Posted on November 4, 2009 at 6:55am.
We are called to live like Jesus. Yet I wonder how many of us get beyond the “flat” Jesus of our flannel graph stories. What stand out to me time and time again as I read the encounters Jesus has with life and people is Jesus speaking into people’s lives. He walks right into the chaos and brings life. By contrast, how often do I remain silent. “Lord, help me to speak words that bring life.”
Posted on November 3, 2009 at 8:59am.
Repentance is one of those strange words because it implies something. If I am going to repent (change my mind) it means there is something I have done wrong. I am going to have to admit wrongdoing and that becomes a problem. Most of us construct our “list” of what we consider sin and that becomes our gage as to whether there is anything to repent over or not. The end result is that repentance is seen as a finish line or destination and I either cross it or avoid it. When I look at scripture what I realize is that repentance is not a finish line it is a lifestyle. What needs to change is my heart, my attitudes, my thinking - it is so much more than a list.
Posted on November 2, 2009 at 8:14am.
“Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Those are the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28. I wonder how many of us would fit his description of being weary and burdened? Life can be exhausting and leave us longing for rest, a rest that includes not only physical but an inner rest of heart. It is a rest that can be found when I learn to trust the Father for all that my life needs. The struggle I have is that I look everywhere else for relief and all along it could be found in resting in him.
