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Tag: love (Page 3 of 6)

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.”

One Last Twist.

October 1, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” –John 15:4.

Abide in Me—remaining in perfect oneness, holding white-knuckled fast no matter what happens, staying attached and rooted. Webster defines abide this way: to remain stable or fixed in a state. God has been holding up this command to abide before me, turning it like a kaleidoscope. Abiding in Him will look the same, yet different from past seasons.God has been exposing the extent of our powerlessness. Making clear our great need for Him, now, more than ever; is that even possible?

Here’s the thought. Such shaking is upon us that if we foolishly allow ourselves the room to be lulled into thinking anything we do, have been gifted to do, can be done on autopilot, in our own power, we will quickly learn just how inept and hollow we are. Equally, in our foolish attempts at playing god, we risk being deceived, swept away by the faulty wisdom and ever-changing winds of this world.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, reminds his reader that all life is cyclical. “There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted.” 

Everyone and everything under heaven has set times embedded within them. Every tombstone makes it blatantly clear. Even the leaves are attesting to this truth. What was once a tender bud in March turned into a rich green swatch in April—then onto a lush, green canopy. A shelter made possible by summer’s warm embrace. Now, these same leaves are changing yet again. Fiery, burnished reds and rich golds now.

Season following season, divine order, it’s how our God decided all creation would best work. One thing relies on another, with every-thing reliant on Him. Hence, today’s verse.

All of life, an ebb and flow, a holding on and a letting go of. Except that is where our relationship with God is concerned. That must be fixed, deeply rooted, unshakable. Listen to how King David describes those who abide, remain in, hold fast to God. “And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers” –Psalm 1:3.

In this, our most sacred, most significant relationship, there must never be a letting go. Unless that is, Jesus asks it of us.

And even then, our letting go isn’t of God; it’s of things. Of places, people, habits, jobs, relationships, thought patterns, or our worn-out, tattered way of doing things. When God impresses within us, when we get that knowing in our gut that God is asking us to let go of, move away from, change, or rid ourselves of something or someone, that is the only time a Blood-bought believer ought to let go of something which God has used to bless them. Until such time, we are to stand still. Remember, Beloved, you are no longer our own. You’ve been bought with the very highest price, Christ’s own spotless Blood.

Oh, sure, you can make decisions for yourself. You’ve been afforded that choice. You can, at will, change cities, homes, jobs, and relationships.  But here’s the thing, if it’s not God’s will for you, His timing, His “thing,” do you really want it?

My answer? Nope. No thanks. Been there, done that, and it was a total disaster!

God alone gives and takes away in every season—nothing is random. There are no accidents with God, only things we simply do not understand—yet. Job teaches us this lesson. God always, always, always has a plan. And it’s always good. “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” –Job 1:21. So we either trust God or decide to rebel to take over God’s role in our lives? Thinking we somehow know better than He, what’s best for us, our lives, ministries, family life, relationships, etc. Judas did this. And we can read how it eventually ended for him in Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 24.

Today, so many are walking through a season of change and challenges. For some of you, just holding on to your faith in this present darkness is taking its toll on you. Yet just as change and changes are happening all around us in the natural, so too in the spiritual. God is up to something in that unseen realm—beyond the veil. We can feel it. We know it. God is moving, preparing, putting the finishing touches on, if you will, the place He’s gone ahead to prepare for us, his beloved children—His Bride. He’s finalizing his plans. God is removing, shaking loose, and making room for the fulfillment of His promises—every last one, the final turn of the kaleidoscope. So hold on for just a bit longer, Beloved. Trust God. He has promised to complete what He started in you. Besides, His strength, not your own, will bring you safely through these winds of change.

And so, weary one, I join my prayers to our Lords, the Apostle Paul’s, and to that great crowd of witnesses who have gone before you, having finished their race. Hang on! To your faith, your God, determinedly. Abide in Him. “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong” –Hebrews 12:12-13.

