I love you

•March 17, 2012 • Leave a Comment

How do you show someone that you love them?  You are willing to give up everything that you have got to make their life better.  You would “walk over hot coals”.  You would take on their pain rather than watch them suffer.  You would give up your comfort for theirs.  You would give your all.

14And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. 15Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life. 16God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! 18No one who has faith in God’s Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn’t have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God’s only Son.

19The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. 20People who do evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. 21But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.

God loved the people of this world so much – enough to give his only special son (Tom Wright p 84).  And anyone who believes in what he is doing can share in the new thing God is doing.  God doesn’t want to write us off, he would so much rather save us.  God doesn’t send his son, so that people are condemned, or feel bad about themselves when measured up to him.   Rather he has come to rescue us from ourselves, and give us the opportunity to be part of God’s new work.  There is wrath in God, but that isn’t how he wants to deal with us, he wants to love us, and makes it possible through giving his son.  Everyone who believes in him can receive that.

Photo by Wingchi Poon

Whoever you are, whatever you have or haven’t done – God loves you – yes you!

Today, let that sink in.  God loves you enough to give up everything for you, even his very self, his special son.  Take some time with him, let yourself be wrapped in that love and feel it, let it soak through you, touch you where you need it free you and give his peace.

Thank you God for loving me.

For sending Jesus,

for giving him up,

that we might know your love

and your life.

Thank you Lord

that you are not looking to condemn us,

but save us.

This year, I am again following the Big Read using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in God, Jesus, love
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This is Him

•March 16, 2012 • Leave a Comment

How fantastic it is to be able to say, “This is my Son – and I’m proud of him.”  This young man is part of me, I’ve raised him, taught him how to live.  Here is the one I’ve told you about, now you can meet him for yourself and see, you can get to know him for yourself.

This is where I should insert a photo of one of my sons, but I won’t do that to them – proud that I am of the fine men they have become (sorry for the proud mummy moment!)

But that is what God says here:

The True Glory of Jesus

2Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him. They went up on a high mountain, where they could be alone. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. 3And his clothes became much whiter than any bleach on earth could make them. 4Then Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus.

5Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6But Peter and the others were terribly frightened, and he did not know what he was talking about.

7The shadow of a cloud passed over and covered them. From the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to what he says!” 8At once the disciples looked around, but they saw only Jesus.

9As Jesus and his disciples were coming down the mountain, he told them not to say a word about what they had seen, until the Son of Man had been raised from death. 10So they kept it to themselves. But they wondered what he meant by the words “raised from death.”

11The disciples asked Jesus, “Don’t the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?”

12Jesus answered:

Elijah certainly will come to get everything ready. But don’t the Scriptures also say that the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected? 13I can assure you that Elijah has already come. And people treated him just as they wanted to, as the Scriptures say they would.

Except God also adds that they should listen to his son.  What he has got to say is important and needs hearing.

God reminds them that this is “The One” – yes the new thing is here in and through him.

In  Jesus, God is here as a human being.  Tom Wright reminds us that it would take many years of prayerful thought to fully understand what that means (p 83), we can forgive Peter for saying something stupid, but at some point we need to make a start on getting our heads around it – and doing something about it…

We might have heard about God – in Jesus we meet him.  If we pay attention to him, we will learn more about God.

Have you encountered the awesome Jesus?  Have you been introduced to him as God’s Son?  Are you going to get to know him for yourself? Do you listen to him? What am I going to do having met him?

Thank you Lord,

that you introduce us to your son,

the one who is part of you,

and shows us you,

that in him we meet you.

Help us,

as we get to know him,

that we may listen to him,

learn from him,

and follow your ways.

This year, I am again following the Big Read using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in Jesus, lent
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But What Do You Think?

•March 15, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Before you make a decision on something, you may want to canvas the opinion of others.  Has anyone else tried this? Do you own one?  What do you think?  Would you recommend it?  Have you been there?  Would it work for me?

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

22As Jesus and his disciples were going into Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch the man. 23Jesus took him by the hand and led him out of the village, where he spit into the man’s eyes. He placed his hands on the blind man and asked him if he could see anything. 24The man looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking around.”

25Once again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes, and this time the man stared. His eyes were healed, and he saw everything clearly. 26Jesus said to him, “You may return home now, but don’t go into the village.”

Who Is Jesus?

27Jesus and his disciples went to the villages near the town of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “What do people say about me?”

28The disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah. Others say you are one of the prophets.”

29Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

“You are the Messiah!” Peter replied.

30Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone about him.

And so we return to the “Who is He?” question.

But this time Jesus is asking about himself.  What are people saying about me?  What’s the word on the street?  The disciples give various answers about what people are saying about him, the understanding that is going around.

But them comes the crunch:

But who do you say I am?

Because that’s the really important question.  What other people think might be interesting, but what really matters is what each one of us thinks for ourselves.

What do I think about Jesus?  What does he mean to me?  What effect does he have on my life?

As we continue our Lent journey, this has to be a question we need to be able to answer for ourselves.  The time for decision comes, when what others are thinking is of interest – but no real importance.  It is about us and God, where we stand, what we believe in, and what we are going to do about it.

Lord,

as I take time this Lent,

as I reflect on you,

I realise that the important question

is what I think about you,

and what I am going to do about it.

You are the Messiah,

the one who has come to do a new thing

– I pray that you will do it in me

This year, I am again following the Big Read using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in Jesus, lent
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