communion

Witnesses Chosen by God

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By Linda Rex

March 31, 2024, Resurrection Day or Easter Sunday—We have reached the end of Holy Week, and are facing with a mixture of amazement and joy the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Peter and John, when they hear the news, run to see if what they are told is true, and only John sees the graveclothes and believes. Peter is a little more reticent (John 20:1–18).

We find Peter, a little later on, going fishing in the Sea of Galilee with some of the disciples. Soon he is facing another futile night of fishing, only to catch more fish than they can handle when this mysterious person on the shore suggests they throw their nets off the other side of the boat. Peter, when he realizes this is Jesus, jumps out of the boat to meet him on the beach.

Little did Peter realize that Jesus’ affirmation of his call to ministry would involve such a transformational encounter as he had later on at Simon the Tanner’s house. In our passage for today, Acts 10:34–43, we find ourselves in the midst of a story where Peter is preaching the gospel to a group of people in Cornelius’ home. Cornelius is a centurion of the Italian cohort, and for Peter to be in his home meant that he was violating every Jewish restriction regarding table fellowship with Gentiles.

But Peter was recalling his vision he had at Simon’s house, when the Lord had explicitly told him to go with the men Cornelius had sent. It was the first time that Peter began to understand that table fellowship with Gentiles did not require that they become Jews first. No, Peter saw that God did not show partiality to anyone. Indeed, people from every nation could have a relationship with God simply because of Jesus.

Peter saw that he and his fellow disciples had been chosen for the purpose of being witnesses to all Jesus had done while he was on earth. Jesus Christ was Lord of all, Peter proclaimed, and was anointed by God (i.e. was the Messiah) and empowered to heal people and deliver them from demonic oppression. When Peter recalled the many ways in which Jesus reached out to heal and deliver people, he surely must have remembered the healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter, the healing of the centurion’s child, and the many other occasions where Jesus showed kindness to those who were non-Jews or Gentiles, as well as eating and drinking with those whom the religious leaders believed were the untouchables.

How excited Cornelius and his household must have been when Peter began to preach that day, to tell of the impartiality of God and his heart of compassion for those who were seeking his face! As Peter spoke, the Spirit of God came upon those who were listening, confirming what he knew in his heart was true—that a person did not need to become a Jew before being accepted and forgiven by God. No, indeed, it is all of grace. It is a gift from God through Jesus our Lord.

Our table fellowship is based in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we participate by faith. Our baptism and our sharing in communion acknowledge what the Spirit does in uniting us with Christ, enabling us to sharing in Jesus’ own face-to-face relationship with the Father in the Spirit.

The question for us today is whether there are any persons we exclude from the table of fellowship because they don’t measure up to our personal standards of inclusion. Is Jesus Christ the sole and central meeting place in all our relationships? Are we recognizing and acknowledging, and sharing with others our heavenly Father’s presence through Jesus by the Spirit in us and with us and through us? What are some ways we can participate with Jesus in his ongoing ministry of healing and deliverance as we go about our everyday lives? What are some ways we can include others we normally would not include in our table fellowship or spiritual community?

The empty tomb has implications for our spiritual life and our life in community. The empty tomb means that things aren’t the way they used to be. The empty tomb means a paradigm shift in which we may need to change the way we see ourselves and see others, and the way we treat those around us. Are we open to what God might want us to do differently?

Heavenly Father, forgive us for all the ways we create divisions between ourselves and others. Forgive us for how, so often, we place ourselves above others or try to push them down so we can rise. Forgive us, too, Lord, for all the ways we have hurt people by our prejudices, our criticisms, our condemnations, and our judgmental attitudes. We receive in humble gratitude, the grace that is ours in Jesus, and ask that we might ever offer it to others in love and service, empowered by your heavenly Spirit. Amen.

“Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”     Acts 10:34–43 NASB

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In the Dying We Live

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By Linda Rex

March 17, 2024, 5th Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—When I was growing up, one of my favorite places to visit in the backyard was the avocado tree. Each summer the sun was blazing hot, and its big limbs and large leaves provided a shady place to play. When the tree was laden with avocados, we delighted in eating the fruit with a spoon like a special treat.

