The Sweetest Words

Valentine’s Day was this past weekend, and I hope we all had loving messages from folks we care for. But the sweetest words I ever read were not on a Hallmark card or a candy box. Not on a card tucked in among roses, but in my Bible. Just two words: “But God..”

I don’t think anyone can really get to know God without reading and rereading the Old Testament. That’s where we see what God actually SAID, and what He DID, and His very character is unfolded before us. Even the long lists of strange names and the big numbers serve to show us the magnitude and magnificence of His works!  I know that I could never get to know God just through my own experiences. It would be too easy to substitute my wishes for His, and ascribe my opinions to Him. Too easy to pick the traits I love, and downplay the ones that are hard, like sure justice, and then to build myself a God who suits me. 

And those words, “But God” show us, over and over, the times when God stepped in and changed the way things are going.

So often we seem to be like a toy train that goes too fast or hits another toy, and jumps the track. We need a big Hand which can reach down, remove the hindrance, set us back squarely on the track and get us going again in the right direction. And because we know that God never changes, we can be very sure that He is watching over us now just as He did then, and doing His “But God” thing to save us from who knows what! Sometimes in life we can look back and see how God intervened and did what only He could have done, but most of the time we are probably blissfully unaware.

That is our God, loving us. And the best “But God” of all, Ephesians 2:

“Once you were dead because of your many sins….. BUT GOD is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!”

Surely the greatest manifestation of love in all of time, past, present and beyond!

Norma Stockton

Free to Love

(By Thor Knutstad)

Being free to love provides the power to appeal to strong satisfactions. Focus more on loving others well rather than resisting temptation. The fruits of holiness are visible with more freedom to love, so make every effort to love more, not sin less. You are free to love. Gospel freedom means that I neither indulge my whims nor keep my rules. Whim - indulgers and rule keepers are slaves to the corruption within them that demands a kind of self-satisfaction [unto works and performance]. Christ has, through the cross, set us free to love.

The world's compulsive need to feel whole and complete is a lie. It screams of a preoccupation with satisfaction and makes you want relief from feelings of pain and brokenness. We were designed for purity and for the peace of Shalom. The cross and resurrection are leading us there. But it is not yet realized. In the meantime, walk in the freedom to love. Yes, walk holy - but an over focus on sin and struggles will reduce the power of the Gospel in your life. Yes, confess. Repent. And make loving others
well your only deep satisfaction. For it is there that truth will set you free.

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Video Resource for Everyday Gospel Series

Much of the content for the Everyday Gospel series has been inspired by the work of Pete & Geri Scazzero. Check out their story. 

Your Love, The Love I Know.

(By Diego Cuartas)

It was last year, around this time, when I was reflecting on the birthday gifts God had given me through so many people. I was prompted then to write some thoughts, which eventually became a song composition. Don't ask me to sing it, just read the words. And perhaps it is your turn to reflect on how much you are loved by the one who formed you. The Bible (Psalm 139:14) gives us a glimpse of what went into your creation and mine. Sit back and allow the words on this timeless passage to run through you and help you recognize how much purpose (intention) God has placed in the creation of you...

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Your Love, The Love I Know.

No contradiction, in your love

No confusion, you are all love.

I may feel like your hand is against me

I may see the clouds gather all around

yet I hear a voice peaking through the darkness saying that  I'm yours.

I see the pattern, that in pain

My heart is tender to receive.

Consuming fire

Consuming fire

Consuming fire

Your love is what I know.

God Has Led, So Here I Go!

(By Lois Robinson)

God laid something on my heart in early November and has not released me of it. I have asked Him whether this is a blog entry or not, and His answer is Yes. So here goes...

 I don’t know about you, but I heard so many conversations, remarks and dialogue about the decisions made by many retail stores to open on Thanksgiving Day for shopping this past year.  They were staying open longer and longer, even around the clock in some cases. I saw pictures on Facebook of pup tents set up outside of Best Buy in order to get the “best buy” AS SOON AS IT OPENS! Frustrated, angry conversations would ensue about it, voicing concern to the department stores who were so ridiculous to be open for business about the people who had to work and deserve to be with their families. I heard ENOUGH IS ENOUGH many times. “What is this world coming to” was another. One population of people up in arms about the retail decisions but rarely do anything about it, one population that loved it so they can shop and spend more, another maybe happy to get the extra money working to pay the light bill, whereas another one may resent that they had to work. And finally, another population did not care either way, quite apathetic to the entire issue. It doesn’t affect them either way so who cares. 

God raised up something inside me while I listened and observed. It went something like this: We are such a superficial people. Listen to us. Complaining, angry, confused. Talking, talking, talking about the injustices of the retail store hours on Thanksgiving. Oh God, if we would only get this fired up about the things that break your heart like we get fired up about the “SHOPPING CENTER HOURS,” we would really make a difference in this sin-sick world. If we, God’s people would rise up against  child, elder, spouse abuse, the homeless, poverty, gang violence, sex trafficking and sleeping churches who are called to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ, injustice, kids who are dying and no one cares, other countries that don’t know Jesus and no one cares, Christian marriages that are deadly but other Christians say stay in it even if it kills you, misuse of the Word of God, teens cutting themselves to pieces, girls and boys starving themselves to death (literally to death), grade school children in deep depression to the point of suicide, children having sexual addictions, drug addictions, alcohol addictions and the list goes on and on. 

Ask yourself- On a scale of 1-10, how angry do you get about those things mentioned above? You may find that you do not think about them much at all. If you find that that is the case, I want to remind you of a truth:

God desires to Raise UP a People for HIS NAME, HIS PRAISE AND HIS GLORY!!!

God has called us to walk out our purposes in the authority of our King Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, bringing glimpses of His Kingdom into areas of darkness. Oh, may we be a people that rise up to be ambassadors of the light! 

I have been reading through the Book of Acts, describing how Stephen, Peter and the disciples pray and then GO OUT! They got their marching orders straight from God through the person of the Holy Spirit and went out! Amen! People were healed, demons were cast out; they became disciples of Jesus Christ. 

In the Powerful name of Jesus, let us grow emotionally and spiritually mature.  We must begin to cry out to our Father, “Break our hearts for what breaks yours” as the Mercy Me songs so well says. Let us not continue to be blinded by our own agendas and hardness of hearts.      

