Category: Connection (Page 8 of 10)

Be Still.

September 11, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

Life is filled with cycles of mountain top highs and valley lows. It’s just a fact of life that we can’t escape. We do great, and then a problem comes, and we’re out for the count in a valley again. Then we overcome the problem and climb our way back to the beautiful views of the mountaintop where life is good. The cycle repeats itself repeatedly; it’s just a matter of time. I have learned not to get too comfortable on the mountaintop. I get premonitions, of sorts, when I’m about to approach a valley. It’s a strange feeling. It’s just a “knowing” that something’s coming. I couldn’t tell you what, but it’s that feeling of impending doom.

I recently got this premonition, and within weeks I found myself in the valley, and as I’m sitting here, I’m asking the Lord what I could share with you at a time like this. His gentle whisper just said, “you need only be still.” These beautiful words directly from Exodus 14:14 were brought to my memory, and I knew there must be more people who need to “be still.” I have this image in my mind of sitting in a boat, holding on for dear life as a storm rage around me. I sit, eyes fixed on Jesus, knowing that He is my only hope. As I have this mental image, I remember a similar story in the Bible where Jesus was actually in a storm that could have claimed the disciples’ lives in the boat.

“… He said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down, and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!'” — Mark 4:35-41

You must understand something here: Jesus had just finished teaching the crowd about the Kingdom of Heaven. He was telling parables of growing in the word of God, He spoke of shining our light of salvation to expose what’s hidden in darkness, and, encouraging them, He spoke of the Kingdom of God in us that grows as we exercise our mustard seed faith.

He spoke in parables that not everyone understood, but His disciples had VIP access to His teachings to understand them fully. They had explanations that the crowd didn’t get. “When he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.” — Mark 4:34. This same Jesus who taught that faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains (Matthew 17:20) is the one who calmed the storm. I imagine that the disciples would proudly walk by Jesus as He taught these jaw-dropping sermons and did miraculous signs and wonders, but when it came down to it, the disciples didn’t have the words that Jesus spoke in their hearts. They knew in their heads that they needed to have faith, but the heart connection could only come through the trial.

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to find opinions on everything nowadays for me. We live in a world where you can get someone’s thoughts quickly. The voices of others begin to consume our thoughts, becoming our point of reference. We know what the Bible says, but we tend to rely on what people say instead. It’s easy to say things like, “God is enough for me.” We know that; we believe it. But what happens when things start to get stripped away from us? Does panic set in? Do we resort to fear? Anxiety? Worry? Or do we remember His words and stand firm on His promises?

“God is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.” —Psalm 46:1.

“The Lord is my shield; my rock; my deliverer; my defender” —Psalm 18.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.” — Psalm 23.

What do you resort to when the storm comes?

In this story, right before Jesus and His disciples were caught in this storm, Jesus told them to go to the other side of the lake where they were at. Without hesitation, the disciples brought the boat through the lake, knowing their destination. They didn’t stop to prepare for the possibility of inclement weather. They just went. When there is no threat, it’s easy to choose obedience to Jesus. Had they known the storm was awaiting them in the middle of their journey, maybe they wouldn’t have set off. You see, Jesus wasn’t surprised by the storm. He rested through it. He knew the authority that the Father had given Him to command the elements, so He wasn’t worried. The disciples, on the other hand, went from bringing Jesus over without hesitation to complete despair. They literally thought they were about to die. They KNEW that faith could move mountains and that faith could heal the sick, but when the moment came to rest in their revelation of Jesus, they resorted to panic. I honestly don’t blame them because that seems like a very human thing to do. But what if Jesus was testing them or teaching them a lesson, knowing what lay ahead?

Suddenly, we see Jesus almost aggravated that they’re afraid. He says, “why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” —v. 40. I believe Jesus is making a point here. While we can often feel the emotion of fear, we are not to be fearful, allowing the fear to overtake us. Fear and faith cannot coexist. You either have one or the other. The storm doesn’t worry you if you have faith because you know that God will deliver you. If you are afraid, then the storm will overwhelm you because you believe that the power in the waves is stronger than Jesus. Jesus’ authority in commanding the storm to cease amazed them, causing them to wonder who He is. Again, they KNEW in their minds WHO Jesus was. But the knowledge had not yet made its way to their hearts.

As I look at the world around us, I feel like the disciples in the boat. The world seems to be in chaos, but I sense that Jesus is in the boat. He didn’t tell us to go without Him; instead, as with the disciples, He is right here with us. We have an opportunity to respond to trouble with faith, not fear, as the disciples did. While it is easy to believe the words of panic from the world, it is crucial to put our faith in and believe the words of stability found in God’s Word instead. In this season of uncertainty, I am reminded of Exodus 14:14, which reads, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.”

Be still. The exact words that Jesus violently commanded the waves are the words that God used to comfort the Israelites in Exodus as they were running from their oppressors. In a time where the only logical thing to do is to run or to fight, God tells them to be still. I sense that same calling in these times as we see so much quandary around us. If I could encourage you today in whatever you’re going through, it’s this: have faith and be still. Replace the echoing voices in your mind of worry that come from the world with promises from the word of God. Read your Bible and hide its precious Words in your heart. It is there where the renewing of the mind takes place. There is where your mustard seed faith is strengthened, and standing on His words becomes second nature. If you don’t know Jesus as the one who calms your storms, I invite you to ask Him in today. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins, for He is faithful and to do so. He will command the unsteadiness in your heart to be still and will bring into alignment every maligned thing.

Be encouraged. God bless you!

That’s It. One More Step Now.

July 31, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word]” –Hebrews 10:23.

A brief recap: Back in January of this year, our church entered a 21-day corporate fast. Our pastors chose several leaders to oversee online mid-week prayer groups to encourage those who would join us in this fast. I had the great privilege of being selected as one of those leaders. I share this tidbit of history only to offer you a glimpse into some understanding of the heart and genesis of this teaching. And because last night was our final night of gathering as said prayer group.

In this season, at least, it was our final night to link arms, storming the gates of heaven, lifting up the needs and requests of the Body, covering our pastors and leaders, our teams, families, and encouraging each other to keep on going. To keep pressing into all that God has for us, come what may. Regardless of the times, the persecution, the rejection, the naysayers, or ridicule that comes our way, resulting from our faith in Jesus. To say that our hearts have been knit together in Christ as a result of these many months of praying and pressing in would be an understatement.

This teaching is the full version of the bite-sized bit of reminding and encouragement the Lord had me share with my church family on our last bitter-sweet night together. So, now that you’re all caught up, we can jump right in!

I pray this teaching blesses and encourages you.

What I was given to share with the group came out of John 17. As I said, Jesus’ “Farewell Prayer.” His High Priestly Prayer: what He prayed for the friends who had walked alongside Him during His earthy ministry—and, what He prayed for us, His Church. Those of us He has called to leave our proverbial nets behind us, pick up our cross and follow Him—as decidedly as Peter, Andrew, James, and John once did.

