The Other Side of the River

Maybe you were a little like me growing up and you just wanted to fit in (But you couldn’t). In my case it was usually because I was the new kid – over and over again! Being accepted like one of the others was a premium that somehow I was never quite able to pay.  When I found Jesus at the age of nineteen; finally there was someone who was willing to be called my friend. But old ways of thinking can have a way of hanging around and translated into running after acceptance as if I still needed to belong somewhere here on this planet. I was still looking for home.

But Jesus reminds me that fitting in here on earth is not His goal for my life. In fact what we all need more than anything else is the peace that flows from knowing that where God has put us for now is the perfect place to be. He does give us a spot to catch our breath at times like Jesus did at the Samaritan well. But the destination that Jesus has in mind is our real home; and it sits there on the other side of the river.

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In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:2-3

 

 

Scandalous Once More

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”             John 16:33 NLT

Not long ago Vice President Pence faced protesters as he spoke at a “Christian” university then this week David Roark, communications director of the Village recently was uninvited from a graphic design conference. Of course these are just two well known examples that point out something lots of us have been sensing for quite a while. Christianity is once more thankfully and thoroughly scandalous! This not only should not come as a surprise to us who call ourselves followers of Jesus it should be an encouragement. Maybe after a generation of our struggles to become socially acceptable we ought to be glad that being shunned puts us a little closer to the master. Paul said that His preaching was considered pure foolishness to the important people of His day. All His press coverage was negative, but God was always near in to listen to his prayers. It is much better to be scandalous here and accepted in heaven than popular on earth but a sorrow to our Jesus.

The Eye of the Artist

My stepfather was an artist and I often remember standing behind him watching in wonder as He worked. With just a few brush strokes He could create an astonishingly lifelike painting. When I asked him how he could be so precise Rudy explained that a realist paints neither what others think they see or what they hope to see but what truly stands before them.

In the same way the canvas of a life must be painted by the eyes of faith. A true faith is born not by our wishful thinking or someone else’s imagination, but in the moment we see Him who has seen us from the beginning. That is when His light can shine into our hearts and reveal to us the face of Jesus Christ.