New Beginning same message

Lately I feel as if I am seeing some things for the first time. Almost as if a filter that was permanently mounted in front of my eyes has been lifted so that I am now sensitive to a new range of emotional color. My heart is being filled with love for individuals that frankly I would have never noticed before. I am very thankful that God has opened my eyes to a new set of needs and that He is making room in my heart. My prayer today is that God will continue to mold my heart and remove the worldly filters from my life.

2 John 1 1:6

To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Body

I found myself pondering two verses today. The first is 1 Peter 2:24-25. In this passage we are reminded that Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross as payment for our sins. Through his act of sacrifice we are healed. Because of this we can live as Ephesians 4:15-16 calls us. For when we speak the truth in love, we will grow together as a body attached and dependent upon the head which is Christ. This reminds me of two things. The first, without Christs sacrifice for me, I would still be lost, and second, I need other to fulfill the work which God has called me to. The body is not made up of a single believer, but rather a group (joined and held together by every supporting ligament, growing and building itself up in love, as each part does its work)

1 Peter 2:24-25
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Ephesians 4:15-16
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Psalm 91

Pause, choose

Today I paused and thought about Joseph, a prominent voting member of the council. He did not agree with the decision to put Jesus to death and had secretly become a disciple of Jesus. I wonder what went through his mind as he prepared the body of Jesus for burial. I can only imagine he felt great grief and sorrow. His action must have sparked speculation among many of his fellow council members. It was at this point that he made the decision to do the unpopular, go against the grain and choose Jesus. Until that moment he had been able to hide his true self maintaining an otherwise "socially high standard". At that moment and in that place he crossed over. This makes me think of all the times I ride the fence hiding or diluting my true thoughts simply to appear socially status quo. Lets face it a Christian lifestyle is radically different that what the World is currently serving up as normal. Sometimes it is easier to just fit in, not make waves. It is my prayer that I would trust Jesus more than this world, that I would care more about what God thinks than my neighbor, and that I would stand up for what I know is true.

Mathew 27:57-60
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Brown Paper Sack

I found myself sketching on the back of a brown paper sack and was amazed at how the colors popped against the earth tone. I was reminded that this time of year brown paper sacks often hide special gifts from prying eyes. We are often just like brown paper sacks, plain and ordinary hiding the gifts that God has given us on the inside. Imagine if we turned our brown paper sacks inside out and let the world in on what God has planted inside us. My prayer today is that I would wear my gifts on the outside and use them in accordance with God's will.