Challenge: What is God’s unique, one-of-a-kind design on your life? You do have one, and you cannot escape it just because you weren’t raised in a healthy home, weren’t raised in a Christian home and the list goes on and on.

I would encourage you to dive into Scripture, check out the early church in Acts. Stay tuned into Pastor Nate’s sermon series. Let’s all become the Church we are called to be! 

Amen and Hallelujah, the Highest Praise.

It’s NOT up to me?

I’ve recently been having some startling revelations the way I tend to think. I first noticed it the other day in a kind of silly situation, when my husband was invited to play in a pick-up game of soccer. It was a busy day for our family, and we had a lot going on with our two kids, so he decided to turn down the invitation and not go. I could not handle him missing the opportunity to have some fun! So I started offering all kinds of solutions for how we could make it work. I listed at least 20 different solutions that would allow him to go, but instead of getting excited about these ideas, my husband ended up getting more and more annoyed. His annoyance, in turn, made me annoyed. I thought my ideas were great solutions and I couldn’t understand why they would bother him!

As we talked out our conflict for a few minutes, we realized that it bothered him that I kept offering ideas after he had made his decision. I realized that I was doing this because I felt responsible for my husband’s happiness. I thought that if I didn’t make it work for him to go to the game, if I didn’t solve our problem, that he wouldn’t be happy. And I felt that his lack of happiness would be entirely my fault. In my mind, it all depended on me. 

So moving on from that little soccer situation, I started noticing lots of other areas where I tend to think that everything depends on me. It has surprised me that I tend to think that a lot, and one of the areas I’ve been noticing it is in my relationship with God. 

For example, the other day I was just doing my usual stay-at-home-mom thing, mopping my floor, blasting some music. A song came on called Take My Life, and as I listened to it, I started feeling a combination of defensiveness and shame. 

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing
always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as You choose.

Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it's all for Thee.

As I listened to the lyrics, I wondered how anyone with integrity could have even written it. “‘Ceaseless praise? Always…only…for my King? Not a mite would I withhold? All of me, it’s all for Thee?’ Well, there’s not a chance that I’ve lived up to that standard,” I thought. I wanted to just move on to the next song and forget that I had even heard it. I knew my life didn’t line up with those lyrics. I knew that there are so many places of my heart that don’t belong completely to God, and I felt shame. 

But as I continued mopping, something BEAUTIFUL happened in my heart as I listened to that song. All of the sudden, I realized that I was looking at it all wrong. I was feeling like it was up to me to love God enough, to make my life be completely for God, all the time. I felt that it all depended on me.

God spoke to my heart then. He told me that it’s NOT all up to me. He reminded me that a huge purpose of His command to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength’ is to give me a standard that is so high, that I actually CANNOT reach it on my own. He wants me to realize my need for Jesus, my need to be saved, that not up to me to perfect my life. The Good News of the Gospel is that God Himself, with all the resources of heaven, is committed to developing His life in me. He’s determined to purify me, to give me an undivided heart, to make me like Jesus. 

Wow. With that chance of perspective, I suddenly felt rest, instead of shame. I even wanted to keep listening to that song, and to worship, instead of skipping on to the next. Instead of hiding, I wanted to show up before God, to use my strength to thank God for using all His strength, to make me His alone.

I’m so thankful that everything does not depend on me. I don’t have what it takes to make my husband happy all the time, let alone make my heart belong to God alone. What I can do, though, is let me husband decide if he wants to work out a chance to play soccer or not, and as I do my part to need God, I can let God do His part of working out His plan for me to love Him wholly. And that sounds like a much better idea to me. 

Sarah Howard

Amateur Lovers

Never have I been more sure of anything than when I was a teenager in love. Try as I might to pretend those many, many years of awkwardness and regrettable haircuts never really happened, there are some memories that you can’t forget: first crushes, first dates, first kisses and all that. She’s the one, I’d secretly tell myself. Then of course I’d come to find she was most definitely not the one, and I’d move on to the next crush. She’s the one, I’d tell myself again. It’s all I can do to keep myself from pulling out my old journals and writing “Diary Of A Moron” across every cover. But hey, at that stage of my life I was still forgetting to zip up my fly from time to time. I think we can agree that nobody expects teenagers to be experts on love.

Today I am mere months away from getting married to someone who thankfully did not know me during said awkward phase of my life, and thankfully I’ve learned a thing or two about love since then. But when I turn my thoughts to the church and the life of the Body, I’m alarmed by how many Christians seem to wield a similar attitude towards their relationship with God. At one point they had a passion and a zeal for the Kingdom, but at some point it just tapered off. Following God didn’t turn out to be what they had originally thought. Nobody said there would be lows as low as they’ve experienced when they were being prayed for at the alter after the service. No one seemed to mention the constant diligence that would be required in order to keep from falling back into old patterns of sin. They had a great first date with God, but it’s almost as if He forgot to call them back.

*  *  *  *  *

In Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage (which I would highly, highly recommend you pick up), Keller tells a short story to explain how his feelings towards his wife have changed over time:

“When [my wife] Kathy first held my hand, it was an almost electrical thrill. Thirty-seven years later, you don’t get the same buzz out of holding your wife’s hand that you did the first time. But as I look back on that initial sensation, I realize that it came not so much from the magnitude of my love for her but from the flattery of her choice of me. In the beginning it goes to your head, and there is some love in that, but…there is no comparison between that and what it means to hold Kathy’s hand now, after all we’ve been through.”

You probably don’t need thirty-seven years of marriage to know Keller’s spot on here. Anyone who’s been in any sort of relationship knows that feelings between two people wane from time to time. Your best friends right now are the ones who’ve stuck around, not the ones who were simply the most fun when you met. Those friendships have changed and evolved over time, and my guess is you’d say they are more precious to you today than they were at their inception. Love grew in a place where love didn’t exist before.