Because of this happy memory, a few years ago I took the pit of an avocado I got at the supermarket, and put it into a small glass of water. When it finally sprouted, I planted the little seeding in a small pot. Since then, the spindling tree has grown to be about three feet tall, bearing leaves about the size of the sole of a shoe. The original seed became part of the root of the tree, and soon there was little evidence of the avocado seed the tree had come from.

In the New Testament reading for this Sunday, Hebrews 5:5–10, the writer points out that the Son of God isn’t the one who decided to be our high priest, but he was chosen by the Father for this task. As the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus Christ experienced suffering, but through prayers and supplications, trusted that his heavenly Father would deliver him. Having been perfected in his trust and dependency upon his heavenly Father in the midst of acute suffering and death, Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for us, serving as our high priest. Elsewhere in the book of Hebrews, we read how Jesus, because of all he went through, is the perfect high priest for us now, interceding on our behalf, offering our prayers and supplications as well as our worship to the Father, and receiving from the Father and giving to us all that he desires for us to have.

The process of coming to be our high priest through suffering and death is what Jesus describes in the gospel reading for this Sunday, John 12:20–33. Jesus clearly saw his upcoming crucifixion and death, and knew what he was facing. He described it to his listeners as being like when a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. The process of dying, for a grain of wheat, isn’t really a death so much as it is a radical transformation. The grain of wheat ceases to exist in its present form—in effect, it dies. But it is still very much alive, though, beginning to take another form as it puts down roots into the soil and the sprout pushes up out of the ground, reaching into the sunny sky.

If the grain of wheat were to lay in the ground and never make this change, it would be because there was no life in it. The grain of wheat would simply rot away and become part of the soil in which it was placed. But when it come to Jesus, in his crucifixion and death, there was every reason to expect that what came up out of the soil was going to be new life. The One who was buried in the tomb was the Son of God in human flesh. Even though the human body died, this was not the end. Out of the tomb arose Jesus in glorified human flesh, ascending to his heavenly Father, to serve as the high priest on our behalf—the One who is uniquely equipped by his suffering and death to intercede for us, to advocate for us, and to help us.

The process of growing and developing, whether for trees or for people, involves both positive and negative aspects. To gain strength and durability, a person, or a tree for that matter, must experience challenges, opposition, or suffering. The negative aspects of one’s existence, when given to God and borne in union and communion with God in Christ, can actually become the means by which God strengthens us, grows us up into Christ, and forms his likeness in us.

One of the things our culture today doesn’t seem to embrace well is the idea of suffering, difficulty and struggle. To feel pain or loss is often seen as something to avoid, rather than being seen as something that, when embraced and accepted and learned from, may actually be a means by which we may grow and become more like the humans God always intended us to be. Yes, it’s probably good to avoid or ease pain and loss when it occurs, but it is also good to ask the Lord what it is we are needing to learn in the process of dealing with it. Perhaps we may even ask the Lord, as Jesus did with tears and supplications, for God to remove the ordeal from our lives. Indeed, Jesus pleaded with his Father to that end. But ultimately, the true solution was and is in Jesus’ surrender and submission to the will of his Father. As Catherine Marshall likes to say, this is the one prayer which is always answered: “Not my will, Father, but your will be done.”

It is in this place of dying, of surrendering our will and our control of the situation into the hands of our loving Father, that we find our true life. Indeed, it is in this place of dying that we begin to rise into new life. Our true life is not in what is right before us, but in the person of Jesus Christ—in our union and communion with our Father, through Jesus, in his Spirit. It is in this place, as we go through the challenges of this life that we discover eternal life, now and forever.

Our heavenly Father, sometimes life can be really hard, painful, and frustrating. It is difficult for us to understand why you allow things to be the way they are, especially when we have to experience pain and loss. Grant us the grace to, in all honesty and authenticity, pour out our hearts to you, but to also yield to your perfect love and grace in submission to your will, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.

