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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Category: Mercy (Page 3 of 5)

He Will Prove Himself

December 10, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

With the faithful you prove yourself faithful, with the blameless you prove yourself blameless, with the pure you prove yourself pure, but with the crooked you prove yourself shrewd. For you rescue an oppressed people, but you humble those with haughty eyes.–Psalms 18:25-27

How you perceive God is a direct reflection of the position of your heart.

The heart that is in the position of hating God or believing that He doesn’t exist is the heart that has never met Him. If only they knew how good He is, how kind He is, how faithful He is. If only they knew Him as I do: Rescuer, Healer, Restorer, and Friend. He is always faithful to meet me in my need, but when I am not in need, it is easy to allow my heart to slip into the mode of thinking that convinces me that I can make it on my own. I forget His faithfulness to me when I don’t remain faithful to Him. I can easily forget that God’s ways are good and blameless if my eyes are fixed on the world’s injustices, but when I shift my gaze toward Him again, I see Jesus in His light, for who He is. As I draw near to Him, He draws near to me (James 4:8).

His presence is made known to the heart that needs Him. He is so near to the broken-hearted and the oppressed. He can’t resist responding to a sincere cry for help because He’s that good. Conversely, there is the heart that believes they don’t need help. To this person, there’s never a sincere cry for help, preventing a sincere experience of His intervention. The pride of life and one’s own achievements can blind a person to their need for the Lord and His mercy. This pride boasts of self-sufficiency, convincing a person that they can do everything independently. It views God through the critical lens of self-righteousness. It makes the heart doubt the goodness of God and His faithfulness, taking matters into its own hands without realizing that His ways are better than ours. It fails to remember His goodness. In turn, these people can’t see through God’s perspective. These people perceive God as shrewd because of the pride that has kept their hearts closed to knowing Him as faithful, blameless, and pure. I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. –Jeremiah 17:10.

So he will repay according to their deeds: fury to his enemies, retribution to his foes, and he will repay the coasts and islands. – Isaiah 59:18. The truth is the God of the Bible is faithful to His faithful ones, and His faithfulness is good. But to His enemies, He is just. What have your actions warranted? This life is our one chance at choosing Jesus. He is drawn to clean hands and a pure heart. It may seem contradictory because if you don’t have a pure heart, how can He be drawn to you? And, if everyone is a sinner, how can there be one pure enough in heart for Him to reciprocate purity? The beauty of our God is that even in your trespasses, He can purify your heart and cleanse your mind if only you would ask! Just realizing that your heart could use cleaning is enough for Him to begin His work within you. He repays all your work according to what you’ve done. I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. –Jeremiah 17:10. The heart that generously does good by His grace, He repays richly. But to the selfish and prideful of heart, He proves Himself shrewd.

He takes care of His people, and we will see Him faithful, blameless, and pure. But for the tainted heart, He is absent and just. The good news is that for those who come to Him, He does not leave them the same way in which He found them. Jesus is the one who transforms hearts and renews minds. He can take a heart of stone and make it flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Today will you examine your heart and let Him into those pieces of you that otherwise feel unchangeable? He wants to make you a new creation, restoring your heart to His original design of fellowship with Him. It is in fellowship with our Creator that we become whole. If you don’t know Jesus, I invite you to ask Him to make your heart of stone, making it into a heart of flesh. Ask Him to help you become faithful to Him, and let Him prove Himself faithful to you in the process. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart to see Him as blameless and pure, not shrewd. He is waiting.

Awaken; Part Two.

November 12, 2022 /
Matthew Botelho

“I assure you An hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has Life in Himself, so also He has granted to the Son to have Life in Himself” –John 5:25-26.

Hello to all my brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus. Since the last time you and I came together, there has been such an awesome move of God in our church! I can say with the utmost confidence the Holy Spirit is moving within our sanctuary, changing many people’s hearts. I have witnessed people coming to the Lord with a growing hunger within our church. Lives are being changed at the altar during times of prayer. The messages from the pulpit have been hitting their mark. People are awakening to the voice of our Lord Jesus! I will confess to you, my dear friends, that this has been something I have been praying for, and after years of asking God to be part of such a move, I am witnessing Him answer! I am seeing it come to pass here and now. What a blessing it is to witness these moments and share them with all of you.

As we open up part two of “Awaken,” let me ask you. Have you ever been reading a section of scripture you’ve read many times before, when suddenly the Holy Spirit grabs hold of you and says, “this, this right here. This is what I am doing”.

Holy Spirit did that very thing to me with today’s scripture. And that has me stirred up. I see people enter the sanctuary beaten down, saddened, depressed, and anxious. To see these strongholds on my brothers and sisters has brought me to tears. Being stuck in those dark places has made it difficult for them to see the Light of Christ and cry out to Him to direct their steps. But God, so rich in mercy, has sent His Son, our Lord Jesus, to be their Light. To awaken those who are dead in their sins. You can literally see the burdens of their week being lifted. Those having walked in downcast now raise holy hands in praise as joy fills their hearts.

This transformation is no mere coincidence. Only God can bring about such change. Our Lord says, “Come to Me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” –Matthew 11:28-30.

Do you want what Christ is offering?

Then let us not harden our hearts or ignore His voice. Instead, as you read this, I am praying that you desire this freedom and that a new hunger for God’s Word is being stirred up within you. “Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under His care. Today if you hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts as at Massah in the wilderness where your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they had seen what I did” –Psalm 95: 7-9

This change first happens when Christ awakens His Spirit within us. The Light of Life dawning in our hearts.

When Light enters a dark room, the darkness leaves. When Light comes in the morning, we are awakened by it. In the same way, Jesus has come into your life as Light. His Spirit in you has made you aware that you no longer need to walk the way you once did. Then Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in Me believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness” -–John 12:44-46.

The Light of our Lord Jesus will always overcome the darkness. You are set free of your sins; they have no hold on you. This change starts when we are born again.

