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It’s that time of year again….the Christmas music has begun and our neighborhood is sparkling with lights. There are outward signs all around us but how are you doing on the inside as we head into the “happiest time of the year”? All of us carry different “emotional luggage”.
For some it is a handbag of joy…. You are grateful for your life and your heart is filled with joy and you are excited to celebrate your favorite upcoming traditions. Some of you may be carrying a heavy suitcase of caregiving as you are regularly caring for loved ones and it is getting harder to lift. Perhaps you have a backpack of regret and wish things could be different. Some of you may have a sparkly purse of anticipation looking forward to seeing family and special friends in the upcoming weeks. Or maybe you are carrying a fanny pack of worry and you are wondering how you are going to afford all that is expected for Christmas this year.
Whatever you are carrying…. This is an opportunity to set it down and be still in God’s presence and receive an invitation from Jesus. He says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
I would like you to consider how you can prepare your heart for what is coming. I encourage you to reframe the way you think about the upcoming holiday season. For Christians around the world, the four weeks leading up to Christmas is called Advent and anticipates both the birth of Jesus and his eventual second coming. The word “advent” refers to a coming, an arrival, or the beginning of something new.
As Isaiah was prophesying about the coming of Jesus he said this, “See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”Isaiah 43:19
That’s what Jesus does in our lives. Through his death and resurrection, He gives us a “restart” a chance to begin again, a clean slate, a new direction….a way in the wilderness.
God wants to do “a new thing” in our lives this Advent season. He is inviting you to sing a “new song” through His power. As David wrote in Psalm 40:3, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”
As Advent begins today, I invite you to intentionally set down the luggage you are carrying at the feet of Jesus and accept His invitation to be filled with peace and allow Him to give you a “restart” each day as you prepare for his birth.
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Sometimes relationships can be hard when hurt runs deep and forgiveness doesn’t come easy. Jesus teaches about the importance of forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We know that we are supposed to forgive. But, sometimes it feels impossible to forgive.
Recently when I was swimming laps down at my favorite 50 meter outdoor pool, God gave me a beautiful picture addressing a situation where I needed to forgive. All of the water that was surrounding me was washing away all the hurtful things and completely removing them. Then, I saw the blood of Jesus covering all of the offenses making everything white and new. The living water of Jesus was literally surrounding me and I was overwhelmed by a sense of deep peace. It was such a powerful reminder of the difference the death and resurrection can make in our lives.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18
I heard an illustration comparing unforgiveness to carrying around a sack of potatoes. Not only is the bag heavy and cumbersome in the journey of life, eventually the potatoes rot and smell. In the same way, anger festers and turns to bitterness that eventually rots the soul.
Jesus invites us to lay it all down at the cross and he promises to forgive us and make us new creations.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“In Christ I am a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
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Recently I had the opportunity to see Romeo and Juliet performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Watching the dancers express such deep emotions through such beautiful movements was breathtaking.
But, reliving the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet was painful to watch.
A friend of mine pondered with me afterwards as to why Shakespeare’s story is such a cultural icon. And the answer became clear to me…to one degree or another, it is everyone’s story. Pain, suffering and death are part of the reality of our lives. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 “The wages of sin is death.” We can’t run from it. But, Paul continues, “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the good news of Holy Week! Jesus humbled himself taking on the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death, even death on a brutal cross out of His everlasting, never failing, steadfast LOVE for us! My prayer is that you will receive this gift anew this year as you celebrate Holy Week.
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A few weeks ago I gathered with a group of colleagues from the Puget Sound area for our monthly meeting of prayer and encouragement. And we prayed for our brothers and sisters serving at Palisades Lutheran Church in Southern California.
The church remained standing while the houses around it were burned to the ground. God is using them to be a light in the darkness as their neighbors are wondering how they are going to rebuild.
We meditated on Psalm 121 and we were reminded that our help comes from the Name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Let’s continue to pray. The news cycle has moved on. But, the pain and the struggle remains. If you would like to support the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church for wildfire relief in Southern California, Click the link below.
https://www.psd-lcms.org/disaster-response
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I am heading into Thanksgiving with a different perspective this year. Life isn’t always easy and often it is really hard. Walking with a precious friend whose husband was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor these past several weeks has reminded me how important it is that we rest in God’s Unfailing love.
