Archive by Author

Waiting

28 Mar Waiting-2

Most of us get tired of waiting. Waiting in line. Waiting for lunch break. Waiting for the weekend. Waiting for time with the people we love. Waiting for understanding among family members. Waiting for the storm to pass. Waiting for the day when little children don’t have to die hungry. Waiting for peace between neighbors and nations. Waiting to be reunited with loved ones who have died. It seems like most the stuff we are waiting on could be fixed if Jesus would just hurry up and come.

Probably the most puzzling and controversial thing about Jesus is the fact He promised to come back. That was twenty centuries ago. As much as we get tired of waiting, God has been waiting longer. A thousand years might seem like one day to God in eternity, but Jesus knows what it’s like to wait because He stepped into time when He came to live among us.

Waiting-2

God waited while His enemy gossiped about Him in heaven. Then He created this earth and He waited for people and angels to make their choices. He waited for Adam and Eve while they hid in the bushes. He sent them from the Garden with a promise to set things right and then He waited. For thousands of years, our Creator has been waiting while He watches His beautiful creation crumble under sin.

God waited to come and live among us until the time was right. He left the light of heaven to wait in a dark womb for nine months. He waited to be old enough to discuss what was on His heart in the temple at 12. He waited by going home to learn the carpenter trade and lived a simple hard working life until He was thirty.

He waited to find the right men to follow His leading. Then He waited for them to catch on to who He is and what He was about to do. He waited while Lazarus died so He could show us He has power over death. He waited for the right time to go to Jerusalem to make a point about His love. He waited to wash the dirty feet of His followers and explain what was going on. He waited for Judas to do his sneaky deed.

He waited for the Father to sustain Him in the garden. He waited for His friends to join Him in prayer–but they didn’t. He waited for the kiss of betrayal and He waited to repair one man’s ear with love. He waited in the courts of Pontius Pilate. He waited to be rejected and scorned and He waited to wear a crown of thorns. He waited for Peter to curse His name.

Jesus waited for His Father to show up, but our sins caused Him to feel separated Him from the Father. While He was waiting to die, He asked John to take care of His mother. He waited in the tomb over the Sabbath. When He woke up, He waited to meet up with His Father until Mary discovered He was not the gardener.

Later while Jesus waited for His friends to bring in their catch, He cooked breakfast for them. He waited to go away, but the day finally came. He promised to return and He’s still waiting. He’s waiting for Satan’s horrible sin experiment to play out in all of its misery. He’s waiting for a group of people who know Him and love Him to show the world who He really is so they can trust Him too. He’s waiting for day when the climax of Satan’s deceptions and misery stand in opposition to the revealing of His loving character.

He’s waiting to populate this Earth with people who never want to be selfish again. He’s waiting for our choices to be decided either for Him or against Him. He’s waiting for us to realize He is always for us and can’t wait to be with us. He still waiting, but He waits patiently. It’s because He has already conquered sin and death so we can wait patiently too. Nothing can separate us from God—not even while we are waiting.

Freedom

22 Mar Freedom

If you had a rough and abusive childhood,
it could take decades to heal.
And if the things that happened to you
were particularly neglectful, harsh and vile
it might take years to get out of denial.

Freedom comes in several ways–
1. The first is to leave the abusive environment
and choosing the least contact
because it’s not fair or healthy
to continue having your heart bent.

Freedom

2. The second step is to figure out
what actually happened.
Sometimes the only way to move forward
is to revisit the past
you need to feel it in order to heal it–
anything less will never last.

3. The third step is forgiveness.
But it won’t work to go to step three
until you have completed step two.
You can say you forgive,
but if you don’t know what you’re forgiving
You’ll skip your healing
And go on with your crippled living.

To truly forgive is to
let go of expectations
let go of vengeance,
let go of bitterness
let go of hard feelings
let go of control.
These steps are to set yourself free.

It is only by letting go of our baggage
that we finally become free to fly.
And once we get free–we cannot allow
the expectations of our abusers
to talk us into picking them up again.
Letting go is letting go.

4. The fourth step is to make your own choices.
Freedom comes from knowing who we are,
where we have been
what has been done to us
and realize we did not deserve the abuse
and refuse to allow ourselves to spin
on the abuse cycle any more.

