Tag: gifts

finding your sweet spot

Karla Lees

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Getting to know yourself is the key to finding out what revs your motor.

When a car is finely tuned with care by its mechanic, and is running on the right fuel, the ride is sweet.

Not taking care of your engine will cause damage to your car, not to mention the wrong fuel can cause it not to start, majorly mucking things up.

To find your sweet spot, you need to know your passions. How God has hardwired you.

Do you love to create?

Are you a teacher?

Can’t stop singing?

Love to organize?

Live to scribble?

Delight in helping?

Pray for healings?

Have a deep unshakeable faith?

Unswerving hope?

Interpret words?

Speak truth & encouragement?

These are just a few clues that can lead you to discover why you are here. God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:
wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11

For each of us, beyond being made to worship Him, were designed to express Him through our passions. Exactly as He hardwired us to.

You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”:
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.
1 Corinthians 4: 27-31

Our purpose is to reveal Him through us.

How you do so will be very different from how I do, for no two of us are alike. We are all unique and have a unique part in the body.

When we all live in the sweet spot, where what we were meant to do lines up with who He has made us to be?

Our lives reveal Him just as they were designed.

When everything falls in to place, a sense of home wells up within.

We find our purpose.

For the sweet spot cannot be achieved on our own. It has to align with His heart & plan for us, or it is only an empty shell of the fullness He has planned.

In His hands, life is the sweetest.

With Him is the sweet spot.

If you aren’t sure of your purpose, spend some time seeking Him. Ask Him to help you discover what may be lying dormant or unknown within you. There are great resources to take stock of your spiritual giftings, which may bring to light things you are already doing in the natural!

Be the you God designed.

 

Ruth Soukup be you HJ

Your love language

Karla Lees

I have been leading a book study by Danny Silk for the past five weeks, which touched on the 5 Love Languages a few weeks ago.

I was struck by the truth that I need to be a student of everyone I love, to know how to best love them.

Then the lightening bolt of uber truth crashed into my brain this morning as I reread the chapter in preparation for my group tonight:

In order to love You the way You desire to be loved, I need to enroll myself in the “God study” program for the rest of my life.

Not just to know about You, learn what You have done, promise to do and Your amazing love for us all, but to discover how You like to be loved.

The Five Love Languages (as coined by Gary Chapman) are:
○Touch
○Gifts
○Quality time
○Acts of Service
○Words of Affirmation

As I read this list , I realize that each of them got their start in God
and how HE loves!

Touch:
(Lovingly touch me)

God reaches down and hold us, picking us up where He finds us. Jesus never failed to lovingly touch those in need.

Touch can also be seen through the love shining in someone’s eyes and especially His gaze, virtually loving us.

God reminds us in His Word to reach out and touch those in need, which ties closely into…

Acts of Service:
(Show me Love)

Each time we help another in need, we are not only showing God we love Him but showing those we help His love.

When our yes is yes and our no is no, we show God we are prepared to serve as He leads, and honor the One guiding us.

And each time we set time aside in our schedule to sit at His feet and meet with him? We show Him love through…

Quality Time:
(Be with me Love)

One on one time when we make Him our sole focus delights His heart.

When we deliberately carve time out to spend it with God? It also becomes a gift…

Gifts:
(Give me Love)

When we offer something that is costly to us that we know the gift’s receiver will adore, we show our love in not only the gift itself but  the thought we invested in it.

As receivers of the best gift ever, we should be seeking to offer all we are as a gift for Him and His glory.

Which leads us to the final love language….

Words of Affirmation:
(Tell me of your Love)

As the living Word, author of the Bible, we know the power and importance of words to God. Words have the power to build up, love and encourage, heal and restore.

Our words have the same ability to bless.

When we offer Him thanks for what He has done, praise for who He is and love as one of His Beloved, God receives love through our words.

As someone whose primary love language is Words of Affirmations, I am most comfortable loving my family and friends that way.

But as I was reminded working through the Love Languages that a student is supposed to study their subject, and adjust their mindset as they learn new information and put new practices into place.