Over the past several months, I have spoken at several women’s retreats. And one reoccurring theme we discovered as we dug into the Psalms is that God is constantly pursuing us with His UNFAILING love!! In fact, God’s love is described as UNFAILING thirty-four times in the book of Psalms. The authors of the Psalms wanted to remind God’s people that God is a rock and a refuge, a safe place to hide when life is too much to bear.
When times are hard, the natural question is to ask WHY? And that is okay to do. God can handle our ‘Why’ and our anger. But, as we process those hard feelings and questions with God, I want to challenge you to also ask “Where”….specifically “Where do I see God’s UNFAILING LOVE in my life today?” As we look back at hard times we’ve gone through, we often can see more clearly how God carried us. But, when we’re in the midst of them, it is hard to shift our perspective and see God’s faithful presence at work all around us.
There have been two songs that have helped me express this truth in the past several months.
The first is the hymn “In Christ Alone” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend The first verse reads,
In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song; This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace when fears are stilled when striving cease, my comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.
The second song is “Goodness of God” written by Bethel Music and Jenn Johnson performed by CeCe Winans. Claiming God’s promises as I sing this song always resets my focus on God’s unfailing love! It might do the same for you! Click Here to listen!
“May your unfailing love rest upon us, even as we put our hope in you.” Psalm 33:22
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Saturday, September 21- Phoenix, AZ
Saturday, October 5- Diamond Bar, CA
Friday- Sunday, November 8-10, San Diego, CA
Thanks for your prayer support!
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Since Easter I have been listening to a daily devotion on the Holy Spirit. I was reminded that there are several helpful descriptions of the Spirit throughout Scripture. The Spirit is compared to breath, living water, wind, fire and a dove. All of these comparisons have helped me understand the purpose of God’s Spirit in my life….. The Spirit brings new life, refreshment, movement, strength and peace into my daily routine.
In John 14:26 when Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death, he told them that His Father would send the Holy Spirit, to teach them all things and remind them of everything He said to them. Jesus would no longer be standing next to them, but He would be living INSIDE of them. And when the day of Pentecost came, his followers were filled with the powerful Spirit and as a result were able to do many miraculous things.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesas the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4
Where do you need Pentecost Power in your life? Is there a relationship that needs the breath of new life from the Spirit?
Or perhaps your spiritual life has become mundane and routine and you need the Spirit to fill you with refreshment of Living Water from His Word by claiming one of His promises specifically for you.
Or do you need to allow the peace of the Spirit to calm your whole being as you breathe in His presence again and let it settle over you?
“May the God of hope fill you with peace and joy as you are carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
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“You do not realize right now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7
Jesus shared these words with his disciples right before he bent down to wash their feet on the evening of the passover. A lot was about to happen in the next few days and He knew that they weren’t going to understand. But, He was asking them to trust Him.
Often we may find ourselves in a similar position where we do not understand what is happening in our lives and how it can be part of God’s plan. But, like the disciples, Jesus is asking us to trust Him as His will plays out in our circumstances.
Jesus understands our pain and distress. We see him crying out to God in the Garden of Gethemane, “My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as you will.”
Jesus demonstrates for us how prayer can make a difference in our lives as we deal with challenges that come our way. He cried out from the depths of His being to God, his Father.
Through prayer, we can cry out to God, our Father and tell Him what is going on in our lives. We can express to Him all of our concerns, as well as our ideas of how a situation can be changed. As we do, He graciously brings us to a place of surrender as we realize that He is much bigger than we are. We realize, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not out thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Through this conversation of wrestling with God in prayer, we can find freedom by letting go and trusting His will in the same way Jesus did that day so long ago in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Yet not as I will but as you will.”
During this Holy Week, would you like to take some time to wrestle with God in prayer?
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I had the privilege of sharing a Lenten Devotion on the NADCE Podcast based on Psalm 142. God meets us in our darkness and surrounds us with songs of deliverance.
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This was originally posted on May 26, 2020.
Patra Mueller shares her journey in learning how to Choose joy!
“Joy is the settled assurance that the details of my life are in God’s control. Joy is the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright. Joy is the determined choice to praise God in all things” – Kay Warren
Choosing joy is not easy to do, but we get the opportunity to learn how to choose joy through every trial of life.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33
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Quote of the day
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
– St. Augustine
Jesus Joy Journey 