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Monthly Archives: March 2015

Hosanna’s fade…love endures

29 Mar
I saw this picture at an office complex. You can see my reflection behind Jesus. I kinda like that.

I saw this picture at an office complex. You can see my reflection behind Jesus. I kinda like that.

We welcome You Messiah and we also walk in the shadow of Your cross.   We pray for wisdom to see beyond the cheers of the crowd demanding an instant miracle.  If we build our faith on the crowd, then we build on a sinking foundation.   So instead of empty words, let’s build on the solid rock of Christ and live out our faith in the One who paid the price so that we would know that God is always with us.

“We’re not saved because we’re good.  We’re good because we are saved” (Rich Mullins). So when the Hosanna’s fade, let us not be moved but instead let us hold on to the truth.  The truth that “Love is always going to be far more dangerous than power” (Jeff Hood). The truth that Jesus died for us so that there would be no emptiness between us, and the love of God.  Lead us to the cross Lord, where Your love is and will always be…one scarred hand to the other.

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2015 in Conversations with God

 

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Take Up Your Cross

22 Mar

St. James Lutheran Church in Crystal Minnesota

St. James Lutheran Church in Crystal Minnesota

Lord God, we come here today so that You can pour Your Spirit into the deserts of our lives. Teach us how Your love knows no limitations.   It walks on water, it raises the dead and it connects us with our Creator. When all else fails, the love of God never fails. So release the gospel into our story so that we can step into our function as children of God and messengers of truth.

 “Authenticity takes courage (Bishop Yvette Flunder).” Faith in Jesus, goes beyond words, it calls us to action. Yes, we may take up our cross but it is Jesus who carries it. “He has a purpose in even the things we cannot understand (Romans 8:28).” So Lord, give us courage, give us strength and give us the vision to pursue Your dream of a healed world. And when doubt creeps in, give us the wisdom to know that “God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called (Mark Batterson).”

 

 
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Posted by on March 22, 2015 in Conversations with God

 

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Christ in me

15 Mar

photo-12

Lord God, “thank You so much for Your love for us. Thank you that, despite the way the world and other people treat us, we are loved by the One who matters the most (Vince Antonucci, VerveLV).” We come to You today with our whole truth because You know our life story.

You spoke us into being and You know every moment of sin, shame and inconsistency. Yet, Your love for us never fails. We’re forever struggling to know You more, so please give us the wisdom to understand that You already know us. You see us, You hear us and you still love and forgive us no matter what. You take all of our messes and create the most beautiful work of art, called life, for You are with us always.

The way of the cross is not forced its given. The Lord isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street” (M. Russell Ballard) or towards the broken souls in this very room and love our neighbors as ourselves with the same love that God gives to us. So let us begin.

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2015 in Conversations with God

 

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Seek to know You

01 Mar
Original Painting by Jason Manlapaz

Original Painting by Jason Manlapaz

Lord, “because You bend down to listen, as long as we have breath, we will pray (Psalm 116:2).” “Guard our speech from evil and our lips from deception (by) open(ing) our hearts to Your word (Episcopal Church).” Guide us through these questions and doubts that are rooted in the gravity of our human brokenness.

As sinners we all have a past, but as saints we also have a future to fully live in the experience that is Jesus Christ who is the truest expression of God’s love for all of us. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who goes before us and takes our place on the cross so that we can know that God is always for us, no matter what.

We are here today because “our conscience is captive to the Word of God (Martin Luther)” and it shocks us and it frees us each time we confront the cross. Lord, we look for You, we reach for You but most of all we simply seek to know You, to really know You.  

 

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2015 in Conversations with God

 

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