In John’s gospel, Jesus is having an engaging conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus has witnessed signs and wonders that no man could do unless God were with him. Nicodemus knows that there is something different about Jesus. Nicodemus is awed by Jesus and wants desperately to understand how this, all he has heard about and witnessed firsthand, is possible.

Jesus gives Nicodemus the answer that will forever change how we approach God.

Listening in on Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, we hear Jesus make plain this new way we must all come to God. Jesus said, “I assure you: unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” –John 3:3. It never has and will never be about how “good” we are or about the “good” works we do. We are awakened in our spirit man by our Lord Jesus. For God is spirit, and to have a relationship with God, it must be through our Lord Jesus; and that starts within the heart. Let’s repeat that; change begins in the heart! Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord how is it you’re going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” –John 14:22-23.

As we end, my dear brothers and sisters, I encourage you to seek God’s will daily. I pray you will seek Him earnestly and for a fresh revelation and infilling of His Holy Spirit. May God illuminate His Word as you take it in. “Life was in Him, and that Life was the Light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it” –John 1:4-5.

And friend, if you don’t yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior yet feel God tugging on your heart, don’t walk away from Him. Today is your day for salvation. Please, do not let Him pass you by. Hear God’s promise to you. “Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies” –John 11:25.

Foreshadowing.

October 22, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” –Nehemiah 8:10.

In Chapter Eight of Nehemiah, while reading from the Book of the Law of Moses, Ezra, the priest, reminds God’s people of the festival known as Sukkot, or the Feast of Booths. A feast God commanded the Israelites to observe. A feast of which those Israelites who’d recently returned from Babylonian captivity had long forgotten.

Sukkot is over now, but just. It ended at sundown, October 16th. God’s divine will and timing caused this verse in Nehemiah to leap off its page as I read it. Why? Perhaps God wanted to remind us, Jew and gentile alike, to “remember and rejoice.” And if you have a personal relationship with Jesus, that’s all the reason you’ll ever need to do both!

Now is the time to remember—to reflect. To re-consider how your loving, merciful, patient God delivered you from your “Egypt.”

And then, dear brothers and sisters, rejoice, thanking God afresh, this day, for His election of you. Sincerely repent of having drifted away, certainly. Then let your tired hands take a fresh grip on your faith and press on—despite your past sins. “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees” –Hebrews 12:12. Wipe your eyes, rejoice that God has restored you like the prodigal and Israelites before you. Remember, too, that God’s hands continue to rest above and below you, hemming you in, Beloved. The Spotless Blood shed for you, protecting you now; you are loved with an unquenchable love. “You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” –Psalm 139:5-6.

Sukkot is a yearly feast God commanded all Israel to observe. It’s one of three “pilgrim feasts” Jewish people are commanded to celebrate, bringing their tithes and offerings to the Lord. Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you” –Deuteronomy 16:16.

Sukkot follows the Day of Atonement. A day when every observant Jewish person rests from their labors and all pleasurable activities. Instead, they wholeheartedly fast and pray, repenting of their sins before the Lord. It begins at sundown and concludes at sunset the following day. We read of its origin in Leviticus 16. And it’s in this same chapter that we learn of the term “scapegoat.” “Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat” –Leviticus 16:7-10.

No, this isn’t a lesson in Judaism or its feast days. And yes, I am going somewhere with this.

We’re headed straight to the foot of the Cross, to Jesus, that Spotless Lamb of God. Jesus, our Advocate, seated at the Right Hand of the Father. God’s own Son, who put an end, once, for all, to any further need for scapegoats, animal sacrifices, and feast days. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” –1 John 2:1-2.

Jesus has always been. From the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation, we see Jesus. The Alpha and the Omega, beginning and the end.

The foreshadowing of Jesus’ death, the shedding of His innocent, atoning Blood, understood in the imagery of the animal’s God slew in the garden. Innocent blood, shed—their bodies broken, stripped to cover Adam and Eve after they’d sinned. “The LORD God made tunics of [animal] skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them” –Genesis 3:21. God has always had a plan. From the time of man’s fall, before, really, somewhere in eternity past, Jesus was at the ready.

And as “way too big as that is for our limited, finite minds to fully take in,” God surely foreknew every detail of every life that ever has or ever will exist. He knows our every sin, thought, the decisions we’ll make, every word we’ll speak, well before we speak them!

My point? I have a couple.

Firstly, as one who has felt the weight of their sin, been convicted by God’s Holy Spirit for allowing myself to stray from my Father.  I empathize with why those Israelites began to weep when Ezra read from God’s Word. The reality of their desperate state had seeped into their hearts and minds; God’s Word ought to cause true repentance to pierce the heart of those who hear it. Remember, the Israelites knew God. They’d once walked in His ways, obeyed His commandments. Yet they’d drifted from Him. Instead of clinging to God, holding fast to His commands, they’d instead taken on the world’s ways—the pagan practices of their captors. They’d become almost indistinguishable from them. God’s people had become so immersed in the culture and comforts of Babylon that many decided to stay put—leaving God and Israel far behind them. Why?

Because leaving behind the world and all it had come to mean to them would have required sacrifice—and sacrificing their comfort, what had become familiar, was a price they simply weren’t willing to pay.

Secondly, I understand why those Israelites began to weep when Ezra read from God’s Word. They had been restored, forgiven, were home now, returned to the land God had promised their ancestor, Abraham. Covenant had been restored. Not that God had or could ever break it. Man alone does the breaking; God alone restores. Those Israelites gathered before Ezra had repented of their sins, and God, merciful Father He is, had washed them white as snow—a foreshadowing. I, too, have experienced this with God, at least partly—the washing as white as snow. Like so many of you, my brothers, and sisters, I’m still waiting. I’m hoping, looking forward to walking into my promised land. An eternity spent worshiping Jesus, that Spotless Lamb of God I spoke of earlier. Soon and very soon, like the Israelites before me, I will once again and forever be at home with my Lord, my Savior, my Great Love.