But before I get into the thick of this message, you may be asking why I used Hebrews as the Scripture verse if this teaching was taken from John 17? My answer? This verse in Hebrews is a confirmation. A witness to what Jesus prayed in John 17. It reminds us, fortifies within us, points us towards the surety and hope found within Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. In essence, it’s another layer of Truth and hope.

Jesus’ prayer exposes some of what is hidden within His heart sometime before He broke bread with His friends, one last time; before He would take Peter, James and John, the sons of thunder, with Him to pray in Gethsemane’s Garden, one final time. Before, Jesus was beaten beyond recognition and unjustly condemned to die a criminal’s death having been nailed to a tree.

With its rich tones of unplumbed and eternal reverence, deep, abiding love, and a submissive foreknowledge, Jesus lifts His prayer, this confirmation, this eternal Truth, His request up before our Father. An aside: I wonder if Jesus had prayed this prayer, or something like it, on one of the many occasions when He would go off to some quiet place to pray and spend time with the Father? But that rabbit hole is for another day.

The heartbeat of this High Priestly prayer is Jesus’ Pure, sacrificial Love. Jesus is God’s guarantee to us that what binds us to Him can never be broken. “…Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” –Revelation 5:2-5.

This prayer is saturated in encouragement, full of promise and hope. And who doesn’t need the hope only Jesus offers to just pour over them, their family and ministry, their every dry and trembling place right now!

This prayer drips earnestly off Jesus’ tongue, drops lovingly, intentionally, into our parched places—breaking open the dry and barren places in our hearts. New hope then, a renewed exuberance is restored, made fresh. Bursting forth from us as sure and readily as closed-up bud’s spring open after the rains.

In His Sovereignty, Christ knows not only what we need but precisely when and where we need it.

So, as you read this, be re-minded that this same High Priest is interceding for you still—and always. And, be re-minded too, of the Life-giving, Resurrecting, Transforming Power of the Holy One who has taken up residence within your fragile, human frame—if, you have made Jesus the Lord of your life.

Hear and be encouraged then by what “Thus says the Lord” concerning you.

In John 17:6, we hear Jesus re-minding us that we have always been His. In Him, even as He is in the Father. “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

You were in Jesus as He stood over the dark void speaking suns and moons, plants, and planets into existence. As He separated one thing from another, you and I were in Him. A mystery far too great for this writer’s finite mind to take in. Yet how grateful I am to serve a God I cannot fully take in! We hear Paul echoing this Truth back to us in Ephesians 1:4-5. Listen: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

And in verse 12, Jesus re-minds us that we are protected and guarded in Him—by Him. Nothing can come to us, no accident or harm, no sickness, or loss, no “painful” thing, can touch our lives without Jesus’ permission. “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said” –Job 2:10.

This is a hard Truth. But it is Truth, nevertheless. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” –Job 1:9-12.

Because you belong to the Living God, you will suffer in this world. Jesus Himself assured us of this. But He also re-mind us to have courage, stand firm, rejoice, be strong, and courageous when all manner of evil comes against us because you are His; He has overcome this world. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” –John 16:33.

We also hear Jesus re-mind us that we have been chosen and created to live holy lives. “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth” –John 17:17-18. Once again, Paul echoes this same Truth in 2 Corinthians 7:1. “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

To say the world we live in is divided would be a gross understatement. Yet in verse 21, we hear Jesus re-mind His children to live in unity—in oneness. We are God’s living Epistles. What kind of a message would we share with a lost and dying world if we act as disjointed and divided as it does? Hear Jesus’ heart for us: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” And I’ll turn to Paul yet again to help solidify this Truth in our hearts, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” –Romans 14:19.

In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul tells us that now we see in part, but soon and very soon, we’ll see fully and clearly. “Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We have Jesus’ assurance that those who are His will one day be with Him eternally. Jesus wants us for Himself. We are His Bride. He bought and paid for us with His Spotless Blood. “Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!” –verse 24.

This is your destiny, Beloved of God. To be where Jesus is, with Him, singing His praise, drinking in His beauty, His Majesty, eternally.

It’s getting darker by the day, friends. The Restrainer is pulling His hand back. Rejection and persecution are amping up in ways we’ve not witnessed in our lifetime. Church doors are closing daily, and the chaotic, confusing messages of the world are getting louder and louder. Wars and rumors of wars. Gender confusion. Plagues and masks, fear and isolation. Economic instability and social unrest—it all sounds like something out of a bad novel. Yet Jesus re-minds us in His Word not to be surprised by all these things we’re witnessing. Not to lose hope because of what we see happening around us. These things must happen. Instead, look up! Take courage and rejoice because your redemption, your long-awaited desire to see Jesus face-to-face, is about to be fulfilled!

Keep your lamps filled, child of God!

But until then, brothers and sisters, until He comes for us, keep loving each other—your neighbor as yourself. And don’t stop showing hospitality to those around you—give and give and give some more; you can never out-give God. Pray—always, for your loved ones, for that one in prison, and those behind bars. Pray for the one the Holy Spirit is calling in these final hours and minutes. Pray for yourself. Repent of your sins and turn to the only one who can save you. Jesus Christ. Eternity is a long time to have gotten it all wrong. So if you have yet to ask this Jesus into your heart and life as Lord and Savior, allow me to share this final reminder with you. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”—John 14:6.

Please, ask Jesus into your heart today. We are not promised tomorrow. This is not a scare tactic, friend; it is the Truth spoken in love. Listen! You who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city and stay a year and make money.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? It is like fog. You see it and soon it is gone” –James 4:13-14.

Sacred Spaces.

July 17, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” –Acts 17:27.

“For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else” –Acts 17:23-25.

I love God’s written Word. It reveals His character and His kindness to Me. It has the power to remove scales from my eyes, and it softens areas in my heart I never even knew existed. God’s Living Word enables me to drink deeply and often from the very Source of my life.

I love meeting God in His Word, discovering Him there, being drawn into the very depths of Him.

Understanding His Justice and being ever thankful for the laws He gave, all that I might live free, safe, and protected. He is a Loving, intimate, deeply caring Father. A Father who, according to His Word, so loved me, so wanted to ensure that nothing, here and now, nor in eternity, ever separated us, that He gave His only Son in exchange for me, to demonstrate the depth of that love. He then placed His Holy Spirit in me, into this clay vessel, as surely as if He had slipped an engagement ring on my finger. Because He did, He has—I Am my Beloveds, and He is mine. “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” –Romans 5:8.

And yet, I also love those Kairos moments when I’m lost in Him.

When God sends His Spirit to enliven that one Word or sentence, when eternity lays exposed for the briefest of seconds, opening my understanding and forever changing me. These moments leave in their wake some intuitive understanding that I’ve just been given a most precious gift. A Pearl of Great Value. Some intimate “knowing” of Him. And all because I serve this Beautiful, Wonder-filled, personal God who loves me and desires that I know Him through His Word and His Spirit both. Relationally—Spirit and Truth, One.

