Seized by the power of a great affection

In John 8, Jesus is confronted with a woman caught in sin. Perhaps no other person was more vulnerable before Jesus than this woman. Naked and defenseless. What does Jesus do? He could have condemned her outright and been justified. But instead Jesus displays courageous love. God meets the woman’s deepest need. She does not ask for mercy, but she gets it anyway.

Stoning would have been the expected response. Instead we see Jesus standing up for this woman and fighting for her life. Jesus knew the religious leaders did not care a lick about the woman and were just using her to trap him. Instead of challenging the woman, Jesus challenged the leaders, He who is without sin cast the first stone. One by one they slipped away until none was left. Then Jesus said to the woman, Is there no one left to condemn you? No one, Lord. Then neither do I condemn you.

How outrageous. A sinner caught red-handed goes free. Jesus does not even ask if the woman was sorry for her sin. He does not demand any contrition. Jesus forgave the woman on the spot before she even had a chance to ask for forgiveness. Scandalous behavior met by scandalous forgiveness. God’s love is outrageous.

The same for the prodigal son. The prodigal son comes limping home not because he had broken his father’s heart and soiled the family name. No, the son stumbled home simply to survive. His sojourn to a far country had bankrupted him and nearly cost him his life.

How did the father treat him? What would be the expected response to someone who rejected you, demanded your wealth and then squandered it on loose living? Yet the  father displayed outrageous love. In effect he said, Hush child, I do not need to know where you have been or what you have been up to. I am so glad to see you. I missed you. Welcome back to the family, son. Now put on your dancing shoes—there is a party waiting for you. The father in this story represents God who displays outrageous love.

There was a saying over a hundred years ago in the Deep South, a phrase that was so common then, but today is so seldom or never used anymore. The phrase was used to describe a breakthrough into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that phrase was, I was seized by the power of a great affection.

And I think if you would ask the woman in John 8 and the prodigal son, they would both agree that was what happened to them: they were seized by the power of a great affection. Jesus described the woman who washed His feet in John 17 as someone who loved much because she was forgiven much. That is what outrageous love does to you. You can not help but display that kind of love to the one who believes in you dispute your behavior.

Perhaps the simplest, yet certainly not the easiest place, to display this outrageous love is with yourself. Jesus said whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me. (Matthew 25: 40)

What if you discovered that the least of the brethren of Jesus, the one who needs your love the most, the one you can help the most by loving, the one to whom your love will be the most meaningful–what if you discovered that this least of the brethren of Jesus–is you? ”(Carl Jung)

Gentleness towards ourselves is gentleness towards others. This is how you love your neighbor as yourself. When the compassion of Christ is embraced we have the ability to be compassionate toward each other. Being other-centered beings brings healing to ourselves. It can stop the self-harm.

There is a premise is the recovery community that when we admit to our addictions, and our flawed ways of coping, we get better. We find courage to travel a different path, a healing path. We stop hurting ourselves and others. We recognize we are not responsible to change anyone else but ourselves.

To grow spiritually we need to give ourselves permission to fail. Those who are successful, fail well. We applaud people who persevere through failure and refuse to quit. Thomas Edison persevered through over 1000 failures until he discovered the incandescent light bulb. Edison is not known for his failures, only  for  his successes.

Each of us pays a high price for the fear of falling flat on their face. The inordinate desire to be well thought of by others trips us up, wastes our energy, and narrows our personalities, limiting love. We cheer loudly for the athlete who falls in competition, gets up again and finishes the course. Often times the applause for an injured athlete who finishes is greater than the applause the winner receives.

God’s love is outrageous because it is undeserved. There is no huffing and puffing to try and earn God’s favor. Christianity is letting Jesus be enough.

No other belief system has the leader paying for the failings of their followers. No one else invites those who scorn, ignore and abuse Him to be beloved sons and daughters. No one else would do that. No one else has the power to seize you with power of a great affection.