Dear reader, I understand that for one who does not yet know and love Jesus in the way I’ve spoken, asking you to ask Him into your heart as Lord and Savior might seem a strange request. But I’ll ask it of you, nevertheless. Why? Because I know Jesus loves you. Not like people you’ve known, who’ve loved and hurt you. Jesus’s love is pure and good. It restores and washes clean. Jesus’s love gives you hope and joy, and freedom. I know this not because I write about it but because I experience it, daily.

Jesus loves you. He wants to have a relationship with you. I pray you’d want that, too. Don’t stay stuck in the ways of the world. Come home to Jesus instead. How? By being born again. “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. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” –Romans 10:8-11.

The Compassion of Jesus

October 8, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

What does it mean to be compassionate? Compassion is the ability to share in the sorrows of another. It is a mixed passion, composed of both love and sorrow. It starts with God the Father, and it also ends with Him. God’s reputation of mercy is reiterated several times by the Psalmists. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness” – Psalm 103:8. It was also spoken of in Exodus after God had freed His people from their captors. The prophets Jeremiah, Hosea, and Isaiah also reference God’s compassion. It continues into the New Testament at the advent of Jesus and into the early church.

Scripture tells of God’s compassion from the beginning of time, but through Jesus, who was God incarnate, we witness the manifestation of God’s kindness. Jesus is the greatest physical example of compassion we will ever know.

Certain seasons of life can render us weak, left to our own sorrow. These agonizing times are often the best teachers of what it means to rely on something or someone greater than us; for the believer, that someone is Jesus. When we can’t make any sense of a situation or feel God’s presence with us, God often uses those moments as opportunities for the promise of His Omnipresence to be felt and experienced in very real and tangible ways. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” –Psalm 46:1-3.

In John Eleven, we read an account of the resurrection of Lazarus. Lazarus and his sisters were dear friends of Jesus, so when Lazarus died, Jesus felt the weight of their grief. Taking time to weep with Lazarus’ sisters, Jesus shared in their sorrow. He also felt the sting of losing a loved one. Everyone knew that if Jesus had intervened earlier, Lazarus wouldn’t have died. “Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You”…. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” – John 11:21-22, 25.

Those gathered at Lazarus’ graveside were yet to realize they were standing face to face with Resurrection Himself.

Jesus, in obedience to the Father’s will, raised Lazarus from the dead. He did this not just for his friend’s gain but to display the Glory of God. God had a plan, and Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead was part of that plan. At that moment, Mary and Martha’s faith in Jesus, the Son of God, met God’s perfect will, and Jesus, so moved by compassion towards His friends, called Lazarus from his grave.

And throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus performing miracles for a twofold purpose; He moved in obedience to God and had compassion for the people He served, whether deserving or not. Jesus performed miracles so people could believe in the One True God.

We see this again in Matthew 9:36. Jesus was moved with compassion toward the crowd. Walking among them, He was healing every sickness and disease. Still, when He paused to look at the crowd, the Bible says, “When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd” – Matthew 9:36. Jesus was the Good Shepherd the people had long awaited, whether they realized it or not. He knew that He was their deepest need. Time and time again, the scriptures describe Jesus’ acts as acts of compassion towards mankind.

I remember a time when I felt incredibly lonely, as if loneliness itself was my only companion. My car’s dashboard had a front-row seat to my sorrow. A moment alone meant a moment to release my anxieties and sadness through tears as I sat with loneliness in my passenger seat. I couldn’t see, hear, or understand where God was in the midst of my pain. Loneliness would respond to my beckoning cries with more profound sorrow and reminders of my inadequacies.

I had to read His Word when I couldn’t “hear” God. I could think of nothing else to do. After all, these Words are His penned message to us! By washing my mind with His word, I began to feel the presence of Jesus once again. The Jesus that had compassion on my sick mental condition. He started getting into my passenger’s seat first, so loneliness had to find another ride. Over time, Jesus healed my mind. He was moved with compassion toward me, personally.

So, whatever you may be going through today, Jesus’ compassion for you has not run out. He prayed for you right before He went to the cross for you. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” – John 17:20. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, shared in your same sufferings, and He knows your very human struggle. He understands them. Jesus once experienced them in His humanity as deeply as we do now. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” –Hebrews 4:14-16.

Whether you’re weeping or rejoicing, Jesus has promised never to leave nor forsake those who believe in Him. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” – Matthew 17:20. So even if you don’t have much faith right now, I invite you to ask Jesus to guide you as you navigate difficult seasons of life. “Lord, I pray I would experience your compassion and grace even when it doesn’t make sense. Help me to look to you as I walk through this life, and give me a compassionate heart, just as you have. Amen.”

We Do It By Remembering.

September 24, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” –Hebrews 10:36.

I know, I know, Christian Soldier, you’re weary. Battle fatigued.

“My arms are tired from the seemingly endless fight.”

I’ve heard this same statement from many brothers and sisters of late. A few weeks back, in her teaching entitled “Fading Out,” Kendra briefly touched on the effects of weariness. She said, and I quote: The cycle of living can feel exhausting. Wake up, eat, work, take care of the house, sleep, repeat. I think we can agree that at one time or another, we have all understood, related to this reference from Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless.” We try our best to be good people. Yet leaving a mark on the world feels like a futile effort many days.

If you haven’t read this teaching in its entirety, I encourage you to do so.

I understand feeling weary; I do. Recently, I’ve been wrestling with the spirit of discouragement. Yet by God’s grace and in His strength, that thing has not been allowed to win the fight—try as it might. I thank God that we, as Blood-bought believers in Jesus Christ, are called, equipped, and sustained to live by faith, not by our flighty, one-minute-up-the-next-down, feelings. And when we forget this fact, I thank God for His eternal Word—our sure foundation. “But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'” –Matthew 4:4.

