Charisa Stories

Tag: grace

  • Opening the Gift of Grace

    Opening the Gift of Grace

    “Lord I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better I’d have come running with a bucket.” -Nancy Spiegelberg 

    That quote may be the most indicting summary of my misunderstanding of grace for decades. I am indeed Waking Up Slowly to the mystery and majesty of Grace. 

    Grace.

    It is a word that has lost some of its power through misuse and overuse. We banter about the ridiculous concept of cheap grace as if we must be wary of receiving a gift from our Father in Heaven. Are you kidding me? If we view grace like a sales pitch for a time share resort we are listening to the wrong voices. There are no strings attached with grace. No fine print. No hidden costs. No promises to lure you in that cannot be delivered in reality. Grace gives you full title to the resort and every benefit of the place. Even when you one star the facilities on Yelp!

    Grace

    Grace understood can never be viewed as a cheap gift. It cost Jesus everything. If you think grace is cheap I challenge you to kneel at the foot of the Cross and look up. There is nothing cheap about the transaction that Jesus suffered for you and me. I know that some people misuse grace. There is a word for that. Sin. The truth is that grace is the only real antidote for sin and should never, ever, ever, ever be the excuse for sin. Paul addressed the heresy that grace gives us license to sin. Here is a sampling of the translations of Paul’s undisguised dismay expressed in Romans at the very thought that the sweet grace of the Gospel would be abused.

    God forbid! (KJV)
    Of course not! (NLT)
    Absolutely not! (NET)
    May it never be! (NASB)
    By no means! (ESV)

    So I think we can all agree that no matter which translation you choose rationalizing grace as a sin excuse is abhorrent. I would suggest that line of thought is  only possible when you fail to understand the amazing power of this gift.

    Grace.

    If I was given the opportunity to communicate one message to every person in the world it would be a no-brainer for me. I would beg every person to open their minds and heart to the outrageous grace gift that God offers freely to each one of us. And do my best to convince the world that all you have to do is open that gift in faith. 

    I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one-way love that God demonstrates to everyone who will receive that love. Instead of turning His back on sinners who deserved just that God chose to reach out to His creation with a radical plan for forgiveness. A plan that is unlike any other religion in history. Man-made religion always demands something to earn salvation. God’s plan for redemption requires the lost to bring nothing to the table other than sin and need. Nothing. Any other presentation of the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ is a lie.

    Edwin Lutzer describes the prerequisite for grace.

    “When the mask of self-righteousness has been torn from us and we stand stripped of all our accustomed defenses, we are candidates for God’s generous grace.” 

    How differently we would live if we remembered the gifts of grace. We are saints wrapped in the robe of righteousness. We are new creatures who are forgiven, accepted, and wrapped in this incomprehensible gift of grace. Even in our failure Jesus loves us anyway.

    Tim Keller wrote this very annoying sentence. “The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.”

    I can’t ignore the obvious action steps in that simple statement. As I write about grace and begin to understand the miracle of grace I should begin to demonstrate what grace looks like to a hurting world. If I am receiving grace I must also give it. If I welcome the generous gift of grace I must become more generous. If I accept the gift of forgiveness I must forgive. If I marvel at God’s unfailing love I must also love others. That is what the doubting world is looking for from the church. Grace, forgiveness and love.

    As Jesus faced the horror of the Cross He offered this command to His disciples.

    So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 14, NLT)

    I ask myself as I write these words. Does my love prove that I am a follower of Jesus? Does my heart reveal that I comprehend the magnitude of His grace? Living out of grace is not a tiring burden. It is a joyous response of gratitude if we stay focused on the source of that grace.

    Jesus offers this gift to anyone who chooses to follow Him. All you have to do is trust, open His amazing gift, and enjoy true freedom.

    Today’s musing was excerpted from Waking Up Slowly. Click here for more information.

  • Want to Make a Difference?

    Want to Make a Difference?