Adapted from The Ragamuffin Gospel, Encountering the unconditional love of God, Brennan Manning, Multnomah Books, Ch 11 A Touch of Folly

The Popularity Trap: I am What Others Think

Matthew 4: 5-7 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:  He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (Psalm 91: 12)

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test'” (Deuteronomy 6: 16)

The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and stood him on top of the temple. There Satan invited Jesus to throw himself down from the temple. At the beginning of his ministry, the devil tried to get Jesus to make a spectacular entrance. To gain an instant following. At this point, Jesus had no following. Jesus was, in effect, invisible. The devil plays to our fears and insecurities.

The devil was saying, “Come on, Jesus, wow the people and become an instant celebrity. Let us face it . . . right now, you are a nobody . . . you have no following you. How can you think you have any street credit?” 

If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. (Matthew 4: 3)

If you are the Son of God throw yourself down (from the top of the temple). (Matthew 4: 5)

If you are the Son of God come down from the cross (Matthew 27:40)

If you are the Son of God save yourself and us (Luke 23: 39)

This was a real temptation for Jesus. The devil slipped in the jab: If you are the Son of God . . . Can you not hear the serpent’s hiss?  Putting it mildly, Jesus endured a tremendous amount of abuse. Jesus is God in the flesh and deserves all our worship, respect and honor.

Jesus knew the prophesy of Messiah in Genesis 3:15:  He (the Messiah) shall crush your head, and you (the devil) shall bruise His heel. Jesus, the seed of the woman, the promised descendant of Eve, will crush the serpent’s head, indicating Satan’s ultimate defeat.

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test'” (Deuteronomy 6: 16)

This verse in Deuteronomy refers to Israel grumbling against Moses in the wilderness because there was no water. The Israelites wanted to return to Egypt. They thought their identity and security was in Egypt. Yet the Lord was trying to teach Israel that He was their identity and security.

Most of us place a higher premium on what other people think of us than we realize. When we hear a compliment, our self-image soars. Criticism can often send us into a tail-spin. Living out our God-given calling involves distinguishing your true self from the demands and voices around you.

Jesus did not concern himself with popularity (John 2: 23, 24) Some people thought Jesus came to overthrow the Roman occupiers. Some believed that Jesus would insist the people strictly follow the Torah and the teachings of the Jewish leaders. Jesus disappointed a great many people. As a result many people rejected Him.

The longer Jesus was in public ministry, the fewer people followed Him. Jesus kept challenging His followers to a high commitment. He said we must choose between living for our own kingdom of self or living for His kingdom (Luke 6: 67-69).  Jesus insists we lay down our lives for His sake.

Jesus surprised people by hanging out with those who society were marginalized and were considered outcasts. Jesus refused to discriminate when it came to God’s love. Jesus knew all people needed love and acceptance. Jesus knew people are looking for someone to believe in them.

In Nazareth, his adopted home, Jesus declared himself as Messiah. (Isaiah 61: 1) (Luke 4:16-30) The people were outraged that He would not perform any signs or miracles in his hometown. Jesus stood up to their criticism, secure in his Father’s love, on mission as God’s Messiah.

Jesus responded that God’s grace is for everyone, Gentiles included, not just for the Jews. Jesus used the example of Elijah, during the time of drought, who did not help any widows or lepers in Israel, but instead was told to help Gentiles: specifically the widow in Zarephath and the leper, Naaman the Syrian. That outraged those in the synagogue, and they tried to kill Jesus.

Jesus chose not confront His critics with supernatural power. Now was not the time nor the place to reveal himself as Messiah.

Jesus would face tremendous pain, temptation, and ridicule. Yet God’s unfailing compassion would overcome it all. Jesus continues to show God’s grace to undeserving people even to the point of paying the demands of God’s justice against sin on the cross.

I do not have to fall for the Popularity Trap: I am What Others Think

Paul reminds us how God chose the foolish to shame the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27-31) He chose the weak to shame the strong. God chose the lowly and the despised so that no one can boast before the Lord. We need to remember that God wants us to find our identity in Him, not in what people think of us.

David Langerfeld sent this out via his Daily Encourager:

The March of the Unqualified

You think God can’t use you?
You think you’re not good enough?
You think your past disqualifies you to serve God?

