Falling From Grace

Have you ever taken a tumble? I mean out in public. This morning I have been thinking about it because I nearly fell the other day and it hurt. By now, I thought I would be over it but there are the odd moments where the pain comes back to remind me to be safe.

Hey, get back here, I know your mind has gone off to the time you… well fell down in public. The two worst ones for me were, just missing the curb out on the main street and I went down way too fast and the other one was at church when I was playing at catching one of the kids and… well you get the picture. Both were not pretty.

Do you also remember what you did next? Like me, you felt embarrassed and foolish and you tried to jump up as if nothing had happened. We cover our misfortune and pretend nothing actually happened. For me, I pulled a few toenails out on the main street and felt the pain for a while without telling anyone. Many times, falling hurts. We don’t want to admit the fall or the reason. We really don’t want to admit we fell at all and we cover it up.

It’s the same in our life when we fall from grace. God’s grace is forgiveness even though we don’t deserve it. And just like our physical falls, our spiritual failure hurts. It hurts our witness, it hurts our heart, others feel it and it hurts God. Many times we worked hard at being all God wants us to be in this world and we are doing really well, until…  When we do, God forgives us and helps us up.

Here is what I know: “The greatest failure is not to fall it is to not get up again”. Notice I said, ‘again’? Every time we fall, or fail, we need to pick ourselves up, (and allow other to help us, even God, because He saw it when people didn’t), and get back to being all that God wants us to be. And we will leave it there because . . .it

Sound like something to think about?

Rob

Never Alone

It seemed strange driving to work the other morning. It was early but it was also Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The roads were quieter than usual. I drove up over the bridge with not one car ahead of me. Maybe it was just that I was going faster than all the rest. Or maybe almost everyone had a chance to stay in bed a little longer than me.

The early morning was also dark and quiet. Not a dreary sort of feeling, just quiet, and peaceful. Probably part of the peach Christ had going to the Cross. How about you? Do you have similar experiences where you find yourself going through life on your own? No one in sight. No one to share your journey with? For some of us, this part of life’s journey is a wonderful time where you can be lost in the recesses of your mind and all seems well. Then again, you might want someone with you in this moment in time.

There are other instants. Times, when life is a long period of darkness & you feel so alone. Yes, the odd individual will appear out of nowhere and bring some light but they disappear again, so swiftly. At times like these, we wish they would stay a little longer. But . . . 

Jesus didn’t just come at Christmas and eventually just go back to heaven after Easter. He came, He called us, He travels with us and He told us He would be with us forever. We just have to let Him in to our lives. When we do exactly that, He will say to each and every one of us, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”.

Something to think about.

Rob

Come Join The Parade

Is it just me or are you in the same frame of mind I am. Here is what I mean. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. Is it something special or just a day when you think to yourself, ‘Yup, Jesus on a donkey, people with palm leaves and people cheering”? You might even think to yourself, that’s about it, as you go on with your day?

For most of the world, that’s about all there is. I would probably go further by saying that even in the Christian community; Palm Sunday is a minor event at best. Sure it happened but not much else. Remember getting all excited about going and watching a parade? Was it great or was it just, you know, okay? Two things that come to mind are these. First, who is the parade for and second, what is my investment in this parade.

You see, we can either be on the sidelines and cheering or we can be ecstatic and part of the parade. Again, remember being at a parade and yelling and screaming trying to get the attention of the most important person in the parade. There in that split second when your eyes met, something amazing happened. There was Jesus, and you knew. With Him were the disciples and close followers walking along and there were all the rest of the people just wanting to get a look on this fellow they had heard so much about. But in that split second you were ready to be part of the parade.

These are the two ways many people observe their faith and indirectly their participation in their faith. Many are on the sidelines, observing and occasionally giving a half-hearted cheer. Then there are those who not only take their faith very seriously but want to take part and be part of being a Christ follower. It includes getting up and gets us going by being part of the parade and yelling to everyone, “I’m with HIM!”

You make the decision. Because what I know is this, ‘Being a Christ Follower is not a spectator sport”.

Something to think about.

Rob

Can't Have One Without The Other

You know this but I just thought I would remind you.  As a church, just ahead of us we have Good Friday. Because of that we realize more than ever, we could say why it’s good and why it’s good for us. All too often, God stretches down His mighty hand to bring us up to Himself. That is what is good about Good Friday.

Then Sunday comes. For me, there are two dimensions to Easter. Most of the world knows about it. Some people you know might say that Easter is all about rabbits, chocolate chickens, and eggs. If you know the story of Jesus you will recognize it’s more than that. The rabbit and chicken relates to a pagan festival of fertility, where the coming of spring garners new births and everyone around the world coordinated their special spring day at our Spring solstice.

If you are going to be going to church this coming Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday you will be going for one thing and one thing only. You go because you know there must be something about this Jesus guy that came back from the dead. Not only that, in doing so, He conquered death. Just so you know, it’s all true. Just go to John 20 or Matt 28, Mark 16 or Luke 24.

You see, Jesus was either a fanatic or He was the real deal. Personally, I’m going with the second option. Over the years I have spoken at Easter Services more than forty-nine times. I agree that Jesus was who He said He was, and I know He brought more than just eternal life.

In recent years with all that is going on in this world I learned something revolutionary.  Jesus first and foremost did bring forgiveness to anyone who asks.  But there is more and it took me a while to figure it out. Jesus came to pay the price of our sins. He also came, secondly, to let us know that the whole world needs Him and His love that conquers all.

It had me thinking. He loved the whole world and He wants us to love the same way. The two go hand in hand. If you really, really have the one, the other is bound to show up at the least expected moment. The reason that I say this is, the person of Jesus is inseparable from His love or the other way around. Once you have met Him you feel His love and you will be changed to love like He does.

Something to think about

Rob