Tag: promise
The Miracle of Snowflakes and Souls
The last couple of weeks or so here in the U.S., people have shoveled, scraped, and trudged their way through enough ice and snow to last the rest of the year.
But as we take a magnifying glass and look at a single snowflake, we’ll see that they really are fascinating little miracles, and so is Christ’s life in us.
Just like precious pearls begin as something ordinary–a grain of sand, snowflakes also begin as something just as unpretentious–a dust particle, a piece of volcanic ash, or sea salt.
As it falls through the atmosphere, each particle forms into a clear ice crystal, its individual shape and size determined by the various conditions each particle encounters as it falls to the ground, like the altitude, temperature, and humidity.
The one thing all snowflakes have in common is they each have six sides or branches.
Each of us is also born with an ingrained imperfection, that is, our sin nature. As we grow, the conditions we encounter, like the family we grew up in, the experiences we have in life, and our own personalities determine the one-of-a-kind person we become.
But our sin nature continues to act as an irritant, wreaking havoc in our souls.
“’Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18
God compares our sins to scarlet and crimson.
This word for scarlet – shaniy – refers to a maggot-like insect called a “coccus illcis” which feeds on the leaves of evergreen oak trees. The dried bodies of these insects are used to make a deep red, or crimson, dye.
Our sin acts like those parasitic creatures, eating away at our joy, our souls, and our lives.
(Another factoid I found while looking up the definition of shaniy: the urban dictionary says it’s “a psychopath with demon eyes, this little creature lacks the skill of being nice, she is a very demanding person who is hard to control sometimes, she has the capability to stab someone if she wanted to; her favourite word is **** off.” Does that sound like our sin nature or what?!)
The Lord tells us that though we have been stained with the blemish of sin, He will make them white as snow.
So what makes those former pieces of dust, ash, and sea salt, and our sin, white?
As the snow crystals, or snowflakes, fall to the ground and begin to gather together, the light shining into the snow gets scattered around inside and is reflected around all those unique six-sided snow prisms and the light that comes back out appears white, and the imperfections are no longer seen.
The Bible refers to the number six as the number of mankind, of incompleteness. Just as the one commonality among snowflakes is that they have six sides, we all have in common our imperfect humanity. Without Christ, we are incomplete and impure.
But as we receive Jesus Christ by faith, He becomes a part of us (the number 7 symbolizes completeness), and we become a part of His family, joining together like a snowdrift high on a hill. His light shines into us and is filtered back out through the prism of our character, purifying our hearts and making us white as snow.
It’s amazing to me that God made snowflakes as a microscopic allegory showing us our need for Him. It’s as if He calls to us in the whisper of a tiny, almost secret world and says, “I know all about your weaknesses, your frailties, your sins, but the power of my love can overcome all that!”
We have all come through different and unique backgrounds, circumstances, sufferings, and joys, and the shape our heart and mind have become through our own uniquely-designed life allows Christ to shine through us in the extraordinary ways He’s chosen just for us and the lives around us.
So the next time you have to shovel snow or scrape it off your car, remember God’s love for you through Christ, and how His crimson blood turned our souls white and pure as snow. And remember, too, that the more we come together as one body and one heart with God’s family, the more His light shines in and through us. And doesn’t the world need that right now?
God bless,
The Story of Christmas, and All God’s Blessings, Don’t Come with Pride, They Come with This
A million thoughts could have gone through young Mary’s mind as she was suddenly and astonishingly visited by an angel and told that she would be overcome by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of the Most High. She wasn’t yet married (though pledged to be), and she was a virgin, yet was asked to believe this miraculous conception would take place inside her own body.
What would Joseph think? Would he leave her? What would her family think? Would they disown her? What would society think? Would they cast her out, or worse, stone her to death? But she put aside her fears, humbled herself to God’s will, and immediately answered “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Because she did, she gave birth to the Savior of the World.
When Joseph discovered she was pregnant, his mind was rattled, and he planned to divorce her. (In those days, being pledged to be married was as serious a commitment as marriage.) Could he trust that the angel that came to him was telling him the truth, that Mary had not been unfaithful, but had amazingly become pregnant through the Holy Spirit? But he put aside his fears, humbled himself to God’s will, and married her, and watched the Son of God brought into this world.