Think again.
Look at some of the people God uses in the Bible:

Moses was not a great speaker.
Hosea’s wife was a prostitute.
Jacob was a liar.
David committed adultery.
Solomon was rich in wisdom, but poor in lifestyle.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Lazarus was . . . dead.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Sarah laughed at God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
Well, so did Peter, Paul – well, lots of folks did.

God’s army is not perfect. It never has been. It is the March of the Unqualified. Get in line.

 

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You’re

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again.
Who am I, that the Voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
but because of what You done
not because of what I done
but because of who you are

I am the flower quickly fading
here today and gone tomorrow
a wave tossed in the ocean(ocean)
a vapor in the wind
still You hear me when I call You
Lord you catch me when I’m falling
and You told me who I am (I am)
I am Yours

Jesus knew what was in man

The Possession Trap: I am What I Possess

Matthew 4: 8,9 . . . the devil took (Jesus) to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” Away from me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Berean Study Bible

In a moment of time, Jesus beholds all riches of the kingdoms of the world. Satan offers Him all the magnificence and power of the earth if only He would bow down to worship him. Satan offers Jesus a shortcut to glory.

“Look around you, Jesus. Look at what everyone else has. And you, you have nothing. You own nothing, no house, no land. Only the clothes on your back. You’re a nobody. How will you get any respect?

I have all the world’s riches to give you, Jesus. I can make you somebody. Skip all the pain and rejection of the cross. Just make me your master. Bow down to me.

This was a real temptation for Jesus. He left behind an infinite amount of glory to come be our Messiah. Jesus was God veiled in the flesh, fully human and fully God, humbling Himself as the servant of all. To say the least, for Jesus to become man was the most modest gesture anyone has ever made. Jesus of all people deserves to be served.

We ask material possessions to provide for us things they were never designed to provide: status, security, admiration and influence. Will we strive to be enough or will we let Jesus be our enough?

The devil plays to our fears and insecurities. When you have Jesus you all the abundance you need. You are a child of the King who owns it all.

Our culture measures success by what we possess. Marketers spend billions of dollars each year seducing children and adolescents into believing they have to spend their money to acquire certain toys, clothes, iPads, iPhones, etc. They try to make them believe their very identities depend on it.

As adults, we measure ourselves the same way. Who has the most money? The most beautiful body? The most comfortable life? Who has the best education, the most talents and awards, the most influence, the best resume? How many Facebook friends do you have? What kind of parties are you invited to?

Do not store up treasures here on earth, where moth and rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. (Matthew 6: 19)

The applause of man comes and goes. Fans are fickle. Beauty fades. Millionaires jump out of windows every day. Where is your security? Where is the anchor of your identity? In things that moth and rust destroy? In things that thieves break in and steal?

How much did Steve Jobs, John Lennon, and Michael Jackson leave behind? They left it all behind. There are no trailers behind hearses.

Will we find our true self in the love that God has for us? Are you secure that you are loved totally apart from anything you do, feel, or possess. You are worth whatever someone will ransom your life for. God thought you were worth the lifeblood of His very own Son.

Jesus refused to become like Jacob Marley in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, bound by the chains of avarice and greed, caring for no one else but himself. In contrast, Jesus refused all the tremendous power, influence and self-importance the enemy offered Him.

Jesus answers the devil, “Be gone Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Deuteronomy 6:13).

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10: 45)

Instead Jesus found his security in the love of God and stayed true to His calling. Jesus willing suffered for us so we could become rich in God. Our salvation remained a priority for Jesus. He refused trade away a relationship with us for all the riches of the world.

As a result, God highly rewarded Him and gave him far more than what Satan offered him. And In the end, it will be Satan who will be doing the bowing and he will acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ. Because He was willing to be obedient, God gave Jesus the title, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:6).

I do not have to fall for The Possession Trap: I am What I Possess

The devil tells me that possessions, talents, and applause are sufficient for my security. That is a lie. God is the true anchor for my security and purpose for living. I steer my life by His compass, the promises in the Bible.

