His Loving Arms Of Grace
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
In one of the churches where my husband was pastor, I taught a woman’s class on Sunday mornings. It was a group of about 12 to 15 women who were mothers of children varying in ages. We would always begin our class with prayer requests and then pray. At first it was very general and “safe” prayer requests. What I mean by “safe” was no one opened their heart to share what was truly burdening them. They were afraid to be vulnerable with one another; afraid that others would judge them for what was going on in their home, or lives.
Then one morning we had a breakthrough or some may say a breakdown. One woman was so terribly burdened by what was going on in the life of one of her children she could no longer contain herself. She started sobbing as she tried to share her brokenness. Immediately we all jumped out of our seats and surrounded her with love, comfort and acceptance as we huddled together to pray for her and her precious family.
Jesus, our High Priest literally came down to our level, became human and thus He understands our feelings. His nail-scarred hands prove His love for us. He longs for us to know that He cares, that we can run to Him in our weakness, and He will always be there, with His tender arms of grace, loving and accepting us.
God’s desire is that we accept His grace and in turn offer it to others. Jesus knows everything about us, the good the bad and the ugly, yet He still loves and accepts us when we truly come to Him. So if we are to be understood by others, we must risk facing and telling the truth about our own lives.
Our busy lives make it so difficult to find safe places to express our needs. We think to ourselves, “If I am honest with the way I truly feel then they won’t want to be my friends.” Or, “I was open once and I was betrayed, I will never make that mistake again.” True healing comes from confessing our faults to one another and praying for one another. It is sharing our needs and concerns with one another that we can find true healing, comfort and grace.
Do you know God’s unconditional grace and love? Have you felt the arms of your heavenly Father around you through the love and acceptance of others? Today, think of someone in your life that may need you to be God’s extension of His loving arms of grace.
Dear Lord, I thank you for your love and grace you bestow up me every day. Help me to be truly open and honest with you and others by allowing You and others into the places I am most weak and vulnerable and in need of your cleansing and healing. In so doing may I then be able to offer grace and healing to others through my prayers in Your name. Amen.
Searching In the Desert
We’ve all been there and wondered how and why we ended up in this seemingly God forsaken place. And yet, that very place is where He Himself has sent us. The desert.
It’s hard to understand the purpose of a desert sometimes; it’s hard to see it’s beauty. It appears dry, lifeless and forsaken. And yet, just like everything else He brings our way, it does have meaning and purpose; it’s not just a random act of meanness on His part or an ‘Oops! I forgot you!’ What He’s really saying is, “I’ve sent you into the desert because I want to test you. I’m trying to teach you something and I want to see if you’ve learned it.”
Not long ago I was in a desert place. I found myself meditating on Deuteronomy 8:1-3 & 16 (NASB).
1″All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers.
2″You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3″He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
16″In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.
As I’ve searched this passage for a refreshing stream in the desert, He’s shared 6 truths about the desert with me.
- Sometime we’re in the desert because He wants us to know what’s in our hearts. Who or what we are really comes out in the desert; what we really love, what really matters for us, what our real character is, (who) what we’re really trusting in.
- He tests us to find out if we’re obedient. Will we be obedient when we can’t see the outcome, what lays ahead. When His ways don’t make sense, will we still be obedient?
- Sometimes He wants to know, “Will you trust Me?” When you can’t see Him or the path you are on, when the circumstances are painful, when the night turns into months, maybe even years, will you trust Him?
- Maybe He wants to humble us. Sometimes He creates circumstances that we think are someone else’s fault. God is the ultimate person behind our circumstances. He humbled us. In the desert, where we don’t have any crutches, no excuses, nothing to lean on, God strips us. He strips us of pride, self-sufficiency, co-dependence. We see ourselves for what we really are, and sometimes what comes out is pretty ugly. We’re humbled and realize, “Oh God! Apart from you I’m a total mess. I can’t keep my life together. I can’t respond right to this person or these people. I can’t handle this situation.” Our pride wants to keep us in a circumstance where we can manage everything, but God sends us into the desert, where we can’t manage or do it on our own. The worst comes out and we’re humbled by God.
- Sometimes He wants to teach us that we need more than physical bread to sustain our life, we need spiritual bread that will sustain our soul and spirits. We all have an inner need that is even greater than the physical need. There are times we need to get taken to the desert to find that sustaining stream for our soul and spirit.
- Lastly, He desires to strengthen our faith and make us dependent upon Him. (2 Corinthians 1:8,9) Song of Solomon 8:3 says “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?”
What’s your posture while you’re in the desert and/or coming out of it? Are you leaning on your Beloved Jesus?
You can’t see me!
My Abigail loves to play a hiding game. Often, she will have her hands covering HER eyes, and squeal, “You can’t find me!” She thinks because SHE can’t see ME, I can’t see HER! Of course, her giggles erupt when I pretend that I have no idea where she is, calling out, “Where can she be? Where’s Abigail?”
It reminds me of Adam and Eve hiding from God in the Garden (Genesis 3). I am sure an all-knowing God KNEW where His children were, but He calls out for them.
But, they are hiding.
Hiding from God.
Hiding from their shame.
Hiding because of what they had done.
And, like them, how many times do I “hide” from God, pretending that He can’t “see” me? My shame drives me away and I try to cover myself (like Adam and Eve did with fig leaves).