Assuming for a moment we all affirm this to be true…why then do we so often come to God expecting the same electricity we felt at the beginning, when we first came to know Him? It seems that too many of us never move beyond this initial stage of relationship with the Father. We get caught up in the flattery of having been chosen by God, and the beauty of election becomes little more than a gust of ego gratification for our souls; we cheapen God’s grace because we’ve fallen in love with a feeling rather than a promise. In effect, we become amateur lovers, stuck in a moment we can’t get out of, trying to recapture the magic of our youth when the wild, uncharted territory of maturity awaits us.

This is what coming to know God is like. At first we are overwhelmed by the majesty and beauty of grace, and we feel as though we have lightning pulsing through our veins. Eventually, though, we come to find that these emotions were the spiritual equivalent of puppy love: certainly real enough to us, but lacking the substance that characterizes true love. And certainly there is a time and place for infatuation in relationship. But at some point, that feeling is set aside for an even bigger prize. Love longs to go deeper, not to recapture a feeling and feel it forever. This is mature love, and it is the kind of love our Father harbors for us and invites us to partake in.

Don’t settle for one date with God. Better yet, don’t let your feelings dictate how you go about your day! This Gospel is too important to be passed over because we found it too difficult for our liking. Press into God today, and watch what He does next.

Dominick Baruffi

"Single Parenting - Situation not Identity"

(By Thor Knutstad)

Single parents today, in unprecedented numbers, are in a very complex situation.  They are trying to raise their children within a complicated and competing system of authorities and influences.  Most (not all) were once, so they thought, defined as a "married parent."  But that is exactly where there is an "identity gap."  Single parenthood is your situation, not your identity.  When I lean on identity, my situation will always control me.  When I accept the stark reality of situational context, I can live in context and not in the false notion of identity context. Let me repeat myself here for emphasis and effect.  Single parenting is my SITUATION and NOT MY IDENTITY.  Let me explain.

I am the father of my sons.  I am not the father and the mother to my children.  I can't be, nor should I attempt to be both.  To try to be both is NOT God's design.  God does not expect double effort from me to compensate for what is missing or has been missed.  I cannot do the work of two people, though often it feels very much like this.  I have a ministry to my children.  It is my job to physically provide for and emotionally care for them.  I must provide verbal instruction and sometimes even physical discipline.  I must model a dependence on Christ, pray with and for them and do all these in the context of loving well. I must push them to excellence as they pursue God and this calling and as He pursues them.  I must forgive their sin(s), but I cannot allow their hurt, pain and brokenness to be their identity - I must teach them that is their situation - a consequence of brokenness, of sin and of living in a world full of evil that God is restoring and redeeming.

You see, this situation is NOT their excuse.  Single parents, do not lose sight of your child's responsibility to love, trust and obey God, despite their unpleasant circumstances.  A broken home does not excuse unbelief, rebellion, ingratitude, disobedience, disrespect, angry words or idolatry.  Let me repeat myself. Their situation is NEVER an excuse for bad behavior or disobedience.   Do not doom them because of what has happened.  They are not victims or byproducts of a broken relationship.  They are a part of God's design of learning to live in a broken world that is sometimes a product of a lot of sin, or a lot of being sinned against.  If you do not understand the situation of where you live every day, you will live in a confusing context of hating the messy reality.  Do good.  Love well.  Embrace your reality.  Don't walk in the fear that pushes back the power of loving your sinful child well.  Your God is transforming them too.  Admit that they are more like you than unlike you and that they are more like the other parent too than you sometimes want to admit.  Yes, I just said that.  Your child is MORE LIKE YOU than unlike you.  Humbling moment? Hmm...

Don't let single parenting pressures drive you to anger and self-absorption.  Instead, walk in a quiet confidence of humility that deals with their hearts as ever moving targets in a world full of sin and conflict.  Teach them to love God and their neighbor well.  Show confident respect toward their mom or dad and encourage your kids to do the same, even if that is not done for you in a reciprocal way.  As you model Christ-likeness in your situation, entrust them to God's care.  Let your kids see the aspects of reality in that former relationship sometimes - it is not your job to protect them from the other person's sin, the truth or consequences thereof.  Silence and appropriate withdrawal from that person (your ex) is sometimes quite appropriate, and even wise, and your kids will see it unfold.  Their eyes cannot be covered from the reality of the situation.  Sure, you want to pursue a positive relationship with that person as best as is able on your behalf, but sometimes it is this very lack of unity that causes war.  Needless to say, show humility, foster confidence, confront as often but as necessary, show mercy and control your body language and your tongue's words with that person.  Your responsibility to love your enemy doesn't escape even the most broken relationship.  Yet to walk in wisdom will not always mean being as innocent as doves and lambs; sometimes it will mean being as shrewd as a snake and as clever as a fox.  I'm only quoting our Lord, but we have to know the difference.  There is a season for everything.

I also encourage getting the help of family, other believers and your local church to help bear the burden of a single family.  The impact and assistance and the fellowship of others is paramount to you and your kids.  As previously stated, single parenting is not my identity any more than being married is or was.  It is my situation.  It is my context.  And as your journey unfolds in the pathways of time and moments, may the complex burden of single parenthood be a lighter burden to you.  If your family is still intact, praise God.  But this article is still for you.  Hear my counsel here.  Love well those under the yoke of situational single parenting.  Their task is heavy and their burden is not light.  Many did not choose to be here - someone else abandoned them or created this difficult context.  Sin's destruction always plays a part in getting people to places they would rather not be.  I once said to my friend Al about my situation, "You'd tremble if you were me."  His gentle and wise reply looking me straight in the eye was, "You're right."  True, but our sovereign God (read Acts 17) has designed a journey - a better one - one where suffering always leads to joy.  And this applies to you and your children as well.  God is leading them to greater joy.  Praise Him."

Relationships: A Stumbling Block or a Stepping Stone to Abiding in Christ?

(By Diego Cuartas)

Recently out of my own personal struggles in relationships, God has brought me to a point of “crisis of belief”, as Henry Blackaby would call it. My point of crisis came as I realized a couple of days ago how reluctant I have been to admit some relational disappointments. I am so thankful for the loving perseverance of my wife and her godly counsel to me. My conversation with her took place on Sunday night. The next day as I was working out and deciding what to meditate on, God led me--as He has many other times--to read the first letter of John. I am so thankful God spoke to me. What became evident to me through my reading is that how I relate to others plays a big part in how well I “abide” in Christ. Put differently, how I relate to others impacts how I relate to God. My relationships can either become a stumbling block or a stepping stone to abiding in Christ.