My God, our Father, desires for us, all of us, to want Him, long to be with Him; He wants us to seek His face, look deeply into His eyes as only lovers do, and to witness the unplumbed depth of Him—to be one with Him. And no, I am by no means suggesting that a Pure and Holy God relates to us sexually. But what I am saying is this. The highest form of oneness expressed via human intimacy is between man and wife. And so, our God deigns to bend down to our level and use a language that will leave no doubt in our minds as to the depth of the connection He seeks with us, His beloved. The Song of Solomon is replete with such language and imagery. Solomon penned his love letter to his betrothed, the Shulamite woman. It foreshadows the intimate connection, the sacred love bond between Christ, our King, and His beloved bride. Listen to the bride’s heart-cry to her beloved: “Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers” –Song of Songs 1:4

Jesus Himself shared this Truth of the Father’s desire for such intimate connection with a Samaritan woman while talking with her near a well. A Truth as radical, liberating, as tradition-shaking, chain-breaking, and ceiling-raising as He Himself was when He walked amongst us—as He is, still. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” –John 4:23-24.

Friends, our God doesn’t parcel Himself out to us. A wink here, a nod there. No, He is an exceedingly, abundantly, more than we can ever think or image, God. A God who still desires you and me. To be with us—Emmanuel, and to be seen by us. And though no longer with us in the flesh, now He openly shows Himself daily, through His creation. That we might catch some glimpse of His love and tender care for us through what He has created for us—wooing us to fall more and more in love with Him because of our seeing Him ever before us. “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end” –Psalm 102:25-27.

“Sacred Spaces.” These two words have been stirring in my belly for the past several weeks now. These places God has created, carved out, that He might transcend time and space as we under it and intimately unveil Himself, show some aspect of Himself, His favor or will, His goodness, mercy, or great love, some personal attribute of His, to you and me. Imagine! Yet this awareness of sacred spaces isn’t new to me; only God has enlivened it, breathed on it, allowing me to see afresh, something I have been aware of for many years. I’ll explain.

From the beginning, literally, in Genesis 2, verse 8, we witness God create a sacred space to fellowship with His children, His beloved. A place to meet with them, sharing, displaying the many facets of Himself that they might witness Him, and drink Him in. Creator God. Abba God. God, our Provider. The Omniscient and Omnipotent God. A Tender, Merciful, Loving Father. The Sole Giver of every good and perfect gift. Supreme Artist and Author. A Jealous Lover of His own, to name but a few. And because of who He is, has proven Himself, shown Himself to be from the beginning. From somewhere back before, He stood over the dark void when He chose me in Himself before the very foundation of the world has even lain. Faithful and True, time and time and time again; I stand firmly on, and take deep comfort in, the Truth found in Matthew 28:20: “…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.

Knowing this Truth, believing it, assures me that contrary to how I may feel on any given day, my ability to sense Abba’s nearness, or not, God is nevertheless closer to me than my own breath.

Still, there are moments and places where, whether for seconds or minutes, maybe hours sometime, God pulls back the veil, and His palpable presence surrounds me—is undeniably with me. And, because of His being “with me,” all else melts away, is melting away still—especially time. I wonder if Adam and Eve ever felt this way when God walked with them in the cool of the day?

So, whenever I am blessed to catch the sunlight settling on some leaf, setting it ablaze, transforming its everydayness into something fiery, glowing, and alive. Or when the full weight of the sun gives itself over to the surface of the water, and a trillion sparkling tiny diamonds bursting forth because of that union. Or when the branches dance just so with the wind. When the morning birdsong fills the air swirling about my backyard, or when I float on my back in the sea, imagining it is God’s own hands, not buoyant force, at work cradling me—upholding me. When the intoxicating fragrance of some flower awakens something in me, allowing me to catch some watered-down heavenly scent of the prayers of the saints that have clung to Him as He passed before me. Sacred spaces each of these; places where God dropped a ladder from heaven to earth, and, in so doing, the things of heaven mingled with earth for one sacred moment, transforming everything in its wake. I know I have witnessed some aspect of my Jesus in those moments.

I know my God has revealed Himself to me in the way only dear and trusted friends do with each other, drawing me ever deeper into Himself as a result. “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” –Jeremiah 33:3.

So let me ask you: “Has the Lord been in your midst, wooing you, loving you, calling out for you to come and sit awhile with Him? Has He carved out some sacred space for the two of you to meet, and, like Adam and Eve maybe, you hid from His nearness?” Feared coming too close to His Beauty, His passion for you—His presence? If so, you’re in good company. Moses feared meeting the Lord face to face too. Yet before you turn away entirely, consider this, please. The very God that created you wants you, all for Himself! And He wants you to have an eternal, loving, and wide-open relationship with Him.

Lorraine Espenhain says this concerning God’s wanting us for Himself: How swift was Heaven’s intervention in the day His jealousy was aroused, when He saw you loving, needing, trusting, desiring, enjoying, and reaching out for something other than Him! From His temple He saw you giving to another what solely belonged to Him, and His jealousy was ignited in Heaven. Said scripturally: “I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me” –Song of Solomon 7:10.

How awesome and humbling it is to know that our God loves us with such a fierce, intimate, and passionate love. That He created—creates still, these sacred spaces, these transformational moments in time when His Holy Spirit overshadows us—Mary-like, enabling us to conceive of Him—some part of Him alive in us! The impossible made possible. A miracle for sure. God allowing mere men to take inside of themself their Creator! Who but God could make such a thing happen! To enable finite man to take into himself the Divine. The Apostle Paul said it this way: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” –1 Corinthians 4:7. And who but God could weave together the 66 books of the Bible, threading the 39 books of the Old Testament seamlessly into the 27 books of the New Testament?

Dear friend, if you’ve yet to experience this kind of love, this God who so loved you that He made sure you’d be reading this today so that you might ask Him to show Himself real to you right now. He’s patiently waiting just for you. His creation leaves us without excuse on that day; every man will stand before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So won’t you come to Him now? “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge” –Psalm 19:1-2.

Unmatched Favor.

July 10, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” -James 5:16b

Someone recently shared this verse with me, and it struck me like a bolt of lightning, lighting up my core. The word prayer is one of those words that, to the average person, can be a term that’s just thrown around like any other sentiment. Someone saying “I’ll pray for you” is often a straightforward response to a difficult situation. Yet, some people use the word prayer in conjunction with their “thoughts” as if they’re the same. Prayer, however, is a most powerful weapon to Christians. It is as real as the blog you’re reading right now. It’s as pure and necessary as the air you breathe in, yet potent enough to elicit a response from a very real God who has the power to change those things you desire to see changed. The whole verse reads as follows: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” -James 5:16.

