God Still Loves Me, Even if I Eat Nachos. {A True Story.}

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect.

And the last time I checked I was a human being and incapable of perfection.

So why do I still expect so much from myself? I'm going to fail, going to falter. Then, when perfection isn't obtained, the guilt quickly takes up the space I'd reserved for all of my perfect deeds.

In recent weeks I've decided to dedicate some things to God. This includes a certain time of prayer and fasting.

But yesterday.

It just didn't happen.

I was tired. I was, yes I'll say it, hormonal. I wasn't feeling prayer or fasting. I was weak in mind and weak in body.

And there was no follow-through of the spiritual goals I'd set for the day. I ate graham crackers, cookies, several pieces of chocolate.

Nachos.

I ate nachos.

My day of perfectly diligent spirituality did not go as planned.

And, you know what? That's okay.

My six year old son came into my classroom at the end of the school day. We sat at my reading table and pulled out his homework. As he unscrambled spelling words and completed a place value worksheet my momma-eyes soaked him in. His sweet face that looks so much like his daddy, but with my blue eyes. His awesome curly blonde hair that automatically makes him the coolest person in any room. I was awash in love. I pulled him close and kissed him. Hugged him. Told him how special he was.

That's how I look at you, beloved.

And my imperfect heart with imperfect intentions was struck.

I am loved just as I am. On my good days, on my bad days, on my faithful days, on  my failure days.

I am loved.

You are loved.

There is nothing in this world or out of this world that can separate us from God's love. Read Romans 8:31-39 with me:

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.

We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

We have been embraced by perfect love and thereby set free from any pressure we may put on ourselves. Because those things that can't separate us from God? That includes us. Sometimes we're our own worst enemy, thinking we're falling short and feeling guilty for it.

Friends, we do fall short. We all fall short every day. Romans 3:23 tells us all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Perfection isn't ours. Perfection belongs to our precious Jesus who loves us with such abandon that He abandoned everything to claim us. Romans 3 goes on to say that even though we fall short we are still justified freely by the grace of Christ Jesus.

So strive for goodness, yes. Do the tasks that God has commanded, yes. Carry your cross, yes. But on those days where you didn't quite hit the mark and you ate the nachos, know that you are loved still.

Perfectly imperfect you. Perfectly loved by perfect grace.

The Mind of Christ

We speak what we think. No thought comes out of our mouths that first did not take up residence in our brain. For better or for worse, our words reveal our minds.

My mind is silly, curious, intentional, efficient, and full of random trivia facts. (Seriously. No one will play against me in Trivia Crack anymore.) 

My mind can also be a dark, scary place. 

Sometimes being inside my mind can be too much. Do you ever feel this way? When you need to escape and break free? 

Usually these are the times when we eat too much ice cream while we binge watch Friday Night Lights on Netflix. 

But what if there was something better for us? What if we could shed our minds and find the mind of Christ?

1 Corinthians 2 tells us if we are in the Holy Spirit, which is a gift freely given to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, then we have been given an incredible insight -

To know the mind of Christ.

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” 

But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16

To know the mind of Christ is an insight that sages, sorcerers, kings, and conjurers have longed for for centuries. To know the mind of a deity! To know the wisdom of the ages!

And friend, we are freely given that gift from our Father in heaven.

Incredible.

So what exactly is on the mind of Christ? How can we even begin to discern this? It seems too great a task.

Oh, but friends, when God gives you a gift He will help you to unwrap it:

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, 

that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 

1 Corinthians 2:12

We speak what we think. And Jesus was no different. As we reflect on Easter Sunday, let's reflect on the seven statements of Jesus on the cross. He spoke what he thought. Let's look into the mind of Christ:

1. His mind was on forgiveness.  In Luke 23:34 Jesus spoke, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." 

The mind of Christ is a mind of forgiveness.

2. His mind was on the repentance of sinners. In Luke 23:43 Jesus spoke, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" to the thief who believed in the sovereignty of Jesus.

The mind of Christ is a mind that loves the sinner.

3. His mind was on humanity. In John 19:26-27 Jesus spoke to John the Beloved, telling him to watch over His mother. 

The mind of Christ is a mind that remembers the emotional and physical needs of humanity.

4. His mind was on the weight of sin. In Matthew 27:46 Jesus spoke, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

The mind of Christ is a mind that knows the darkness of sin.

5. His mind was on His mission as Messiah. In John 19:28 Jesus spoke, "I am thirsty."

The mind of Christ is a mind that knew all scripture written of Him (including this passage in Psalm where the Messiah is given vinegar to drink) must be fulfilled.

6. His mind was on salvation. In John 19:30 Jesus spoke, "It is finished."

The mind of Christ is a mind that came to finish death.

7. His mind was on trusting God. In Luke 23:46 Jesus spoke, "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit."

The mind of Christ is a mind that believed in His Father.

So, tell me. What is on the mind of Christ?

Dear one, do you see it?

It's you.

Your forgiveness.

Your repentance from sin.

Your humanity.

Your sin and its weight.

Your need for a Messiah.

Your salvation.

Your redemption through God's grand plan.

The point of Easter...is you.

He knew me, yet He loved me

He whose glory makes the heavens shine

So unworthy of such mercy

Yet when He was on the cross

I was on His mind*

The mind of Christ is on you. So make your mind about Christ.

Risen Lord Jesus,

In humility I say:

Thank You.

Lord, may it be so.

*written by Ronnie Hinson

A Love Letter to God

If I wrote a love letter to God
I wouldn't know where to start
But my pen would not stop moving
I would use the biggest words I know

Do I start at the beginning
on the day that I was born?
Or do I start before the beginning
when I was knitted together
in my mother's womb?