In verses 5-10 of chapter 1, John indicates that fellowship with God is directly linked to me walking in the “light” instead of hiding or pursuing the promises that any “darkness” offers. John says that when we walk in the light we are positioned to have fellowship with God and also with one another. Darkness hinders fellowship with God and other people. The beautiful thing is that when I choose to walk in the light I can be a beneficiary of all that Christ offers to sinners like me. In Him I can receive forgiveness and a cleansing of the things that are not aligned with His purpose and design for me. The alternative for relating this way to God and others is to pretend or live life as if I was not a sinner, someone who has fallen short of God’s expectations and unable to help myself. This alternative, according to John, makes me (or anyone) a liar. Thank God there is hope for us--the first verses in chapter 2 show how Jesus can very efficiently advocate for us before God the Father. Jesus makes my abiding in Him a real possibility!

Furthermore, in verses 7-11 of chapter 2, John offers a very relational perspective for us to consider. He teaches that the disposition of my heart toward others will result in a “stumbling block” in my life when instead of loving others I choose to hate them. Hate can be understood as an aversion or hostility toward another person. And hating, according to John will keep a person in bondage to darkness. Darkness, says John, not only blinds me to others but it keeps me walking in the dark. This darkness that hinders relationship hinders in turn my abiding in Christ. In chapter 3 verse 24, John emphasizes this truth in the following way: “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him.” 

Relationships can be a stumbling block to our abiding in Christ if we do them in our sinful ways or if they keep us far from obeying God’s commandments. The messiness that is revealed in relationships can point us to our need of a Savior, our need of an advocate and our need of a Healer. Apart from the love and mercy of God we can’t love others well.

So how am I to treat other sinners, especially those who cause me pain and disappointment? The answer is simple and profound: the same way God has treated you! Take a moment to allow the following statements from John Piper (Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent, page 36) to give you a renewed perspective:

How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died. He took our judgment. He canceled our guilt. And that means the sins are gone. They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them. They are consumed in the death of Christ. Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with the new covenant. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will—his own heart—on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

Obviously, we are to treat others mercifully as we have been treated mercifully. The basis for such mercy is what God has done in Christ. He alone can call our sins into judgment. We are not the judge of others’ sins; He alone is. It is amazing that both the authority for judgment and hope for redemption rest in God. As long as I hold others through the lenses of my judgment I will not be free to lavish love on them. And as long as I hope in their ability to change, I will miss trusting in what God alone can do in them.

For thought:

• Which relationships presently help you abide in Christ? Which ones do not?
• How are you relating to others? Is the way you relate keeping you in the dark or in the light?
• Have you experienced the mercy of God? How is his mercy impacting the way you relate to others?

Simple Gifts for the Grieving

As we ended the Week of Prayer and meditated on our missions for 2014, I kept trying to come up with a Big Plan or Big Declaration or Big Mission. What I kept getting as I prayed was one word: Simplicity. The most important gifts we can give are often the simplest.

I've been blessed with many kindnesses over the past year as I've experienced the death of a parent. Some of the most heartwarming help has come from things that require neither large amounts of money or time.

Some background: Overall, our American church culture does a terrible job at caring for the grieving. I’ve been researching this topic a lot lately, as it has touched my life in deep ways. What I have found is pretty discouraging. Many people suffering from profound loss often feel isolated and abandoned after the initial surge of sympathy and support. Because American culture centers on the “can do” spirit, the grieving feel they have to pick themselves up and go on as normal even when the world has caved in around them.

Grieving can be from so many things: loss from death, separation and divorce, relationship breakdowns with family and friends. I would like to suggest from firsthand experience some simple ways you can give to grieving people in your life this year: 

I challenge you this year to reach out to someone who is grieving. Even the simplest things help heal hearts within the Body of Christ. 

• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Talk to the grieving. Let them know you're thinking about them. This doesn't have to mean hours of deep conversation and meaningful advice. There's a time and place for that, but a simple text message, quick e-mail, Facebook message, or even "snail mail" note can make someone feel they're not alone in their pain.

• Think long term. Don't forget your grieving friends after the initial crisis has passed. Grief is a long process that ebbs and flows. Again, you do not need to do anything "huge." Just being remembered is a gift.

• Share your own story of grieving and how you have dealt with it. My research is split on this, since grief is so highly personal that no two experiences are the same, and some don't feel that anyone can understand how they feel. In my personal experience, I have found it very comforting for people to share their stories of loss with me.

• Pray for the grieving. There is no more loving thing you can do for someone in pain than to lift them up to our Savior.

• Give the gift of Scripture. I love it when people share favorite verses or passages of comfort with me. On rough days, these nuggets of Truth give me something to hold on to in the storm.

• This also applies for favorite songs and hymns. Share them with your grieving friends. Music is a great emotional outlet and calming influence.

• If you knew the person who has died, share your memories with the grieving friends and family. Many people don't want to cause more pain and hesitate to talk about the person who is gone. Personally, I love for people who knew my mom to share their memories with me. It helps keep her memory alive.

Nancy Vasquez

Where Have You Seen Jesus?

This week at LFAC, we’re embarking on a ‘week of prayer’ together. If you’ve been tracking with the prayer guide for each day this week, you know that we’ve been learning about what the Church is supposed to be all about, what our defining characteristics are supposed to be as God’s people. The Day 2 reading talked about how we, as the Church, are being sent on a mission by Jesus Himself, to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel.

There was a question included that I think is essential to consider and have an answer for if we’re going to be able to tell people about Jesus and His Gospel. The question said, “What have you seen of Jesus or what has Jesus done for you that would be good news to someone?”