Being God, and like any good father, Jesus knows not only what to say to us but equally how to speak to each of His children effectively.

Jesus, the Living Word, in the Person of His Holy Spirit, shows up in what sometimes feels like the very last second of our midnight hour. Yet, faithful Father that He is, He always comes as promised. “…and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)” –Matthew 28:20.

And most often, God speaks to His children through His inerrant, eternal, written Word; yet at other times, He speaks just as plainly through His creation. I love both, each an ever-present reminder of God’s faithfulness. From Genesis through Revelation, I find peace and security, assured that God is indeed the same today, in my life, as He was in Adams or Moses’, Miriam’s, or the Apostle John’s. He is the same God who shows Himself anew every Spring, as nascent buds take over bare winter branches. Giving us a foretaste of what’s to come in the fullness of time. “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” –Revelation 21:5.

God is always speaking to us. The question is, are we listening?

Know this, child of God. The Holy Spirit can and will speak volumes through sunbeams flashing across treetops, making each leaf appear lit from within—afire somehow. He’ll change every leaf’s color in season to catch our attention, taking our breath away. When we witness thousands of sparking, tiny, diamond-like bits of that same Sun dancing wildly atop the surface of some pond, lake, or sea, God is essentially saying, “Here, look over here, at Me. Marvel over how I can make sunlight dance!” Listen to how King David described this same Sun. “It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course” –Psalm 19: 5.

I Am here, brilliant and captivating. I cause everything I touch to pulse with life. I AM ever consistent yet ever-changing, both Alpha and Omega, yet all the while able to show Myself uniquely to each of my children through every thing I have created.

God speaks of His character and love through His creation. He shares glimpses of His person, beauty, brilliance, and consistent nature with us. With His rainbow, God demonstrates He’s a promise keeper—throughout the generations. God will speak to us of change and changing through tides, both in their ebbing and flowing. He’ll talk of trusting Him—even as the seasons change. In winter’s stark, cold barrenness, God teaches us to draw near to Him for comfort and warmth. And with Spring’s promises of newness, God reminds us that hope never fails. Summers heat seeping into our pores reminds us that our God is in us, closer to us than our own breath, help in our hour of need. “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” –Psalm 46:1.

God uses such moments found in nature to arrest our attention.

Redirecting us, resurrecting what has been lost, our focus, back towards Him—imbibing us with new hope, we are refreshed, made new. I love that God is so diverse! How He uses a sunbeam or leaf, some dizzying sight, to capture our attention, arresting it. God speaks through these as loudly and with the surety of His written, Thus Says the Lord. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” –Psalm 19:1-4.

God’s Word, written or spoken through a sunbeam, renews us—in the twinkling of an eye. The needle of our compass ceases to spin wildly at will. God has restored True North. And with it, a heavy dose of much-needed encouragement. Encouragement is, after all, that spiritual elixir Jesus uses to refresh us along our long trek back Home. A font of Living Water bubbling up afresh from within, washing away our battle weary-ness. And, just like that, season after season, day after long day, we are reminded that we serve a loving, kind mercy-full Father. More, this same God who caused the Sun He created to light up the leaves He created—desires fellowship with us—with you. God is nothing if not personal. Jesus loves you. Mind-blowing, right?

The Sovereign God of the universe, Creator of heaven and earth, wants to be the Lover of your soul—your One and only True Love.

Jesus assured us He would stick by us until the very end. And we know that He is not a man that He can lie. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint” –Isaiah 40:30-31.

We must hold tight then to His every promise, His every Word. We must fix our eyes on Christ alone and keep them there. We must battle weariness head-on. And we do this by remembering God’s faithfulness, paying attention when He sends some ray of light our way, causing it to glimmer and shine just so. By trusting that if God did what He said He’d do in days past, He’ll surely do it now, today, and in the coming days. Life is not rinse and repeat, Beloved. Life is Christ, in us. Never forget that.

Friend, if you have yet to ask Jesus, the One who sticks closer than a brother, into your heart as Lord, please, do it today. To those who are faithful, God shows Himself faithful. And, unlike those who may have left you, Jesus never will. It’s His promise, and He cannot lie. “He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” – 1 Corinthians 1: 8-9.

But I Thought…

August 20, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” –Isaiah 55:8-9.

We need God’s grace to surrender our wants, our ought to be’s, and should, into His Sovereign hands. God’s grace enables us to stop playing god and start trusting Him instead, putting legs beneath our professions. Without God’s grace, we are power-less. A dead branch disconnected from the Vine. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” –Philippians 2:13.

We are called, instructed, commanded to surrender our fragile, ever-changing thoughts to God—all of us, in exchange for making room for, more of Him. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” –Philippians 4:8.

To “put on” the mind of Christ—is a choice we must make—daily. Over and over and over again. Sunup to sundown. A laying down that we might take up. Intentionally tearing down, destroying, every idol self has dared set up in opposition to God. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” –2Corinthians 10:5.

Yielding to God then, our desired outcomes and how we thought our lives were supposed to look and progress. Whether in our marriages, parenting choices, ministry, Christian walk, prayer life, or how we thought deliverance or transformation might look. Surrendering our every expectation on the “how or when,” God, in His Divine timing, will transform us—our hearts, lives, and attitudes; confidently trusting that He will never break His promise. He can’t. “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” –Numbers 23:19.

We are called to understand, recognize, surrender to the fact that He alone is God; we are not. He alone is Sovereign; too often, we are little more than a fly-by-night people.

Many of us love a person, place, or thing, even God’s blessings, today, yet lose our desire for any more of them tomorrow. We witness this Truth unfold before our very eyes when reading Exodus 16. In it, we read about a group of Israelites suddenly freed from their oppressor’s exacting grip. And we read of God’s miraculous power flowing through one man He’d been preparing in the Midian wilderness—his name, Moses. “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” –Exodus 16:2-3.