Freedom comes when we discover
there is whole beautiful world
full of kind animals, safer people
and a loving God.

When you have been set free
from your oppressors.
you can burn the belt,
you can tear up the religious rules
you can allow the people
who criticize you and judge you
and try to control you
to deal with their own lives.

Once you release the toxic people–
you have room for your own choices
you can spend your own money
you can sing as loud as you choose
you can dance in the streets
you can love freely.

Can you smell the flowers?
Can you hear the birds?
Their colors and songs proclaim your freedom.
A reminder from your true Father
that you are created for love.

If those who took away your freedom
claimed to be Christians–
please realize God is not like your parents.
God is the author of liberty
and His Spirit always brings freedom.

Freedom comes through truth,
forgiveness, letting go
and reaching out for community.

Freedom is the invisible superglue
that holds all relationships together
and allows us to love.

So seek out the mothers who care
Connect with the fathers who love
and embrace the sisters
who can relate to your story
and realize the freedom
you’ve been given by God.

“Everything can be taken from a man
but one thing:
the last of the human freedoms—
to choose one’s attitude
in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one’s own way.”
-Viktor E. Frankl

You, precious soul,
can now choose your own way.
Your God-given freedom
is your ticket to love, joy, peace
and all that your heart desires.
So lean into your healthy connections and fly!

Love

13 Mar Jesus-love

Love is not some pretty flower child sentiment
With all the fickleness of a springtime storm,
but an eternally abiding presence
that keeps the earth warm even–
when we cannot see it.

Love’s not some noble concept
to store in a book on a shelf,
but a fire which originates
and emanates from the throne
which burns to bless others because Love–
cannot deny Himself.

Jesus-love

God is love.
He’s not only loving and lovely
His very essence is love
so everything He touches,
is drenched in love.

In the face of Jesus
we see the source of love and life,
the bearer of every good gift and
an eminent being who always gives up self
in order to serve others.

The words “God is love”
are not some a passive platitude,
but an active marrow building truth
always bringing in its train
the concept of grace in action.

God’s law is love.
The ten and the two
are simply an expression of the one–
the greatest law of other-centered love
on which the entire universe is run.

We thought Jesus was smitten of God
but the Father who sends every good gift
and pours the sun on the just and unjust,
would never violate His principle of love.
Love. is. God’s. character.

The God who asks us to turn the other cheek
did not kill the Son or demand a payment
because Love doesn’t seek its own way.

Jesus and the Father are one.
When we’ve seen Jesus,
we’ve seen the Father.
Jesus says He will no longer
beg the Father for us–
because the Father Himself loves us.

God is patient,
God is kind.
God does not envy,
God does not boast,
God is not proud.
God does not dishonor others,
God is not self-seeking,
God is not easily angered,
God keeps no record of wrongs.
God does not delight in evil
God rejoices with the truth.
God always protects,
God always trusts,
God always hopes,
God always perseveres.
God never fails.

God’s perfect love casts out our fear.

Without love–we’ve got nothing.

Which attribute of God do you find hard to believe?

Story

11 Mar Stories

The beauty of story goes beyond
what you see and I see
and teaches us reality.

Story teaches us to distinguish
from fairy tale to possibility.
From fable to truth
and the deepest truths are taught
through story–
because story is how we remember.

Stories entertain children,
but they also put them to sleep.
Stories were meant for adults
to contemplate the deep.

Stories

Story is the experience
we had in guilt town so we know
we don’t need to visit there again.

Story is the vacation in paradise
where we discovered we could
throw away our gadgets
and love is enough.

Story is the experience
that keeps us coming back to dine
at the King’s banqueting table.

And story reminds us of the promise
that we will never be alone
even in the valley of the shadow.

Story is what wakes us up
and makes us up
and takes us up–
to a place that is higher.
Through story we discover
we can give and forgive and live.

Story gives us an opportunity to cleanse
the emotional wounds of our past
so we can receive healing.

Telling our story
is like throwing stones into the water,
with ripples that enlarge our borders
spreading wisdom
to people we have never met.

I need to hear your story
and you need to hear mine.
We need all of our stories because
we were formed by our stories
and when people ask us
to stop telling our stories
they are asking us to omit
years from our lives
as if we never lived.