The shepherds, living out in the field with their sheep, were visited by a host of angels and were told that an almost unbelievable thing had happened – the Savior of the world had been born, and was lying in a manger of all things. Leaving their sheep and their fears aside, they humbled themselves to God’s will, and not only went to see this newborn King, but spread the amazing news that the Messiah was in their midst.
The Magi left their home, followed a star, and humbled themselves to worship the King of the Jews.
And Jesus, though being God, the very one by and through whom all things were made, humbled Himself to His Father’s will, left His Heavenly throne, His identity as God, the worship of angels, and was born a helpless, vulnerable baby.
Even the Father revealed His character of humility by sending His own Son to be born, to suffer, and die for a sinful people.
The power of the Christmas story lies in putting aside fears, rights, and pride, and putting on humility. It is a picture of the beauty of fully trusting God and His will, no matter what, and submitting to it.
God’s character is one of humility, and that’s why it’s so powerful. We see that in the person of Jesus through His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection to life again.
We don’t see a lot of humility in our world. Instead, it’s about pride, and rights, and self. And in living in the flesh, it lives outside God’s character, and loses the very power and blessing it’s striving for.
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.
Submit yourselves then to God.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and He will lift you up.”
James 4:6b, 7, 10
We see that play out in Luke 1:30 when the angel appeared to Mary and said,
“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”
And further in the story told by Luke, when Mary visited her relative, Elizabeth (who was also miraculously carrying a child in her old age), and worshipped God:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has been mindful
of the humble state of His servant.”
It’s not easy to humble ourselves to God’s will, especially when a million scenarios can run through our minds and fears stand ready to act as a wall, threatening to stand between us and God along with His favor, His will, and His blessings.
But the more time we spend with our Savior, the one who knows what it’s like to humble Himself and face those scenarios, coming out the other side victorious, the more we will love Him and be filled with His character of humility, ready to trust and obey Him in a moment’s notice, and stand with Him in victory on the other side.
This Christmas, in more ways than one, my Heavenly Father is reminding me of the beauty and power of humility, that good things come with it, and though I don’t understand the hows or whys of any given circumstance, if I will, in the strength and courage of the Holy Spirit, put aside my fears, then God’s goodness and untold blessings will fill my life.
May you find favor with God, and may you have a very blessed Christmas,
Come As You Are
You continue to be on my heart, and I know that’s because you’re on Jesus’s heart.
He loves us and He wants us to know – if we’re struggling, if we’re resisting, if our shame is keeping us from coming to the cross, from receiving His forgiveness and love, whether for the first time or the hundredth – my friends, look at the cross.
Look at Christ nailed to it, stripped of His clothing, beaten, bloody, spat upon, receiving the punishment saved for the worst of the worst.
Other gods, other religions require people to clean themselves up, to suffer for their sins, to pay penance to be forgiven.
But not Christ. He paid the penalty; He suffered for our sins; He bore the shame for us so He could take it from us. He doesn’t want us living with it.
No matter how far we’ve gone from Him – a day, a week, a decade, we’re only a step away. Only a prayer away. Only one Name away – Jesus.
If a whole prayer seems too overwhelming, just start by calling out the name of Jesus.
And not just any Jesus. The Jesus who was in the beginning, the Jesus who created all things, the Jesus who left His throne in heaven and came down to us fully God and fully man, the Jesus who was the Messiah prophesied about, the Jesus who is the Savior of the world, the Jesus whose sacrifice paid for your sins and the sins of the world.
And once the door is opened with His Name, confess your sins, and receive the abundance of His grace and mercy and love. It’s why He came, it’s why He died, and it’s why He rose again, and lives to intercede for us. It’s why He leaves the 99 to go after the 1. It’s why He never gives up. It’s why He invites you to come as you are.
Come As You Are
by Crowder
Come out of sadness
From wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted
Let rescue begin
Come find your mercy
Oh sinner come kneel
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
There’s hope for the hopeless
And all those who’ve strayed
Come sit at the table
Come taste the grace
There’s rest for the weary
Rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t cure
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
Come as you are
Fall in his arms
Come as you are
There’s joy for the morning
Oh sinner be still
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
Come as you are
Come as you are
Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Peace
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
Heavenly Father, you are praiseworthy. You are true and noble and right and pure and lovely and admirable, and we choose to think about you and all the ways you’ve shown us your goodness. You’ve rescued us time and time again. You forgive all our sins and have removed them as far as the east is from the west, and remember them no more. Your grace is always upon your children, and your mercy, too.
