Oh how He Loves...

Lots of thoughts this week as I take in the world but most of all His Word. I believe we have difficulty reconciling that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Why would God flood the earth but yet fully reveal Himself with such sacrificial love in Jesus instead of destroying the earth again? Man resisted the grace of God in the OT and the brutality of the law was manifested. In the NT Grace comes in the form of a man, a man that was also God...Jesus. I heard some simple wisdom this week..."I trust when I don't understand. I choose celebration in the middle of things I don't understand." We want to explain all God is in an instant without spending daily time with Him, in His Word with Holy Spirit interpreting. An evangelist I respect, Todd White commented... If God is not your Father and Holy Spirit your mentor, you will be in trouble; you will be codependent on someone instead of colaboring from someone. My view in this season is there is a lack of reading scripture and asking Holy Spirit to interpret...there are more leaders and evangelists seeking/standing on the platform of their safe/palpable theology then there are those kneeling down before His throne and being His hands, feet and moving Jesus. Explaining the scripture in full was never assigned to us. We bring attention to ourselves as we continue to apologize on behalf of "Christians" that have sinned against and brought shame against those of different lifestyles and beliefs instead of bringing attention to the one Who bore our sin, bore our shame, bore our wrath and has already forgiven us. This can be in a perspective false humility and almost a soft religious sales pitch to win someone over to hear your theology and then you become a hindrance between the true Voice and to the true Love...Jesus. He does not need us being His sales pitch, His sugar coating...the Blood actually covered it for us. It does not work in America and definitely not in a third world country. He is beautiful enough, passionate enough, strong enough, tender enough, in love with us enough to show Himself intimately to those who desire Him and His ways.

COURAGE...

In five days I will celebrate my 40th birthday...in Africa. I think of the months prior to our move and the words "you are courageous" bounce around in my head. I realize more than ever how we misunderstand true courage...how we mislabel unconditional love as acceptance. I read the international news today. I read about young girls 8-14 years of age being trained up in East Africa to perform sex acts in order to be sold or married off to men old enough to be their fathers and grandfathers. I think of how they have to wake up each morning to darkness when they should be basking in the warmth of the sun...COURAGE. I read about the history of genocide by Germany years ago in Nambia. I think of how they survived day after day in fear and under the oppression of the lie that they were not human...COURAGE. I read about Jesus appearing in a vision to an ISIS member and saying, "Follow Me", and he chooses to follow...COURAGE. I skim down and read about the Duggars and Bruce Jenner in America along with the surrounding opinions. The Duggars will have to recount the sins of their past for the jury known as social media. Bruce is to be honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. My heart aches, my spirit grieves and groans. Memories flash before me of my parents as they battled to take their last breaths of physical life with dignity, remembering as they had to release all control for others to care for them and for their Abba to receive them...COURAGE. I remember many patients and family members I have cared for in my 15 years of nursing...diverse cultures, diverse backgrounds...sleepless night after sleepless night for all as they journeyed through uncontrolled pain and spiritual anguish...COURAGE. I look across the fence of my new home and see a 6 year old with a 6 month old wrapped on his back, walking barefoot along the road, smiling, semi-trucks speeding by with what is left of their brakes...COURAGE. I sit across from a 13 year old girl as she holds her 4 month old sibling and updates us on the amount of diarrhea she has had the last 24 hours, we instruct her on what to do next and she intently listens...COURAGE.  The most courageous people I have seen in my short 40 years will have no celebrity status, no award ceremony, no social media status battles declaring unconditional love and acceptance between Christian and Secular, instead there will be money exchanged for child sex slaves, funerals for infants that have lived for months without even being given a name along with unmarked graves, there will be years of grief for those that cared for the sick and dying, deep emotional wounds for those survivors that are told the holocaust and genocide never happened...COURAGE, COURAGE, and more COURAGE. I end my day thanking the Lord for new perspective, true perspective, eternal perspective...JESUS...He was beaten and tortured for us, took the wrath, bore the shame, was mocked, and is still mocked...COURAGE. He is my COURAGE, Christ in Carla and nothing more.

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline."
  -2 Timothy 1:7