reflections on the love that changes everything
If our eyes are closed to what God sets before us, then the arc and trajectory of our life will never be what God intends for it to be….
And because each and every one of us only has one precious life to live, that would be tragic.
…How can we have our eyes opened to all that God has for us?
Living according to the Spirit means turning away from our sinful desires and focusing instead on Jesus, the new life He gives us, and the guidance that He gives us through His Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us to focus on Jesus and His many blessings and gifts to us.
Your war with God is over because God has reconciled you, and me, and everyone else who believes in Jesus, to Himself—and He did that by paying the full cost of our forgiveness and giving us His righteousness.
Jesus more than paid for all the sins of all the people in the whole world. By doing so, He opened the gates of heaven for God’s righteousness to come pouring down upon you and upon me. We are now flooded… with the purity, holiness, and uprightness of God.
Because the infinite worth of Jesus’ suffering and death on our behalf vastly exceeds the debt we owe for our sin, God the Father looks at us and makes the only just decision he could. He declares that we are righteous, in other words, that we are completely and totally innocent of all our sin, and he sets us free. God no longer holds anything against us.
God still loved his broken and flawed creation and immediately promised to restore it by sending a special descendant of Eve who would defeat evil, bring humans back into relationship with God, and restore and renew his beloved creation.
The women at the tomb had the right information—an empty tomb, an angel’s message, a reminder of Jesus’ promise—but their frame didn’t allow for resurrection. At least not yet. But Mary’s frame changed when she heard her name from the lips of the risen Christ. And that changed everything.
Do you long for a richer, deeper spiritual life with God, but feels like you are only skimming the surface of what could be? Individual condition and environmental quality are likely playing a role & humans can impact their condition and environment. Let’s reflect on what we can do to help ourselves thrive?
The reason that we can be people of hope in a hopeless world is that the grace of Jesus Christ has changed everything for us. It has changed who we are, it has changed how we live, it has changed where we are going.
If you have ever gone through an extremely difficult season in life—perhaps harder than you expected—or if you are experiencing one now, this sermon is for you. God, in His wisdom, gave us the book of Revelation to prepare us for life’s hardships.
Farewell to Shadowlands 