God has not held back one good blessing from each of us children. His love is passionate, determined, focused, deliberate and forever.

How we love God needs to respond to Him in a way which shows Him the depth of our love, in a way which makes Him feel loved.

Invite Him to speak to you about how you express love.  As its author and inspiration, He is bound to have insight into His heart to share with you as you ask.

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Check out the 5LoveLanguages.com to learn how you best feel love, and are likely primarily showing love to those around you.

Wanting to dive deeper into love, and connecting on purpose? Visit lovingonpurpose.com and take your love assessment.

pace or pursuit

Karla Lees

Is the pace at which I am doing God’s work destroying God’s work in me? Bill Hybels

There are days where I feel like I can’t catch my breath. One thing after another gets crossed off my to-do list, until I collapse on the sofa at the end of the night and wonder where my day, and my inner peace went.

Many of the things I did were good things.  But I am awakening to realize that not all of them needed to be done by ME.

I have a loving husband and two adult children, with a cute cat and a pygmy hedgehog living with me in our cozy nest.  This year, with three of us working and one in school full time, I have had to pull back on doing all the cooking, and use the crackpot more and assign nights to cook based on who is home first.  The cleaning jobs are fairly equally divided too. Not everyone is as tidy as the others, but working as a team leaves more time for family fun this way, with no one person carrying the weight alone.

All I do at home, my job or church may be His work.

But if I lose sight of how and what He is wanting me to do when and set my own pace, I can bring it all down through my attempt to do it all, in my own strength.

What we do on our own can be good, but what we are able to do with God can be great!!!

I have a few gifts and talents which God has given me (mostly around communication & community).  I am becoming increasingly aware of the fact that not all I do is meant for me to be doing.

Which means that the pace I am trying to maintain is a waste if I am not achieving His best for me at the end of the day.

Instead of trying to organize myself into obedience, I am taking a different tact this year….

I am pursuing God as my main priority.

There will always be jobs to be done, for we will always have work of one kind or another until we get to heaven.

If pursuing Him first causes me to allow him more fully to work through me, I need to lay myself down each day, and let Him set my pace.

Pausing to make sure I am running in pace with Jesus and all He has for me to do and become is more important to my well being.

Ultimately God is to be my pace setter.

My part is to give Him the space he needs within me to see the mext step ahead, as He equips me to meet each task to the best of my ability in Him.

I refuse to not answer the call He is stirring up deep within because I am keeping a frenzied pace without His purposes for me in mind.

I have no more space for the kind of waste in my life, Beloved.

Join me as we slow down before His throne, settle in at His feet, and ask Him to open our eyes to the things which matter most to Him, while He leads us to the peace within as He reminds us who we truly are, and what it is he has for us to do today.

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May the #wonder of living life at His pace overtake all of our busyness as we seek him first!

Sing a new song: Over Me

Karla Lees

Yesterday, for the first time in quite a while, I wrote a new song.

Not a new psalm as I do each Sunday, but an actual song I believe He wants me to sing one day.

Many who know me know how much I love to sing. You only have to get into a car with me and turn the music on, glimpse me on the bus lip synching to my iPod or catch me singing along at my local Starbucks.  I dreamed of doing musical theatre professionally, did a brief stint as a rock band backup singer and have sung at weddings, coffee houses & funerals. Music is part of my DNA.

At church, I sing without abandon as I worship my God.  I used to hold back out of dear of what others thought about how I was worshipping.  Now? I really don’t care what anyone else things but my God.  Coz its for His enjoyment and glory, not anyone else’s.  He made me to use His gift of music and words to bless His heart, and point others towards Him.  He has given me the nickname, Songbird.

For someone who was scared of public opinion so much she used to quake in her boots everytime someone called or emailed, “Can we talk?” without any details being given, this has been a huge breakthrough for me.

God has brought me out of the desert I imposed upon myself into the freedom He has for me in the Promised Land of His Presence.

Where I can hear His voice more clearly, and long to spend increasingly more time with my True Love.