Shortly after the dancing and rejoicing over freedom gained had stopped, the grumbling began in earnest. So did the suspicious glances and doubting. Seemingly gone from their memory that moment when Moses stood, lifting his shepherd’s staff high in obedience to God’s command. The water responded by standing erect, solid as any wall. Gone too, it seems, the memory of how they’d crossed between that wall of water from slavery into a land promised them by God on a bone-dry sea bottom no less! Talk about an oxymoron! Not so much as one person getting stuck or being left behind, nor did one cartwheel sink into what should have been little more than muck. The Israelites suffered no loss that day. Some scholars say more than half a million people stepped onto that dried-up seabed as slaves, yet every single one of them stepped out the other side free men—more, sons and daughters: a chosen people, God’s own.

And as incredible as all that is, I am not here today to exalt God’s ability to deliver a race of people from oppression—though He has and can, nor to tout that He is the God of miracles—though He is.

No, today I’m here to cast light on just how easy it was for the Israelites, is, for you and me, to forget not only who and Whose we are but also about our ignoring God’s great mercy. “Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.'” While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God” –Exodus 16:9-12.

Brothers, God’s Sovereign Hand is covering us daily—a Pillar of fire by night and a Cloud by day, still: protection and provision.

Somehow, the Israelites soon forgot how Moses had “suddenly” shown up, used by God to deliver them from Pharaoh’s deadly grip, and how every plague sent upon Egypt failed to reach them, their livestock, or households. Having left the bloodied door posts from a Passover past far behind them, they forgot God had been shedding innocent blood since the Garden that He might save His people. In their grumbling, they forgot God was still in their midst. That He still loved them, was guiding them, and showed Himself faithful, that He might save them—despite their failing Him. “The [presence of the] LORD was going before them by day in a pillar (column) of cloud to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night” –Exodus 13:21.

Yet the Israelites just couldn’t see it.

But now, before you go thinking, “how could they have missed God? He was right there with them, for Pete’s sake!” Remember, child of God. He lives within you, and you still miss Him daily, too.

The Israelites missed God because He wasn’t their focus, “lack of” was their focus. Self, that little g god, was their focus. All of us will miss God. His presence in our lives. His instruction, mercy, His move. We’ll miss the blessing obedience offers as we submit ourselves to those Godly shepherds, He has placed over us as long as we are focused on our flesh. As long as we live in “, but I thought it should,” look like, come

package as, even feel a certain way, instead of living as Jesus taught us, in complete submission to God. “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” –Ephesians 4:22-24.

Beloved, Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that our thoughts, how we think, life ought to go, look, and feel are not God’s thoughts or ways—far from it! They’re not the way God, who created and sealed us in Himself, has planned for our lives to go. “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” –1 Peter 1:17-19.

I encourage you to surrender yourself afresh to God, Beloved. Leaving behind your every, “but I thought….”

And Friend, I encourage you to ask this All-Knowing God, whose ways are far above your own, into your life as Lord. Know this: God can and will deliver you from any situation, bondage, addiction, from the exacting grip of any lie spoken over you or any lie you’ve believed about yourself. Trust that He knows what’s best for you. I know this to be Truth—because He did it for me. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” –Jeremiah 29:11.

Fixing Your Heart on God.

August 13, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

“For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves— cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” –Jeremiah 2:13

In Jeremiah, Chapter Two, God describes Himself as the fountain of Living Water, reminiscent of how Jesus referred to Himself in John 4:13-14. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Could this have foreshadowed who God’s Holy Spirit would be to us?

God tells Jeremiah that He alone is the fountain of Living Water, its Source. Through Jeremiah, God asks his people, “what more can you possibly need?” Jesus’ saying that He can give anyone Living Water is groundbreaking to those who know the Scriptures. If Jesus can provide this Water, it must surely be the Spirit of God flowing from the Father Himself.

Within Jeremiah 2:13, God paints a beautiful picture of humanity seeking fulfillment in things that don’t last.

A cistern is a secondary source of water. For example, a cistern would hold water from rainfall. These cisterns could dry out quickly and wouldn’t fill again until there was an overflow from something else or another rainfall. A fountain, like a spring, is a primary source of water. A constant flow of water from which you can continually draw. God is telling Jeremiah His people have abandoned Him for a secondary source of belonging. They have abandoned the True Source for a low-quality, unfulfilling version. One that will leave them sick spiritually and, ultimately, would destroy them.

I see some of us in this picture—today’s Christians that is.

A people who too often neglect God for a lower-quality source of fulfillment, still, I invite you today to read the message found in the book of Jeremiah as a call to humble yourself and return to the Father.

The book of Jeremiah is centered around a prophet in the Old Testament by which this chapter was named. He came from a line of priests in a town called Anathoth, believed to have been about 3 miles Northeast of Jerusalem. We know that Anathoth was still part of the Israelites’ territory because the settlers there were priests from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Because of the amount of lamenting we read from him, Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” At first, I thought he was just an emotional guy, but as I dove into this book, I realized his weeping resulted from a touch from God that had given him a heart for God’s people—Jeremiah’s heart was hurt by what hurt God’s.

While judgment seems to be a theme threaded throughout the entire book of Jeremiah, we also feel the ache of God’s heart for His people.

We read of God’s desire for His people to be restored to Him before His judgment comes. While the Bible does not talk much about Jeremiah’s life before becoming a prophet, it tells us Jeremiah came from a line of priests, indicating he grew up learning the scriptures. He was not rogue when God called Him. Following the examples of the prophets in the Old Testament, Jeremiah was mentored before stepping into his calling. Jeremiah had submitted himself to the Temple’s work and to serving Anathoth’s people when God called him to be a prophet. The interesting thing about God calling Jeremiah is that his tribe was outside Jerusalem. Year’s prior, King Solomon had banished this tribe from the Temple into Anathoth because of their disloyalty to him. Their being banished tells us Jeremiah came from a line of priests who could only serve the people to a degree but could no longer offer sacrifices in the Temple.