    I believe that God uses difficult circumstances to grow us in our faith. The lengthy pandemic has given us lots of opportunities to reevaluate priorities in our relationship with God and others. The frightening uncertainty of the past year has also given followers of Jesus a chance to show how faith makes a difference in crisis. The results have been mixed.

    I used to get angry and judgemental when those who identify as Christians didn’t live up to their title. Now I mainly feel sad at missed opportunities to show how Jesus makes a difference when we trust Him during trials. Christians should have a message of hope during this confusing and anxious season. Jesus followers should be demonstrating that trusting God gives peace and hope in dark times. A song by Thomas Rhett neatly summed up how Christians can be different in a good way. We are called to show a different path and a better way.

    In a world full of hate, be a light
    When you do somebody wrong, make it right
    Don’t hide in the dark, you were born to shine
    In a world full of hate, be a light

    Jesus told His followers that we are to be a light to those around us.

    “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

    I don’t know about you but those challenges from Jesus can feel daunting. Sometimes I don’t feel much like a light to the world. I feel more like the dimmest bulb in the Church Light Store. A quote from one of my favorite authors gave me hope.

    “Imperfection is the only prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.”~ Philip Yancey

    For years I tried to patch the cracks with new disciplines and teeth gritting self-effort. Now I own each and every flaw and crack that allows the light of the Gospel into the dark corners of my soul. And when I am vulnerable to others they see that light shining right back through those same cracks of imperfection. And suddenly the command of Jesus is not so daunting because it has NOTHING to do with me. It is all about letting the light of the Gospel into my heart and sharing that light with others. Then good deeds flow out of gratitude and not begrudging obligation.

    Another of my favorite writers is 19th Century preacher Charles Spurgeon. He said this about the topic of light.

    “I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.”

    Remember where your light comes from today and pray that you can be a light this week. Let your good deeds reflect the loving light of your Father. You might be amazed how much of a difference that can make.

  • The Darkest Day Ever?

    The Darkest Day Ever?

    There is much written about Good Friday. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is incomprehensible to my puny human intellect. There is much written about Easter Sunday. Christians around the world rejoice and proclaim that “He is risen!”. But there is not nearly as much written about one of the saddest and most confusing days in history. The Saturday between the Friday horror of Jesus on the Cross and the Sunday mystery of the resurrection. Some churches do observe Holy Saturday but it was never a tradition in my faith upbringing.

    I have been thinking about what that day must have been like for those who dropped everything to follow Jesus. How crushing those events had to be. I imagine the fear they felt that they would also be killed. And for what? On Saturday they feared they had given their careers and their very souls for a false hope.

    I think in particular of Peter. I identify so much with him. Like him I throw down bold statements of loyalty to the Lord and then betray them. Like him I draw attention to my own accomplishments instead of recognizing where my accomplishments come from. Like Peter I am a generally sincere but desperately needy follower of Jesus.

    You know the story about Peter before the arrest and mock trial of Jesus. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows at dawn. For many years I breezed by the setup to that prediction.

    “Simon (Peter),  Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”  (Luke 22, NLT)

    Jesus had already prayerfully pleaded for Peter to be used in a powerful and redemptive way before the failure, shame and repentance that Jesus knew was about to happen. Our sin does not take Jesus by surprise. Why does His grace and forgiveness surprise us?

    Like me, Peter did not hear the tender words of encouragement from the Lord. Nope. He blustered.

    “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”

    After the arrest of Jesus a suddenly less bold Peter followed the crowd. He denied to a servant girl that he knew Jesus. He denied his alliance to another bystander. The crushing sorrow and shame of what happened next is hard to fathom.

    About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”

    But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

    At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind:“Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

    I imagined what the expression might have been on the face of Jesus when He turned and looked. I suspect it was a look of sadness, compassion and longing to comfort His friend. But what Peter probably saw was only disappointment and failure. Peter’s tears likely flowed until they could no longer flow. I suspect it was hard to even breathe. His heart literally ached within his chest. His mind could not imagine any future hope. I wonder if he thought about running away or even ending it all. I wonder if he could think at all.