That question is so important, because, if we have a firm grasp on the beauty of what Jesus has done in our lives, we can then look for other people who could use that same Good News and we can offer it to them. For example, my answer was that Jesus has done some deep healing in my heart in the area of my appearance: it’s taken many long years to come to believe that Jesus made me just the way I am in the way I look and that I’m beautiful. He’s also done some healing in the area of my identity, teaching me that I’m significant, that He likes the way I am, that He made me who I am on purpose. So just imagine, that as I combine identifying what Jesus has done for me and watching the people around me, I’ll bet I could see similar needs in other people. And how significant would it be for me to offer the Good News of Jesus’ healing in my life to someone else who feels what I’ve felt, that under all their smiles and attempts to cover up their real self, like they aren’t good enough, that they never measure up, that they hate the way they are? They need that same Good News that I’ve received.

So how about you?

I’d love to hear in the comment section ‘what you’ve seen of Jesus or what He’s done for you that would be good news to someone.’ Then let’s look together for those people that need to hear your good news…and let’s bring it to them!

Sarah Howard

A Time to Grieve and a Time to…

(By Tammy Vaughn)

Prime times for grieving a loss or death are during the holiday season, around the loved one’s birthday or the day of their passing.  So how do we face holiday grief?   Grief is the loss of a loved one or something important to you.  Grief could include the loss of an idea, item, animal, child or dream.  Grief may actually start before a person is deceased, especially in the case of terminal illness.  

I believe taking a self-inventory is a key concept around the area of grief; it is beneficial to examine yourself and identify feelings on how you are processing or not processing the loss.   You may be telling yourself things like,  “Stop making a big deal out of it” or “You should be over it by now” or “I can’t live without this person” or “I want to die too.” I think a key part of this is to evaluate what you think about your observations, self talk or thoughts.  You may miss your loved one terribly, and you may be feeling loss and sadness.  The flip side may also be true- maybe you recognize that the loved one is missing but feel relief or peace.  Maybe you don’t think of your loved one at all and feel guilty for not thinking of them.  It is important to remember that feelings are just feelings; they are not right or wrong, they are just your feelings.  We tend to place a lot of emphasis on how we feel when really it’s what you do with your feelings that is important.  Taking an honest inventory of how you’re doing throughout the grief process is very important.

Another key to dealing with grief is to find a healthy balance between remembering and honoring a person’s absence and perseverating or centering the entire rest of your life or holidays on their absence.  Being consumed by your loved one’s death or loss does not help you to live your life.   This may sound insensitive, but if God has still given you life, He has a purpose and plan for you.  It’s important to keep this in mind.  I encourage people to find a way to celebrate or acknowledge the person who you have lost without being totally consumed.  Some people are reluctant to even use the word “celebrate” because they feel that if you celebrate, you will forget your loved one.  Achieving a healthy balance is important; that way you are not swallowed up in grief and therefore miss making memories, enjoying other loved ones who are living or miss out on life in general.  I think processing feelings with close supportive friends, pastors and professional counselors is very helpful in working toward striking this balance.  Part of moving toward health is carrying on normal activities, realizing that you will be making “new normals”.  

Another key to grief recovery is to find support.  Let me say it again: find support. Grief Share, Celebrate Recovery, pastorate friends and professional counselors, etc.  Some things God never meant for us to go through or overcome by ourselves; grief is one of those things.  It is and will be tempting to isolate, wall off and stay to yourself because the pain is too intense or you don’t want to get hurt again. You may be tempted to not celebrate the holiday or to celebrate the holiday alone. Instead, find some supportive people, friends or coworkers and celebrate the best that you can.  Isolation makes the healing process harder and longer.  Being around people that care about you will in fact help your grief process.  Processing feelings with people you trust will help you to work through those feelings and gain the support you need to survive.  Remember that grief is more than just five stages, or steps, or hoops to jump through.  It can look like a ball of yarn. There is no time line to grief, and it can be experienced by everyone differently.  You can actually be stuck in stages, not really go through some of them and experience them out of order.  The fives stages of grief are denial, bargaining, depression, anger and acceptance. Remembering that everyone processes grief differently is helpful, realizing that   while you are on one stage, your spouse or children may be on a different stage.   The important thing to do is to acknowledge or experience your feelings when you have them.  Don’t try to shut grief feelings down, run from them or deny that you are having them.  Stuffed feelings always come out in ways and at times that you don’t want them to come out.  When you are grieving, often times you feel out of control and devastated.   One thing you can control is how you explore and express your feelings.  You will also feel empowered and begin to have a sense of hope as you identify and acknowledge the feelings you have.   Give yourself permission to grieve and to be happy.  The Bible in Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that life has many seasons and cycles.  This passage gives us each hope that there is an end in sight.  Life will not always be this traumatic or painful.   

Take a minute to read this great reminder in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  Take a deep breath and be encouraged!

    There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the  heavens:

    a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

    a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

    a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to   refrain from embracing,

    a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away

    a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

    a time to love and a time to hate,  a time for war and a time for peace.

Piper on Prayer

A brief, but powerful biblical explanation of how it is that God has determined that there are things that will only happen when we prayer. Listen to it to gain perspective on why we are having a LFA Week of Prayer.

This is the New Year

Every year ends pretty much the same way.  We take some time to reflect on the past twelve months.  We read lists of the “Best Albums of the Year,” or “The Year’s Top Celebrity Moments,” or “22 Greatest Food Fails of 2013.”  We are still feeling the effects of the holiday season, which may take the form of extra weight, extra debt, or an extended hangover.  Then, at the stroke of midnight on December 31st, we stop all this reflecting and move on to celebrating the future.  We set unrealistic goals.  We talk about how this year will be better than the last.  We trade our nostalgia for hope. 

New Years, much like graduations are about endings and beginnings.  They cause us to take stock of the events that have led us to where we are, survey the highlights and lowlights along the way, and look forward with anticipation of what the future holds.

 In the spirit of reflecting on the past and looking ahead to the future, Pastor Nate took some time this past Sunday to recap some of this year’s sermon series.  As we look back on messages past, truths are reaffirmed and we are reminded of the highlights.  As I listened to the sermon, I began to think about all the lessons I had learned over the past year.  

Sometimes, learning something new means changing something that you thought you knew.  We don’t like to admit that we believed something false.  In fact, when faced with some truth that confronts a long-held belief that we’ve comfortably settled into, our instinct is to challenge that truth and fight for our false saviors.  Learning can be painful and uncomfortable.  Some of the things I have learned over the past year were these hard-fought truths.  As I look forward to the year to come, I anticipate that more of the “truths” I hold onto now will be challenged.