What does that look like? Well, it’s more than just staying close. Abiding is obedience to Truth. And Jesus Christ is Truth.Abiding is oneness with God. Being bound to, united with, dependent on Him and His Holy Spirit for every-thing. Abiding is the embodiment of our covenant relationship with God.

I’ll end where I began, with a reminder—an S.O.S.

God is up to something in that unseen realm—beyond the veil. We can feel it. We know it. God is moving, preparing, putting the finishing touches on, if you will, the place He’s gone ahead to prepare for us, his beloved children—His Bride. He’s finalizing his plans. God is removing, shaking loose, and making room for the fulfillment of His promises—every last one, the final turn of His kaleidoscope.

Yet there is hope, friend. There’s always hope, so long as there is breath in your lungs. But this hope is found in Jesus alone. He is the only Way to the Father. The thief on the cross is your proof. “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” –Luke 23:41-43.

So, if you’re His, I encourage you to abide in Him. But if you’ve yet to ask Christ into your heart, know this, the winds of change are blowing. You don’t need to be a Christian to recognize this. Turn on the news, read the front-page headlines, buy a gallon of gas or milk. Take a look outside your window, friend. Creation attests to the fact that everything is about to change. So please, turn to Christ today. “…if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved” –Romans 10:9.

Night Vision

July 23, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters” –2 Samuel 22:17.

It had always been God’s own Spirit at work in David. Wooing, shaping, molding, chiseling away, enabling David to see His God clearly, affording David a relational understanding of Himself few men possessed. It was God who had empowered David to press on amid unjust treatment, persecution, and betrayal.

David’s natural eyes failed him, as every man’s will—think Bathsheba here. Only God’s Spirit at work in David could enable him to see beyond the lusts of his own flesh and into the Spirit realm, discerning God’s will. It was God’s Spirit, His power and ability from which David drew strength, saw clearly, was given direction—enabling him to live by faith, not by sight, feelings, or faulty human judgment.

God’s Holy Spirit gave David something he did not possess in and of himself—night vision.

That ability afforded God’s children, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to see beyond their natural ability. David had it. And, if God’s Holy Spirit resides in you, so do you.

From youth through old age, David praised the faithfulness of his God. I say his God because David’s relationship with God was nothing if not personal, intimate even. Reading through the Psalms, First and Second Samuel, and various other Scriptures, makes this truth plain.

While tending his Father’s sheep, David spent days and nights serenading God with songs of love and adoration. David extolled God, glorifying God’s goodness, love, mercy, kindness, and power. He sang of God’s protection and tender care for him. David exalted God’s creative abilities and awesomeness.

David was a man who lived in awe of his God! There is much we can learn from David.

Whether we have been walking with the Lord for one year or fifty, our learning and determining to keep the flame of our love for God ablaze should be our primary focus, our number one goal in life. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” Deuteronomy 6:5. David took God’s first command to heart, and God took notice of David’s heart. “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will'” –Acts 13:22.

Yet nothing David accomplished for the Lord, not one thing, was done his own power, no. Hear the Word of God on this Truth: “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” –Zechariah 4:6.

It is impossible to carry out God’s plan and will in our own power. The Lord has made this abundantly clear throughout Scripture.

David was not a perfect man by any means—none of us are, save Jesus. “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin” –1 John 3:5.

Yet, despite his many sins and shortcomings, God favored, protected, loved, and inclined His heart and ear towards David. God alone pulled David out of deep waters—and David knew it. He loved God for it. For saving him from his adversaries, those too powerful for David to overcome. And why did God do this for David? Love.

Yes, David undoubtedly loved God unashamedly, but never forget that it was God who first loved David. God who chose Him, anointed him, empowered David to do the work He had planned for him before the foundation of the world—and, as it was with David, so too with you and me. God has chosen us in Christ Jesus for His good pleasure, plan, and purpose—pulling us, pulling you, specifically, out from deep waters.