Luke 12: 15 And (Jesus) said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Berean Study Bible

 

 

The Performance Trap: I am What I Do

Matthew 4: 2-4 After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.'” Good News Translation

Job 23: 11, 12 My feet have followed in His steps; I have kept His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. Berean Study Bible

Philippians 4: 19 . . . But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Christian Standard Bible

Jesus was forty days in the wilderness with no food. Jesus was hungry. The enemy attack comes when we are most vulnerable. Jesus was alone, tired in body and spirit, and weak from fasting. Satan picks an opportune time to tempt Jesus to show Himself as the Son of God and to perform His first miracle. Come on Jesus, prove yourself, no one is looking . . . turn these stones into bread. 

Can you not just hear the hiss of the serpent in that lie?

Matthew 20: 28 . . . the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

This was a real temptation for Jesus. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4: 15) Jesus never used His miraculous powers to benefit Himself. He had taken the role of a servant, not to use his God-given abilities to bend the laws of nature and serve himself.

Deuteronomy 8:3 . . . man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.

Jesus did not perform a single miracle for his benefit. Jesus sought to honor his Father and to validate his ministry as Messiah. Turning stones into bread would have been outside God’s will and a frivolous use of his abilities. Jesus said, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work . . . (John 4: 34)

The passage in Deuteronomy 8 goes on to speak about manna, the miraculous bread from heaven. Jesus knew His Father was able to supply bread from heaven. He had done it before. He could do it again. Jesus had nothing to prove. Jesus was secure in the Father. He was valuable to God apart from what He could do. Therefore, Jesus was willing to let God supply His needs.

Philippians 4: 19 . . . But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Christian Standard Bible

I am the Beloved of the Father, just like Jesus. I do not need to prove anything to anyone. I am valuable to God apart from what I can do. I am secure in who I am in Christ. God promises to supply all my needs.

I do not have to fall for the The Performance Trap:  Who I am is what I do.

D.L. Moody, the great evangelist from Chicago, was active during the late 1800’s. When Moody began to hold evangelistic crusades in Great Britain, the English press followed him closely. They were amazed at how Moody attracted great crowds wanting to hear his message.

One English reporter commented on the effect Moody was having: Mr. Moody, from Chicago, Illinois, is a short, rough-looking man who wears a rumpled suit. He is grossly overweight. He has a high, nasal voice and butchers the King’s English. I find nothing in Mr. Moody that accounts for his success. Moody exclaimed: That is it! There is nothing in me that accounts for my success. It is all of God and none of me.

Malachi 6: 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? New Heart English Bible

Our culture asks: What have you achieved? What can you do? What have you done for me lately?” Most of us feel worthwhile if we can give a summary of our achievements and successes. When we feel we come up short we work harder, feel shame, or perhaps blame another for our failure. Perhaps God is more concerned about Jesus’ achievements and successes affecting our lives than our own.

A reporter once asked Mother Teresa if she felt her life was a success. Mother Teresa responded: I am not in the success business; I am in the people business. What she was saying is people come before success. She was giving comfort and dignity to the poorest of the poor in their last few days and hours of life. She was not concerned about receiving any return on her investment. Loving people was her way of showing her love for Jesus. Loving people is really about loving God. Loving whom God loves:  undeserving, ungrateful, fickle people. God knows how much you love Him by the way you treat his people.

Jesus spent an inordinate amount of time with the nobodies and outcasts of society. Jesus was not trying to impress anybody. He was more concerned about people knowing the love of God. Jesus was secure in His Father’s love. Jesus was compassionately other-centered and he made people a priority. This give God much glory.

Sometimes we think God says:  Do not just stand there, do something deserving. Nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus did all the heavy lifting for us so we could rest in Him.

Instead, God is saying to us, Will you please stop trying to prove yourself. Jesus has already done everything that deserves recognition and praise on the cross. We enter into God’s victory through His Son.

Hebrews 4: 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Ephesians 6: 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. New Living Translation

The temptations in the wilderness was about Jesus making life about himself and not about God. Each time He was tempted, Jesus did not argue with the enemy. Jesus overcame by the Word of God. He knew what would make the devil flee. We too can overcome temptation by the Word of God.

