Merry Christmas

Are you allowing yourself to slow down and enjoy this Christmas?  I heard a great statement: God makes a promise, Faith believes His promise, Hope anticipates its fulfillment, and Patience quietly waits.  But many times it seems it is learned from going through a storm.

What a year this has been for so many of us going through struggles, breakdowns, chaos, and yet discovering God’s heart to bring His presence into those difficult moments.

We love Peter’s story.  Imagine caught out in a vicious storm, thinking this might be it, and Jesus shows up.  Peter says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus says, “Peter, Come!”  Then Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came forward to Jesus.

Erwin McManus says, this act is an act of transformation, where our character is more a revolution than reformation.  Our character is forged from battles fought.  It emerges out of crisis, not out of classroom.  But it doesn’t just come to you; you must run to it.  It is like a gauntlet waiting to be conquered.  Character is like a hero asleep within you waiting to be awakened.  Its power sweeps through you in waves of transformation.  And with each challenge faced, with each victory won, suddenly the realization hits you that you are becoming a different person than one who began this journey.

Peter saw the wind, gripped by fear, and began to sink.  But we can’t miss the fact that he stepped into the storm and walked on the water!

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.  “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”  I believe Jesus and Peter walked back to the boat holding hands.

A couple days ago Carol and I were talking with our daughter who is gripped with fear by her cancer returning.  As we prayed together, the Holy Spirit took us to 1Jn.4:18 which says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  We were reminded that in the middle of a storm, the wind is blowing, here comes Jesus calling us to step out of the boat of fear into Perfect Love.  A love that sets you up for a miracle.

I pray that this season set you up for the most prosperous year ever.

May the love of the Father, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit saturate every moment of your life. 

 

Embracing Growth

 Challenges and suffering often thrust us into a new season of uncertainty and grief, where we face trials, we could never imagine.  It’s easy to miss the moment by not realizing we are being marked, which can become a turning point in our lives.  The question is, how do you embrace the moment and grow in spite of the pain?

I’m confronted each day with James 1.  “When these trials and tribulations crowd into your life my friends, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends.  Because they come to build strength, maturity, character, and patience…..”

Love what Jim Murphy says, “Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character is the basis for the hope needed to see through the pain of the temporary circumstances to the glory of the future that awaits us.”

So then, how do we embrace the pain?

I’m slowly learning that when I embrace suffering, I can transcend my circumstance. It’s possible to no longer be shackled to what’s happening.  The process begins to liberate me from my mind and body and all that is associated with the ups and downs.  

Embracing our ups and downs helps us see further from a new angle, with more meaning and clarity.  

I heard someone say, “It may be only with eyes rinsed with tears that we can truly see who we are, and what we are learning, and becoming.”

Apolo Ohno, an Olympic Champion speed skater was asked his secret for winning, and he said, “I’m willing to do what nobody else is willing to do.”

May we break down the barriers to learning from our suffering!

Blessings to You today!