This mystery is far too great for this finite mind to take in fully! And yet, having been chosen in Christ, saved by Him, I am literally, eternally grateful to God. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” –John 15:16.

Friends, David was God’s choice long before one song of praise or word of love had ever formed on David’s lips. “Now the Lord said to Samuel, “…Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” –1 Samuel 16:1; 13.

And, as it was with David, so too with you and I, Beloved of God.

Like David, we too have been afforded the high honor of having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, sealed, eternally, in Jesus. His Spirit alive, at work in us, assures us of this Truth. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” –Hebrews 2:14-17.

Having purchased us with the unplumbed price of His shed Blood, He is jealous of us, His Bride, wanting our love, undivided devotion, praise, ardent worship, and adoration; just as God wanted David’s. Any devoted husband rightfully expects his wife’s undivided love and affection. How much more than does our faithful Husband desire for all of us to want all of Him?

So let me ask you, friend, when is the last time you spent time just lavishing the Lord with love? When did you last set time aside to spend with God alone?

Now I’m not talking about an hour spent in route or rushed morning devotions. I’m talking about going for a walk or drive together, speaking and listening, admiring God, His creative ability in nature, and giving Him praise for it? When was the last time your heart was so filled with love for God that you had no choice but to cry? Not in sadness, in awe. In gratitude. How about the last time you spontaneously praised God? Just sang or danced before Him, worshipped simply because He is God and deserves your praise?

Now hear me, child of God. I don’t ask these questions to shame or chide you. Know that I ask them of myself before posing them to you. Confessing firstly, I am guilty of falling far short of the above. I am sure that is why, in part, God has placed this teaching in my own heart.

Instead, I ask these questions that we might course correct, returning wholeheartedly to our first Love—seeking out our Beloved, wooing Him.

God isn’t asking us to spend our days doing more and more for Him, family. He’s asked, asks still, that we love Him fervently. Not circumcised in the flesh only, hearers of His Word, but in our hearts, being doers of God’s Word. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first” –Revelation 2:2-4.

Have you asked Jesus into your heart? Welcomed Him into your life as Lord and Saviour? Have you asked God to pull you out of the deep waters threatening to pull you under? If not, friend, why wait any longer? Call out to Jesus right now!

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.

Lifeline.

May 7, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins” –James 5:19-20.

Lifeline: support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something (often by providing an essential connection).

This message is your lifeline, Beloved. Love is an action word. So is faith. Each connects us to Truth. And what is Truth? Jesus Christ. We see this Truth splashed across every chapter of James’ Epistle. This Truth saturates every Word we read, from Genesis to Revelation. From the very beginning of his writings, James makes clear to his reader: if you simply know God’s Word, as in having head knowledge of ” I know the Bible! I’ve read it from cover to cover!” yet don’t put legs beneath what you’ve heard or read, don’t have a genuine, loving, dependent, entwined relationship with the God who wrote each Living Word you profess having read, you’re only fooling yourself into thinking your faith is genuine. This is not my opinion; it’s God’s Word. “For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” –James 1:23-24.

James speaks to us of practical faith. A faith that not only sees the needs of those around us, those hurting or struggling, in need of food or shelter, clothing, those sick in body or spirit, it also compels us to act. To put legs under what we profess—more, to practically demonstrate, give away, the love we claim to carry within us—the love of Christ. James calls for us to lay down our lives and resources for the wounded brother or sister we see before us—and, truth be told, we all see at least one.

That lonely one there in the back row, in need of conversation and a cup of coffee, a hot meal, maybe even a couch to crash on for the night so they can sleep in peace and safety. “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” –James 2: 14-17.

Now before I go on, allow me to clarify something. Your good works will not and cannot save you. Understand that. Your being a “good person” won’t save you, and neither will you just knowing about Jesus. Even Satan knows about Jesus! Good works do not save you. Only belief in Jesus Christ, a genuine relationship with Him, will save you. Not Church. Not reading your Bible from cover to cover, not a pastor, no one but the Living God can save you. “Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6.