“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”     Hebrews 5:5–10 NASB

“… And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. …. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”      John 12:20–33 NASB

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Keeping a Kingdom Perspective

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By Linda Rex

January 21, 2024, 3rd Sunday | Epiphany—One of the lessons I am learning through my ongoing battle with malignant melanoma is to accept every new day as a gift from God, and to be thankful for the little blessings that come my way in the midst of whatever struggles I might be facing. Recognizing and accepting the fragility and temporality of life enables me to be grateful for the simple pleasures I have in the past so often taken for granted.

The apostle Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 7:29–31, our passage for this Sunday, that it is important to keep this perspective throughout our lives, in every area of our lives—in marriage, in how we handle loss, in our actions in the marketplace, and in our involvement in our society and culture. We live, he writes, as though this is all coming at any moment to an abrupt end, and so we do not set our hearts on what we own, what we feel, what we experience, what we buy or sell, but on Christ alone.

In the gospel passage for this Sunday, Mark 1:14–20, we are given a glimpse of what this might look like. Here, as these four men are busy occupied with their everyday tasks of life, they encounter Jesus Christ, who invites them to follow him. Their response is immediate and dramatic in Mark’s account—they drop everything, leave behind their families and businesses in order to join Jesus in his ministry to proclaim the present reality of the kingdom of God, calling people to repent and believe in the gospel. When you think of the tight-knit social context in which these men lived and what they were turning their backs on when they begin to follow Jesus, you begin to see the profound change they were experiencing—one that impacted every relationship in their lives. But the kingdom, in Jesus, was present and real to them and these men wanted to participate in it, so they dropped everything and followed Christ.

The apostle Paul reminds us that this is the same level of commitment we are to have as followers of Christ in every century, as we wait for the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to return in glory. In this particular place, Paul seems to focus more on the immanent return of Christ, whereas in others, he talks about it being a future reality. Either way, the point is that our focus is not to be on the temporal kingdoms of this world, but on the eternal kingdom which is present and real right now through Jesus in the Spirit, and on its ultimate fulfillment when Jesus returns in glory. Whatever we do in our daily life keeps this in mind, recognizing the temporality of this world in which we live. We live each day within the context of work, family, community, and society, but we do so with our first allegiance to the claims of Jesus Christ and his kingdom.

One day, the wonder and beauty of our intimate relationship with God will be fully realized in the new heaven and earth, where we will all love God and one another in the way God created us to from the beginning. There will be union and communion between God and humanity that will so far supersede anything that is possible in this present human sphere. There will be no more need for marrying or giving in marriage, Jesus said, for things will be different in the new heaven and earth. So marriage today, in the light of our eternity in union and communion with God, must be kept in perspective, being merely a reflection of that union and communion, and meant to be filled with mutual sacrificial, other-centered love, concern and service of the covenant partners toward one another. As covenant partners care for one another in this way, they bear witness to the kingdom of God. Though their time with one another on this side of the grave is only temporary and may be laden with challenges and suffering, it can be also be filled with moments which reflect the glories of heaven.

In this everyday world, we so easily get wrapped up in going through the motions of work, play, school, and community that we miss the meaning behind it all. We can be so obsessed with attaining goals, acquiring things, grieving our losses, or building empires that we forget the reality that one day all of these things will melt away and be replaced by the true reality of the eternal kingdom of God, where such things will no longer have any value or real existence. Paul reminds us to keep first things first, remembering that this world is filled with temporary things that will not last. As Paul says in Philippians, we want to count everything else as loss for the sake of knowing Christ and being included in his kingdom life and love (Phil. 3:8). As Jesus taught his disciples, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mt. 6:33). God gave us many things to enjoy, but we mustn’t set our hearts on them, for they and whatever wealth we may accumulate as time goes by will eventually pass away (Jas. 1:17; 1 Tim. 6:17).

