the One who gave all

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” –Ephesians 2:13

I’ve been revising a book I read last year & wanted to share a portion that has stood out to me; especially in light of today being Good Friday. May it remind you of Jesus’ great love & lead you to be in awe of His sacrifice ♥ 

The excerpts below are taken from pages 33 thru 39 of
“True Worshippers: Seeking What Matters to God” by Bob Kauflin.

“The first couple lived in a world ablaze with God’s presence & glory. Adam & Eve instinctively knew why they had been made. They breathed, ate, slept, played & labored to exalt the goodness & greatness of God. There was no need to exhort human beings to worship — their entire existence revolved around the God who had made them. When they ate the forbidden fruit their worship was redirected. Duped by a serpent, they rejected the gift of worshipping God and chose to worship themselves.
… the Old Testament ends not with jubilant celebration but with the painful realization that all our efforts to bring glory to God result in failure and condemnation [and yet] God continues to invite & pursue. Our inability and God’s grace are on full display. Diety becomes dust, the Maker becomes the maligned, the Creator becomes the cursed. God comes in Christ to restore the relationship that was rejected in the garden. We learn that the greatest gift God gives us is Himself.
… Jesus provides the ultimate statement that He will provide a way for us to worship Him; not only in this life but for all eternity.
Where our offerings are tainted with self-reliance and self-exultation, Jesus empties Himself to bring glory to His Father on our behalf. Jesus’s perfect life, substitutionary death on the cross, physical resurrection, & glorious ascension accuse once and for all that those who trust Him can be numbered among the worshippers of God. … In His sovereign mercy, I turned out to be one of them.
Jesus came to die in my place to give me a gift. Not something I had to earn, prove myself worthy of, or labor to keep. A gift.

He cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” so I would never have to.


Worship never begins with us; it is always a response to the truth. It flows out of an understanding of who God is and what He has done for us in Christ. It begins with His revelation & redemption. ♥”

steadfast.

/ˈstedˌfast/  adj.
  a.   to be firm, stable, established.
  b.   firmly fixed in place.
  c.   not subject to change, determined.
I entered into 2019 with the word “steadfast” echoing in my heart and when I read this verse in Psalms it was confirmation. It’s my prayer that the Lord change my heart & make this verse a reality in my life this year.

It can be easy to lose sight of the purpose in the day-in-day-out routine of life. God desires for us to walk into each and every day remembering that there is eternal weight and significance in the good works He has predestined for us (Eph 2:10). Whether it be at home, in your workplace, your church, or your school there is nothing insignificant or without purpose. Today’s culture is constantly telling us to chase entertainment, distraction, and comfort — so the temptation is to become complacent, discouraged, undisciplined, or lazy in our daily routines and habits. In Galatians 6:9, Paul exhorts the believers:

“Let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart.”

What we sow today we will reap in the future, which always leads me to ask myself the question: are the habits, thoughts, choices and routines I’m creating today pushing me towards Christ or away from Him? There are always consequences for our actions & we must be aware of them — not unobservant bystanders!

God’s Word talks so much of the fact that we are soldiers in a spiritual battle: called to be courageous, vigilant, and alert. Just as a soldier prepares, trains, and anticipates warfare; we are called to do the same!

Instead of becoming frantic, confused or paralyzed like the world when things are uncertain or trials and doubts come God desires His children to be confident, steadfast, and abiding in the love & victory that belong to us thru His victory. And while I desire those qualities to characterize my life I know that I frequently fail. The Lord has been challenging me to lean into those hard questions & identifying those areas in my life where I am complacent, allowed compromise, or have settled for less…

I’ve read my Bible; but have I sought Him diligently & wholeheartedly?
I’ve prayed; but have I waited patiently in His presence for His peace? 
I’ve worshiped; but have I surrendered? 

I know who He has promised to be and believe that He is —but do I believe that He will be that to me?

Thru His Holy Spirit, He has given us all we need to walk in faith and boldness. Like the verse at the beginning of this post says: we do not have to fear bad news! Our hearts can be steadfast, trusting, secure, and fearless because:

“everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
– 1 John 5:4

You were never meant to hide.

But the LORD God called out:
“Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9

— After Adam & Eve sinned in the garden their first reaction was to hide…because their spirits’ died and they realized their sin & unrighteousness.  They felt the gravity and reality of death: something they had never felt or experienced before—they knew nothing would ever be the same. Shame, guilt, & regret plagued them. So they hid. 

But what they thought they could hide—God knew. And as they huddled, dreading the thought of being found, God calls out “Where are you?” — not because He couldn’t find them, but because He wanted Adam and Eve to know that He was pursuing them. He wasn’t going to leave them. Their sin now separated them from Him and they forfeited being able to enjoy unhindered fellowship with God, but He hadn’t forsaken them.

Do you know that feeling of wanting to be alone, wanting to hide because the weight of condemnation and sin is too heavy — wanting to just disappear because you’re thinking: “If they only knew.” You’re scared they won’t accept you or will look at you differently. We’ve all been there. Feeling like we’d rather hide than step into the light and be known…

But you know the freedom that comes when someone calls out: “Where are you?” — God’s voice to Adam and Eve in the garden must’ve brought dread to their hearts and yet I imagine His voice also brought a sense of relief and amazement to their hearts. The fact that God — who is all-knowing — was calling out for them. He was still pursuing. He knew and that didn’t stop Him.