When they ask us to play dead
we can try to bury our stories,
but the body will always remember
what the mind forgets.

God never asks us to hide our stories.
He who calls Himself the Truth
always confirms the truth.

God communicates to us through story.
The Bible has 66 books full of stories
and Jesus told many stories.

Our honest stories
speak the truth about God.

If Adam and Eve had tried
to keep their story a secret,
we would not even have
the ancient poem
which tells us where we came from.

God wants to enter into
and illuminate all of our stories.

The only way this life makes any sense
is when your story and my story
fit into God’s greater story.

Without story–we’ve got nothing.

Wholehearted

17 Feb wholehearted-girl-2

To engage with our whole heart
is the highest state of being
and the best way to differentiate
cover from lover,
spies from disguise,
and truth from mirage and camouflage.

Wholehearted can be warmhearted,
soft hearted–even brokenhearted
but it can never be half-hearted.
We cannot love without being wholehearted.
Anything less is not love.

wholehearted-girl-2

There are people who discourage wholeheartedness,
they say–

“Grow up and forget the past.”
“Don’t show your vulnerability.”
“Hide your cards and your stories.”
They call us “too sensitive” and accuse us
of wearing our hearts on our sleeve.
If we value authentic relationship
we must ignore these voices.

By its very nature,
wholeheartedness dissipates
the lukewarm, complacent and mediocre
which God spits out of His mouth.

To become wholehearted is to be like God.
Jesus is the epitome of wholehearted.
He reveals what wholehearted relationships
look like by entering into His creation,
calling us His friends,
washing our feet,
dying for us
and forgiving us–
even when we failed to ask for it.

We lost our wholeheartedness
when we broke community with God
and we’ve been trying
to find our way home ever since.
That’s why we keep chasing Eden–
we want our wholeheartedness back.

We won’t be fit for love
as long as we continue to protect self
in a survival of the fittest mentality.

When we allow our shame to control us
and we refuse to take responsibility
for the way we’ve treated God and each other,
we will always lose a part of our hearts.

We can try to stop our misery
through all kinds of addictions
but it’s impossible to numb our pain
and still experience joy.

If we want to be wholehearted,
we will need to face the truth because
it takes courage to recover our hearts.

The root word for courage means heart.
At one time the word courage meant
“to tell your story from your whole heart.”
Sharing our stories brings an exchange
of compassion and connection
which engages the whole heart.

Returning to our original state of nakedness
and taking off the masks,
allows us to come out of the bushes
and take responsibility for our lives.

As we internalize God’s wholehearted love,
we no longer need
to use our power over others
because wholehearted love
is the greatest force in the universe.

As we learn to live wholeheartedly
we will discover freedom
and thrive in a community
of authentic connection.
Then each of us can bring our
wholehearted selves to the table
where we will grow together
in other-centered love.
This is the family God designed for us.

Without living wholehearted–we’ve got nothing.

What will it take for you to live with your whole heart?

 

Angel Quotes

18 Dec

It was pride that changed angels into devils;
it is humility that makes men as angels.
- Augustine

Angels descending, bring from above,
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
-Fanny J. Crosby

God will command his angels
to protect you wherever you go.

They will carry you in their arms,
and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.
-Psalm 91:10-12, CEV

All God’s angels come to us disguised.
-James Russell Lowell

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.
-John Milton, Paradise Lost

See that you do not despise one of these little ones.
For I tell you that their angels in heaven
always see the face of my Father in heaven.
-Matt. 18:10

Angels shine from without because their spirits
are lit from within by the light of God.
-Quoted in The Angels’ Little Instruction
Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

Do you think I cannot call on my Father,
and he will at once put at my disposal
more than twelve legions of angels?
-Matt. 26:53

When we worship God,
our angels add their prayers and turn
our single voices into hundred-part harmony.
~Quoted in The Angels’ Little Instruction Book
by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

Are not all angels ministering spirits
sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Heb. 1:14

The heavenly messenger had quieted their fears.
He had told them how to find Jesus.
With tender regard for their human weakness,
he had given them time to become
accustomed to the divine radiance.

Then the joy and glory could no longer be hidden.
The whole plain was lighted up
with the bright shining of the hosts of God.

Earth was hushed,
and heaven stooped to listen to the song,–

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Oh that today the human family
could recognize that song!