Approval Does Not Depend On Us

For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3: 34-36)

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ (Matthew 3: 16-17)

At once the Spirit sent forth Jesus into the wilderness, and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.… (Mark 1: 12)

When Jesus entered the wilderness,  (Matthew 4:1-11), we see Satan offer Jesus three false identities or three masks to wear. These are the same masks that Satan offers each one of us to wear. These temptations are: I am what I do . . . I am what others think of me . . . I am what I possess. We shall look at each of these false identities in detail later.

There are choices we must make to remain faithful to our God-given liberty and identity. Jesus’ identity rested on the firm foundation of God’s love and acceptance of Him. And so must ours.

However, before Jesus temptations in the wilderness, we receive some insight into Jesus’ understanding of who he is in God’s eyes. The heavens open. The Spirit of God descends like a dove. The Father speaks audibly: This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). The timing of this affirmation from God is important. This approval comes right before Satan’s temptations in the wilderness.

Notice that God’s approval came before Jesus had done anything for God. Before his ministry began. Before His first miracle, his first parable, his first healing or the first demon He cast out. He had yet to die on the cross.

What if approval does not depend on us? How freeing would that be? God’s approval of us has nothing to do with anything we have done. That is grace. It is Jesus’ behavior and His cross that makes us right with God.  Jesus is called the Beloved. And so are we.

Jesus receives the affirmation of the Father: You are my precious Son. What a treasure you are to me. Jesus, I can not be anymore pleased in you. I love the real you. That is the same thing that God says about us. God loves us as much as he loves Jesus. And if Jesus needed to know He was valuable to God, then how much more do we need to know?

Jesus, ready to begin His public ministry which would end on a Roman cross, needed God’s affirmation. He needed to know who He was as the Son of God and as God’s chosen Messiah. Jesus needed to understand His identity to fulfill his destiny. And so do we.

. . . put off your old self . . . and put on your new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4: 22-24)

A vast majority of us go to our graves without knowing who we are. St. Teresa of Avila wrote, Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge. This does violence to ourselves, to our relationship with God, and ultimately to ourselves.

To embrace our true identity goes a long way to address our fears and insecurities. We need to listen to what God says about us and follow our true self rather than the voices and demands around us.

This world offers a false self, something that will never satisfy. The lie is that if we just accumulate enough accomplishments, status, attention, fame, and relationships we will find our worth and value. Yet this false identity rests on the shifting sands. On fickle people and circumstances.

Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Yet we need to live by things that remain constant and true now and for all of eternity: God’s character and God’s promises that do not change.

 

What Makes God’s Day

Hannah’s prayer of praise (1 Samuel 2: 1-10) When Hannah received the child she begged God for, her first instinct is to praise the One who provided. She wanted to thank Him for His greatness and His deliverance.

“My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 

The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.

“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.

A little child can not do a bad coloring job. Even if he or she has colored the sun blue, the grass purple, and the sky green. Even if there a panoply of colorful carefree squiggles at the bottom of the page. When the child presents her first pictures for inspection and we put those masterpieces on display the child is delighted.

Neither can a child of God do a bad job at prayer. The Father delights in His children. The child has chosen to be with his Father, to be confident of His love and acceptance. Our prayer life is much like that. Pray as you can; do not pray as you can not. (Don Chapman)

God’s thoughts are: Child, are you aware how much I appreciate you just wanting to be with me? Do you know how grateful I am when you pause to smile at me? Do you know how much I love you and how much I want to give to you? Do you know how sad I am when you do not believe that I have totally forgiven you or when you feel uncomfortable in approaching me? Do you know I look for you each day to walk with me in the garden? Just the two of us, together. To hold your hand one more time and just enjoy being together? Those are God’s thoughts about us in prayer.

Even if our mind wanders, flitting from one thing to another; the fact that the child has chosen to run to the Father and climb up into His lap communicates volumes to our Heavenly Father. In prayer we simply let God enjoy us. For it is prayer that opens all the delights of the kingdom.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3: 17)

God is not surprised we get distracted in prayer. He is not keeping track of how much our mind wanders. After all He made the human brain and He knows how fast it can process so many things at once.