Jeff Hyson

The Earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 days.  It has for as long as we can remember.  Still, every time it does, we celebrate.  We celebrate the past, and we look forward to the future.  This past year I’ve learned that God’s truths are truer than mine.  Do not be afraid to learn something new this year, even if it challenges a false “truth” in your life, because giving up something little to gain something big should be everyone’s New Year’s resolution.

New Year’s Quiz: What Kind of Fish Are You?

(By Lois Robinson)

Years ago, a counseling teacher taught me a few things about fishing. He told those of us in the class that fish are different, and they like different bait and even different types of rigs. “Hmmm”, I thought, “maybe that’s one reason I have never been very successful at the art of fishing.” My thought was, “Just get a line, put a hook on it, grab a worm, drop it in the water and I better catch something in five minutes or I’m leaving!” The old instant gratification condition won most of the time. I would still want seafood though, which was why I went fishing in the first place. So to solve my current dilemma I would spend money I didn’t have to buy it at a restaurant!

Fishing didn’t become one of my favorite things to do because it was too much work! I was more than happy to spend money in the store, or better yet a restaurant, because it was even less work!

Are you seeing a pattern here? I wanted to avoid as much work as possible. Instead, I was willing to go into debt, being a poor steward of finances, just to get what I wanted!

Let’s go back even further now; I was taught in Sunday School a wonderful little song called ‘I will make you Fishers of Men.” Wait a Minute! How does this all connect?! Well, the Gospels in the Bible tell the story of how Jesus fished for men/women/children. He carefully chose the way he would love them to build relationship in order to bring them to a better understanding of their Father’s love and purposes for their lives. 

But let’s not stop there. There is another very important truth in this fishing example we must not be ignorant to.

The bible clearly states:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” Hosea 4:6

“Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.” Isaiah 5:13

The counseling teacher’s point in the lesson was not about fishing for people on Jesus’ behalf but how the devil himself is a fisherman as well. His purpose is to destroy us! The teacher demonstrated how the enemy sits, chooses the bait, schemes, baits the hook, drops the line at the most opportune time and desperately wants us to bite! As any real fisherman knows, the bait stays out in the water for a while usually, and the fish who are hungry smell it for miles. As the bait lingers in the water, saturating the surrounding water, the fish swim toward it. At first it may be just a “swim by,” then they come back to nibble, toying with it you could say. Not biting but dabbling. As their appetite grows for the bait.... BAM....they’re hooked and reeled in! From the shore, you can see the fisherman’s face light up. He has conquered the fish! I would encourage you to take a look at yourself as the holidays are over. Some will worship themselves by denying the birth of Jesus, some will worship debt, some will worship depression, some will worship anything or anybody but Jesus. Some will choose to Worship Jesus Fully. 

These questions are designed to help you know your bait preferences. 

1.  What kind of fish are you?

2.  What kind of bait are you attracted to? 

3. Are you just nibbling, “swimming by” with interest or ready to bite?

4. Is it Jesus bait? This gives life.

5. Is it Satan bait? This will kill you. 

6. What fisherman will be happy when you take the bait that interests you? 

Jesus our King or the father of lies?

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Things That Go Bump In The Night

Back in the day, when the world and I were young, my brother and I were the family dishwashers. This was the forties, and unless we got lucky we did the job every night after dinner. One night I washed; the next night I dried, but as soon as the food was put away we got down to our real business, which was to make the other one do more work than we did. This involved diligently searching for any tiny speck of food left on a washed plate, so the washer had to wash it twice, but the dryer only had to dry it once! Hah! One point for the dryer! Of course, the next night the situation was reversed. All this was accomplished in relative silence. This was so that we could at the same time listen to the radio. If we got into an argument, the radio got turned off. Our weary mother was a teacher, and found little patience with fractious children who ought to be getting done with the job at hand and on to their homework. So we mostly behaved, because we wanted to listen to the radio more than we wanted to fight.

There was no TV back then – I was in college when we got our first tiny TV – but every night there were radio shows! “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy!”;  “The Green Hornet”;  “ Buck Rogers”; “The Creaking Door”; “Lights Out”;  “I Love a Mystery” – all of them somehow more vivid because we could use our imagination to create the people who owned the voices. It was wonderful.  And oh, those mystery shows! Scary, scary, scary! Many were the nights I checked under my bed before I turned out the light! I didn’t know what I was afraid might be there, because I had nothing visual to apply, but I looked!

The pertinent thing is that at our young age we could only imagine what our experience and our minds could enable us to picture. We were basically protected from horror by the limits of our actual reality. How unlike some of the television shows today, which graphically illustrate every kind of depravity.  So, there are shows I simply don’t watch. I like cop shows; I like spy dramas,  I love football! But I find I cannot watch psychopathic horror shows. The images are far beyond anything I can easily dismiss. They stay there. And so I try not to clutter my mind with this degree of illustrated evil. Could I handle it? I don’t know. I choose not to. Believe me, I don’t for a minute think there is no evil lurking in my mind! My miserable sin nature is very busy luring me with all sorts of evil, which God enables me mostly to resist, but I think I surely don’t need to go looking for more. I am an adult, with a clear understanding of the reality or lack of same portrayed on the screen, but I still can be affected by what I watch.

Which brings me to our children. Can we really convince ourselves that terrible graphic images on the screen have no effect on them? That they, too, don’t somehow struggle to find a safe place to hide pictures they cannot forget? Are we carelessly burdening them awfully with concepts they aren’t even able to process? Can we believe that they’re not changed, however subtly, by these experiences? We wrap them in seat belts. We vaccinate them against disease. We teach them about dangerous strangers. We would give our lives to save them. And still, in spite of how we try, we know we cannot wrap them totally in soft cotton batting. The world as it is will indeed batter them in many ways. But could we please try our best to protect their very young minds from images God never meant for them to see or try to understand? Could we let them be innocent a little while longer?