James’s good works in his Epistle are but threads of evidence of your having been transformed, your genuine salvation, being new in Christ Jesus. In having met, been stitched together as one, with the Author and Perfector of your faith. That established, back to where we left off…

Are you guilty of ignoring that one? That lonely one, the hurting one, that one in need? I know I certainly have been. Too busy. No time. What about my privacy, my comfort? If I hadn’t already made plans, then maybe…

I thank God for second chances. I thank God for the ones He sent my way to rescue me, offering me a lifeline, a way back to my first love when I needed conversation and a cup of coffee. When I needed a friend’s couch for the night, some safe place to lay my head and rest. When I just needed to know that I was seen, I mattered to someone. Now hear me, friend, it wasn’t that I didn’t believe Jesus loves me, will never leave me nor forsake me. I had just walked away from that mirror James spoke of and had momentarily forgotten what I looked like, more, who I looked like, belonged to. I needed to be re-minded. And my beautiful, merciful Savior knew just who to send my way.

That is the only reason I can come to you today and speak boldly and confidently. I have been that one. I have been that charred branch plucked from the fire that threatened to take me out on more than one occasion.

I have experienced firsthand that God’s Word, God Himself, is Truth. God can and will and does save us, over and over and over again. And not for just a moment, but our lifetime and beyond. God truly is El Roi, the God who sees. I know this because when I felt invisible, lost, confused, and afraid I had lost Him, God knew precisely where I was. And He saved me, yet again. The Holy Spirit threw me a lifeline in the way of a sister in Christ who came and refused to leave my house until I opened my door. Depression and fear had me believing if people would just leave me alone, I’d be fine in a little while. I just needed some alone time, space to just breathe and think. But instead, God showed up in the flesh that day, and He cleared away every lie that had dared to raise itself in place of the Truth I knew. He made the way back to Himself with this very Truth, spoken in love, yet again. “keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life. And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh” –Jude 1:22-23.

And to say I am grateful, well, those are just words. I owe God my life.

So today, as I do every day, I’ve chosen to lay my life down. To ask God what it is, who it is, He’d have me reach out to this day. He led me to you, Beloved. Please, take my hand, God’s hand. Because even when a lifeline is thrown, you have to want to reach for it, decide to grab it, be desperate enough just to hang on, and trust God to do the rest, to pull you in and back to Himself! “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” –John 10:28-29.

And so, having had a lifeline thrown my way on more than one occasion, the Holy Spirit has sent me here to you, my brothers, and sisters in the faith, and those wanting to be. To you, who sit in that pew week after week, searching God’s Word, trying to believe, doing your best to remain faithful, all the while struggling to hang on to the hope you so desperately need, the strength that will keep you coming back to Christ, hungry, just one more day. Or you, who so want to feel alive again—to feel that joy and peace, that fire in your belly you felt when you first believed. You’ve been spending way too much time of late questioning your faith, asking yourself, is it really true? Everything you once held so dearly, so tightly. You hear yourself thinking, “the world around me just doesn’t align with what I’m hearing week after week when I come to church.” I get it; I do. I hear and see many of the same things in the world around me that have caused you to lose heart, question, dare I say, doubt God?

But it is all True, child of God! If you are sitting under a shepherd who teaches the undiluted Word of God, then what you are hearing is Truth. And if you’re not, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a church that does teach God’s Perfect Word.

Jesus is the Truth. So then, hear me, please! Be re-minded of Truth. How? By actively putting into practice, determining to heed the Apostle Paul’s instructions, taking it to heart. Applying it lavishly, a healing balm to your every wounded, doubt-filled, questioning place: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” –Romans 12:2. Consider this your lifeline friend, your connection to Truth—back to Christ. The support you prayed for—the shift needed to reroute you who have wandered dangerously close to the edge of “the things of this world.” You who have lost hope. Have been laboring under your own strength. You who have forgotten you were not created to carry your burdens alone. Hear Jesus’ heart toward you, child of God. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls” –Matthew 11:29.