By enabling us to pray to Him, God has given us such a powerful tool to use in the simple act of communicating with Him.

Today’s verse doesn’t say that the thoughts of a person are powerful and effective. It also doesn’t say that the prayers of just any person are powerful and effective. It does say: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Effective: successful in producing a desired or intended result. (The Oxford Dictionary)

I often think about praying for someone or something and then forget to do it; I’m confident that others can relate to this. Lately, however, I have been feeling challenged in this area.

Thinking about praying and actually praying are two totally different things, much like thinking about going to the market and actually going to the market are two different things, yielding two hugely different results. Thinking about praying is like talking to yourself about any given situation. On your own, you don’t have the power to see the impossible come to pass. However, partnering with God through prayer plugging into your power source; that’s when you see miracles happen, answers falling like rain. We see countless times in scripture this practice of others asking God a thing in prayer, in faith, believing that if it is in accordance with His will, it will be done for them, and then they receive it. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” -1 John 5:14.

“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” -John 14:14.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8

“You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.” -Job 22:27.

So yes, while prayer is a place of receiving from the Lord, it’s also the place where we commune with Him, draw near to Him. “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” -Psalm 145:18.

Have you ever met someone who seems to get every prayer they pray answered? For me, I witnessed someone like this a few years ago. She was a personal mentor of mine and was an avid prayer warrior. She was so confident in God that she prayed and believed in EVERYTHING. Let me tell you, things I never even thought to pray for; things that seemed to be part of everyday life, she would respond to them in prayer. Many things she prayed for came to pass.

So, what caused this woman to find such favor with God? What empowered her prayers, rendering them effective?

As I read and reread James 5:16, I remembered her. That mentor I had so many years ago whose prayers seemed to shake heaven and earth, and I wondered about this kind of person. What makes their prayers so potent? How does “how they pray,” their heart posture—differ from yours and mine? After all, doesn’t God love the whole world? Does He not love us all the same? The answer to this, I believe, is found right in James 5:16. God hears and answers the prayer of a righteous person. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” –1 Peter 3:12.

Righteousness, in the eyes of God, does not happen overnight. Yes, we are saved in a moment, but then there’s the lifelong process of kicking old habits and renewing our minds that can only happen in the presence of God. Having both a consistent prayer life and walk with the Lord enable us, strengthens us to live a righteous life. God makes us new in His presence. We begin to reflect the glory of the Lord as the result of His calling us as His righteous ones. The reality of His presence in us, as we make our hearts His home, becomes visible—tangible in our lives, making its way out of us. His Light in us, pouring out now. And we begin to see Him answering our prayers in ways we never thought possible.

As we draw nearer to God, our prayers become ever more effective, taking on the power that can only come from on High. God’s favor cloaks us, and we begin to walk with a peace that surpasses our understanding.

Yet with this newfound power for answered prayer, a caveat. Scripture makes clear, and I believe, the Lord is not interested in prayers bred from selfish motives. He knows your heart. I don’t know that God will grant you a Ferrari just because you want to live in luxury, but I do know that if your prayer springs from a place of wanting to further the kingdom of God, of making God known, He will listen. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures… “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” … “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” -James 4:3, 6, & 10.

God responds to a humble heart. A heart that places others before themselves, a heart that seeks to honor Him above themselves. Humility moves God.

Abiding in the shelter of the Lord, obeying Him, is one way to find favor in God’s eyes. He wants your whole heart, your undivided attention, not just your passing thoughts or your spare time. I pray you find the blessing of the Lord as you seek to know Him more. And, if you have yet to invite Jesus into your heart and life, I invite you to do that today. I pray you’ll pursue knowing God. and His purpose and plan for your life. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” –Romans 10:9-10.

Get Good Friends.

June 19, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” –Proverbs 27:17.

Our friendships are some of the most important relationships we have in this life. And a good friend knows the best and worst versions of us…

They know what makes our eyes light up and what makes our blood boil. Our friends have seen our tears, both happy and sad. They’ve celebrated our victories and shared comforting or encouraging words when we most needed them. Often, those we call friends can have great sway over us. So, depending on the type of friends you’re surrounding yourself with, your opinions are apt to change. I would dare to say that most people are not the resolved, independent thinkers they may credit themselves to be. Think about it: When you spend time with one group of friends, you may think what they have to say makes sense, rendering you agreeable to their opinions. Get around a different group of friends, those who offer differing or opposing information on the same subject, and suddenly, your opinion may change yet again. One of the many powers of friendship is its potential to sway us, one way or another. So, the question then is not if you are growing within your friendships; instead, how are we growing within them?

Are your friendships nudging you toward God, or are they moving you away from Him?

Thankfully, the Bible has so much to say about friendship. Proverbs 27:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” So, who is sharpening you?

As I was considering this verse the other day, I had this profound realization regarding Iron sharpening iron. I have never heard of an iron blade sharpened by wood or pure gold. Why? I believe the answer is evident. Iron is denser than both materials. Knife blades carve wood, and hand files are used in shaping gold, but neither gold nor wood would have any tangible impact on shaping iron. It takes a compound of equal or greater strength to sharpen an object made of iron. So too, our Christian friends, like iron blades, keep us sharp when it comes to our friendships.

Suppose we don’t refresh ourselves through Godly relationships. In that case, our faith gets weaker and our spirits duller as we allow ourselves to be inundated with secular ideologies—“Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy.” –Proverbs 27:9. Yes, we can read our Bibles, go to church, listen to podcasts, watch sermons, and read books. Each of these is a necessary thing in our Christian walk; I believe that. But suppose our “friendship time” is filled with ungodly relationships? In that case, we become people then filled with a bunch of head knowledge minus the Godly accountability that undergirds the Truth we’ve found in God’s Word. As I think about what’s happening around the world, I sometimes get overwhelmed, trying not to get caught up in the fear and uncertainty running rampant through the earth. I must remind myself that there is hope, and I believe that hope can be found in the Church of Jesus Christ because God’s Spirit is alive in His people. “… it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” Galatians 2:20.

Over this past year, it became far too easy for people to get comfortable watching church from home; then going on about their everyday lives through the rest of their week. From the couch, they watch a sermon on Sunday in solitude, moving on then to their jobs and families, forgetting somehow that there is, needs to be, a gathering of the believers. As I reflected on this new reality of how many have been “doing Church,” I gained a new appreciation for the weight of the Truth found in Hebrews 10:25. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” I now possess a greater understanding of the importance of gathering with other like-minded people. Why? Because being around our Christian community challenges us to uphold God’s standard to the best of our ability. Rather than being swayed by the eloquent words of the world, being in church receiving solid teaching and submitting ourselves to the ministry regularly reminds us of what the Bible teaches us.