    That Saturday was one of the worst days in history and Peter may have felt the pain of that awful day more intensely than anyone. He did not know what would happen the next day. Peter did not yet understand what Jesus had been telling him.

    When Luke recounts that Jesus appeared to the Disciples the only one mentioned by name is Peter. What gives me hope this Easter season is the tender story of Jesus affirming and reinstating Peter to be a leader who would “feed His sheep”. That is the grace that changes a heart.

    I can betray Jesus. Ignore Him. Live selfishly. At some point I once again recognize my desperate need for Jesus to rescue me. For the one millionth time I turn to Him. And what happens? He lifts my shame bowed head and looks deeply into my eyes. He tells me how much He loves me. That is grace. That is real. That is love. Maybe I won’t have a day quite as bad as Peter on that horrible dark Saturday but his story of redemption encourages me this Easter season.

    He is risen! He is risen for me! Jesus is pleading for me that my faith will not fail. What a joyous hope for all of us this Easter.

  • Can Followers of Jesus Disagree with Grace?

    Can Followers of Jesus Disagree with Grace?

    Recently I wrote that the lack of unity is the single biggest problem in the universal church and, of course, in our individual fellowships.

    After posting that article I received a note from high school friend Lona Jo Pierson Bowman. “I agree. Can you go on to describe what unity looks like when we sincerely disagree with each other?”

    Uhhhh….thanks a lot Lona! I have been wrestling with that homework assignment for a couple of weeks. I made a conscious decision a few years ago to focus on communicating the message of grace and identity in Christ. With that I decided to avoid the polarizing path of politics. Some have told me that is cowardly but I can honestly say there is no message more important to me than the liberating freedom of grace. I want to share the joy of living out of what Jesus has already accomplished and God says true about me. That I am a saint. A new creation. A beloved child of God. I relate to the mission statement of Paul when he wrote these words.

    But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24, NLT)

    I feel called to be a messenger of hope and grace. Plus I feel like the negative team has a pretty full roster of contributors.

    I still believe that is my calling with these humble ramblings. But my friend’s question is a fair one. What does it look like to have sincere disagreements over cultural and political issues?

    It is fascinating how two people can look at the same information and reach completely opposite conclusions. So I am going to offer the “Grace Rules of Engagement” as a roadmap for civil discussion.

    • Sincere followers of Jesus can look at cultural or political issues and have very different opinions. Jesus loves His children on both sides of the argument.

    I know I have changed my views on some cultural issues over my years of walking with Jesus. I was a child in the era when divorce was a mortal sin. I absolutely am committed to the idea of a husband and wife taking their vows seriously. But I learned that the cultural shame of divorce caused many Christian women to feel trapped in relationships of abuse. Clearly that was not the desire of a loving Heavenly Father who ordained marriage. In those sad situations it is necessary to divorce an abusive spouse. In the pulpits of my youth the message was no divorce outside of adultery was ever justified. I had a blind spot about how a declaration that appeared Biblical could foster abuse. So many issues we discuss have similar and complex nuances. We need to discuss, not demonize.

    • The goal of a discussion should not be to win.

    Thoughtful discourse is impossible when one of the participants only cares about winning the debate. The goal of any conversation should be graceful exchange of ideas without rude interruptions, condescending gestures, or angry exchanges. I would rather have a goal of being winsome instead of winning. That attitude fosters conversation.

    • People of different viewpoints should commit to listen. Nothing shows respect more than carefully listening to the arguments of those with whom you disagree and then gently offering thoughtful responses.

