Never Alone!

I am amazed at the truth Jesus speaks in John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." It was one of those days when I felt utterly alone in the world with my problems, issues, circumstances, and barriers. Some days it just lands on you and it seems hard to keep your head above the water. Yet just because this is my experience does not mean it is the truth, Jesus said He will not leave me as an orphan. So often God would say to those He called, "I will be with you". He said these words to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and then the ultimate to the disciples when He says they (we) will be one with Him just as He and the Father are one (John 17:23). I realize the times I have real difficulty is when I begin with the belief "I am all alone", then you fill in the blank. We were not designed to live life on our own, we were designed to be live in the reality of God's love and provision all the time. I have had so many experiences in my childhood where the lie "I am all alone" was planted in my heart, so now there are many times when these lies get triggered as an adult. It is amazing that as I am about to turn 40 years old this year, I can still feel just like that 7 or 8 year old little boy. I take great comfort that Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." I believe we have a lot of believers acting like adults but inside they are really like little children hurting inside and in need of a loving Father. Shall we come to Our Father like little children, be vulnerable, in need, weak, and trusting? Or shall we put on a religious face and pretend to be together. We were at a birthday party for a sister in Christ who goes to our church and we spoke with some friends we had not seen in a while. The wife commented to me she had always admired my desire to seek God, in a moment of vulnerability I told her it was out of utter desperation and brokenness. She commented that we are all in that same place of desperation but others just don't admit it. I see the people that Jesus continually lifted up as an example to follow were those who came to Him desperate, thirsty, hungry, and longing. These all depended on Him in a way that left them either to be rejected or received, Jesus received each of them. Jesus was not able to receive those who rejected Him because of their lack of vulnerability. Walking by faith does not mean we become religious, distant, and unhuman. I am convinced that the gospel of Grace allows us to be human, imperfect, flawed, weak, and yet be loved by incredible love that not only receives us but changes us into another person. I think sometimes we believe it would be so great to have someone who truly understood everything we are going through and was right with us. This is not a dream but a reality, the Spirit of God is with you right where you are. It is not searching for His presence but acknowledging the truth of His presence by faith, so you can enter into experiencing His presence moment by moment. What a privilege it is to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit and to bring His presence where ever I go. Sometimes I still believe the challenges, difficulties, and trials I face are greater than His presence but this is a lie. As I said in an earlier posting, I believe the greatest privilege is knowing Him and that begins by awareness of His eternal presence with us and in us. The obstacle in our path is often not removed until we experience His presence, then our perspective on that obstacle changes (faith), and then it is time to release this faith toward the obstacle. What ever you are going through in your life right now, He is with you and He loves you. God is bigger than whatever mountain we face, but we must choose to see Him.

In His Amazing Grace,
Bret