And while it’s comfortable to stay home on Sunday morning, the danger lies in getting caught up in the undertow of the world, drifting further and further away from the Godly influences His righteous people have in our lives. Suddenly, secular ideologies don’t sound so bad now. Why? Because the people you’ve surrounded yourself with have given you ample reasons to believe what it is they believe. And all the while, without you even realizing it, your flame is growing dimmer and dimmer. Although you’ve been given the power to influence the world, drawing them to Christ, instead, you’ve allowed your blade to become dull, unused.

Those who don’t know the Word of God will never be able to sharpen you in the things of God.

Conversely, establishing relationships with other believers sharpens your blade, enabling you then to inscribe an imprint on the world around you. From the above passages, we learn that Godly friendships will encourage you and move you towards loving as God loves and doing good according to God’s standard of good. They will refresh your soul and make you strong. I have a newfound appreciation for my Christian friendships. I love my neighbors and coworkers, mind you, but there is just something special about the encouragement that comes from my brothers and sisters in Christ.

When I consider the constant barrage of shifting opinions and ideas that come at me from others, whether via social media, the news, or just from those I encounter daily, I remind myself of my need for the consistency of God’s Word. In a world swirling with confusion and ever-changing opinions, the Word of God is the one thing that always remains constant; it is our solid rock. “As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built” –Luke 6:47-48.

Putting God’s Word into practice builds that strong foundation in your life.

And having Godly friends and community around you is vital to your living a Godly life. If you don’t yet have a community of Christian friends, I strongly encourage you to find a church where you can form solid Christian friendships that will sharpen you and encourage you to live according to God’s will and Word.

If you haven’t yet accepted Jesus into your heart, consider this your invitation to become a part of the family of God. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” When you humble yourself and repent before the Lord, He will cleanse your heart and give you a new identity in Him.

Welcome to the family!

Tag, You’re It! Part Two…

June 5, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit” –1 Peter 3:18.

To err is human; that said,I apologize for the grammatical slaying of the title of last week’s post for those of you that caught it. Though I am confident it will not be my last grammatical blunder, it was blatant. I do know how to spell, I promise! Moving forward then…

Last week, we read how God had used the Apostle Peter to break down the wall of separation that stood between the gentiles and their receiving the Gospel message. We’ll conclude this two-part teaching with this post. So, to recap: Though not the first gentile believer to hear the Gospel message, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and those in his household, were the first gentiles we witness in Acts to receive the Gospel message directly from one of the Apostles. Until Acts 10, where you can read about the Apostle Peter sharing the Gospel with Cornelius and those in his household, the Gospel had mainly been shared with other Jews and those Gentile converts to Judaism. Such was the case with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, a treasurer and a court official of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. This eunuch was the first known gentile believer we encounter in Acts to hear about Jesus and to come to saving faith in Him. You can read all about their encounter in Acts 8:26-40.

Ready? Let’s jump around a bit…

Though both Philip and Peter each ministered to gentiles, it is Jesus Himself who first gave us some glimpse of His plan to include “others,” the so-called unclean outsiders into His Church—His Body. In John’s Gospel account, we read about Jesus doing the unthinkable, the forbidden, for any respectable Jewish man, that is, to say nothing of a Rabbi. We witness Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at a well. Augustine calls her “a symbol of the Church not yet made righteous.” “The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he” –John 4:25-26. Augustine continues by saying that she came from a foreign people is part of the symbolic meaning, for she is a symbol of the Church. The Church was to come from the Gentiles, of a different race from the Jews.

The ApostlePaul may have bristled at Augustine’s declaration, saying perhaps that salvation came first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. Yet both would agree that God had planned to graft the Gentiles into His Church, the Original Vine—His Body, making them One, in Messiah Jesus. “So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” –Ephesians 2:11-13.

This Is Me, And You. Abraham, too.

May 8, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised” –Hebrews 4:9-10.

I literally have no idea just how many times I have read these very verses over the years. Nevertheless, today, the Holy Spirit allowed me to see them anew—more profound somehow.

As a Christian, I know the Truth found in these few lines of Scripture, in this chapter, really. More, I believe them.

In them is found the very foundation of who I am and in whom I believe. The Rock-Solid Truth on which I hang the full weight of my hope. Yet as I read them today, it was as if the Holy Spirit allowed me somehow to see their Truth afresh. It was as if His Words took on a life of their own, like some scene unfolding before me, animated. For just the briefest of moments, He opened my heart to understand these verses more personally, and in an instant, I was visually transported back to a little church by the sea. That place where the Lord saw fit, one spring day in March, to first whisper, “Come, follow Me.” Years later, He would whisper this same command when He anointed me to birth this blog. And yet it didn’t start there—my relationship with God, I mean. I didn’t go searching for Him on that Spring day; He called me—had been wooing me. I know that now. All I knew then was I had this pressing, inexplicable need to go to that little church by the sea, so I went.

I now understand I was one of those lost sheep Jesus spoke of in Luke 15:4. “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” And way back when so too was Father Abraham—He was a lost sheep as well. I also understand that Jesus had a plan for both of our lives; I know that now, I didn’t then. A plan that would only unfold after He’d pull from our bellies the very faith, He’d placed in them, in eternity past. Faith is the genesis of everything. Without it, we can’t do anything. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” –Hebrews 11:6.

I forget that sometimes as I read Scripture. I forget that Abraham, and Moses, David and Daniel, Martha, and Mary, Paul, and Peter, all of these had been given their own measure of faith—just as you and I have been.

Yet Scripture informs me that though I possess this faith, say nothing of the gifts and talents on lone to me; I cannot lay claim to them as if they were something I made happen. Something I did or found on my own, lest pride swells up in me, and I fall. As with everything else in my life, even the very measure of faith I possess is a precious gift given me from my Heavenly Father. “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” 1 Corinthians 12:9. Equally true is this: This measure of faith was given me because God had already accepted me as His own; He’d chosen me in Christ Jesus in eternity past.

Sitting in that little seaside church on that spring day, how could I have known that? For that matter, neither would Abraham have had any idea the day God showed up, of the call, nor the unfathomable blessing that would soon be made manifest in his life as he went about his everyday life in Ur. “And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them” –Romans 4:11.

See, that’s the thing the Holy Spirit illuminated afresh today. How profoundly personal our conversion is, and how suddenly it is that we are changed. Just how suddenly this literal life-changing gift is bestowed upon us. Abraham and I are both witness to this Truth. One moment we were dead in our sins, and then, in the twinkling of an eye, we were made new. And so too were that great cloud of witnesses that went on to glory before me. One second, we were all dead in our sins, and in the next, in fulfillment of the will and plan of God, all were washed clean; made a new creation in Christ Jesus, His now, eternally.

That’s where it all starts, in that nanosecond in time, determined in eternity past. Hear the Word of God: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations” –Jeremiah 29:11.