Why would God call someone from this family instead of a priest with full access?

Asking this question of you, Christian, asking it of us all, why would God call sinful people only to banish us from His presence? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- God is not afraid of our past, status, or reputation. He has a way of redeeming what seems lost to fulfill His divine purpose. Jeremiah had a specific assignment: to restore the hearts of God’s people to the Lord.

Jeremiah was called to talk to God’s people about God, above interceding for them; God already knew their transgressions and hearts were callous towards Him. The funny thing about this is that we often expect God to force people to choose what’s right, but our praying usually has to be coupled with action. “Faith without works is dead” –James 2:20.

We can pray for our brothers until our dying breath, but if we never open our mouths to sharpen them or tell them about Jesus, we will have only made it halfway. Praying for someone is what prepares their heart. Actions plant the seeds the Holy Spirit will water. Excuses don’t work with God. Jeremiah was a young man who tried to use his youth as an excuse to avoid his calling, but God nipped that in the bud by telling Him that he was purposed for his calling long before he was born. “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” –Jeremiah 1:4-5.

In that moment, the Bible tells us, “The Lord reached out his hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with my words. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant”– Jeremiah 1:9-10. Jeremiah is then filled with the Spirit of God and calls Israel out on their sins as a nation. He also begins to feel the sadness of Israel’s repeatedly turning away from the God who had saved them—time and again. I get the sense that God felt the betrayal by the people that He had chosen long ago to be His family. Remember, the first commandment of the Mosaic law is this: “you shall have no other god before me”– Exodus 20:3. Yet again, Israel had worshipped other gods, even making an idol of the Temple. “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” –Jeremiah 7:4.

Israel had turned the Temple into a god instead of turning to God, seeking His presence.

The Temple became Israel’s cracked cistern. What’s yours?

If turning God’s Temple from their Source into a “cistern” wasn’t grievous enough, the Israelites also turned to pagan gods. Any other source save God alone, any cracked cistern, will never sustain you and will cause a depletion of your soul’s life.

Maybe your cistern is a significant other? Perhaps it’s your children, church, pets, home, your money? Where are your attention and affections focused? If Jesus is not the first thing that comes to mind, you’ve found a cistern.

God wants your heart.

He aches for you to come Home, tapping back into the Fountain of Life, His Living Presence in you, His Holy Spirit. Jesus is rich in love and mercy, and He abounds in blessings. God wants to bless you and provide for all of your needs. God wants to fill you with the joy and peace that can only come from His Pure, Living Water.

Hebrews 13: 8 reminds us: “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He wanted the hearts of His people then, and He wants them still. He wanted a family then, and He wants one now.

We were made for God, and in Him is where true peace is found.

Ask God today to expose your “cracked cisterns.” Then, ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, which will cause you never to thirst again.

And friend, if you have not asked the God who gives all who ask His Pure, Living Water, ask Him today. Drink deeply, and be satisfied. No cistern you have used to date will truly satisfy your longings as Jesus can. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” –John 4:13-14.

Unending Love, Amazing Grace.

July 16, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“And raised-us-with Him and seated-us-with Him in the heavenly-places in Christ Jesus, in order that He might demonstrate in the coming age the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” –Ephesians 2:6-7.

‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear And Grace my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed. My chains are gone, I’ve been set free My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy rains, Unending love, Amazing Grace. The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. –Chris Tomlin.

Via His Word and various worship songs, the Holy Spirit has spoken to me throughout the day. Stirring up in me reminders of His Holiness, His Power, His Amazing Grace, and Love. God has been refreshing me. Re-minding me (returning to my remembrance); He is not finished with me yet. His ongoing work of sanctification, my being made new, constant. “ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” –2 Corinthians 3:18.

God has been reminding me of just how easily I forget what, said anemically, is the extra-ordinary privilege I have been afforded in having been chosen in Him. My having been saved by the finished work of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. My salvation, costing Jesus His life. I have been humbled today, brought low. Not in a bad way. That’s not the Holy Spirit’s style. Instead, I have been reminded that I am standing on Holy ground whenever God shows up as He has today; I’ve been in the very presence of my heavenly Father. My knees bent, hitting the floor in adoration and awe, feeling the weight of His glory all around me. Who am I that God would come to me?

Now, hear me here. I don’t say this lightly or with some false sense of humility.

I understand I am God’s child and that it is very natural for us to commune with each other. Yet, even knowing this; still, a holy reverence overcomes me whenever my Father shows Himself as plainly as He has today. And I pray that never changes. May I never lose my awe of such a Holy, Loving God.

In His infinite mercy and unfathomable love for us, His children, we who have been chosen in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world stand as living testaments, open letters, epistles of God’s unplumbed love. Both now and in the world to come. Irrefutable proof of the supernatural power of our God—to men and angels alike. In 2 Corinthians 3:3, the Apostle Paul says the following concerning your being a living testament to our God. “You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Listen to how Angelica Duncan describes your being a living testament: “To be a living epistle means you are a living, breathing, walking letter of God’s goodness, glory, and grace!”

So for those whose memory of that precious sacred moment, the Sovereign God of the universe first revealed Himself to you, has dimmed. That very instant, God plucked you out of the kingdom of darkness, placing you safely, instead, into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light. The Lord has sent me here today to lead you back. Back to the remembrance of the most wonder-full, life-changing miracle you have ever or will ever experience. The hour you first believed. To stir up a re-minder of the very precious gift of faith entrusted to you.

Hold tight to this Truth, child of God! Clinging to it as if to a lifeline, “your” lifeline. Salvation is nothing if not personal. Re-membering, Christ died for you.