The declaration then made,
the note then struck,

will swell to the close of time,
and resound to the ends of the earth.

When the Sun of Righteousness shall arise,
with healing in His wings,
that song will be re-echoed
by the voice of a great multitude,

as the voice of many waters, saying,
“Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
Rev. 19:6.

-Ellen G. White

But you have come to Mount Zion,
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
You have come to thousands upon thousands
of angels in joyful assembly,

to the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven.
-Heb. 12:22-23

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,
for by so doing some people have shown
hospitality to angels without knowing it.
-Heb. 13:2

Stories About Angels

Don’t Be Afraid

Glory To God

Peace On Earth

Good Will To People 

Was Jesus Once An Angel? 

Facts About Angels

Was Jesus Once an Angel?

18 Dec pppas0168

Jesus may have manifested Himself as an angel at one time, but it is important to note that Jesus is God and has always been God. Becoming human did not make Him any less God and being an angel would not make Him any less God. The first chapter of John affirms His divinity. There are FALSE doctrines teaching that Jesus started out as a created being as either a man or an angel and later worked His way up to God. Those views disagree with the Bible.

So what would cause Jesus to become an angel? If we find the idea bizarre, we might ask ourselves why Jesus would even want to become human. The author of Hebrews describes how Jesus has made Himself even lower than the angels to become human (Heb. 2:8-10). It seems to be God’s way to meet people wherever they are, maybe God does the same for angels. I think Jesus may have become an angel for the same reasons that He became human–to show His created beings what God’s character is like.

pppas0168

© Pacific Press/Licensed from GoodSalt.com

The Bible refers to both Jesus and Lucifer as “The Morning Star.” The War in heaven started when Lucifer, the lead angel became jealous of Jesus who was really God. I don’t think Jesus was on a sneaky undercover operation, because God’s character is always open and honest. He didn’t hide who He was on earth, but it did take honest seekers to discover Him. If Jesus once manifested Himself an angel working alongside Lucifer, that might explain how Lucifer (later known as Satan) was able to deceive so many angels in this heavenly war.

Angels are often a cover for God Himself. The phrase “Angel of the Lord” might be sort of a code word for seeing God. There are hints of this throughout the Bible. While our salvation does not hinge on this concept, it’s interesting to contemplate. Here are some examples of people meeting the Angel of the Lord:

  • Moses saw the burning bush with an Angel who then said “I Am” (Ex. 3:2-6).
  • Jacob wrestled with an angel, but the Bible says he wrestled with God.
  • Balaam’s donkey was cut off by the Angel of the Lord (Numbers 22:22-35).
  • Gideon saw the Angel of the Lord face to face (Judges 6:11-22).
  • When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.”We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” (Judges 13:16-22).

After the war in heaven, God created our world to allow the universe to decide if His government is better than Satan’s. Once the rebellion of Lucifer/Satan destroyed God’s beautiful and perfect world, God Himself entered into the mess to show us what He is like. He came not as a controlling conqueror, but He overcame Satan’s lies by coming as vulnerable little baby and entering into our deprived situation. Jesus came to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth. Apparently God was willing to risk everything to resolve this war and protect His creatures (humans and angels) from the devastation of sin once and for all.

This description of a “mighty angel” in Revelation 10 is very similar to a description of God in Revelation 4–

Then I saw another mighty angel
coming down from heaven,

surrounded by a cloud,
with a rainbow over his head.

His face shone like the sun,
and his feet were like pillars of fire.

-Revelation 10:1-3

And the one who sat there
had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.

A rainbow, resembling an emerald,
encircled the throne.

-Revelation 4:3

The name Michael means “Who is like God.” Jesus has said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Don’t take my word for this or anyone else’s, study it out for yourself. If you choose to do a study on “The Angel of the Lord,” you may be surprised to discover the signs that God was there.


Verses that Suggest Michael the Archangel is also Jesus

Jesus Was God From the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

-John 1:1-5

Jesus Calls Himself the Morning Star
I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to give you this message for the churches.
I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne.
I am the bright morning star.

-Revelation 22:16

Lucifer Was Called the Morning Star
How you are fallen from heaven,
O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
you who destroyed the nations of the world.
-Isaiah 14:12

Michael and His Angels Fought
Against Satan and His Angels
Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back.
But he was not strong enough,
and they lost their place in heaven.