Did you catch what the Prophet Jeremiah said by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

God chooses us before we ever come into being. And, not only had Jeremiah been chosen by God, given his measure of faith by Him, more, wrapped up in His being chosen, was Jeremiah’s calling. His purpose. So too is ours, our “one-of-a-kind calling,” our unique piece of the creation puzzle that God will anoint, using it to bring His eternal plan to fruition. “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” –Psalm 139:15-16.

The Apostle Paul found this foundational Truth of being chosen in Christ Jesus and gifted with faith of such import that it permeates almost all His writings. “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” Romans 12:3.

John Piper says it this way concerning Paul’s writings. Concerning this faith that we who believe are given: God has given all Christians varying measures of faith. This is the faith with which we receive and use our varying gifts. It is the ordinary daily faith by which we live and minister. Paul’s final remedy for spiritual pride is to say that not only are spiritual gifts a work of God’s free grace in our lives, but so also is the very faith with which we use those gifts. This means that every possible ground of boasting is taken away. How can we boast if even the qualification for receiving gifts is also a gift?

The Apostle Paul says it plainly: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” –Ephesians 2:8-9.

So perhaps this brief visual journey afforded me by the Holy Spirit today came as a reminder? Maybe He was reminding me how the faith I claim as my own came into being? Perhaps I need re-minding of that sometimes? There’s no perhaps about it; actually, shamefully, I do.

Why? I find it curious, wholly human perhaps, how I can hold something as sacred as my faith so dear, yet so dispassionately at times. As if taking it for granted somehow. At times we forget, in our flesh, that our faith must be stirred up. Watched over and cherished, as the treasure of great price that it is—guarded, with our very lives. I, for one, am thankful that the Holy Spirit reminds me of this Truth when I become lax.

Perhaps today, I needed to be re-minded to cling to this precious treasure I have been entrusted with. Re-minded to continuously exercise my faith on behalf of those who have yet to come into their measure of faith? Re-minded perhaps, that on a day I did not expect Him, the Spirit of the Living God came, suddenly, and blessed me with this precious, Life-giving gift of faith—just as He had for Father Abraham, just as He’ll do for you. And so, friend, if you’ve yet to call this faith your own, you can now. I believe the Holy Spirit has led you here for just that reason, to bless you with your measure of faith.

But first, you must ask Him to come into your life as Lord and Savior. Confess that you have sinned and that you need Him. Then stand still and watch the Lord fight for you—change you, increase with time, the measure of faith He’ll give you today. “Now not for his sake alone was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also—to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead—who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal—absolving us of all sin before God]” –Romans 4:23-25.

We Have A Great High Priest…

April 24, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people” –Hebrews 2:17.

This morning has been pain-filled—my heart is heavy. Truth be told, this has been a very trying season. Some seasons are just like that. And when we’re walking through our pain—at least when I am, it’s easy to fall into despair. To forget for a time that, even though what we’re experiencing is real, we shouldn’t be surprised that it’s happening—or that it hurts as bad as it does. Jesus assured us that as long as we’re on this earth, things like this will happen. But how easy it is to forget that sometimes. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” –John 14:27.

I’m sure it’s because of just how pain-filled these recent times have been for me that the Holy Spirit came as only He can in His gentle, loving way, and reminded me of something this morning that I needed to be reminded of. Something I’d recently heard the character who portrays Jesus in the series, The Chosen, say. A statement He made in response to a question posed to Him by the hostess of a dinner party He was attending.

The hostess asked, “When I was a little girl, my father told me the Messiah would bring an end to pain and suffering. If you are who people are saying you are, when will you do that?” And the character that portrays Jesus responded: “I’m here to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of heaven, a Kingdom that is not of this world, a Kingdom that is coming soon, so yes, sorrow and sighing will flee away. I make a way for people to access that Kingdom but, in this world, bones will still break, hearts will still break. But in the end, Light will overcome darkness.” I needed to be re-minded of that today. And I thank the Holy Spirit, not only for what He deposits within me but equally, for what He re-minds me of when I need reminding. And so I’m here to re-mind you, as well. Because perhaps like me, you may need reminding right now.

But first, notice Jesus’ response to this woman. He pointed her towards the Good News—towards God’s Kingdom, towards The Truth. And then He addressed her concerns. So today, as I share with you what God has placed on my heart, I pray it points you towards God. Towards His Kingdom, and His Word—made flesh. Towards the Truth; towards Jesus and His great Love for you.

Over these past several months, I’ve lost four dear friends. I take great comfort in knowing that I will see them again one day soon as each of them knew Jesus. But it still hurts that they’re no longer with me now. In addition, I’m currently typing this message in an entirely different state, as in location. I’m here because the enemy has attacked my family, and the Lord suddenly sent me here, for now, to help. Also, before I began typing this teaching this morning, I was—I have been, praying with my brothers and sisters back home for a dear brother in Christ who is undergoing surgery today to remove a cancerous tumor from his body. Updates continue to come in via text of complications the doctors have encountered. Suffice it to say that my heart hurts this morning—it’s heavy. Yet, at the same time, by God’s grace, I have great peace.

As I was sitting here praying, pouring my heart out to the Lord, the Holy Spirit, my precious Comforter, came. And, doing what only He can, He began ministering to my broken heart.

He reminded me, as I had just reminded my friend’s wife via a text message, that we have a Great High Priest who has tasted everything—every emotion and situation we can imagine. So, He knows—can personally relate to, exactly what we’re feeling and thinking. He is not a God who is far off. He is close to us—to my friend in surgery and me right now, to his wife and his family as well. He’s close in the hour of our deep need. He’s close to my son and your son or daughter in their moment of need. Closer even than we can fathom. And I, for one, am so grateful for that fact right now because I need what only Jesus can give me—His peace and strength. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint” –Isiah 40:30-31.

I am grateful for the assurance that He will never leave me nor forsake me—no matter the circumstances—no matter what every demon springing up around me may be screaming at me right now!

I know God is with me –I trust Him. And He sent me here to you today not only to share my testimony but also to remind you that as surely as God is with me, so too is He with you. If you are His child, then His Spirit at work in us reminds us that we are to walk by faith, not by sight, not according to how we feel. Feelings change; Truth doesn’t. His Spirit in us reminds us to trust Him. Especially now, when so much of what is going on around us makes absolutely no sense. In these trying and uncertain seasons of my life—these dark and challenging valleys, I am so thankful that I don’t have to walk by sight. That I can trust Jesus to lead and guide me instead. Otherwise, I don’t know if I would make it out of this present pain-filled valley in one piece, to experience the mountaintop, once again, that faith and my relationship with Jesus have taught me are waiting for me on the other side of this. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” –Hebrews 4:15-16.

I’m also reminded this morning that no matter how painful this valley may be, I’m not walking through it blindly. This pain will not overtake me because Jesus made sure to forewarn me that people will get cancer in this fallen and sin-riddled world—yet He is with them, still. They’ll die what seems like way too early, in my mind at least. Divorce will happen, and we’ll be forced to stand by and watch those we love walk through the pain it brings while not being able to do one thing to stop it from happening. Our children will become addicted—or maybe our parents. They’ll make lifestyle choices that, as Christians, we cannot and do not agree with—and yet we’ll love them despite their choices. Just as Jesus loved us—and still does. Despite those sinful choices we continue to make. “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” –Hebrews 2:18.

