Mountains

Passing Through the Notch

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Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me Psalm 23:4 NRSV

Coming home from work I used to drive through a notch

KIMG0848in the hills called Sugar Hollow. The interesting thing about the place was that in late afternoon the angle of the surrounding hills blocked out most of the sun when it was low on the horizon. You would drive out of bright sunshine into a sort of twilight for a few miles. Then after a few long minutes suddenly the shadows lifted and the sun came shone again as you passed through to the other side.

That passing through may be what you are experiencing today. Maybe everything seemed pretty normal in your life till unexpectedly the boss called you into the office or the doctor called about those test results. The bright sunshine of your day in a moment changed to a shadowy path. If you are at all like me it feels at those moments that even the most familiar of lP1020256and-marks seem strangely different in darkness. That is the time to remind ourselves to hang on and keep going. We do not need to panic. Jesus has promised to be with us always. Whatever deep river, hot fire or dark valley that lies ahead is temporary. Just past the shadows of the notch we are passing through, His road will lead us into sunshine and all the way home!

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Crossing Over

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On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”  Mark 4:35

God has wonderful plans for another chapter in our lives. He is not content to leave us where we are and He challenges us to trust Him for something new. It seems so nice and peaceful just resting here on this side of what we know, but Jesus may be saying to you what He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to the other side!”

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Jesus is inviting each of us to prepare to be ready for new things. But His challenge includes a word we may have missed, Jesus said “Let’s!”  That single word makes all the difference when we launch out to points unknown.

There’s a song we sing at our Brazilian church in Portuguese that loosely translated goes something like this:

Sail away with faith in Jesus

Because this is the way you will see

What beautiful things He will do

Because with Him you will be secure.

translated from Solta O Cabo Do Nau

So if you feel overwhelmed by the smallness of your boat and the vastness of the sea, remember that in your little boat travels the King of kings and the Captain of all ships. No matter the storms, our Lord will never abandon us, nor allow the waves to keep us from the safe harbor of His arms!

Fearless!

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There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 ESV

Terror attacks, earthquakes and endless wars dominate our daily headlines. Sometimes family conflicts and crises make it seem as if our world is closing in around us. In his day, the apostle John had seen Jesus crucified, his own brother executed by King Herod and a crowd of ‘religious people’ stone his friend Stephen to death in the middle of the day. John and been in prison with Peter and was arrested again by the Roman authorities then sent to a penal colony on the Island of Patmos.

Interestingly, when John talks about freedom from fear he doesn’t mention a strong army to come to our defense. He doesn’t talk about the confidence of having good legal representation to defend us or powerful friends in places of influence who will stand up for our rights. John tells us that the best defense against any kind of fear is love! John knew that fear is completely stripped of power in the face of God’s love. That love of God as witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ is strong enough to handcuff our fears and put them under arrest. God’s perfect love is so powerful that no army, no terroristic threat and no human enemy can defeat. And the best news of all is that this perfect love is available to anyone who is ready to receive it. We can’t earn His love and we don’t need to wait to figure it out. With arms opened wide on the cross God’s love receives thieves, forgives crucifiers and blesses fearful disciples. His amazing, unending and perfect love overcomes the world and casts out every fear!

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 …if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there… MATT 17:20