And, dear friend, if you have read this far and have related to these words more, the Truth of this message. Know this; there is no such thing as coincidence. You are here because God led you here. God’s Truth will remain Truth, eternally, whether or not you believe it. But oh, I pray you do, believe it. More, I pray you grab it, wrapping it tightly around you, using it as the lifeline that will draw you to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, if you’ll let it. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” –James 4: 7-10.

Revealed.

April 23, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth” –Ephesians 1:9-10.

The crowd’s thunderous, “…Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” –silent now. Even the treacherous “…Crucify him! Crucify him!” vomited up from the mouths of the ones He had come to save, dried up. His Bloodstained Cross lay discarded, yesterday’s news. The very agent of their supposed victory abandoned now. His Cross, burned to ashes, perhaps? They didn’t want to leave behind even a trace of His Precious Blood, erase all evidence of Him, lest one of His radical followers claim this Bloodstained wood held power, leading others to believe that even in death, He lives. Has power, still. Not magic. Not some religious relic. Rather, Bloodstained wood that will never be silenced. Truth, some tried desperately to seal up in tomb-like silence, behind some weighty stone they mistakenly thought would shut up His claims of being their long-awaited Messiah—once, for all. The King of the Jews sealed neatly away, silent now, finally. Blood cleaned up. Body wrapped up. Problem solved!

But God had a plan.

Long before the Third Day Resurrection of our Lord, even before the Trinity stood over the dark void and spoke, God had a plan in place to redeem all of His children, Jew, and Gentile alike, one, in Christ Jesus. Child of God, Your Father has loved you with an everlasting love. I know, such a mystery is too great to take in. For me, it’s right up there with Jeremiah 1:5, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Wait, what? Even before I was in my mother’s womb? Wouldn’t that imply…

If you didn’t catch how purposefully loved you are after reading Jeremiah 1:5. Hand-chosen, a unique and vibrant thread intricately interwoven into a lavish tapestry far exceeding anything our finite minds and myopic vision can fully take in; all before that tapestry yet existed, then read this. Let it add some other beautiful layer of certainty as to how it is God sees you. “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

You are His. And, He has redeemed you.

To fully understand the full weight of those two statements, a more than cursory understanding of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony is helpful here. I won’t get into it now, but I do encourage you to look up a reliable source and read the intricate and detailed process of ancient Jewish weddings. Or back click on the link I’ve provided. Times and customs may have changed, but God’s love and election haven’t.

Ancient Jewish Marriage

It has always been about Jesus—God’s redemptive plan, that is. When Adam and Eve sinned, we catch our first glimpse of “God’s plan” in Genesis. We, God’s children, being covered by the blood of something innocent—a foreshadowing, a sign. God has always given signs to those who have eyes to see. “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” –Genesis 3:21. An innocent life had to be taken. Innocent blood was shed. The guilty, covered. That’s you. That’s me. That’s the Gospel Message. The Living proof of John 3:16 foreshadowed in Eden. Sinful man saved by the redeeming Blood of God’s Spotless, Perfect Lamb. His One and only Son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ. The Way. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” –John 14:6.

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. – And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus” –Ephesians 1:9-11;3;6.

Easter is over. The Crown of Thorns vanished, His Cross, ashes. But Jesus is still here. Still very much alive and calling “whosoever will” to Himself. And the Power of His Blood, well, that’s forever. The Blood will never lose Its power—or voice. The work of the Cross is finished. Praise God! But the plan God had for the Cross, its true purpose, continues. I know this with certainty because I’m still here, but that’s for another day. God’s plan to redeem all those chosen in Himself since before eternity past is alive and well today. “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence” –Ephesians 3:12.

Consider this your invitation from God. Accept His love for you, the plans He has just for you. “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. Be used by Him, not as man uses you, but be used for God’s glory and honor, weaved into His lavish and beautiful tapestry so resplendent in glory you cannot take it in, yet. But in just a moment, if you’ll but believe, you’ll see as Jesus sees, and every thread will make perfect beautiful sense.