No other gift, no matter how great, will ever have greater worth than the gift of your salvation. No healing or blessing, no ministry, spouse, no-thing will ever surpass you receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nothing. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have” –2 Peter 1:10-12.

I pray you never forget the very second this unsearchable miracle occurred in your life, having been seared into your memory, indelible, until the Lord calls you back to Himself.

That very second when, like Paul, scales fell from your eyes. Then, for the first time in your life, you saw clearly. Not by human hands, mind you—no Ananias prayed over you. “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again” –John 3:5-7.

Instead, you were persuaded God had sent His Holy Spirit to visit you as surely as He visited Mary—depositing eternal life into your belly. Filling you with His eternal promises and sealing you in Himself for all time, birthing a new man from the old. You have been washed clean, prodigal. Never forget that Truth! “In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]” –Ephesians 1:13.

Chains that had you bound for years, some for a lifetime, falling to the floor. You have been set free from sin, death, and the law; because of Christ Jesus. Because God so loved you that He sent His only Beloved Son into this world to die in your place. All that “whomsoever” might be reconciled to Him, now and forever. “He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.

Remember, too, child of God, when your eyes close to this world, they will open to an eternity spent in the loving presence of your Lord. Never lose hope then. “Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” –Luke 23:43.

Beloved brothers and sisters, listening to Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) Holy Spirit reminded me of the Truth Paul shares with us in today’s Scripture. And so, I’m passing along this oft-needed reminder to you, too, wanting to stir up what the Holy Spirit stirred up in me. A reminder of who I am in Christ Jesus. Contrary to how I may feel in moments of weakness, doubt, or fear, Christ is not finished with me yet. And neither is He finished with you. Keep moving forward, child of God. Keep trusting in God alone. “Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints” –Ephesians 6:18.

Friend, if you’ve yet to ask Jesus, who sets us free from our past, into your life as Lord and Savior, do it now, please. Why stay bound to your sin, addiction, or pain for one more minute? Live free this instant! “A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” –John 8:35-36.

The Cloud & The Spirit.

July 9, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him” –Psalm 37:24.

When the Israelites felt alone, weak, and weary, unable to help themselves, worn out from their seemingly endless wandering, God’s Word reminds us that He stood faithful and True. God was with them every step of the way—sustaining, guiding, and providing for their every need, despite their rebellion, murmuring, and hard-heartedness. These were His chosen ones—His beloved children, after all. “After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” –Exodus. 13: 20-22.

And despite their less-than-stellar attitude, right in the middle of the Israelite’s temper tantrum, God heard their cry, saw their need, and met it. “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud,” The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.'” –Exodus 16: 2-3; 10-12.

Beloved, this loving, long-suffering God of the Old Testament is the same loving, long-suffering God we serve today. He is our Father, so kind, merciful, and tender; even when we act abysmally, God never says, “now you’ve gone too far. My love and grace and mercy will not and cannot cover this one!” God is static. “The same, yesterday, today, and forever” –Hebrews 13:8.

And to say I am honored and joy-full to serve such a God would be a gross understatement. Because, as Paul said, I am chief among sinners. I’m in endless need of God’s mercy, grace, correction, His long-suffering patients.

My anemic words fail to express the slack-jawed awe I experience when the Lord pulls back the veil from before my eyes, affording me a clear peak at my ugliness, my murmuring, complaining, my selfishness, my not-so-Sunday-morning spit, and polished self. While simultaneously allowing me to experience His lavish mercy and grace. I know I don’t deserve any of it. None of us do—I can smell the stink of my own sin as surely as the prodigal would have smelled the pig filth that clung to him—carnality has its own foul stench. And yet, this Loving Lord I serve washes me in His Word. Cleansing me from my unrighteousness, my sin. I am still held and cared for by my Father, despite myself. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself” –2 Timothy 2:13.

Our relationship with God is nothing if not personal.

So, this faithfulness God demonstrates daily is not because of something I’ve done or deserve. It’s certainly nothing I’ve earned. Instead, it’s all about Jesus. My relationship with Him.

Said correctly, because God so loved the world, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save “whosoever” will believe in Him. Jesus, having chosen me in Himself before the foundations of the world, through His life, death, and resurrection reconciled, made a way for me to be restored into right relationship with our Father. God’s Spirit alive in me now, having made His home in me. So now, when my Father looks at me, He no longer sees my sin. Instead, He sees His Son, Jesus. The Spotless Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world—Revelation 13:8.

Our God has never been caught off guard—

He has always had a ram in the bush.

While the Israelites experienced types and shadows of God’s glory, a Pillar of Fire by night and a Cloud by day, we who are in Christ Jesus have the undeserved, unearnable honor of having the Sovereign God of the universe reside in us—God’s Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” –John 14:16-17. This same Holy Spirit Jesus said would come and lead us into all Truth. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” –John 16:13.

So then, child of God, pointing us back to today’s verse: Even though we stumble and sin, in those moments when we allow our carnal man to take the wheel, looking nothing at all like Christ, even then, God’s promises remain true. “When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him” –Psalm 37:24.

As surely as God is with Israel, remaining faithful to His Word and covenant promise to this day, we who believe then are equally assured that God will also remain loyal to us, having been grafted into Israel’s vine. How? Through the new covenant. Jesus shed Blood—if we have a relationship with Jesus. “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.'” First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God” –Ezekiel 36:27.

In closing, have you asked Jesus, the One who loves and sustains us, into your life as your Lord and Savior? If you have not, I assure you He’ll come, making all things new, if you invite Him. No sin is too great, no rebellion so fierce that God’s mercy and grace cannot redeem it. His Blood, washing it away, white as snow. “The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, “Father.” And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children” –Romans 8:14-16.

Vantage Points.

June 18, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!” –2 Corinthians 5:16.

So many factors shape your understanding of the world around you. The highs and lows of life, your ethnicity, where and how you grew up, your level of education—or lack of, and economics, to name a few. Did two loving parents raise you in a peace-filled home? Or were you raised in a single-parent household by a mom or dad who did what they knew to do to provide for you, whether peacefully or not?