In a shocking turn of events for me, I received this song in its entirety in less than 5 minutes.
Lyrics, melody, bridge…and i could hear the harmony as I rushed to write it down. In those moments, He rekindled my long lost dream to write songs again.

Today, I feel led to share these words with you.

Because I sense this is your song too.

Please be aware that as a writer, offering what is most precious to outsiders is a huge risk. My heart is intertwined with this song He birthed in me last night.

Sharing it with you when it is still a newborn feels awkward to me, but I want to be obedient to follow where He leads.

May Holy Spirit whisper what He wants you to hear as you read these words from His heart through mine. 

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OVER ME– by Karla Lees

You’re drawing me deeper
the more I surrender
abandon my ways for Yours

You’re holding me tighter
the closer I come
exchanging my heart for Yours

and You sing over me
You sing over me
You sing over me
how You love me
how You love me

You’re drawing me deeper
the more I surrender
abandon my ways for Yours

You’re holding me tighter
the closer I come
exchanging my heart for Yours

and You pour over me
You pour over me
You pour over me
overwhelming love
overwhelming love

as You sing over me
my spirit soars free,
my spirit soars free…
Deep cries unto deep
as You love me
as You love me

when you don’t quite have the best fit

Karla Lees

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For the past few years, I have struggled to find the best fit for myself in a pair of jeans.  I have more padding than I would like in my ab area, with a literal vs visual tush (basically flat) and fairly skinny legs.

I have curves in the wrong places for the trendy type of pants that are usually the easiest to find when looking for jeans.

Either I find a pair (my previous best fit) of skinny ones with a midrise and have sag beneath my tush, or find a great tush fit with wide wide legs and difficulty breathing (not an option for great quality of life).

Because I am also between sizes, and am over 5’8″ tall, this combination has made it very hard to find my best fit.

Until last Saturday.

I happened to be at the mall with a girl friend, and we decided to poke in a new store that we can across there.

And on a mannequin on the top shelf above their jeans, were my dream jeans.

Ladies, you know what i mean. The pair you just know that you know are going to be a perfect fit for you.

And guess what? After 5 different styles of jeans, guess which pair I ended up with?!

MY perfect fit.

So why I am sharing about finding the perfect fit of jeans?

Because just as the widow got justice from the earthly judge she kept going to day after day after day (Luke 18), committing to get your answer when you are looking for your best fit is possible.

And God encourages us to do so.

He wants us to know what we are passionate about, then pursue Him until we learn and can see where our best fit is.

I have known for years that I am not an average puzzle piece.  I don’t fit with everybody else fits & talent wise.  I am custom designed to be a part of the puzzle, but in the exact place I am meant to fill.

I am made for my perfect fit.  Just as you are.

Now, I am not saying that we aren’t to serve or work outside of our passion.  I am saying that God knows where we are to be the perfect fit for what He has planned for His KIngdom, and He chooses to use us uniquely shaped people to fill in the right places for His blessings to flow.

Because if your barista is meant to serve people, they will greet you with a smile, learn your name and get your order right.

Your kids’ babysitter, child care provider or teacher will celebrate your child’s successes, and inspire them to be the best they can be.

Your pastor will learn your name, pray for you, encourage you to find your place in the body you belong to.

Your mechanic will care that you are stressed out by your sudden car repair, and get how you need you need it fixed and fast.

Your doctor will take the time to explain and listen to you during your visit, without making you feel like just a number in line.

But put someone designed to be a mechanic in your local coffee shop as a barista?  Or a ballerina in as your pastor? Or a rock star as a grocery teller?

Not the best fit for their skill set, even though they might get the job done.

And if you don’t know yourself the way God has designed you to best fit, you can spend a lot of time and energy pursuing the wrong paths.

If you are looking for your best fit?
Where you are meant to release His Kingdom with your gifts & talents?

Ask Him.

He knows when and where you are to be.

He knows how and why.

He knows if it meant to be you or someone else.

I was in a job I did well in, but not the best fit for me.  I asked God to make it quite clear if I was to stay or go, and He did.