The great dragon was hurled down—
that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray.
He was hurled to the earth,
and his angels with him.
-Revelation 12:7-9

Jesus (Michael) Was Present During the War
He (Jesus) replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
-Luke 10:18

Jesus Became Lower Than the Angels
But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels,
now crowned with glory and honor
because he suffered death,
so that by the grace of God
he might taste death for everyone.
-Hebrews 2:9

Only Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
-John 11:25

Michael is the Archangel who Resurrected Moses
and Took Him to Heaven
But even the archangel Michael,
when he was disputing with the devil
about the body of Moses,
did not himself dare to condemn him for slander
but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
-Jude 9

The Dead Will be Awakened
by the Voice of the Archangel,
Who is also Jesus
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command,
with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
-1 Thess. 4:16

Only Jesus Has Authority to Raise the Dead
And he has given him authority to judge
because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this,
for a time is coming when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice and come out—
those who have done what is good will rise to live,
and those who have done what is evil
will rise to be condemned.
-John 5:27-29

Jesus Came to Reconcile
All Things in Heaven and on Earth
The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.

For in him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;

all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
- Colossians 1:15-20

This was what God wanted,
and he planned to do it through Christ.
His goal was to carry out his plan,
when the right time came,
that all things in heaven and on earth would be
joined together in Christ as the head.
-Ephesians 1:9-10

Does the idea of Jesus manifesting
as an angel disturb you or comfort you?

Stories About Angels

Don’t Be Afraid

Glory To God

Peace On Earth

Good Will To People 

Facts About Angels

Angel Quotes

Angel Stories

18 Dec lwjas0307

The first angel story I can remember outside of the Bible, was of a sick woman living alone in the woods who ran out of fire wood. She heard a knock on the door and a stranger brought her wood, stoked up her fire and left. When she got up to look out the window, there were no footsteps in the snow and it hadn’t snowed since the night before. The mysterious wonder of that story gave me chills and caused me to dream of my own angel sighting.

As I grew older I often studied strangers at the store or laundry mat, wondering if they could possibly be an angel. Sometimes I secretly prayed to see an angel, but most of my angel sightings seemed dubious at best. When I grew up, I still loved angels but the cares of adult life took over my fanciful dreams of angels and somewhere along the way I stopped searching for them behind every shrub and door. That didn’t mean angels weren’t around me, I just stopped paying attention to them. The truth is I probably needed them more than ever, but angels have the habit of appearing when you least expect them.

©Lars Justinen/Licensed from GoodSalt.com

Angels Can be Dog Whisperers

When I was twelve, I was handing out books with my six year old sister door to door. We came to a house with a German Shepherd that didn’t make any sound– until we had entered the gate. Suddenly he snarled and ran toward us with bared teeth. I quickly grabbed my little sister’s hands and got in front of her to protect her. To protect myself, I held out one of the books we were giving away and prayed out loud with my eyes open, while the dog left tooth marks on it.

I had recently been baptized and had complete trust that Jesus would protect us. I asked Jesus to send an angel to stop the dog from biting us. I was not surprised when the dog whimpered, cowered and slunk over to the corner of the yard. For a moment I wondered if I had just imagined that he was a mean dog. He looked pretty calm lying there. I left the book with the tooth marks on the porch because no one was home.

As we left the yard, my mom drove by in a van to pick us up and she saw the dog lunge at us just as we shut the gate behind us. As I looked back over the fence at the angry dog, I knew that the only way we got in and out of that yard without getting hurt was because Jesus really did send His angel to protect us. It was a simple story and others may have doubted whether it was an angel, but it strengthened my faith.

Angels Sometimes Drive Pickups

The winter my grandpa died was a mild one. My husband and I lived in central Washington, a mountain range away from Portland, Oregon where most of the family lived. We had a nice drive over Satus Pass to his memorial service. Because there were blues skies and clear roads, it never occurred to us that we might be in danger on the way home.

After the service, we went out to pizza with some relatives. We talked for hours until we suddenly realized it would soon be getting dark. We knew that we would be running out of daylight before we got over the mountain. As soon as we entered the gorge, we found ourselves in a blinding snowstorm with nearly whiteout conditions. We could barely see the semi in front of us and it was a relief to leave the highway and turn toward Satus Pass.