Think about multitasking. Your brain can process thoughts while you are driving, looking in your rear-view mirror and holding a conversation. You hear a baby wake up upstairs while you are reading a recipe, and stirring a mixing bowl.

Let us look at your phenomenal brain that God has given you. It’s fast. Astoundingly fast. Scientists say that it only takes only 13 milliseconds for the brain to see an image, process it and store it. That is faster than a blink of an eye. The average human blinks at a speed of 300 to 400 milliseconds.

Every moment of every day your brain is processing sounds, sights, smells, tastes, touch, and thoughts. And 99+% of the work you do not even notice. You do not have to tell the brain to do any of this. Your brain is astounding. Absolutely, jaw-dropping amazing.

Jesus knows that everyone has needs and insecurities. No matter how cultured, clever, accomplished, and successful we may appear to be, Jesus knows we only want to be loved for who we are and not for how we should be. He desires for us to ourselves as the Beloved and to share His compassion with others.

Behind people’s grumpiness and defense mechanisms, behind their arrogance, sullenness, and silence, Jesus saw people as those who had not been loved enough and who had stopped growing because someone had ceased to believe in them. The gentleness of Jesus with sinners flowed from a heart of compassion.

The tenderness of Jesus does not in any way depend on how much we pray or what we do. My spiritual director once told me, Brennan, give up trying to look and sound like a saint. It would be a lot easier on all of us. Just be who you are when you spend time with God. Live each day knowing you are accepted in the sight of God because of Jesus.

Jesus knew all about us and still decided to go to the cross for us. God never expects you to be perfect. Only Jesus has to be perfect to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. It just makes God’s day that you took time to think of Him. No matter how long, no matter how deep, no matter the position of your body. Just to be present in the present with Him delights His soul.

Even the words at a recovery meeting can be a prayer when we simply state: Hello, my name is Brennan; I am an alcoholic. In that sacred moment we say to God: In all honesty I am a needy person. I need your grace, Father. Once again I fall on your mercy and I present to you the real me. Here I am with no masks, no excuses. I am humbly yours, Father. Hear my prayer; make me the kind of person I have always wanted to be. Make me like You. 

Adapted from The Ragamuffin Gospel, Encountering the unconditional love of God, Brennan Manning, Multnomah Books, Ch 8 Freedom from fear

Heaven Would Be Empty If God Did Not Forgive Sinners

President John F. Kennedy used to let his young children play at his feet while he was in the Oval Office handling the affairs of state. His children had access to him. His children were not an intrusion. They were a priority. They were a privilege.

Jesus gave people access to him, to God. Jesus let prostitutes and swindlers into His kingdom. Hookers and publicans enter because they know they can not save themselves. They can not make themselves presentable and lovable. And neither can we. They were not too proud to accept Jesus invitation to the table of grace.

Heaven would be empty if God did not forgive sinners. We are more needy than we know. God is not surprised we need forgiveness and grace. Jesus made a way for us to have access to God.

Jesus was indignant at the religious leaders for crowding out the Gentiles by not allowing them access to the temple. The Jews had set up a marketplace in the temple that allowed the money changers to swindle the people. Jesus was not happy about that. The temple was a place of prayer for all nations–not just for the Jews.

He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves … Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those buying and selling (Matthew 12: 12).

God’s love is for everyone. God has done all the heavy lifting at the cross so you do not have to. God expects only one person to be perfect and that person is Jesus. You and I do not have to be perfect to enter heaven. Christ has the power to remove every sin that keeps us from a friendship with Him. We just need to ask him to do it. Ask for his forgiveness. Ask him for a new heart.

I owe my life, my being, and my salvation to Another. This is fundamental to our response to the Good News. In the Gospel we see the tenderness of God, His mercy, His way of looking at the world. We all stand in the need of grace.

Adapted from The Ragamuffin Gospel, Embracing the unconditional love of God, Brennan Manning, Multnomah Books, Ch 4 Tilted Halos