As witnessed in the life of the Apostle Paul—and our own; faith, or its absence, directly shapes how we perceive the world and those in it.

The Apostle Paul raised Saul from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia in the Province of Asia Minor, was a Greek-speaking Jew born around the time of, or just after, Jesus. Saul of Tarsus was no average Hebrew boy. Clearly, he displayed above-average intelligence and nimbleness of mind. Though he did not hail from a wealthy, aristocratic family, Saul’s ability to read and retain Hebrew Scriptures afforded him an encyclopedic knowledge of the Torah. Saul’s intellectual prowess and unswerving belief in nonbiblical traditions positioned him to become a student of the renowned Rabban Gamaliel eventually. “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” –Galatians 1:14.

Saul spent much of his early years living as a resolute Pharisee, yet we know that Saul was also a tent maker, skilled with his hands (1 Cor.4:12; Acts 18:3; Acts 20:34). This tidbit of knowledge allows us to know with certainty that Saul did not come from an affluent background—he was not economically privileged. Little is known about Saul’s parentage or early childhood. Still, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Saul was raised in a traditional two-parent Jewish household by devote, God-fearing parents who regularly went to the Temple.

Now you may be asking yourself, “why are you telling me all about Saul’s life, and what does he have to do with today’s Scripture verse or your opening sentences, for that matter?”

My answer? Telling you about Saul’s life has everything to do with today’s Scripture and my opening verses. How? As I said earlier, so many factors shape your understanding of the world around you. Faith, or its absence, directly shapes how you perceive the world and those in it. And Saul was no exception. So the way Saul was raised, what he was raised to believe in, more his eventually life-changing encounter with Jesus directly affected not only his life and ministry but so many countless thousands of other Christian lives and ministries.

Saul of Tarsus became Paul, The Apostle, this fervent, dedicated lover of the same Christ and His followers he once despised, persecuted unto death. No longer interested in rites and rituals. Now Paul’s focus was on saving souls, sharing the Gospel message, and seeing men freed from the death-like grip of their sins. Having once seen God as little more than a means to a religious end, now, Jesus lived and burned vibrant and alive in Paul’s heart. And this because Paul’s vantage point was changed in a flash—of God’s Pure Light, that is. Perhaps that’s why in today’s passage, Paul encourages you to see people in your day-to-day life differently. He is challenging you to see them and the world around you anew, through spiritual eyes—through a different lens, maybe, than what you grew up wearing?

Here Paul acknowledges that, like many of us, he, too, once viewed the world through dogmatic “earthly lenses.” Perhaps, like so many of us that have been given new sight—spiritual eyes, Paul was reflecting on his once profound blindness as he stood, lending his reflexive consent, his zealous approval of Stephen’s stoning? As Paul penned this verse, I wonder if he thought back to being blinded by the Pure brilliance of the Lord? Knocked clear from his proverbial “high-horse,” humbled. His sight temporarily taken so that he might gain a new vision?

“If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” –Philippians 3:4-8.

Whether directly or indirectly, knowingly or unawares, so much of what we’ve been taught, have perceived—whether real or imagined, shaped our willingness to welcome God into our hearts and lives. Or, conversely, it closed Him out.

What we were taught about faith in God, if anything at all, helped determine if we’d view God as a loving, merciful Father or as just some guy who exists “out there somewhere” who threatens and challenges our worldview. Or, perhaps, it led us to question whether God even exists? We see this plainly in Saul’s life. His learned, rigid, legalistic view of God made it virtually impossible for him to experience God outside the fixed rules and rites that governed and protected his faith. Saul’s “this is how God is and moves” stance prohibited him from experiencing God relationally, beyond the ritual that had become his religious default—that is, until his life-changing encounter with Jesus on a dusty Damascus road.

Saul’s Damascus Road encounter with Christ became the birthplace of Paul, the Apostle.

That’s what happens when God “calls us out of darkness and into His wonderful Light” –1 Peter 2:9.

We are transformed, made new. Blind eyes, seeing clearly. We’re given a new vantage point from which to view the world and those in it. Yes, it was Saul who fell to the ground. Saul, whom God blinded. And it was Saul who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, fasted for three days, seeing Ananias in a vision. But it would be Paul, God’s Apostle, having had an encounter with the Living God, who would leave that room on Straight Street with new sight.

Surely, what our parents teach us, influences us. Our culture, education, and socioeconomic means each play a role in shaping our thinking concerning our faith or belief in God. But, as with Saul, none of these external influences will ever have the power to stay the hand or will of the Most High God, King of the Universe, Sovereign Lord. Somewhere in eternity past, God had written Saul’s name in The Lamb’s Book of Life, and no earthy circumstance, no rite or ritual, no religion, or conviction would ever be powerful enough to change that.

Take comfort in that fact, friend. If God has chosen you for Himself, nothing and no one can keep Him from you.

No religion, lack of education, abusive parents, being raised poor or in the hood, or even your addiction or self-loathing can keep God away. As with Saul, God knows the exact moment He has destined to remove the scales from your eyes, enabling you to see beyond the confines of this world, changing your vantage point forever more. No longer seeing Him or those, He’s created with the same tired eyes—Jesus makes all things new, starting with you.

Friend, you can have a personal relationship with Jesus now if you choose to. It’s so simple a child can do it. You just need to repent of your sins, tell God you’re genuinely sorry for all you’ve done—no matter what it is, and ask Him to come into your life as Lord and Savior, and He will. And just like Saul and countless others, you too will be given eyes to see beyond the confines of this world; eyes that will see and recognize the Truth—Christ Jesus. “Yeshua said to him, “I AM THE LIVING GOD, The Way and The Truth and The Life; no man comes to my Father but by me alone” –John 14:6.

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