You have promised to prepare a place for us with you and to come again for us and take us with you where you are, where there is no more crying or pain or suffering. Your love sustains us, teaches us, and matures us until the day when your wisdom says it’s time to come home. Lord, in all these constant ponderings throughout the day and night, you give us peace, and we praise you. You know the trouble we face in this world, but we know you’ve already overcome it. Help us cling to you, both in the times when things are going well, and in times when things are hard.
Give us the strength to turn to you when the enemy is whispering in our ears that you don’t care. That you can’t possibly love us after what we’ve done. Give us the strength to call those what they are: lies from the pit of hell. Help us cling to the truth, and where our beliefs are false, we ask that you would change them. Where we believe wrong things about you, please show us the truth. And where we believe wrong things about ourselves, please break down those strongholds of falsehood, knowing they keep us from living purely in the victory you would have us. We give you our minds and our hearts to mold as you will. We receive your peace, and we give you all the glory. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
Your Day is Coming
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what He has promised. For,
‘In just a little while,
He who is coming will come
and will not delay.’
And,
‘But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.’
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but to those who have faith and are saved.”
Hebrews 10:35-39
Maybe there are things in this life you’ve missed out on. All around you there are constant reminders of those things others enjoy and you don’t, and maybe in this life you most likely won’t.
Relationships are gone or never were.
That opportunity passed by.
You wonder what it would be like to live a day without pain or some other sickness.
You see the world normalizing behaviors you’re tempted to, but you choose not to indulge in.
Oh, you could run after them. You could leave the footsteps of Christ and fill your life with all kinds of things.
But you don’t. You don’t because as much as you desire those things, you desire Christ more.
Still, it’s hard.
I want to tell you what the Lord told me, because as His followers we’re all one in Christ: “Your day is coming.”
He sees the ache in our hearts, the longing for certain blessings, and though in this life we may never see them, our Father will more than make up for it. He sees our faithfulness and our love for Him and on that day we see Him face to face, He will flood us with a reward so powerful, so eternal, so full of Himself that we will instantly forget that we ever missed anything.
All we’ll know is completeness of love and joy. We will never want for anything again, and we will forever know a freedom the world never will.
For now, we remember that if God has chosen not to give us certain blessings now, it is out of an abundance of wisdom and righteousness. So we keep our eyes on Christ, our Redeemer and the Rewarder of our souls. And we walk by faith.
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!'”
Revelation 21:5
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,
and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”
Revelation 22:12
Sunday Praise – Ephesians 1:3
Praying you all have a week filled with the blessings that are ours in Christ!
Saturday Song – Lift Your Head Weary Sinner
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Luke 15:1-20
Maybe you’ve somehow stumbled onto this page, and you’re lost. You’re searching. You know you need God but you’re afraid. Afraid He won’t take you. Afraid of what you’ve done. Afraid you’re too far gone.
My friend, I promise you, God promises you, you are not too far gone.
Maybe you knew Christ at one point a long time ago. Maybe it was just last week. But you’ve done something, and you can’t face Him. You’re afraid, too. Surely He’ll punish you, you think. Surely He’s ashamed of you, disappointed in you. You can’t go back.
My friend, you can.
Whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, get this –
God loves you.
And He is willing at this very moment to forgive you and receive you.
Come to Him, no matter what you’ve done. Come to Him with your sin; come to Him with your wretchedness, your weakness, your guilt. Come to Him, like the prodigal child.
He is there, waiting with His arms open wide to receive you right here, right now, to forgive you, to love you, to welcome you back with no reservation. With no condemnation.
That is how great He is, how great His love and mercy and forgiveness. Whatever it is, it’s all been paid for on the cross.
Just come. And let the chains fall.
If you need prayer, I would be honored to pray for you. Simply email me by clicking on the envelope to the far right of the Facebook icon to the right.
May you bask in the glory of the Risen One, the One Who paid it all.
Sunday Praise – Luke 1:68
Blessings to you this week!