We were attending a church where we loved the people, but after many years, staff changes and most of our friends moving on, we needed to ask God if we were to stay or to go, and He did. We are now in a better fit for all four of our giftings in our family.

Again, I am not advocating change for change sake, nor recommending one church over another.  We are one Body.

But the church around the corner might need your gifts, and the church you are currently in doesn’t.  Because it isn’t your best fit.

You might be better suited to go to another country and use your gifts there versus in your local community.  Because that may be your best fit.

God may want you to be the first parent in your family line to stay at home and raise your children instead of working full time out of your home.

You may be meant to minister in word, song, prayer, encouragement, healing or teaching.

And you may not have figured out where He wants you yet as you are so busy doing, you haven’t set aside the time to sit at His feet and listen.

In order to find the perfect fit, you have to be actively seeking it.

If you, like me, have forgotten who He made you to be and need to rediscover yourself,  i would like to suggest a few things to help you along the journey:

51-pWsm5DoL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_1. Do a spiritual gifts assessment.  Answer honestly, and you may be surprised by the result. Something you may have thought of as not relevant may be part of how He points you to your best fit.  The thumbnail is the best one I have ever done, and have actually taught.

5lovelang2. Discover your love language.  Visit the 5 Love Languages website, and learn how you best receive love.  This definitely impacts how you feel you fit.

3. Direct Revelation: Pray, worship, journal, read the Word. Spend quality time at His feet, and ask Holy Spirit to bring you revelation, and speak to you about where He wants you to serve to give Him the most glory.  This may change over seasons in your life, but with Him as your guide, you will stay on course.

4. Don’t give up!   Keep listening, seeking confirmation and His direction.  He may have someone as you to do something you  have never done before, and your spirit comes alive as you do.

How did you find your best fit?  I just love how God speaks to each of us in just the right way we need to hear Him!

Remade

Karla Lees

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The past several days, God has been peeling back some of how I look at things.

And I am being changed as He does.

Early this year, I virtually met Beth Kinder of Remade Ministries, and became a writer for their team teaching out to minister to women. Something a bit surreal at the same time as exciting and a step beyond what I had been expecting.
I sensed I was to say yes without fully understanding why.

God has been slowly revealing that why to me.

This weekend, I got the revelation that although I may have talent as a writer and a singer, a wordsmith as it were, my best words are His, and come out my best through community.

I was meant, designed to be part of a team. To co-lead, so to speak.
The times when He uses me best are when I link up with the teams He has for me to be part of, for His purposes.

And when I do, another layer within me becomes remade as He desires.

For God knows I need community to help keep me on track and focus in the hard seasons.

Because I have the tendency to lone wolf and isolate myself in the storms, leaving myself open to remaining stuck where I am.

I need the rest of the team of keep me focused on God, listening for His voice & following where He is leading me. I need their prompts, encouragement, and suggestions when I begin to falter or wallow.

Community for me is a blessing: both a gift and a necessity.

I am so thankful that God has been revealing this truth to me in deeper levels as He continues to make me new in the areas where I so desperately need Him to.

My former self used to be a walking sarcastic chip on her shoulder. I couldn’t receive constructive criticism for fear of my tightly around emotions unravelling.

My new self has accepted I need to continuously be learning, repenting, listening, following & becoming new.

Instead of running in fear from going deep with community, I am trusting in the One who is making me new.

Despite my trepidation at becoming remade, I know His plans for me will make me the best me He hardwired me to be. And how those He has blessed me to be in community with, along with Holy Spirit, are the tools He is using to reshape me.

I am so grateful for His timing, and the support of the communities He has gifted me with.

This week, I am leading. But not on my own, as part of team. And i am excited at the thought of what He will do through me, as a part of that unity.

Now is the time to be Remade, Beloved. Each day we have a fresh opportunity to learn, grow & become remade at His hands.

bedazzled? beware!