    Listen to talking heads on television news shows as they “discuss” different points of view. As soon as one side starts talking the other shakes their head, smirks, and then interrupts and talks over the other person. How is that going to persuade anyone? Yet we tend to do the same thing when we have significant disagreements with people of faith. Listen. Really listen. Let them finish their point. Then respond in grace.

    • Ask questions.

    You will not influence another person by arguing. The way to connect is to ask questions and try to understand why they feel the way they do. I have found that many times people I talk with don’t have a solid reason for their feelings. That can be a opening to honestly discuss difficult topics.

    • Climb out of your bubble

    Find out what the other person is reading and watching. Expose yourself to different points of view and encourage those you have disagreements with to do the same. If you are confident in your beliefs there should be no fear in being exposed to differing viewpoints.

    • All of us are a work in process.

    Every child of God is in process. I am a very different Christian than I was 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. I am growing (hopefully) in grace and truth. I strongly believed and said things years ago that I am grieved about today. Thankfully God was patiently working with my heart and gently shining the light of the Holy Spirit on my blind spots. I need to give that grace to others.

    • Pray for wisdom and grace then leave the results to God.

    So what is the goal when you have sincere disagreements with another believer over cultural issues? Use the “Grace Guidelines” and relax. God may be using you to plant seeds in the heart of the other person. Maybe you have a blind spot that needs the refining work of the Holy Spirit. Share your heart with love and kindness and be open to the possibility that you may be the one who needs to change your heart.

    • Grace never cancels

    Grace does not “cancel”. Grace does not shame. Grace does not answer anger with anger. The person you totally disagree with may be crying out of pain and deep wounding. Perhaps a gentle answer will give hope. Grace does not lash out when challenged. Grace is kind and gentle.

    Being graceful can be a pain in the hind regions but it is what we are called to offer to others. Paul addresses this to the church at Colossae.

    Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

    Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

    Colossians 3:12-17, NLT

    Perhaps the most important thing all of us can do to further the unity in the body of Christ is to memorize that passage and try to implement those words for 30 days. By the grace of God it could become a habit.

    Be kind to those who disagree and remember the words of author Alexander MacLaren. “Kindness makes a person attractive. If you would win the world, melt it, do not hammer it.”

  • A House Divided Cannot Stand. Will We Let It Fall?

    A House Divided Cannot Stand. Will We Let It Fall?

    I used to joke that it is hard to find a good Evangelical math teacher because the only thing they completely understand is division. I am not sure I think that is humorous anymore as I watch the heartbreaking division in the body of believers that I love and call family.

    My head explodes when I allow myself to wade into the discourse between followers of Jesus Christ on Twitter and other social media. There are important cultural issues that Christians need to prayerfully and gracefully seek God’s wisdom to address. What I see is rarely graceful and that makes me wonder how prayerful the messengers have been before hitting the send button.

    Because of the nature of social media a topic that should be thoughtfully debated instead becomes an us versus them war. The discourse easily drifts toward broad brushing of large segments of the body of Christ with unfair assignation of motives.

    These judgements of motives and personal attacks are so damaging to the message of grace that I hold so dear. Sometimes I try to imagine myself as a skeptical seeker looking to explore this Christianity thing. I am pretty sure if I stumbled on some of these mean-spirited threads I would run straight for the secular hills.

    The irony of this need to “win” the argument at the expense of Christian charity and love may be one more profoundly effective tactic of the enemy. The moment the Church is divided by culture instead of united in Christ is the moment our light is extinguished. Paul noted that God’s sovereignty can take any proclamation of the Gospel and use it for His glory.

    It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. Phillipians 1:15-18

    I hope that most of us wish to communicate the incredibly liberating forgiveness of the Gospel. I hope that most of us wish to be accurate in that communication. But I also hope that most of us wish to be gracious, kind, loving, and thoughtful toward all in the body who desire to celebrate Jesus.

    When asked what the most important commandment was Jesus replied without hesitation.

    “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

    And he added a second part…”Be accurate and angrily make sure others are accurate at all costs.”