Now I hear you saying, but I have no faith; I don’t know your Jesus. Take heart, friend; Jesus knows you; that’s why He sent me. The truth remains Truth even when you don’t believe it to be Truth. That’s the beauty of Truth, of God. He is unchanging. You can rely on Him, His Truth.

So If you are here, you’re here because God’s called you here. There is no coincidence. You are being invited to join Him; you are one of those spoken of in today’s Scripture. You are part of God’s plan. One He chose in Himself, before the foundations of the world. Accept His offer and come on back home. “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” –John 3:3.

Blessings, in Disguise.

March 5, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“The Israelites were leaving with their arms raised in victory. But the Lord caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to become brave. And Pharaoh chased the Israelites” –Exodus 14:8.

“I’ve heard it said, “nothing can stop God’s love, and God’s love stops at nothing.”

The Lord had told Abram that His chosen people would be afflicted for 400 years— “Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years” –Genesis 15:13. We read of the Israelite’s first steps towards freedom from their oppressor through the lens of today’s Scripture. They were leaving behind some 430 years of affliction and subjugation in Egypt. This bloody, tyrannical chapter in the lives of God’s people coming to a seemingly implausible close; God’s Word is inerrant, All-Powerful, it cannot return to Him void. So even as God spoke to Abram, a non-rescindable promise was released over future generations. God’s people would be free. God’s promise would be fulfilled. All of this then, in God’s own time.

No seeming victory by the prince of this world can ever come to bear over the will and plans of our Sovereign King.

It is God alone who gives Satan both the power and permission to execute his thieving, murderous plots and schemes so that, in the end, all men may witness God’s glory and victory over every evil, giving glory to God for the victory. “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this'” –Exodus 14:4.

So how do we respond when our blessings show up disguised as trials? When the love of God feels like anything but love?

Do we take God at His Word? Do we honestly know, trust, believe that even our trials are blessings in disguise? “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” –Romans 8:28.

Scripture reveals two vastly different responses to this question.

Yet before we read about those, I pray the Holy Spirit gives us a fresh vision, a new level of discernment, that He does what only He can in removing the scales from our eyes, every preconceived notion we have concerning God, period. Specifically, I pray this as we walk through these perilous times of wars and rumors of wars concerning how we perceive God will, or will not, can, or cannot move, in our lives and our world. I pray we trust His Omniscience. I pray He refines us, bringing us to new levels of surrender to His will. I pray we catch a fresh revelation of the Sovereignty and Power of our God—and fully surrender ourselves to Him, leaving our every fear, our unbelief, need for control, our striving, and grappling at His feet. “Father, not our will, but Yours be done.” Amen.

Hear the heart of God’s people when faced with a situation that looked nothing like the blessing they had been told was coming. “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” –Exodus 14:10-12.

And later, having walked through a seemingly impossible situation, a sea divided, walls of water standing tall, straight, and obedient as soldiers at attention. God continued to stand watch, ensuring the last Israelite stepped out from between the walls of water before commanding them to stand down. God spoke, and the water came crashing down. Exodus 12 informs us some 600,000 men plus their women and children safely crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, the walls of water God had used to deliver His people; He also used to bury their enemy. Yet their grumbling continued. “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” –Exodus 15:22-24.

Having endured a season of crushing, time spent in the wilderness, or the fire of affliction, how long do you walk around with your hands raised in victory and thanksgiving before dropping them, beloved? For the Israelites, it was three short days. The sea had been parted. They’d crossed over on dry land. They sang songs of thanksgiving and deliverance; then, their need for water appears to have washed away any remembrance of the miracle they’d literally walked through.

Is it any wonder that God calls us sheep? How easily we forget, go astray, want what we want, forgetting the blows the sin of rebellion once dealt us.