At this time of year, when we are goal-setting, resolution resolving, and plan-making, it is good to be reminded again about what really matters in the over-all scheme of things. We are reminded that Jesus Christ is at the center of every part of life, therefore, we ground all of our hope, dreams, plans, and goals in him. Guided and led by the Spirit, we then seek kingdom aspirations which will be a participation in the renewal of our cosmos by the One who is working to make all things new. And this helps to give us a whole new perspective as we look forward into the New Year. Wishing you all God’s best as you move forward into 2024!

Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder that we are only passing through—that one day this will be replaced by the true realities forged in the finished work of Christ. Grant us the grace to remember to keep first things first throughout this new year, and to seek your kingdom first as we allow you to provide all we need for life and godliness, through Jesus Christ our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.

“But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.”     1 Corinthians 7:29–31 NASB

“… the urgency of these times might demand mutual sacrifices from those who are married, such as sacrificing their time together for other priorities. Even our most personal space for grief or joy is invaded; that leaves you with no time to indulge in your own interests and possessions. If you are in the process of buying something, buy as if you will never own it! Do not lean too hard upon the fragile (economic) structures of this world; they are here today and gone tomorrow!”     1 Corinthians 7:29–31 Mirror Bible

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.”      Mark 1:14–20 NASB

[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/olitkeeping-a-kingdom-perspective.pdf ]

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The Sacred Oneness

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By Linda Rex

January 14, 2024, 2nd Sunday | Epiphany—During this season of Epiphany, we rehearse the journey of the magi who followed a star to find the infant born to be king. When they reached Bethlehem, Jesus was probably about two years old and was living in a home with his parents. These men from the east were gifted people who studied the stars, and were curious enough to follow a particular star to the home of Jesus, where they presented the child with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. All of these gifts became very helpful, no doubt, when Jesus and his parents had to flee Judea, going to Egypt to avoid having the child killed by the vengeful King Herod.

It is significant that the magi recognized and worshiped Jesus as a king, when the king of Judea sought instead to have him killed. The magi had an “epiphany” that King Herod did not have, and allowed it to guide them to Jesus’ feet to worship and honor him. In the gospel passage for today, John 1:43–51, Nathanael had an epiphany as well, recognizing who Jesus was as the Son of God in human flesh. In the Psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18, we learn how the Spirit is ever present and near to each of us in every moment and circumstance. So, as Nathanael learned, there is no deep secret Jesus doesn’t already know and no hidden motive Jesus isn’t already aware of.

Our New Testament passage today gives us insight about who Jesus is and what this says about our human bodies, and what it means to be united with Christ by the Spirit. The apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, “Do you not realize that your body by design is the sacred shrine of the spirit of God; he echoes God within you. Your body does not even belong to you in the first place” (1 Cor. 6:19, Mirror Bible). When we come to faith in Christ, we are united with Christ, and we find that we already live in our resurrection bodies, in the sense of the already-not-yet of God’s kingdom. We’re not glorified yet, but we do live “in Christ” even now, by faith.

Being united with Christ, sharing in his risen, glorified body, has great significance for us even today. It teaches us the great value God places on our human body:

  • The Son of God/Word of God left the dignities of heaven to take on a human body in Jesus Christ, forging within us the capacity for God to dwell within man.
  • The Son of God/Word of God/Jesus allowed himself while he was in a body to be beaten, abused, and crucified and killed for our sake.
  • God raised the dead body of the Son of God/Word of God/Jesus and in Jesus Christ, our human flesh united with Christ’s body, stands in face-to-face oneness with his Father in the Spirit.
  • Jesus sent the Spirit from the Father to indwell in our human body here on earth, so that, as we put our trust in him, we can be united with God in Christ by the Spirit. As we receive his gift of the indwelling Spirit, our body becomes the sacred dwelling of the Triune God. Together with other believers, we are bound together in sacred oneness as the Body of Christ, the Church.

Because God values our bodies this much, we ought to value them as well, using them as God intended, as the place of oneness with God through Jesus in the Spirit, oneness in covenant relationship with God and our spouse, and not for any other purpose.