If we were to have a – what shall we call it – a strenuous disagreement with our spouse, we would never sit our toddler down in the middle of it! You know what would happen: the little one would be frightened to tears.  So how can any sane adult assume that a small child with absolutely no life experience is able to understand the intricacies of television and know that it is all make-believe?  One of my daughters had nightmares for years after watching the Wizard of Oz, because of the Flying monkeys! Flying monkeys, for goodness’ sake! Who knew! Certainly not me! How much more frightening must be portrayal of real people doing awful things. Our babies’ minds are such precious things. We need, need, need to protect them, and do it diligently!

 Am I urging an absolute absence of television? I am not, though some choose that path. Time marches on, and so does technology. There are great programs to be found there, for children and adults alike. But just as we are careful to dress our kids appropriately for the weather, we need to filter what can reach their minds.

The truth is that God charmingly limited their understanding, placing the responsibility of caring for them upon us. The way a baby will crawl happily toward a hot surface or toward the edge of a bed is a perfect illustration of their total innocence of the consequences of going over the edge. We grab them.  

We need to be just as protective of their minds, that they not fall over the edge or be scarred by burns.  Grab them.

Norma Stockton

The Foolishness Of God

It seems to come and go faster every year, doesn't it? The Christmas season, I mean. It’s not that I don’t love it, because it never fails to fill my heart with joy. But it’s such a blur anymore that if I don’t put any effort into properly slowing down, I can fly through the advent season faster than you can say Kris Kringle. I know the stories and songs by heart, to the point that I become anesthetized to it. But that is not what I want to talk about here. Not really, anyway. 

By the time you read this, we will be inching dangerously close to the time of year when the Internet explodes with articles on New Year’s Resolutions and how you can achieve them. This is usually followed by everyone you know deciding that this is definitely the year they will finally get in shape, or start eating better, or ditch that nasty habit that never goes away. And yet, by the third or fourth week of January all is essentially forgotten, and we’re left with this hopeless sense that we are never really going to change and what’s the use? But that is not what I want to talk about here. Not really, anyway. 

If you’ll indulge me for a minute, I just want to talk about me. 

I am getting married next year. It is an unbelievable joy to write a sentence like that. Dawn and I are in the thick of marriage prep, and we’re confident that we are walking in obedience by taking this step. And yet, as we careen towards our wedding day like a rocket heading to space, I find that it becomes easier every day to be filled with fear. Where will we live? What about my job? Will we have enough money? I am compelled to worry about these to the point of obsession, because I have to be sure I can provide a safe and stable situation for us. 

Sounds wise, right?

What would you say if I told you it wasn’t?

*  *  *  *  *

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says this: “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25, NLT). The “plan” Paul is talking about here is God’s plan of salvation, which culminated in the birth of Christ and extended even to the Gentiles, which was practically unthinkable to first-century Jews. I love the way this translation puts it: the “foolish plan of God” that is wiser even than our best attempt at wisdom. It serves as a helpful reminder to me of who is God and who is not in our relationship. 

His thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways.  Christmas is the perfect time of year to meditate on the mystery of this. God himself incarnated was born into our dirty world, lived an uncomfortable life, died a rather unfortunate death, and is at this very moment interceding on behalf of sinners like you and me at the throne of heaven. “Practically” speaking, this had to be the most inefficient plan God could have come up with! Yet this is the option God chose, not because of its “foolishness” but because of its surpassing wisdom. 

More often than not, following God has to make sense in some very practical way for us to get on board. In other words, it has to be safe. But when we say “safe,” we really mean “comfortable.” Safety is allowing the Master to do what he wants with you and trusting Him to provide everything you need along the way. Our definition of safe turns out to be following God right up to the point that it becomes uncomfortable and begins demanding more from us than we’d like. The New Testament has a name for people who act this way. It’s “Pharisee.”

Answering practical questions is important. What’s more important is following the Master’s voice.

*  *  *  *  *

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of resolving to do the same things every year and giving up after three weeks because the shine has worn off. And I’m tired of being controlled by fear. I want to follow Jesus in 2014 by actually following Jesus: that is, taking my cue from the voice of God, regardless of how risky or “foolish” it may seem. His foolishness is wiser than my wisdom, and my hope is built on nothing less. 

Now there’s something to be joyful about.

Dominick Baruffi

The Devil's Courtroom

(By Thor Knutstad)

Satan always rushes at the mention of legal matters.  Though Revelation 12:10 says that he is "expelled from the real courtroom of God," the accuser finds himself there by the door trying to twist kernels of truth into mountains of accusation and condemnation on God's people.  The deceiver wants us to prove and defend our stance with God by performance and works.  In true essence, Satan is the most obvious and yet most subtle approval seeker.  He puts the attention on our sins (all of our sins) and he causes us to be deceived to think that we stand and fall on our own behavior.  He tries to make us think that we are alone and without advocacy – and raises questions about the extent of God’s forgiveness in Christ’s atoning work.  He (the enemy) will go so far as to make God’s people think that their moments of struggle are some abuse of liberty and license when it is not (for some it is, but more on that another time).  If I trust in myself, I live in the devil’s courtroom and hand him the gavel, which he in turn hands to me for self-judgment.   At this, I need to not hand the gavel back to the one true Judge (our merciful and satisfied God), but plead for His mercy that is already provided through the grace healing work of Christ.  Judgment is pronounced on Christ - not me.  Jesus takes it.

When I stand in His grand courtroom, I know and humbly acknowledge that my good deeds are not enough.  I put my hope FULLY in Christ.  When I am truly convicted of real sin, He points me PAST my sin, BEYOND self-condemnation and on to the beauty and purity of Christ.  His last word to me is hope.  You see, my defense is the Lord Jesus Christ.  When I trust in myself to perform, my hope is in me.  Yes, I race to repentance and accept the joy of conviction with a smile, knowing that this heart of mine testifies to Messiah and His permanent and full atonement.  And then I learn something more that God my Father has been teaching me all along – that this reality of being convicted by the Spirit of sin is very different than being in the devil’s courtroom.  In the Kingdom life of God’s courtroom, I see MORE sin – not less.  And my God welcomes me to the battle with a good judgment – “Son or daughter, because of my Son, there’s nothing you can do to make me love you less."  You see, He always delights in His sacrificial love for me.  He never decreases in love for me and His love is constant.  Sure.  Full.  Permanent. Unlimited. -- Praise Him.

