Immeasurably More

6/16/2015 – by

There is a story told by a woman who was grocery shopping with her preschooler.  She said, “My little boy asked, ‘Mama, can we buy a cantaloupe?’   He was gazing longingly over the beautiful fruit display in the grocery store.  His innocent question turned like a knife in me.  A fruit we all enjoyed seemed the utmost luxury in light of our meager checkbook balance.  I had carefully made the grocery list to fit the money we had until the end of the month.  Cantaloupe wasn’t part of the plan.  But I did notice that two of the items I had intended to buy were on sale, and the savings happened to equal the cost of a cantaloupe.  I sighed, and said, ‘I guess we have enough.’  ‘Oh, Mama,’ my son cheered, ‘enough is a lot!’”

Provision is a wonderful thing to experience in life.  Enough certainly is a lot.  In fact, many a smile is generated by simply remembering that, by definition, we never need more than enough.  However, a unique thing about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is that he often provides “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG).

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Contents under Pressure

6/15/2015 – by

“Contents under pressure.”  You see it on many household items—from cans of hair spray, whipped cream, and furniture polish, to propane tanks.  It’s part of a warning that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires on self-pressurized containers.

Most all of us can relate to those seasons of our lives in which we feel like the contents of our soul are under pressure.  During those times we feel the pressure of illness or financial hardship or work responsibilities or broken relationships or loneliness or grief or loss or some combination of several of the above.  Sometimes the pressure is so soul-crushing, we wonder if we will survive at the same time that we wonder what not surviving even means.

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Modern Slavery

5/18/2015 – by

It has been identified in various ways: modern slavery, modern day slavery, forced labor, sex trafficking, sex trades, trafficking in persons. The U.S. Department of State says, “The United States government considers trafficking in persons to include all of the criminal conduct involved in forced labor and sex trafficking, essentially the conduct involved in reducing or holding someone in compelled service”.

Since the winter of 2013, God has been growing in the hearts of the FCS community a deep compassion for those held captive by various forms of modern slavery—especially women and children who are being held captive for purposes of sexual exploitation. This compassion is born out of the calling to fulfill Jesus’ mission “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” (Isaiah 61:1b). This compassion is increased by a growing awareness of the suffering of those held captive. This compassion is fueled by a heartfelt desire to do something about that suffering.

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All Things You Ask

5/11/2015 – by

It has to be one of the boldest statements Jesus ever made: “All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” At the same time, it is not one of the most surprising statements Jesus ever made. Jesus is the King of Kings, the King of Glory, the King over All the Earth, but he is also the King of Unlimited Possibilities. Over and over again, throughout the gospels, Jesus emphasizes the unlimited possibilities for the one who has faith. Using a variety of examples, he helps the disciples understand that nothing is impossible for the one who has faith: fig trees will wither before you, mountains will be cast into the sea, demons will be cast out, and you will see the glory of God…if you believe. And it doesn’t take much faith to make possible the seemingly impossible—only faith the size of a mustard seed.

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There Will Be a Way

5/4/2015 – by

There are those times when there doesn’t seem to be any way out—when there doesn’t seem to be any way that you are going to be able to endure your cancer treatment, pay your bills, or reconcile your marriage. There doesn’t seem to be any way that you are going to be able to cope with your grief, break free from your addiction, or find peace in the midst of your anxiety. There doesn’t seem to be any way that you are going to be able to experience healing for your trauma, forgive that other person or yourself…or trust in God again.

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One of the Greatest Tricks

4/13/2015 – by

Do you sometimes reflect on the price you have paid for certain things in your life? I’m not speaking primarily about material purchases. I’m talking more about the price you may have paid for things like pleasing others, meeting people’s expectations, making a given amount of money, having a certain type of appearance, achieving certain things in your life, or being “good enough in order to be loved.”

I have spent a lifetime trying to impress others in order to win their approval in order to be good enough to be loved. I can say now that this “impress others to be loved” strategy doesn’t work. Most of you are way ahead of me in knowing that trying to impress others, even when we succeed, does not make us feel loved. And so often the price we have to pay to try to impress is far too expensive.

As I move along in years, I realize that one of the greatest tricks I have experienced is one that has caused me to pay a large sum for things that are of little value. “All the enemy has to do,” my good friend Gary Moon told me years ago, “is sneak into the jewelry store of our lives and switch the price tags. We then end up paying a high price for jewels that end up being of little value.” As that description has captured my soul, I have come to realize that “the enemy” is primarily me and “one of the greatest tricks” is one that I have played on myself—that I have believed that I have to be good enough in order to be loved.

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Fully Embraced by the Lord

3/30/2015 – by

Have you ever had the experience of hugging someone who does not accept your hug? Both of your arms are wrapped around the person while their arms hang limp from their shoulders, like the sleeves of a shirt on a hanger. If we want to be fully embraced by someone, we have to receive their hug and return their hug.

Many of us struggle to be fully embraced by the Lord. Thomas Keating has written, “If you want to be fully embraced by the Lord, you have to accept both arms: the one that allows suffering for the sake of purification and the one that brings the joy of union.” We may easily accept the arm of God that brings comfort and joy. We may struggle to accept the arm that permits pain and heartache for the sake of our growth and renewal.

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The Soul Care Commission

3/16/2015 – by

The Soul Care Commission is the Biblical mandate which calls Christ followers to provide the ministry of soul care—that is, to support and restore the well-being of persons, in the midst of their circumstances, in such a way that they are increasingly formed into the likeness of Christ.

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Clear the Road for Him!

3/2/2015 – by

Some twenty-five years ago, a dearly beloved person in my life shared a story with me that changed my life. Her meaning in telling the story was to help me understand that God had everything I needed to put out the fire of the painful trial I was experiencing at that time.

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Prepare the Way!

2/16/2015 – by

Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten Season for those who are Christ-followers—a season of spiritual preparation for Resurrection Sunday. Believers engage that preparation through the more intentional practice of various spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, Scripture reading, confession, meditation, contemplation, fasting, journaling, self-denial, and acts of love. The goal of Lenten preparation and practice is to clear the road for God to work transformation in one’s life—the kind of transformation represented by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death to new life.

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