We are embodied spirits. Our body is a sacred space for the Spirit to indwell, and we are meant to indwell God through Jesus by the Spirit. Our body was created to enjoy and take pleasure in many things (including sex, alcohol, and food), but was not designed by God for self-indulgence or self-pleasure, for gluttony, drunkenness, or immorality, but for oneness with God and others through Christ in the Spirit. Our volition or decision-making is meant to be governed by the Spirit and the Word of God, Jesus Christ. In regard to things such as sex, as well as food or intoxicants, our union with Christ means we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with God’s presence guiding and directing us enabling us to follow Christ’s lead, and we are not meant to be controlled by a substance, an intoxicant, an evil influence, or other people.

When we focus on the spiritual realities Paul reveals in this text, we see that anything we do with the human body needs to be seen through the lens of union with Christ. Uniquely, though, when it comes to sex, our union with God in Christ by the Spirit means that our body is a sacred shrine designed for intimate communion with God and with our covenant partner. Any animal being can have sex or commit sexual actions, but not every one of them can have a spiritual/physical/emotional union with God in which they are joined with another person and made one, as was intended in the covenant love God ordained for us to have with him and between spouses.

Whatever we do with the human body, then, must be evaluated within the context of our union with Christ, thus making any sexual encounter other than covenant union between spouses an extreme violation of that union. This is especially horrifically true in cases of objectifying women and children in pornography, or violating another human being through rape or molestation. Even though all is forgiven and reconciled in Christ, certain things were never meant to be and so they have painful, difficult, and even deadly consequences—they are not God’s best for us and cause great suffering for ourselves and for others. And we see and experience these consequences throughout our lives, whether they are due to our own choices or the choices of others.

Awakening to a realization of who Jesus is for us as our Lord and Savior enables us to begin to enjoy all the benefits of God’s indwelling presence by his Spirit. We begin to hear Jesus’ own “Abba, Father” in our souls, and we experience a closeness to God as part of our everyday lives. Our ability to experience this oneness with God through Jesus in the Spirit grows as we come to a deeper epiphany of the indwelling presence of God, and begin to participate in the union of Father, Son, and Spirit by offering our bodies up to be temples of the Spirit they are meant to be, all for God’s glory. And together, as members of the body of Christ, the Church, we become a more beautiful temple of the Spirit, joined together in the sacred oneness we were always meant to be a part of since before time began.

Father, Son, Spirit, thank you for valuing our human bodies so much that you would go to such extremes to heal, restore, renew them, and unite our flesh with your own in Jesus. Grant us the grace to offer our bodies up to you again as the sacred spaces they were meant to be, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”     1 Corinthians 6:12–20 NASB

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The Grace of Joy

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By Linda Rex

December 17, 2023, 3rd Sunday in Advent | Joy—Sometimes this time of year, we have a hard time coming up with any sense of Christmas cheer. It doesn’t help that our budgets are tight and we’re concerned about possibly catching one of the viruses going around at school, work, and the supermarket. This season may bring to mind significant losses or changes in our lives, and we may sense hovering over us a raincloud of grief, sorrow, pain, or even anxiety at having to cope with family issues as we gather with others.

On this Sunday of Joy in the season of Advent, we look at what the apostle Paul has to say about this in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24. He tells the believers at Thessalonica to “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” and goes on to say that this is God’s will for each of us who are in Christ Jesus. If we are in the midst of a snowstorm of grief and loss, it can be really hard to rejoice, much less give thanks. We may even find it next to impossible to pray—the words get stuck in our mind and heart, and nothing comes out. We can only weep.

So how do we respond to this imperative or command given to us in God’s Word? When reading the commands or imperatives in Scripture, we must always first look for the indicatives or foundational spiritual realities on which those imperatives are based. In this case, notice the phrase, “in Christ Jesus.” This is important to pay attention to. Also, when we look a little further on, we see, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” Notice who is doing the sanctifying and who is bringing to pass our being without blame. Our wholeness is grounded in the God of peace who sanctifies us in and through his Son Jesus Christ.

