Contemplating Life

  In my last blog I talked about the concept of Jesus-with-the-skin-on. At the foundaton of this concept is the fact that we ALL have broken areas, we are ALL wounded, we ALL have dysfunction that we need Jesus to reach into and work with and heal. No matter how closely you walk with Christ, if you have breath you still have broken spots. If you were to tell me that this isn’t true for you – that you have arrived- I wouldn’t call you a liar, but I wouldn’t believe you either. Sin (whether our own or another’s) ruins us all – it just does – and it keeps damaging us on a daily basis. Without a doubt, we all need a Savior to deliver us from this ruination. Sometimes our pain, our woundedness, is so great that it is hard to face. Jesus-with-the-skin-on is my terminology for a believer operating in the Spirit who is willing to be a focal point for you to latch on to as you face the darkness or pain inside yourself. Jesus isn’t here in bodily form to hold onto you as the pain erupts, but He

  I have finally finished the book of Ezekiel and today I get to read Daniel. This foray into the prophets has been heart-stopping and eye-opening and has come with a definite conviction that I/we need to stop putting God in a box. Somehow, we get into this pattern of thinking that God can only act a certain way, but the prophets dispel this notion. God is NOT predictable; He is not confined to acting in ways that WE find acceptable; God is God, He has a plan, and He WILL work out that plan according to HIS design. In C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia , Aslan the lion (who is the representation of Jesus) is described as “He’s wild you know, not like a tame lion”. Lewis did a good job with Alsan as he depicted our Lord – wild, unpredictable, but good. I am looking forward to Daniel, especially the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I LOVE the picture of Jesus literally walking in the fire with the three men. They didn’t have to trust and believe in God’s Presence – He  actually

  I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that I am on an adventure to really understand and embrace God’s creation of the Body of Christ. Last night was another of my almost sleepless nights as I pondered and prayed, trying to understand God’s leading. Whereas “I” thought understanding of the Body would begin by coming into a real knowledge of the various parts and their giftings and how they fit together, I feel I am actually being started at the opposite end of the story. I have this gut feeling that it is imperative that I understand the meaning of the Whole before I view the parts. When you think about a human physical body, it is mind-boggling how wonderfully complex it is. I remember taking a physiology class that made me think over and over “How can anyone NOT believe there is a Creator God – this couldn’t have just happened?” The body is so complex and yet so finely tuned to function amazingly as each part does its part. Every part needs to be connected in a certain way and EVERY par

  When being challenged by a religious leader, Jesus once said that the two greatest commandments were to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” I have been pondering both of these a lot . When it comes to loving God, the word “ALL” keeps jumping out at me. ALL of my heart, ALL of my soul. ALL of my mind pretty much sums up ALL of me, which means I need to love God with everything I am. But contrary to popular belief, love is not an emotion – love is a choice of action (check out 1 Corinthians 13 for some dos and don'ts).  Jesus said, “ If you love Me, obey My commandments.” ( John 14:15 )   This is a very clear if/then statement. IF we love God, then we WILL OBEY Him, and obedience is a choice of action that often defies our emotion s or desire. We are loving God

I have been told repeatedly that I have a gifting with words. I was once even called a “wordsmith”. I have been told that I am an excellent communicator. I think maybe these things are true because God made them true within me, but today…..today was one of those days when I felt like I completely failed with my words. I was trying so hard to communicate something, and I just couldn’t find the way. I was trying to explain to a friend what it means to “see yourself through God’s eyes and not through the eyes of self or of others”. It’s something I’ve been experiencing for only a short time, but it is something that has been phenomenally life changing . And I want everyone I know to experience it if they haven’t. I have lived so much of my life geared in a mindset of self-loathing. I have always been quick to pick up the negative narrations from others about who I am, and I allowed those narrations to own me. I have loathed myself so much that there were moments when I would literally

  I was lying in the dark this morning when I felt like I had another one of those “gentle teachings of the Spirit". I had been awake for a few hours (I am starting to feel the physical fatigue of just not resting enough), but this morning I wasn’t wrestling with God, I was just drifting in thought. I began to think about forgiveness, and in the course of my thoughts something that has been a kernel of thought for a while took full bloom. I hope I can explain it at least somewhat well. Scripture tells us that we are to forgive one another. Forgiveness isn’t a suggestion – it is a must. Ephesians 4:32 – ‘forgive as Christ forgave you’. Colossians 3:13 – the same – ‘as you have been forgiven’. I could list a myriad of scriptures on the ‘must’ of forgiving. I know from experience that when we forgive it graces us with a freedom from the bondage of sin. I have, with God’s help, forgiven some egregious offenses against me, and I have experienced what happens within me when I forgive