They hid & God called out. 

That’s the whole narrative of the Bible; God’s unrelenting pursuit of sinful and rebellious man and He never-ending desire to save us and restore fellowship. That’s the gospel:

When I was without hope, destined to live a life dead in my sin: ashamed, condemned and hiding — God called.

When I thought my world had ended and I had ruined any chance of redemption. When I believed I was too far gone and God could never forgive me… — God called

He called with a voice of love, forgiveness, grace and mercy: “Where are you?” A voice that told me: “I see you. I know where you are and where you’ve been and I’m here. Let Me lead you out of this place and give you life where there’s been death and light where there’s been darkness.”

His voice is never one of condemnation.

We must come out of hiding &
stop believing that He has given up on us. 

Because we can never hide from His love.

"But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach Him ..." - Galatians 1:15-16a
" What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one — for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. "
                       - Romans 8:31-39 (NLT)

Light in the darkness…

“That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” –Isaiah 45:7

“Believe in the darkness what you have seen in the light.“
– Lilias Trotter

Have you ever grappled with the fact that we are called children of the Light (1 Thess 5:5, Eph 5:8) but also still feel the weight of darkness so heavy at times?

While we have been called out of darkness, named children of Light, and know the Light of the world; we live in a world that is still unbearably dark. The darkness is present and tangible. It is real. We face it every day and experience it’s devastating effect.

Jesus came to free us from sin and from the penalty of sin: eternal separation from Him — but while on this side of heaven we still wrestle with and experience the consequences of sin. When we look at the world with our physical eyes it can be hard to see God’s hand at work. At times it’s easy to feel like the power of darkness is stronger than the Light.

But God’s word brings me such encouragement, such comfort, and so much hope. These verses have been healing:

“Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.”
Isaiah 50:10 

“You, Lord, are my Lamp;
the Lord turns my darkness into light”
2 Samuel 22:29

“He called you out of the darkness
into His wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9

I am reminded that God is not to blame for the darkness: the death, grief, loss, pain, deception, injustice, hatred, poverty, abuse, and sickness in our world are all the result of sin. The Devil is the father of lies, deception, and darkness. It originated with him and he is seeking those he can devour, destroy and condemn. The devil wants to keep us stumbling in darkness, confused, and lost in our sin.

That was me: I was helpless, stumbling in the dark with no way out and couldn’t discern which way to go. That’s where Jesus stepped in: the Light of the world to expose the darkness and provide the way of Salvation. The greatest need in our world and in our hearts is LIGHT.

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
-1 John 1:5

When the hopelessness tries to overtake me, my heart cries out: “Jesus let me see Your light. Open my eyes to see You; YOU are the only solution for the darkness.”

It’s easy to allow the darkness to cause us to doubt His presence.
But instead, allow the darkness to draw you even closer to His light.
The dark makes His light shine even brighter.

"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." - 2 Corinthians 4:6

"To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." - Luke 1:79

The deepest, darkest places in your heart where the hard questions, doubt and pain lie are not surprising to Him. The places you thought you’ve been able to hide and where you’ve wondered if His love and forgiveness would reach are not unexpected to Him. All He asks that we come openly and honestly before Him, step into the light and expose the darkness. You do not need to have all your words preplanned or eloquently thought out: He already knows every crevice of your heart and loves you still. His desire is to transform  hearts from a place of darkness to a place of Light.

When you cannot find clarity in your circumstance, He is your light. When grief causes your vision of Him to become blurred—He is light.
There may be darkness seeking to choke out His light in your heart and life: whether it is anxiety, depression, grief, or loss…it can leave you feeling unworthy, ashamed, and undeserving of His presence, but cling to His word:
In His Word He has clearly revealed to us Who He is. We can trust His character and rest our full confidence and assurance in the fact that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. While we face times of darkness and change He is the One constant. The only One who can bring clarity. The One who is “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

It’s when you can’t see that you learn to trust Him in the dark.
When you don’t see His hand you can trust that He’s still working.

He redeems the darkness.
When we think we’ll be crushed under the weight; He is using it to strengthen us.
He is growing our faith.

God does not deny the presence of darkness but He promises to be the Light.
He doesn’t promise to remove the darkness; but promises to be our Light thru it.

It is as if He is saying: “I know. There is darkness; and it can be crippling and paralyzing at times. It can feel helpless & hopeless. But I am the Light of the world. I am the Light of your heart. In Me there is NO darkness. There is no confusion or shadow of turning in Me.” The darkness that I was once fearful would hide His face from me now draws me closer towards Him. He is the only One who can navigate this dark world and I can trust that He will carry me thru.

“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” – Isaiah 45:2-3

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” – Isaiah 42:16

“God is too good to be unkind
& He is too wise to be mistaken.
And when we cannot trace His hand,
we must trust His heart.”
– C.H. Spurgeon

If you’re stumbling in the dark,
run your hands against the walls
Find every window, every door,
throw them open, throw them open
In will flood a blinding light,
and it will chase away the night
Even if you shield your eyes,
let it pour in, let it pour in (Jess Ray “Gallows”)

“What’s true in the light
Is still true in the dark
You’re good and You’re kind
And You care for this heart
Lord I believe, You weep with me.”
– Rend collective

“Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him…once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.” – Oswald Chambers