    Hardly. His convicting command is well known.

    The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”

    Don’t hijack my point. Accuracy is important but you cannot love your neighbor as yourself with condescension, assigning of bad motives, and smug righteousness.

    I wish followers of Jesus would proclaim what we are FOR more passionately than what we are against. What if we decided to spend all of our energy proclaiming that the Son of God came to earth as a human, lived a sinless life, was crucified as a sacrifice for my sin and yours and then was resurrected to show the ultimate victory over sin and death.

    What if we decided to be a little kinder, give a little more, serve a little more often, and commit to unity in our ranks. Joni Erickson Tada has been a quadriplegic for over fifty years yet her joy exceeds most of us when we have a hangnail. She had this to say about unity.

    “Believers are never told to become one; we already are one and are expected to act like it.”

    I have reached the conclusion that lack of unity is the single biggest problem in the universal church and, of course, in our individual fellowships. When a major league baseball team starts to lose games regularly, it is said to have “bad clubhouse chemistry.” That’s a fancy way of saying, “This team doesn’t get along, and the players don’t work well together.” How sad that “congregational chemistry” has the same effect on winning…only our losses are eternal.

    There is no more powerful community than a group of believers who live in unity. Nothing levels the playing field like genuinely following Jesus.

    Famous preacher D.L. Moody had this warning. “I have never yet known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord’s people were divided.”

    The One that unites us is so much more important than the things that divide us. Can we commit to pray for unity in the body of Christ? The choice is ours.

  • Critical Lessons from the Temptations of Jesus

    Critical Lessons from the Temptations of Jesus

    We just celebrated the miracle of the incarnation. Paul explained what an incredible sacrifice Jesus made when He left the glory of Heaven.

    Instead, he gave up his divine privilege;
        he took the humble position of a slave
        and was born as a human being. (Philippians 2:7, NLT)

    That transaction allowed Jesus to fully experience the frailties of being human. Because Jesus was human He no doubt faced temptations throughout His life. Jesus had siblings and didn’t sin! That is a largely overlooked miracle.

    When the time arrived for Jesus to begin His public ministry Satan knew he needed to derail the redemptive work of Jesus. His strategy was to throw everything he could muster at Jesus in the form of three temptations. Satan knows the weakness of the flesh so these temptations were the best and most effective in his arsenal. The temptations and the order are so important for us to understand.

    Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3, NLT)

    Strategy Number 1: Attack a physical, emotional, or spiritual need when there is weakness.

    Jesus was hungry. Starving. He had to be utterly exhausted. The devil always attacks weakness. When you are tired and lonely you are a prime target for temptation. The tempter speaks to our weakness and the lies begin. “You are alone. No one will see what you are doing. Why don’t you go to this online site? It will take your mind off of your loneliness.”

    Whatever weakness you have will be exploited by the devil. Jesus could not have been in a more vulnerable position. I can’t imagine the condition Jesus must have been in yet He responded with authority of God’s Word.

    But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
    (Matthew 4:4, NLT)

    No doubt the devil was disappointed but undaunted. His two best strategies were yet to come.

    Strategy Number 2: Get you to take your eyes off of God and make it about you and your abilities

    Then the devil him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you.
    And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6, NLT)

    I can imagine that the flesh of Jesus wanted to show the accuser exactly how powerful His Father was. What a way to launch His public ministry with a heavenly display of power played out in front of multiple witnesses below. Satan thought he had a chance with this temptation because he had used God’s own words to set the trap. Jesus responded in kind.

    Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” (Matthew 7, NLT)

    Anytime you are focused on your ability more than God’s ability you are subject to this temptation. Satan was 0 for 2 but he had saved his biggest temptation for the grand finale.