I could go further back still
for even before I existed as body

I existed as His thought

From the foundations of the earth
the notion of me
twinkled in His eye

He whispered my name as He made
space and sky
Serengeti and seagull

The more I write my love letter to God I see
It's becoming His love letter to me

My pen cannot compare to His hand
My mind to His might
Nor my creation to His Creation

God!  Do you hear me say:
I see it!
Your love, your life-giving
and light-giving

In feathers and flight
Ice and island
Brain and bone

All creation a correspondence

So what can be my love letter to you?
I cannot match you!

Ah...my love letter to God is simple
It's found in not matching Your creation,
but in seeing it:

The sunrise, the Son, the sacrifice

I see your love letter
This letter is clear:
the 'x', the 't'
3 nails, a holy tree

So my love letter is to simply read yours
With eyes, brain, ears, and lips

But to go further still
and read it with my soul

And write it on my heart.

An Epiphany About Epiphany

By Jennifer Smith

Did you know Saturday is a Holy Day?  It's called Epiphany.  Well, to be exact, it's called Epiphany: A Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as Represented by the Magi.

Turn to your neighbor and wish them a Happy Epiphany: A Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as Represented by the Magi Day!

This day is actually a part of the Advent season and falls on January 6.  It's the day we celebrate the Wise Men and their visit with the Christ Child.  Most churches don't celebrate every holy day on the liturgical calendar and that's okay.  But this one, Epiphany, has always fascinated me.  Maybe it's just the cadence of the word 'epiphany', but once studied you realize this day is about much more than a pretty word.

First let's talk about what we know about these wise men or, more accurately named, the Magi.  To do that we'll read the only Gospel that contains mention of the Magi.  Let's go to Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, 

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star 

in the east and have come to worship him."

They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east

went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshiped him.

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold

and of incense and of myrrh.  

I could bore you with a lot of details of who exactly the Magi are, their probable ancestry, and the timeline of their journey (and I'll totally be willing to Bible-teacher-geek-out and do this if you ask), but here's what you need to know:  these guys weren't kings.  They were astrologers which was a very well respected science in ancient times.  They were not present at the manger because scripture clearly says they visited with Jesus in a house.  They were not Jewish meaning they did not worship the God of Jacob, but they came to honor the newborn King of the Jews.  These men were wise enough to realize all the prophecies of the Messiah pointed to this time, this city, and this baby.  Wise men, indeed.

They came from the east; most likely from Media or current day Iran.

Wait...what?

Do you hear what I'm saying?  The first non-Jews or Gentiles that our sovereign God the Father (Praise His Name!) chose to visit His precious and Holy Son were Iranian astrologers whose descendants would not be Judeo-Christian.  Our God knew this.  He knew exactly who He was giving this incredible honor of seeing His Son.  I. Love. This.

One thing I've learned about God's Word is that there are no coincidences, no wasted words, no random people showing up.  The Bible has purpose in every single word, sentence, paragraph, and event.

Here is my epiphany about Epiphany (see what I did there?) and it's found in Luke 2:10:

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  

I bring you good news of great joy that will be

for all the people." 

(emphasis mine)

Jesus came for all people, not just those who look like me or speak my language or those I think He should have come for (Oh! My human heart.).  He came for all tribes, tongues, and nations and I am just a very small piece of the puzzle that makes up mankind.  I am no Iranian astrologer, but those men and I are linked by one very significant fact:  Jesus came for us.

If you Google  how many people have lived on earth, not currently, but in all of time combined you'll see the number 108 billion.  And my Savior lived and died for every single one of them. 

A list to peruse of those He came for (and it's by no means exhaustive):

Genghis Khan, Stonewall Jackson, Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.  The cast of Friends.  The prostitute, the church goer.  The Reformer Martin Luther, the Dreamer Martin Luther.  The murderer, the missionary.  George Washington.  Pope Francis.  Your 5th Grade Teacher.  The barista who spelled your name wrong on your Starbucks. 

The guy who invented the cotton gin (10 points if you said, "Eli Whitney!").  The entrepreneur.  The capitalist, the socialist.  The slave.  Romans, Greeks, Egyptians.  

The ISIS militant (People, are you listening?).  The Al Qaeda bomber.  Americans (both the Southerner and the Yankee).

The Brain.  The Athlete.  The Basketcase.  A princess.  A criminal.  (We could be best friends if you just caught that.)

Amelia Earhart.  The Syrian refugee.  Ghandi.  The nun, the monk.  The astronaut, the mayor of Spokane.  Taylor Swift.

Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.  Moses.  King David.  

Those who will choose Him!  

Those who will not.

He came for the best of us.  The worst of us.  All of us.

This is the kind of love my human mind cannot fathom.  

No one person on this planet now or ever has been more special than the next.

This includes you.  You are just as important and special to our righteous and holy God as anyone in history.  If you were the only person to ever live on this earth, Jesus would still have lived and suffered and bled and died for you.  

How great the love that is washed over us!

My friends, we will bear witness to the day when all peoples will bow before our Jesus.  We along with them.  

And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals, 

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men

for God

from every tribe and language and people

and nation."

~ Revelation 5:9

After this I looked around and there before me was

a great multitude that no one could count, 

from every nation, tribe, people, and language, 

standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches

in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:  

"Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb."

~Revelation 7:9

Lord Jesus,  I long to be there.  When you receive what is due you:  praise from all who have lived and loved you.  You have purchased us at a great price, Lord.  Let us accept this great love and claim the One who has claimed us.  

May we show wisdom like that of the Iranian astrologer and be wise enough to see that your love is big enough for all.

Lord, may it be so.