Our joy isn’t in the circumstances we are experiencing, though at times we may have joyful and happy experiences with family and friends doing things we enjoy. No, the source of our joy is our faithful God of peace, who has given us his Son and his Spirit. As we come to faith in Christ, trusting in God’s grace and love, we are united with Christ and receive from him the Spirit. The Spirit of God pours into us Christ’s own love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and other fruits of the Spirit.

This means we are able to receive and experience Christ’s own joy, even though at times our circumstances and experiences may be less than joyful. We are also able to be thankful in less than blessed circumstances, because we have already received the greatest gift possible, the gift of Christ in us by the Spirit, who enables us to be thankful in all circumstances.

Going even farther, being in union with Christ by the Spirit means that we share in Jesus’ own life of joy and thanksgiving in his face-to-face fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. Our life of prayer is grounded in Jesus’ own life of prayer with his Father so that he offers the things of the Father to us in the Spirit, and offers our prayers to the Father in the Spirit. When we cannot pray, for our hearts are too broken, Jesus prays for us and the Spirit intercedes for us, already knowing what is in our hearts which so yearns to be spoken.

This offers us great comfort in times when we find it hard to rejoice, pray, or give thanks, even though we know this is God’s will for us. Our faith isn’t in our ability to hang in there and do what is needed in our relationship with God. Rather our faith is in the One who is faithful and will do all that is needed to sanctify us and keep us blameless before God. We can rest in him and trust in his perfect love and grace. What a precious gift!

Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for holding us in the center of your love and grace. As we go through this Advent season, remind us anew of your compassion and tender love, and fill our hearts with joy and gratitude so we may do your will. Blessed Jesus and Holy Spirit, let your prayers fill our hearts, not just for ourselves, but for all those you bring to our minds, that we may fellowship with you and one another as a communion of faith throughout this sacred Advent season. For our Father’s glory, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”     1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 NASB

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Confirming the Testimony of Christ

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By Linda Rex

December 3, 2023, 1st Sunday in Advent—I was reminded this morning of the blessing and gift we have been given of fellowship in our Lord Jesus Christ. Last Tuesday when I woke up, I was greatly challenged with being able to write and post this blog and to provide Sunday’s sermon on video, because I was very sick and my head was filled more with congestion that it was with any coherent thought.

I put out a prayer request for those who participate with me in Our Life in the Trinity, and was so blessed to have the Lord’s mercies in clearing up by noon almost completely the congestion and fuzziness of brain I had been experiencing. I was able to post both the blog and the video by evening, and I can give no credit anywhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ, and my gratitude to the believers for their faithful prayers on my behalf.

I believe this is what the apostle Paul was describing in his passage for this week, 1 Corinthians 1:3–9. I do give thanks to God concerning every one of you who support me in this ministry, for the grace of God has not been without effect, and the testimony of Jesus has been confirmed over and over in all of you. As Paul reminds us, this is the work of our God, who is faithful, and who has called us together into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ.

Paul was wise enough to realize that whatever gifts he had been given of speech and knowledge were gifts of the Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew that the believers in Corinth valued skills of human rhetoric or speech and knowledge, but what Paul focused on in his letter was fellowship with our Lord. The Spirit generously showers spiritual gifts upon us, but it is Jesus who confirms in us the grace of God by his Spirit, making us blameless. Our identity is in Jesus Christ and as we trust in him, dying in his death and rising in his resurrection and ascension, we participate in his own face-to-face intimate fellowship with his Father in the Spirit.

This is meant to be most evident within the context of spiritual community, where those who trust in Christ are joined together in the fellowship of the Spirit, sharing in their common faith in our Lord Jesus. The gifts of the Spirit showered upon the Body of Christ are not meant for personal glory or aggrandizement, but for the equipping of the saints, to aid in our growing up into the fulness of Christ. Together, we live as those who trust in Christ, reflecting the divine perichoresis or koinonia in our relationships with one another. This is evident testimony to the reality of our living Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit at work in and through us.