We may never understand—or know why God allows certain things to happen to us or to those we love, this side of heaven that is. But if we have a relationship with Jesus, this much we do know about Him now, today, for certain: He’s a loving Father. A Good God. And because we know this, know Him—because we’ve tasted and seen for ourselves that He alone is Good, we can confidently say as Job did: “…What? Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” –Job 2:10. In fact, right before Jesus was about to be betrayed—about to willingly take up His Cross. Before His sinless Body was about to be ripped open by the Roman whip, well before thorns were viciously pressed into His forehead and scalp, and before spikes were savagely driven through His wrists and feet and a spear jabbed into His side, Jesus assured His disciples—comforted them really, us too, me right now, with these Words: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” –John 16:33.

All you and I can do is comfort and pray for each other, friends—be Jesus’ hands and feet, honestly, compassionately, and tangibly.

Because whatever valley I may find myself in, whatever my sister and her husband will face once he’s out of surgery today, whatever valley my son or your son or daughter, your parent or parents may be walking through at this very moment. By God’s grace alone, we must remember, as we pass through it, that we have not endured the ultimate betrayal, the pain—physical or emotional, that Jesus suffered for us—for me, lest I ever forget His pain was personal. It was and still is personal for you, too.

So, if like me, and so many others today, you find yourself in the valley of despair—walking through pain so heavy it’s taking all you have to just put one foot in front of the other, please friend, know you are not alone right now. Even as I type, I am still praying—for you this time. I’m praying and take authority over whatever has your heart in its vice-like grip this day, in Jesus’ name. I’m praying you will follow my lead and cry out to the One who knows us better than we know ourselves—the One who sees the end of your situation from its beginning, despite your pain.

Cry out to the One who saw it all coming and will, no matter how it looks to you right now, no matter how hard it is for you to believe you’re going to get through this, more, believe that you’ll eventually smile and thrive and grow and love and heal and forgive and reach out, again. And why? Because we have this Great High Priest who not only felt and experienced everything we have, He will also empower us to overcome this. This same Jesus assures us in His Word that: “I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me” –Jeremiah 32:27.

So If you’re reading this and have said to yourself, “wait, this is me! This is how I’ve been feeling, too! I’m walking in a valley of my own right now. Then won’t you cry out to Jesus for help? And, if you’ve yet to ask this Jesus into your life and heart as Lord, what better time than while you’re in a pain-filled valley? Why? Because He’s just waiting for you to ask for His help, waiting to help you walk through it. He’ll come and forgive and restore, renew, and heal you, right where you are. Yes, friend, even there in the thick of that sin you think is so unforgivable. Just repent of your sins today and ask Jesus into your heart. Why go it alone when you can do it with Jesus? “He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness” –Hebrews 5:2.

Preparing the Way.

December 26, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” –Malachi 4:4-6.

In the Old Testament Canon, we hear the Holy Spirit’s final Words pointing us firstly towards John the Baptist. Toward his crying out in the Judean wilderness to all who will listen concerning Jesus’s imminent arrival. “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” –Luke 1:17. Malachi’s final verses in the Old Testament are a bridge connecting us to the promises that will not see their fulfillment before Christ’s second coming. And within these closing verses of Malachi, we discover a harbinger, also. For clarity’s sake, let’s define that term. Harbinger: a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another; a forerunner of something. A Harbinger is a sign, a herald, a forewarning. It announces some future event—good or bad. A harbinger is an anticipatory sign, much like crocuses and budding branches are in spring. Like dark storm clouds on the horizon, it can imply a storm is on its way. Today’s Scripture verse is just such a harbinger, a warning that something sudden and life-changing is on its way.

Biblically speaking, harbingers are often given us in advance of some impending judgment or possible disaster that we might repent, having been forewarned. Israel, and through them, the gentile nation would soon receive just such a sign in the person of John the Baptist. Israel had turned away from God—all but forgetting Him. Stepping out of the dry and dusty obscurity of the Judean desert, John the Baptist’s sole message a clarion call to anyone who would receive it: “…His message was, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” –Matthew 3:2. A strongly expressed, far-reaching demand for action if ever I have heard one. More, it is a harbinger that will remain unchanging until the last of those Christ has called to Himself answers Him. This call is challenging people as acutely today as it challenged them when John first spoke it—forcing them to turn either towards Jesus or away decidedly.

God designed us—our heart, to recognize His Truth when we hear it—our consciouses instantly pricked then, having recognized His voice.

Today’s few Scripture verses ought to make us pause and reflect on what the Holy Spirit is saying to His people—these Words His last for some 400 years! Indeed, they must contain the hope and promise, and direction needed to sustain us through such a long silence.

Within them, Malachi challenges us never to forget the laws given to us by God. How appropriate as we stand facing the close of another year, a gracious gift to take with us lest we forget God’s mercy, His “guardrails”—those immovable boundaries He has set in place both to guide and protect us in the form of His Commandments. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel” –Malachi 4:4. Next, Malachi encourages us to look forward with hope, looking towards this “Elijah” who will prepare the way for Christ’s return. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” –Malachi 4:5. Lastly, he encourages us by speaking of restoration and renewal, not destruction, as the portions reserved for God’s children. “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” –Malachi 4:6.

These verses are like superfoods for those of us who believe. They are chuck full of direction, hope, and promise. They are the bridge that connects the closing Words of the Old Testament and the opening Words of the New. In them, we are encouraged to look back and remember how God has freed each of us from our personal Egypt. From what and where it is, He has delivered us. Because as certainly as God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh’s death grip on their lives, so too He has delivered you and me from the grip of sin and death on our own—if we have accepted Him as our Saviour and Lord. “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” –Romans 6:6-7.

God, mercifully, with Moses as our witness, made His first covenant with us on Mount Horeb—revealing His profound love and power, His intentions for us—through His ordinances and commandments. These our guardrails then, saving our lives—protecting us from hurt, harm, and danger, if we’ll but obey them. The enemy has irrationally done everything in his limited power to maintain the façade that both he and sin will prevail on the earth. Malachi assures us just how wrong our enemy is, building a bridge of hope instead, carrying us into the New Testament towards Jesus, restoration, the forgiveness of sin, and new life. “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was” –Romans 6: 4-5.

And finally, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, Israel and the world will witness God’s two final witnesses. One of which will surely be like “Elijah” having the power to shut up the sky—just as we see the first Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:1.

“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire” –Revelation 11: 4-6.