“What is Man that You are Mindful of Him, and the Son of Man that You care for Him?” (Psalm 8:4)

(By Diego Cuartas)

The path began this way: On October 27 I wrote in my journal, “With digestive issues, a muscle in my left arm hurting and eyes that seem weak these days I am reminded of how fragile we are–like the grass flower that is here today but gone tomorrow.” Then on October 30 I recorded the thoughts found in Psalm 8:4, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” This same day a few things unfolded that eventually formed the diagnosis of a Bell’s palsy case. While having breakfast I noticed my tongue was somewhat strange, it felt numb on one side. I dismissed it after suspecting that I might have burnt my tongue the day before during dinner without realizing it. By 11:30am the numbness had moved down toward my chin and then up toward my right side cheek. By noon I was feeling muscles around and above my right eye acting strangely. The symptoms intensified but remained in the same locations. After taking the necessary steps to seek counsel on what to do, I was referred by my doctor to go to the emergency room. I was reluctant to go but thought it would be better to do so. Four hours later I was diagnosed and treatment had begun. I could not believe how quickly something like that could develop and impose a series of limitations on my normal functions. If you had asked me in the first days that follow to hold water in my mouth while standing in front of you, I guarantee you an unsolicited splashing would have been experienced immediately. Half of my mouth would not close! I won’t burden you with details, but I noticed that my life was placed in a situation where thoughts were being filter through these key thoughts: “Am I really fragile?” and “Is God mindfully caring about my situation?”

For the last three weeks I have been the recipient of underserved grace. As the days progressed and the uncertainty of how soon recovery would take place, I was reminded of these truths God had so kindly revealed to me before I became sick. One thing I notice is that when God speaks to me, He is being merciful in that He is delivering something I need on that moment or day. But He is also orienting me for the future. The reality is I don’t see further than 12 inches beyond my next step. How gracious of God to speak to me three things that He knew I was going to need within hours. What He spoke to me through His Word became an anchor for my soul during the 21 days of this struggle. I must admit that as I write this blog I am still experiencing a remaining 3-5% limitation due to the condition. I am thankful and doing very well. The recovery has been incremental and felt daily. Here are the three things that God used to hold me while my body was adjusting to the abnormalities:

• Humans are fragile
• I am mindful of those I have created
• I care about them

This is not how I heard these statements. The way I heard them was more personal than that. It sounded more like this:

• Diego, you are fragile; this is who you really are
• Diego, I am mindful of you
• Diego I care about you

Another observation I make is that there are times when God speaks in some general terms, and there are other times when God speaks more personally. His voice was sustenance to my soul. And in the moments when other voices were introduced into my situation, it was very helpful to anchor my soul in God’s words.

God does accomplish a lot of things in our lives through hardships, but one thing that I am learning is that hearing God speak and orient me created a space for my soul and mind to glean other fruit God had prepared for me to receive. First, he created space for me to embrace a more humble approach to life—this was emphasized to me daily as I recognized that I could not do things the same way I was used to due to the limitations produced by my new condition. Second, he reoriented my soul to consider being more merciful toward others who are undergoing their own version of suffering or the limitations they involuntarily experience today.

So, we really don’t know how much there is for us tomorrow in what God speaks to us today. Perhaps we would listen more attentively. Perhaps we would cherish His voice as the voice of One who loves us. One who whispers into our ears, “I am mindful of you and I care for you”.

• In what experiences of your life are you feeling alone? Perhaps forsaken?
• Whose or what voice influences your heart the most?
• What kind of things is God providing space for you through your present hardships?

May God share His heart with you too.

Christmas Lights in the Darkness

They were buried in the back corner of the Christmas section of the store. I had to pass all the expensive, shiny, technologically advanced decorations to get to what I sought. 

Christmas lights. Good old-fashioned cheap incandescent bulb lights. $5 per box. The price was right. I put them in the cart and passed all the pricy LED color changing lights and gigantic inflatable lawn Santas on my way out.

This is the first year I have owned my own home. It is also the first year that I am navigating the holidays, the family times of togetherness, without the center of my family universe, my mom. Money and spirit are both at low levels. Yet…I wanted a symbol of some kind that all is not lost. For me, that became a cheap set of lights.

Two days after a tough tear-filled Thanksgiving, I set out to string the lights on my small porch. I wasn’t into it at all, but I kept going. A clip here, a clip there, a plug…and there they were. They looked pretty raggedy and not at all impressive. But they were working, glowing and colorful in the growing dark. 

I started to realize what is so important about light at Christmas. Sure, I always made the connection between the darkest time of year and the need to offset that with more lights to function by. And there’s always the relationship between light and warmth in the coldest season. And yes, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World, makes light a great symbol of the Incarnation.

What I see this year is that light equals hope. When everything around is dark and cold and lifeless, light fights that. Even if it is a just a tiny candle or mini incandescent bulb, it takes away darkness in its small vicinity. It does what it can within its power to eliminate what seems to be vast and endless.

 Hope is like that. Even if it is there in the tiniest, almost non-existent way, it makes a difference in beating back the darkness of despair and sadness. Hope is powerful and the antidote to all things dark. 

I know so many people dealing with huge struggles in their lives right now. Some have had moments of deep despair where things just don’t look like they will ever improve. I myself spent a few hours on Thanksgiving sobbing uncontrollably at a situation that will not ever change here in my lifetime. Loved ones don’t come back from the grave. Reunion will be in another time and place, a wonderful one. But that can be cold comfort in a moment of missing someone so badly that your body physically aches and you don’t think you can bear the pain of grief.

But we have a Savior who was born into humanity and experienced life’s hurts and disappointments. He knows our griefs and sorrows. He knows what it is like to weep at the death of a loved one. He knows what it is like to be betrayed by those closest to him. And He promises comfort for our pains and a glorious future. That’s hope personified. 

So my little Christmas light display is my symbol of hope. Even if it is small and dim and imperfect, any little bit of hope is worth displaying in the darkness of a life at times overwhelmed with pain. Any little bit of hope shows that the Lord is holding on to us and keeping us in His grace.

Keep the lights shining this Christmas. Small or large, dull or bright, let’s keep hope alive even in dark places.

Nancy Vasquez