Karla Lees

Over coffee last night, a girl friend and I were sharing a bit of our backgrounds & story with one another….as new girlfriends are likely to do as part of our get to know each other chats (Right girlfriends ;D)

She mentioned how sometimes when something seems to good to be true, it is a warning.

You know…like how a little strategic decorating versus bedazzling the heck out of something appeal differently to our senses.

Sometimes we don’t take enough care to take a closer look at the bedazzling package in front of us.

True beauty is deeper than the surface beauty we often settle for.

I have found God’s gifts have a natural wonder which take my breath away in appreciation, but never glitters so much I can no longer clearly see His handiwork.

Years ago, pre-believing, I was very flattered by the attention of an older handsome man, and threw caution to the wind.  I found myself quickly over my head, and looking back now, just as quickly longed for a way out.  I was bedazzled by the outer exterior, but saw some glimpses of what was underneath, which wasn’t pretty at all. I still thank God that He got me out of that relationship as quickly as He did. 

Just coz it looks great, doesn’t mean it is great.

Ever since that experience, I look beyond the exterior into the interior character of people.  To me, the beauty of you is found in who you are, not the shell you are housed in.

I may be outwardly overweight, but inwardly I am way more attractive than I was when He found me!

Anger and rage have been tamed, with sarcasm wrestled & left at the foot of the cross….but what He left in their place is way more beautiful and dazzling than i could have imagined.

God moved in, and began to shine His Presence in such a way i startednto see the decor within might have been bedazzling on the surface, but was really tarnished underneath.  It was time to trade up!

Now i decorate within in the Vintage style which will last for eternity!

The beauty found in spending time with my Maker, who is continually making me new from the inside out.

So if you suspect something is too bedazzlingly wonderful to be true, ask Him to reveal what is really under the surface.

It may be the enemy is trying to decoy you away from where God really wants you, or God may have something better ahead than you ever believed possible, Beloved.

Being aware doesn’t mean we need to be scared. It simply means take a moment to ask God, “Is this what You have for me?” and awaiting His response.

May we cease being surface dwellers, and dig deep for the vintage eternal treasures He has waiting for us to unwrap & enjoy.

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be the you God designed

Karla Lees

There are a lot of things about me which I love.

My ability to multitask
My love of puns & fun
My voice when I sing
My love of music
My eyes
My curls (95% of the time)
My feet
My passion to learn
My burning yearn for more of God

When you add all the gifts, talents, spirit & soul, and mix in my uniqueness to the packaging God custom designed, I am the result.

God didn’t just whip me off a conveyor belt, He took care, with planning & purpose & love in mind, as He set about making the spark of cells that would become me, only me.

Ever thought about just how much ‘detailed programming’ God invested in your creation?

He thought about making you, and you came to be, at exactly the right moment in time & history.

You are no accident.

I came out with more than a few quirks:

My pinkies are significantly shorter than the rest of my fingers.
I have a few birthmarks, my fave being the upside down heart on the back of my left leg.
I have freckles, and skin that turns shades of red vs lovely tan like colors.
I have a mouth on the smaller side for all the teeth that tried to come in.
I have a limited trunk.
I visibly cringe when I hear a wrong note.
I don’t like coffee, beer or cigarettes.

Just as my gifts & talents are by His design, my quirks were also known by Him.

My whole life was taken into consideration before He created me.

The same for you!

You are so well known by the Master Craftsman.

Not only does He know your strengths & quirks, but two other key factors:

He knew you wouldn’t do well on your own, so He placed you where you would have family; by blood or by choice.

He knew you would fail. To live up to His standards, others expectations, your own hopes & dreams.

The need for Jesus was woven into our very DNA to help us become alive as He designed, as only He can bring to life.

Out of love,
He gave us each a custom gift.
Life.

Because of how we lived,
because of our hurts & shackles,
because of our great need,
He gave us His most precious gift, new life through Jesus.

He not only set us free
& made us clean,
He welcomes each of us
who come to Him
with arms wide open
into our forever family.

When we begin to truly live
our lives with Him,
following His leading
as He guides us,
our gifts and talents awaken
and begin to make sense,
as we become one with
His unique action plan for us.