Before we went up the mountain there was a cheap motel and although I hate cheap motels, I begged my husband to stop and spend the night. He felt responsible to get to work the next morning, so we drove on. There was hardly any traffic on the narrow mountain road and we soon caught up to a slow moving pickup with a bumper sticker on the back. Neither of us can remember what the bumper sticker said, but we both saw it. My husband had no tolerance for the slow moving truck and quickly passed it.

At first the conditions seemed much better than driving through the gorge, but after we had traveled a few miles in the heavy snowfall, the snow froze over our windshield wipers. We had lived in snowy places (including Michigan for three years) but this had never happened to us before and we had no idea what to do. Our windshield was soon covered with snow and we could no longer see out of it. My husband rolled down his window and drove with his head out side, craning his neck to see the road.

Meanwhile the white out conditions worsened so all he could see was the grade in middle of the road where the snow plow had been a few minutes before. It was pitch dark on that mountain. I knew we were beside a cliff because we’d driven over this mountain a couple days before. I silently panicked and stifled a scream in my heart because I knew it would only distract the driver. We couldn’t see anything. I begged him to stop the car, but he said another car might come from behind and hit us if he did that. All we could do was drive on hoping and guessing that we were on the road. It was the most stressful drive of my life.

Fighting back the tears, prayed for God to send His angels to guide us. I was afraid we would slide over the cliff to certain death and I thought of my mom who just buried her father. I couldn’t bear the thought of her having to bury us too. I prayed out loud over and over.

We continued to inch forward and as we neared the top of the pass, but the line in middle of the road was fading. Suddenly, tail lights appeared in front of us. No one had passed us going either direction all night. We figured we were catching up to someone else who was struggling to see as much as we were.

We were so nervous and on edge that we barely noticed that the car in front of us was the truck we had passed us hours before with the same bumper sticker. We casually wondered how he passed us. Was there a short cut? Our hearts filled with hope when we saw that he was driving confidently, so we just stayed on his tail and followed him down the mountain. When we reached the bottom, the truck turned in the opposite direction and we were never so relieved to finally be driving in clear conditions.

The trip over Satus Pass usually took an hour and a half in good weather, but that night it took us four hours to go eighty miles. When we got to Toppenish, we decided to stop at a hotel and get some rest. It wasn’t until we woke up the next morning that we actually thought about that truck with the bumper sticker. We marveled that no one had passed us all night. We both recognized the truck and the bumper sticker and we were certain it was the same truck.

Even in broad daylight, the harrowing adventure of the night before was still on our minds. We felt thrilled and lucky to be alive. We were convinced that the only way we survived that drive was because holy angels had been guiding our car all night long. We could find no other explanation for how that pickup got in front of us so we decided that the driver of the pickup must have been an angel.

Do you have an angel story?
(Feel free to share it at the bottom of this post.)

Don’t Be Afraid

Glory To God

Peace On Earth

Good Will To People 

Was Jesus Once An Angel?

Facts About Angels

Angel Quotes

Good Will to People

18 Dec stdas0565

The words “good will” make me think of searching through piles of stale smelling junk to find the perfect Halloween costume or antique vase, but God’s good will means so much more than a used chair from the seventies.

These words from the angels’ song reveals God’s attitude toward humanity. We’ve believed Satan’s lies that God is angry with us for sinning and needs to be appeased. Our sinful condition has caused us to feel ashamed and scared. Most of us have been told that God will do worse than death to us if we don’t do what He wants. Who hasn’t been threatened with a lake of fire? But we need to remember such threats originated with God’s enemy–not from God Himself. By singing about God’s good will, the angels were proclaiming that God is for us and not against us (Rom. 8:31).

If humans have any capacity to show good will, how much greater must be the good will that comes from the throne of Love. Unfortunately, knowledge about God without the face of Jesus has seemed like anything but good will at times. A God so powerful He can speak worlds into existence seems threatening, unless we know we are safe within His good will.

God’s actions to expose the false gods of Egypt with plagues or clear the earth with a flood, might seems like ill will–unless we look at the big picture and discover that there were options for those who died. Wasn’t it good will for God to expose the false gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12) so the people could realize that their false gods were impotent?