Until we come to a garden, that is. Not the first one; that is where all this finger-pointing, pride, and rebellion was born. It’s in the second garden, during the watches of the night—Scripture informs us it was about midnight that finger-pointing, pride, rebellion, every sin, was poured into one Life-demanding cup. Understanding fully now that accepting the cup meant death, Jesus knelt and prayed. He asked the Father if this bitter affliction might be removed from Him. But God said no. Not only did He say no, He waited as Jesus drank deeply and all, the very last drop of the sins of this world. Your sins—all of them. Mine, too, poured upon His Beloved Son. God knew the Cross awaited Jesus. Just as He knew, the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army awaited his people.

God also knew for our sins to be removed, for us to be restored to Him, Jesus had to die. That had always been part of His plan. We catch our first glimpse of it back in that first garden when innocent animals were killed; their bloody skins used to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. Even in our rebellion and sin, the heart of the Father is to provide for His children. “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” –Genesis 3:21.

Jesus would eventually finish the work we witnessed in the garden when His Spotless Blood was shed as the final covering for all that those might accept His free gift of salvation.

So how do we respond when God’s love feels like anything but love?

Now, hear the Words of the One who said “absolutely! I’ll go” when asked to lay down His life in exchange for ours. Listen for Jesus’ pure tones of acceptance, resolve, trust, obedience, love, devotion, His wholehearted desire to do endure anything the Father asked of Him. “Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” –Matthew 26:38-39.

And a while later, going back to pray, Jesus’ heart is revealed to us a second time—God always confirms His Word. This same One who took away our sin-blackened garments and, not leaving us naked, cloaks us instead with His Pure White Royal Robes of His Righteousness. “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done” –Matthew 26:42.

Friends, God has given us the unfathomable gift of free will. Not wanting robots that love, worship, or serve Him out of fear or some false sense of obligation or duty, God affords us the privilege of serving Him.

The cup Jesus drank in the Garden of Gethsemane affords us that privilege—still. Your ability to serve God, to call Him Father, to carry His Spirit, alive, in you, is the costliest privilege afforded any man, having cost Jesus His very life.

Two examples. Two vastly different responses. Willful rebellion and self-satisfaction on one side, complete surrender, and the giving of self for another, even unto death, on the other.

So not if friend, but when your blessing comes disguised as anything but a blessing, which of these responses will be yours?

If you have not accepted Jesus into your heart, why wait? Ask Him in now, friend. He’s just waiting for your invitation. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” –Revelation 3:20-21.

Love With an Open Hand.

February 26, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

As time moves on, it appears we have been moving further and further away from caring for others. We are inching ever closer toward little more than meeting our own needs. It is said, A culture that advocates for doing whatever makes one happy is in direct opposition to our purpose as believers. While society says, “do whatever makes you feel good”, the Word of God says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable– who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9. The world says, put yourself first, while the Bible says, “Value others above yourselves, not looking to your interests but each of you to the interests of the others” – Phil 2:3-4.

While I believe that we must maintain a certain level of self-care, Western culture, in my opinion, has taken this to an extreme. Caring far more for “self” and far less for others.

This mindset has led some to believe that they will only be happy as they focus on little other than themselves. Yet God says the exact opposite is true. God’s Word declares that “it is better to give than to receive” – Acts 20:35. But some have become so obsessed with self-care that for them, giving in any capacity, be it financial, of their time, or energy, unless somehow directly benefitting them, is fast becoming unthinkable. Not for everyone—I hope certainty not for you, Christian! Because this idea is in direct contrast with what the Bible teaches us.

Amid one of the worst mental health crises in modern history, the Word of God holds the key to thriving as we learn, to love with an open heart.

While Jesus was bearing our sins on the cross, He hung, arms stretched wide, hands nailed open. And while that was His physical posture, it mimicked the posture of His heart as well. Jesus knew that the very people who had crucified Him—cried out for His death, were also the same ones who needed His forgiveness and love, and He did not withhold it. Jesus’ brave love allowed Him to maintain a posture of forgiveness. His heart responded not with disdain but forgiveness. “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing” – Luke 23:34. Jesus knew that you and I could very well have been standing there as He was crucified, yet He still chose to love us.