How I live out become more ‘me’ will look very different from someone who is an extrovert, a gifted athlete, or evangelist, for example.

I am so thankful that God gave us direction, through His Word & through Holy Spirit’s prompting within those who accept His lead.

I am very grateful that the God who designed and shaped me is continuing to do so as I ask for His help navigating the life laid out ahead of me.

I am especially moved when I remember the pain Jesus purposefully chose on the cross to show me (you) His passion for me (you).

Embrace the freedom to be yourself. He wants you to be the you He designed for you to be, with Him walking closely beside you every step of the way.

As I become more ‘me’, my prayer is I reveal more ‘He’ to those around me.

That my efforts to live reveal His hands keeping me safe, His love anchoring my heart, His wisdom in my choices, and His glory when I hit the mark!

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#betheyouHedesigned

snapshots along the way: broken to Passover

Karla Lees

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews[a] answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic[b] Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.[c] He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.  John 19:1-16 (ESV)

While the preparations were under way for Passover, Jesus was preparing to sit at a different table.

Pilate might have thought he was the ultimate judge on the judgment seat at Gabbatha, but the real Judge would be raised up at Golgatha.

He knew there was no other way for us to pay the price for our costly sin.

Don’t you realize that He tried every other way

Throughout the Scriptures, God continued to try and save as many of His people as He could.

Through deliverance, answered prayer, prophets, the Kings – God never stopped rescuing His people from themselves.

He  knew it would take an ultimate act only by His hand to release the freedom only He could command.

He could not pass-over the sins of the world any longer.

The Passover blood, previously seen as a symbol of death passing over became the full blown expression of His heart accepting the sacrifice of His own Son’s live giving blood for us to be restored.

As His life flowed out, our life, our real life, could begin.

The Lamb went willingly to the cross, enduring the betrayals, strikes, blows, beating, humiliation & mocking which we should have received.

For even on the cross, in dreadful pain, He could not help trying to save those he came to set free.

The thieves, His best friend, His mother…. and all of us yet to be.

The cost?  One sacrifice paid the debt humanity had built up against the very one who set the plan in motion from the beginning of time.

He was broken, to death to appease the Law.

And for a split second after He breathed His last labored breath, and gave Himself up to His plan, the enemy thought he had won.

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, & the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city & appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him,keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake & what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:50-54

And with His death, there was immediate victory released, although the best was yet to come.   The soldiers stationed at the cross believed.

Can you imagine? You were one of the soldiers who mocked Him, flogged Him, stabbed His with your spear or forced Him to carry the cross…and after you did your job, your eyes were opened to the truth of who it was you helped to kill?

God wasn’t surprised.

It is only when we become aware of just how broken we are, and how dirty our hands are that we can acknowledge Jesus as our desperately needed Savior.

His broken body, His precious blood.

Given up for you and I.

The first Communion lived out only hours after He revealed it was to come to His disciples.

Broken so God can now Passover our sins, because the full price was paid in Jesus.

loveranred

 

 

 

 

 

 

cracks in the ground

Karla Lees

image

The hard placeswithin
cry out for a thaw,
for an outpouring:
of Your
living water,
a fresh breeze of Your Presence,
the radiance of Your face
and burn of Your love
to melt away the
crust formed over
my heart.

Underneath
the seeds
You have planted
are impatient
to erupt,
to emerge
from under the barrier
they have been straining against,
in their effort
to obey the call
of their Creator.

As the thaw continues,
cracks emerge,
fine lined at first,
but space for new growth
begins to look possible.

Seeking more rain,
more Son,
more wind,
the season of my heart
continues towards spring.

The cracks widen
and the first of the seeds
emerges
in its beautiful greenery,
stretching up to
greet a new day
of possibility.

The bud begins to show
as the garden of my hear
continues to grow.

Despite the cold swirling
all around
this new life
is springing up
from the former hard ground.

You make everything new,
and make beautiful things
out of us.

#hopeinHisPresence