    Strategy Number 3: Offer a shortcut to power, prestige, and fame

    Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9, NLT)

    Satan knew Scripture. He knew that Jesus must be a suffering servant before He would be king. The Prince of this world was offering a shortcut to an earthly kingdom. It shows that the devil doesn’t care about power over this physical world. From the moment of rebellion that got him tossed from God’s presence he wanted wanted one thing. To be like God and to be worshiped.

    “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:10, NLT)

    One of the most encouraging words in Scripture is what happens when you attack the enemy with God’s truth.

    Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

    It seems like the third temptation has been a recent challenge for many leaders in the church and followers of Jesus. Satan’s message is modified for the times but unchanged in essence.

    “I will give you access to power and social media influence. I will give it all to you if you overlook the truth of God’s Word and cozy up to the idols of culture.”

    Jesus was offered unlimited fame, power, and possessions.

    He said no.

    I can’t read the hearts and motives of others although it appears that is the superpower of many Twitter users. But all of us need to examine our hearts through the lens of grace and truth. And if we sense any doubt about our motives it would behoove us to emulate Jesus in His response to the devil. I love the way The Message translates verse ten.

    Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”

    Maybe that can be a mantra for the New Year.

    Beat it Satan!

    And remind the enemy that our hope is in Jesus and our trust is in Him alone.

  • Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    Childlike Faith and a Postcard from God

    A few of you noticed that last week’s Monday Musing became a Tuesday Take. The reason was a little detour to the local Emergency Room. I felt a little off on Sunday but didn’t think much about it. I planned on calling the doctor on Monday but my body had other ideas. I began to develop a fever and shakes like I have rarely experienced and you already know the word that popped into my head.

    Covid.

    Joni loaded me up and headed to the ER. She said I was a little disoriented but I would submit it is hard to tell when I am oriented. At any rate, I checked in and got the Covid brain tickler along with a several hundred other tests. The quick Covid test came back negative. The diagnosis was a bladder infection and they began massive antibiotics. Just to be sure and to heighten my enjoyment I got the more sensitive Covid swab brain tickler. It also was negative.

    It is so 2020 when you celebrate that you have a bladder infection instead of Covid.

    I got home thinking I would soon be good to go. Fast forward a couple of days. The ER calls and says they found bacteria in my blood and I needed to get in as soon as I could.

    The doctor’s were concerned about sepsis which can be a bad thing. I alerted the family and friends. My phone lit up that people were praying. Six hours in I got the results from several hundred more tests that I did not need to be hospitalized and that the antibiotics were working.

    I texted the info to family and friends.

    The next day I got a Facetime call from my grandson Ethan. He shared that he had prayed for me while I was in the ER and wanted to see how I was doing. But the Postcard from God was this exchange with him.

    “Right after I prayed for you Mommy’s phone dinged with the news you were going to be okay.”

    I thought about the beauty of God’s sovereign timing. A lot of people prayed for me. The process at the hospital was long and arduous. But I believe God used that moment to show my precious grandson that prayer matters and that He listens.

    One of the remarkable and overlooked counter cultural ministries of Jesus was His view of children. Children were devalued. They were to be seen and not heard and often not even seen. Jesus turned that view upside down like so many other cultural norms with His teachings.

    About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

    We don’t get what a big deal this was. Jesus was not only giving children value He was using them as a spiritual example! Imagine how that settled with the puffed up Pharisees.

    I know this journey can be difficult. I know we wrestle with difficult theology. But sometimes I wonder if we make being a Christian harder that Jesus desires. Maybe if we concentrate on these simple precepts of Jesus we will find 2021 a much more fruitful journey.

    • “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17
    • “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said…” Matthew 9:9
    • Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

    Seems like a solid blueprint for this year. I hope to remember these simple lessons. Jesus never said He is only impressed with theologians. He never said to chart you own course. He never said to work 24/7 or feel guilty. He said these simple things.

    Pray and have Childlike faith.
    Follow Him.
    Rest in Him.
    Repeat.

    This journey is not about me. It is about Jesus and what He has already done. That is more than enough for us to get through anything together.