Wasn’t it good will for God to warn people for 120 years and give them the option of drowning or getting on the boat? Unfortunately, people are so paranoid about God’s wrath that even when He has only good will toward us, we suspect the worst.

©Standard Publishing/Licensed from GoodSalt.com

Good will is the fruit of a broken-hearted God. A God who put His sin-damaged children in a time out–from eternal life, for their own good. Good will is the friendship of a God who bends down to reach us on our level at His own expense. Good will is the God who did not hold our sins against us, but died for us while we were still sinners.

Good will is the God who forgives us even as we turned our back on Him and killed Him. Good will is the God who continues to draws us with His loving kindness and everlasting love–such good will that leads us to repentance. Good will is the Father watching and waiting,  running out to meet us, gathering us in His arms to welcome us home.

The good will of God’s unseen hand tore the curtain between the holy and most holy place at the moment of Jesus’ death, signaling that the veil of fear and misunderstanding between God and His people has been forever removed. Through the life and death of Jesus, the human race can now come boldly to God’s throne instead of hiding in the bushes.

From Jesus’ birth to His resurrection, His life reveals that God holds no ill will toward any of us. God’s good will can changed the worst scoundrel, the most obstinate atheist, the cruelest of abusers and the most disheartened Christian. Because of the life of Jesus, we can now know for sure that God is not against us, but for us!

How have you experienced God’s good will?

Stories About Angels

Don’t Be Afraid

Glory To God

Peace On Earth

Was Jesus Once An Angel?

Facts About Angels

Angel Quotes

Peace On Earth

18 Dec prcas0897

There’s not a lot of peace on Earth these days. Two thousand years after the source of Peace was presented, near the plains where the angels sang these very words, the Bethlehem Bomb Squad is constantly kept on its toes. The developed nations of the world keep stealing resources and threatening each other with bigger guns, while the less developed tribes are committing genocide and prostituting their children.

Even our attempts to be civilized result in politicians slandering each other and perjuring themselves. War comes painfully close to home when our families break up and fight over their own children. Even in the church, where we most expect to find peace, Christians fight over everything from worship styles to the foods they eat. When the angels sang about peace was it just a friendly greeting, or do their words have deeper meaning for those of us struggling to find peace today?

©Providence Collection /Licensed from GoodSalt.com

What can angels, who dwell in heaven’s joy and light, possibly know of our struggles for peace? Perhaps they are more qualified than we realize. For starters, the mother of all wars originated in heaven. The angels not only had ring side seats, but they were forced to participate by making a choice between Jesus and Lucifer, who later became Satan. They experienced heaven in a time of tranquility, then they witnessed heaven being torn apart and they still haven’t seen the end of it.

Every war on Earth is actually a continuation of the war that began in heaven. After watching throughout the millennia, angels must know from experience how humans and angels can be used like pawns for Satan in his war against God’s character.

Maybe the angels sang these words to reassure the human race down through the centuries that this cruel and devastating war will not last forever. Peace is indeed on its way. That Peace came in the only way it could–as a tiny seed springing from the heart of God. The Master and the Ruler of this universe was finally pulling out His big gun–only this was not a weapon of destruction, but a seed of hope.

A child, germinating inside a woman’s body for nine months. First it would come in the form of a fragile baby, then as a young boy teaching others about His Father’s character. At last the God-Man takes His place in history. Patiently showing up on time, He changes one mind at a time, allowing His peace to settle one heart at a time.

The Peace that was promised was not what we expected. This Peace rode on a donkey– not to a coronation, but to His own death. This Peace did not take down rulers, but submitted His life into the very rulers that would kill Him. The angels longed to help Him. Jesus said He could have called legions of angels, but He didn’t.

The One who said “I came not to bring peace, but a sword,” never used a sword on anyone. And through it all, the bloody bruising, the ignorant hate, the cruel beatings, the letdown of friends and the seeming abandonment of His Father, Jesus manifested peace. The little baby that the angels sang about would become our Peace–but only if we let Him.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
-John 14:1

How have you experience God’s peace?

Stories About Angels

Don’t Be Afraid

Glory To God

Good Will To People 

Was Jesus Once An Angel?

Facts About Angels

Angel Quotes

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 514 other followers

%d bloggers like this: