. Embrace gratitude. Stay focused on your God-given dreams and see the hand of God at work in your life. And should you fall, He’ll be there.

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

 

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

by | Feb 27, 2024 | Faith, God, Trust

My Christmas gift to you

I entered my destination into the car GPS as we waited for our fast-food breakfast. The guidance surprised me by giving me an alternative to my usual route to a city five hours away. I reasoned there must be some traffic issue that caused the re-route. We began the drive to my son’s soccer game under a brilliant blue sky, crisp against white wispy clouds.

The map guidance directed me north where I thought we should have turned south.

I didn’t trust it so I pulled into a parking lot to get my bearings. My son beside me — oblivious to my internal dilemma — continued staring at his phone.

After I took a moment to expand the map, I saw the bigger picture.

This route took us through twists and turns and stick trees arching over the road in the winter landscape. Only a small part of the route was in view.

One step at a time

The moment I saw the bigger map, God reminded me that He had a bigger picture for me too.

Isn’t that the way with God sometimes? He uses simple tasks or circumstances to speak to us.

We may experience things that don’t seem right, or required to walk a path we don’t understand. Or we could even be oblivious to God’s direction for us.

Our guidance is there. God sees the big picture. His plan is bigger and better than we can imagine.

We will reach our destination, but the road we travel may not be what we expect and there may be twists and turns along the way. And our doubts may delay our progress.

We don’t need to know the big picture right now. I doubt we could handle it if we did.

However, we can trust God’s guidance. We can trust He knows best, even when we can’t see it.

Let’s focus on the daily walk before us and stay on the path He has designed. Let us remain faithful as God in His wisdom works out the big picture for our lives.

We need not see far ahead. Jesus calls us to take one step at a time with Him.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known,” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NASB1995).

 

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

 

Finding God

Finding God

by | Feb 6, 2024 | God, Miracles, Obedience

My Christmas gift to you

“Mommy, look! There’s Jesus!” my 5-year-old at the time said as he pointed to the sky. Taken aback, I quickly looked out the front window.

Early that morning, I had asked God to reveal Himself to me during the day. Boy did He ever. It was a hot and humid summer afternoon, and my heart skipped a beat at my son’s outburst. He then proceeded to name animals and characters he saw in the clouds as well.

Even so, that was a lesson for me. It had been a crazy, fretful, exhausting week and I desperately wanted to see Jesus in my day. In fact, I often prayed for that. This one got my attention immediately.

The message for me? God was right in front of me all along. It reminded me that I just had to look.

So how do we find God?

A.W. Tozer once said, “Brain power is not the means by which we find God! It is in our dependence on God that we see Him. He graciously and in love revealed Himself to us.” (A.W. Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer and editor.)

Maybe it’s in our desperation that we sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Saul found God

Consider the Apostle Paul. Before he was an apostle, destroying Christians consumed him. He went to great lengths to drag them out of their houses and commit them to prison. On his way to do just that in Damascus, Paul, then Saul — the accuser and one with power and control — lost all control and found himself to be the helpless one. (See Acts 9.)

Blinded and lacking vision, Saul was desperate. In that moment, he found Jesus. One of the men he traveled with led him by hand to Damascus. For three days, he waited without sight, food or drink.

Totally dependent on God, he was rescued by one of the very people he came to persecute. God ordained his disciple, Ananias, to restore Saul’s vision.

According to Scripture, after a discussion with the Lord, Ananias obeyed and laid hands on Saul.

Two things happened. Saul regained his sight. He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In that unforgettable event, Saul found God.

Jesus didn’t fear Saul’s sin. Instead, he took his darkness, miraculously changed him and welcomed him into the kingdom. Saul still had power but this time he went out with the power of the Holy Spirit to bring light to the world.

God is near

Where do you go to experience the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you feel your life (or part of it) is out of control? 

One day we will see Jesus face-to-face. In the meantime, we can live in the power of the Holy Spirit today.

We can find Him

In our waiting.

In our healing.

When our world comes crashing down.

When we’re walking through a fire.

Or fighting a battle.

Wherever we go, He is beside us. Every moment of the day, He is near.

He is at work in every detail, even in the smallest details of our lives.

“But Jesus replied, “’My Father is always working, and so am I,’” (John 5:17 NLT).

My busyness has often blinded me from recognizing Jesus in my day. The truth is He can show up whenever and wherever, even in a young boy’s imagination.

 

 

 

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

 

What Are You Afraid of?

What Are You Afraid of?

by | Jan 27, 2024 | Faith, Fear, Hope

My Christmas gift to you

The forecast called for fierce winds. I had dropped my boys off with my parents so they could watch them while I was 5 minutes away at a Bible study. We ended early so that everyone could get home before the storm hit. I got to their house and quickly grabbed the boys, essentially throwing them in the car. They were 11, 8 and 6 years old.

As I parked in the driveway, I was concerned a tree branch blowing wildly in the wind was going to snap and fall on my car. The timing couldn’t have been worse. At a young age, Garrett had become terrified of storms, and we had a 10-minute drive home in wind and rain.

Halfway home, I looked in the back seat and realized he was holding his breath. I told him to breathe. Take deep breaths and breathe. My oldest, Connor, dryly said, “Somebody needs to give him a paper bag.”

When we got home, I pulled up the weather app and showed Garrett where the storm was on the radar. The worst of the storm had passed while we were driving.

That reassurance helped him move past the fear and accept he was going to be ok. He finally calmed.

Two stories of faith

Matthew 8 includes two stories of faith (or lack thereof) early in Jesus’ ministry.  When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion sought him out to heal his servant who was paralyzed and suffering at home.

Jesus offered to go to the servant. But the centurion said there was no need to come but to just say the word and his servant would be healed. (See Matthew 8:5-13.)

Amazed, Jesus applauded his faith, saying

“Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith,” (Matt 8:10 ESV).

On another day, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat traveling to the other side of the sea. While Jesus took a nap, a great storm appeared, and a deluge of rain hit. In their fear, the disciples awakened Jesus asking Him to save them. (See Matthew 8:23-27.)

Jesus’ reaction?

“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matt 8:26 ESV).

He then got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And everything was calm.

Jesus could have calmed that first angry wave and stilled that first gust of wind. But He didn’t and look at the lesson they learned. These ordinary men witnessed an extraordinary event that changed their lives and helped them move past their fear. The wind calmed, but they also experienced awe and a strengthening of their faith. After that day, they must have known there was nothing Jesus couldn’t do.

With renewed confidence, they would then walk and talk and share their stories without fear. They taught, preached and healed with boldness.

Strengthen your faith

What are you afraid of? Can you put your fear aside, recognizing that Jesus is in the boat with you and has the power to calm your storm? He knows you. He knows your weakness and your fears. Your hopes and dreams.

He is with you when you need healing, courage, confidence or protection from the storm.

Let His presence strengthen your faith and bring you life, hope and power.

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Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

 

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