But, God calls to me. He tells me that WHEN I SIN, when I fall, when I feel so ashamed, don’t turn away and HIDE. No, this is the time to COME to Him and be covered by His grace. In the Garden, God takes the fig leaves from Adam and Eve and He replaces them with HIS covering, animal skins. He made an animal blood sacrifice to cover their sin. But, the blood of Jesus Christ covers our sin and takes away our shame. When we don’t want to be seen, THIS is the time to “show ourselves” to God and receive His grace!
Hiding also reminds me of another who tried to hide from God- Jonah. Remember this stubborn fellow? God had an important job for him to do, but Jonah was scared and didn’t trust God, so he ran away and hid on board a ship going the exact OPPOSITE direction God had told him to go!
Hmmmm……..
Ever find yourself hiding from God, going the exact opposite direction God has told you to go?
When we are tempted to “pull a Jonah,” we need to pray for more faith and make a decision to trust God….to BELIEVE Him and surrender to His calling. Like the father in Mark 9, we must cry out, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!” We need to encourage ourselves with the Truth that God is always with us and will never leave us, that He has good plans for us, His ways are perfect, and He will direct our steps when we trust in Him. We need to renew our minds with His Word, “Be strong and courageous.” Remember that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
And, always remember, when your hands are covering your eyes, you may not be able to see God, but He sees (AND LOVES!) you!
“O LORD, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in- behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me….Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:1-10
Father, thank You for loving me so much. Thank You that You know me completely and that I have no where to hide from Your love! Lord, You are so gracious and good, desiring to take away my shame. Lord, thank You for the blood of Jesus that covers me. Help me, Lord, to NOT hide from You, but always to come to You for healing and restoration. Help me to trust You in times when I want to hide from Your plans for me. I love You, Lord! In Jesus’ Name we pray! AMEN!
Tracy
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“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”— Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
He was drawing a picture of a sunlit forest. He drew a brown trunk. Then a green lollypop top. When he drew a black circle in the middle of the trunk with the word “hoot” inside, I had to turn away to hide my smile.
The art teacher stood behind my six-year-old son with eyebrows raised, amusement thinly veiled.
He likes to draw, she said to me, with a smile.
What happened next was pure beauty. She knelt down beside him and gently redirected his attention to what he had drawn. She showed him how the trees deeper in the forest looked higher up on the page, how to add horizon to ground them with the others. She showed him how the leafy foliage overlapped to create a beautiful umbrella and how to use light and shadow to create individual leaves.
Do you see this trunk? There is brown in it, but look closer. What other colors do you see? There’s not only brown, is there?
She moved around the table, making similar points for other students. Each time she directed attention to the image being copied. Look, she said, or See.
She was not teaching how to draw. She was teaching how to see.
As I watched my son’s teacher, I felt my own vision change. When I looked at the paper the way she instructed, my eyes were opened. I noticed details I had never seen before…beauty took on new meaning.
As I pondered this transformation, my thoughts turned to The Great Teacher. Like my son’s instructor, Jesus taught His listeners to see in a new way. His ministry crossed all social barriers and shattered cultural norms. He challenged the practices of the religious leaders of his time. What’s more, by teaching in parables rather than the language of the law, He challenged people to see the world differently. He engaged their imagination, their creative mind, that part of them separate from logic and pretense.
Jesus taught to look deeper to see what others could not see.
This is where He takes us even today, the place where the unseen becomes seen. He understands our need to hear and see with our hearts.
I don’t know about you, but I want to see like Jesus sees. I want my eyes to be good—my whole body to be filled with light. I’m signing up for that class. I’m under the tutelage of the Great Teacher. How about you?
My Lord, my heart is full. I hear your stories and they make me want to change my vision. Open my eyes that I might see as you see. Help me to love as you love. Fill me with your light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Read MoreTHE INSTANT MILLIONAIRE
WELCOME to our guest writer today; KATHY BRUNNER. Kathy is a Speech Pathologist, a Business owner for over 20 years, Christian Author, Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Wife and Mother. You can find more about her over at her website: www.onemoreserving.com
There is nothing like an afternoon shopping with a friend to make me wish I had a stash of cash constantly replenishing itself. The dress looked too cute, there was a great patio set that would have looked stunning on the deck, I fell in love with every pair of shoes I saw and I so wanted to go on the incredible cruise I saw advertised in the window of the travel agency.
While my friend and I sampled lunch, she offered, “Don’t you just wish you were a millionaire and could just buy whatever you wanted?” I normally would have responded, “You bet!” but her comment found me thinking about something I remembered hearing in Philippians 4:19: My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
I thought about the things I would never give away, not even for a million dollars. I would never trade my health, my incredible family or friends, or my faith. I would not exchange my sight, my hearing, the ability to walk, talk or make my own choices and I realized I already was a millionaire. I had priceless, irreplaceable gifts that I could no more replace with any amount of money than I could buy my salvation. I was worth more than a million because the Lord had truly taken care of all my needs. I was blessed beyond measure. I had a guarantee from God that I would not lose my inheritance unless I chose to abandon it. He would give me everything I needed to meet my needs.
The shoes I admired would someday wear out, the patio set fade, the cruise would only be a memory, but I would have the inheritance promised by the Lord forever.
How about you? Are you blessed with riches beyond any measure? Can you see your loved ones’ faces, talk with your good friends, hear “I love you” from a child, worship where you choose? Were you given another day to enjoy? Then you too are an instant millionaire!
It is easy to forget what we already have when we are focused on what we still don’t possess. God may not always provide for everything we want but for sure He has given us profound riches, we might easily take for granted when we wish we were a millionaire and forget we already are, many times over.
Kathy Brunner
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