The very people who favored Jesus’ death sentence were the ones whom Jesus had walked among His entire life. They were the same people who sat under His teaching and followed Him throughout His three years of ministry. These were the people who crucified Jesus. And as He carried the sins of the world, past, present, and future, we might as well have been there too. Yet if Jesus could love in such a way, let’s not forget that we’re commanded to do the same.

How many times have we experienced betrayal at the hands of a friend? Or encountered coworkers who have proven to be untrustworthy? Or maybe it’s a family member who is manipulative or selfish?

It is easy to love those who are kind to us. But with difficult people, not so much. Often, we convince ourselves that they somehow deserve our cold shoulder. I’ll go back to our contrasts of societal advice versus Biblical Truth on this one. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also… You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” – Matthew 5:39b, 43-46a.

While society says to return the favor, give as good as you got, Jesus says choose humility, turn the other cheek. I do not take this to say let people walk all over you. I see it as a call to live in a posture of forgiveness and love. You can love someone without trusting them, forgive without trusting, and give without expecting a return on your investment.

It’s hard but possible to live that freely. In time, the Lord restores what was broken.

Sometimes, our love and generosity can be contingent upon what we’ll get in return. For instance, we will attend a wedding expecting that those getting married will one day attend our wedding. We give food in someone’s time of need with an expectation that they would do the very same for us in our hour of need. We donate to charity, walking away feeling satisfied knowing that we did something good.

But what happens when our expected outcome doesn’t happen?

Sadly, the answer is that many will hold a grudge, or they will determine in their heart to never again give to that one of their time or resources. Yet Jesus says, “turn the other cheek.” He challenges us to give of ourselves again and again. To love, again. Expecting nothing in return. He challenges us to love without holding so tightly to expectations. Instead, loving with an open hand, knowing that we made a difference in someone’s life, regardless of their response.

A couple of years ago, this revelation completely changed my life. I remember being so hurt by people I invested time, energy, and resources in. I gave and gave, expecting that if I ever needed their time, energy, or resources, they would have my back. But I learned that was not always so. It led to me feeling bitter, angry, hurt, and resentful. While praying about it, the Lord gave me this idea: Be a friend to people and be fully present today, knowing full well that that person may not be there tomorrow, and let them go. Praise God for the time you had with that person and that you had a genuine friendship with them for a time, and pray that they are blessed as they go on. Keep your eyes open for the new people I place in your life as you move forward and be present for them as well, knowing full well that tomorrow they also may not be there.

At that moment, God was teaching me a piece of what the love of Christ looks like. Even when I feel betrayed, I can pray that the seeds planted will grow, and, eventually, that person will be at peace. When I began to love these people with an open hand, nothing they could have said or done hurt me anymore. I began to bless them, and, as it says in Ephesians 4, I was able to forgive them as Christ forgives me, moving forward with peace and joy. What kind of bitterness could you be harboring in your heart today? What do you need freedom from? Who in your life needs your forgiveness so that you might live without the weight of that grudge? Who in your life needs a friend? Is it that one perhaps that you don’t consider worthy of your friendship? I encourage you to ask the Lord to show you what areas in your life need refreshing so that you, too, can love with an open hand.

If you don’t yet know Jesus in this way, I invite you to ask Him into your heart today. If you don’t know what to pray, you can start here. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to die for our sins. I know that I am a sinner and in need of your grace, so I ask you to forgive me today as I turn away from my sinful life. I ask that you help me to forgive those around me. I believe you are the Son of God, and I want to trust you as my Lord and my Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen. I believe that if you pray with a sincere heart, God will hear you, and your life will never be the same as you begin to walk by the Spirit and not by your understanding. I believe that today, Jesus can lead you in living life with an open hand and heart.

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