These witnesses are the vessels used by God to continue His outpouring of undeserved mercy on a lost and a dying world. A world He chose to leave heaven for—offering Himself as the propitiation for its sins so that those who will receive Him will be restored into right relationship with the Father. He did this in Sodom, for Nineveh, and He did it in Jerusalem to pour out His mercy. And He is and will continue to lavish undeserved mercy on this world that has rejected Him—until He finally comes again. Jesus left His place at God’s side and wrapped Himself in human flesh, a Babe born in the lowliest of places all that He would one day offer Himself a living sacrifice for the world. From eternity past, it was the Father’s heart to bestow mercy upon us that we might be spared from the curse of sin and the second death. “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” –Revelation 20:6.

So, now, in the closing hours of human history, God uses this same mercy to soften the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers.

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God” Romans 6: 6-10. And in kind, so must we.

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas. And in our celebrating, remembering. We remembered why God’s Son was given us at all. This leading us back, finally, to the harbinger I spoke of earlier, that anticipatory sign, much like crocuses and budding branches in spring, like dark storm clouds on the horizon.

Concerning this harbinger, Matthew Henry states the following: Let the believer wait with patience for his release, and cheerfully expect the great day, when Christ shall come the second time to complete our salvation. But those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a curse, who turn not to Him that smites them with a rod. None can expect to escape the curse of God’s broken law, nor to enjoy the happiness of his chosen and redeemed people, unless their hearts are turned from sin and the world, to Christ and holiness. His testament is stark certainly, but True, nevertheless.

Friends, as surely as Christ came to us the first time, He will come again. Ask yourself—have I prepared room for Him in my heart? If not, I urge you don’t delay! Please, do it now while there is still time. No man is promised tomorrow. “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” –John 5:28-29.

Necessary Endings.

October 24, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth”

Some may find it odd that God would speak of new beginnings amid His farewell address to His disciples. Why speak to them of some future hello in the middle of His saying goodbye? In part, Scripture points us toward the “new thing” on its way. A return to the upper room and all that would soon be birthed from it was awaiting them—they simply couldn’t see it yet. Be that as it may, Jesus assured them that He would not abandon them, leaving them like some poor orphans. Instead, He’d leave a blessing behind—He’d send the unfathomable gift of His Holy Spirit to them, to encourage, empower, and, to lead them into all Truth. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” –John 14:18. God knows the weakness of our frames, knows just how easily we lose hope—even as we’re standing in His very presence at times, hope may ebbing out of us. Peter understood this better than most the very second, he felt himself sinking. He had taken his eyes off Jesus, looking instead at the swirling, raging sea around him—but I digress. God is always re-directing us towards a new thing. I say re-directing because being the dumb, stubborn sheep we are at times, we stray off course far more often than we ought and must be put right. Pointed, yet again, towards what lay just ahead—just over that next horizon, around that next corner, just beyond our seeing—not behind us or backward mind, lest it’s part of God’s plan for our edification. God is forever speaking to us of new beginnings, new hope for our future—at the Cross, in birthing rooms, gardens and graveyards, or anywhere in-between. Today was no different in that respect. Jesus was about to re-direct His confused and heartbroken friends that they might soon be fully prepared to partner with Him in the birthing of His Church. They’re pain and confusion used as a springboard then, to propel them into this new Way. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” –John 14:16.

Save God, nothing and no one on earth remain with us forever. Life is a million little lessons of letting go —of holding loosely to what God has allowed our hands to touch at all.

Just about everyone loves Spring. We look forward to the promises it holds. Its new-ness. Green buds, life, color, and the scent of the not-so-distant summer teasing the air. Spring is like a fresh coat of paint over last year’s lackluster walls—everything seemingly made new again. We all love the sound of hello, its promise, and the hope that simple little word offers us —goodbyes, not so much. Yet they are necessary at times to make room for what’s about to come. That’s the crux of what Jesus was sharing with His friends concerning their need to experience this necessary ending. We must always remain obedient and open, no matter how painful, to receiving God’s best for our lives, marriages, ministry, careers, friendships, etc.—even when His best is born from some painful ending we wanted no part of. To do otherwise is saying we know what’s best for us—not God—making ourselves gods. And Scripture is clear about what becomes of the one who thinks too highly of himself. “Pride ends in humiliation” –Proverbs 29:23. From Genesis to Revelation, we witness necessary endings—fresh spaces being made for some new plan of Gods to take root in. Every-thing alive is cyclical—bringing with it new life, hope, provision, protection—springing forth from what appears to be dead and gone. Parents die and children are born. A leaf buds and falls to the ground only to return in the next season fresh and new. Joseph’s brothers fully understood this the day they stood before Him. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute…” –Genesis 45:8-11.

And Ruth may never have fully taken in the plan behind all the necessary endings she had endured while in Moab, the loss of her husband and friends, her childlessness, and Orpah’s choosing to stay behind—nevertheless, God redeemed every drop of her pain and loss. Though Ruth would have no idea that both King David and King Jesus were future descendants born from her God-ordained union with her kinsman-redeemer Boaz, still, God was faithful to give Ruth beauty for ashes, nevertheless. Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!” –Ruth 4:9-10.

It is not for us to always understand the why of God, rather, we’re simply to obey whatever it is He asks of us.

But back to Jesus and His broken-hearted disciples. Jesus had just washed their feet in this same upper room He’d soon send their Comforter to. The same room we witness them partaking in their very first Communion—and their very last Supper—here on earth that is. Flesh and Blood would soon be offered up that night that they may possess Spirit and Truth and wisdom, discernment and revelation, eternal life too—power from on High as well. How else could His Church withstand the barrage of attacks it was and will endure at satans hand? No mere man or group of men, no matter how loyal, could ever defend His Church alone—only the One who has been charged to stand guard over it is able to fully protect it. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way” –2 Thessalonians 2:7.

We each are temporary stalwarts chosen to stand our post for the few brief minutes that is our life. We are chosen makers, gatekeepers who do not leave their post until their relief shows up—and it always shows up, remember, every-thing in life is cyclical. Forty days, the time Jesus spent being tempted and prepared in the desert for His ministry. Forty days after He defied death by walking out of His grave, Jesus said goodbye to His disciples—yet His goodbye was pregnant with hello’s promise. And, soon and very soon, we will reap the joyful reward of this necessary endings “new beginning”—when Jesus returns! It had been ordained for Him to leave the world that He might return to it in such a way that all men will see Him coming on the clouds—and we’ll be with Him, those once broken-hearted disciples of His too! So, friends, don’t hang on to what God is asking you to let go of. Remember, all life is cyclical, and God has a beautiful plan for the necessary ending He’s allowed to touch your life—even those you wanted no part of.

Friend, if you have yet to meet this Jesus, now is the time—today is the day. We never know when a moment may pass us by, never to return. Please, don’t let this be that moment. Scripture assures you that if you’ll simply and sincerely ask Jesus to come into your life, He will. Won’t you ask Him now? “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” –Romans 10:8-10.

Category: Connection (Page 8 of 10)

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