As the psalmist says, apart from what God has done, is doing, and will do through our Lord Jesus Christ and by his Spirit, we are at the mercy of our sins and brokenness (Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19). The prophet Isaiah reminds us that apart from the mercy and compassionate intervention of God, we are not able to live out the covenant life God has called us into (Isaiah 64:1–9). But God is, by nature, merciful and compassionate, so he did not leave any of us in the state of bondage to evil, sin, and death. No, in Christ, he has set us free, and invites us to participate in that freedom by faith in Jesus.

The good news is that, as God in human flesh, Jesus lives in face-to-face relationship with our Father in the Spirit, and he enables us to share in this union and communion by faith in Christ. It’s not all up to us, thankfully, but all up to him, even though he honors our personhood and allows us to say ‘No’ to his ‘Yes’ in Christ. Our Triune God’s ‘Yes’ to us stands in spite of our ‘No’, but if we insist, in spite of and in the face of the consuming fire of his love, we will experience the results of that resistance to God’s love. It is hard for me to imagine someone so forcibly resisting God’s love, but we are persons who at times can be quite stubborn in our resistance against what is beautiful, loving and good. I am grateful, as ever, that it’s not up to me to decide any of this, but up to our loving, gracious Lord Jesus, who is both the judged and the Judge. May his Name be praised evermore!

Our loving, heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness by which we are saved and brought, in your Son, into face-to-face fellowship with you in the Spirit. Grant us the grace to allow you to finish what you have begun in us, by fully participating in your saving work, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”       1 Corinthians 1:3–9 NASB

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Putting Off and Putting On

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by Linda Rex

September 10, 2023, Proper 18 | After Pentecost—What’s your early morning routine? Do you stumble out of bed, straight into the shower? Or do you grope your way into the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee before you start your day? Or do you groan, push the snooze button on the alarm clock and roll over to catch some more zzz’s?

It is interesting that the apostle Paul, in Romans 13:8–14, uses the images of night and day, sleep and awakening, bedclothes and work clothes, in his description of how we are to be living out our lives as those who are alive from the dead in Christ. His use of these contrasts gives us a vivid picture of the difference between living life in the kingdom of God or continuing to sleep in the darkness of unbelief and disobedience.

The context of this discussion, though, is God’s love expressed to us and through us in Christ by the Spirit. God’s love was poured out in the sacrificial self-offering of Jesus and in the giving of God’s Spirit, so that we all might be participants by faith in the union and communion of Father, Son, and Spirit. God first loved us, tremendously and mightily, and so, we love one another as he has first loved us. What does love look like? It looks a lot like Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, and who, today, gives his life to us in and through the Holy Spirit.

This is why Paul says that the law is fulfilled as we love our neighbor as ourself. What does this look like? We can find a description in the laws of the covenant (Ex. 20; Deut. 5), and in the many descriptions given in the epistles in the New Testament. We look at Jesus, and we see the embodiment and fulfillment of the law—for he lived it out as no other human has or could. When we look around and look at ourselves, we fail to see this kind of love being lived out or expressed in such powerful and self-sacrificial ways. But this kind of love is what we were created for—to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and being, and to love our neighbor as ourself.

For this reason, Paul instructs us to “put on Christ.” Putting on Christ has the sense of being what someone does when they arise from bed in the morning, take off their pajamas, and get dressed in their work clothes, ready for whatever they may face in the day. The night is over, Paul reminds us—Christ has come and fought the battle against evil, sin, and death, and won. The day has dawned in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so we live in a new day. We put on the armor of light, an expression Paul liked to use to describe the process of putting on Christ, who is the Light (1 Thess. 5:8; 2 Cor. 6:7; Rom. 6:13; Eph. 6:13ff). This armor, Jesus Christ, is essential to our new life in Christ. We cannot live in the truth of who we are in Christ apart from Jesus living this life in and through us by his indwelling Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians 6:13–20, Paul describes the armor of God. If we prayerfully consider what he says there, we will realize that Paul is telling us to put on Christ. For example, the helmet of salvation is Jesus, who is our salvation. The breastplate of righteousness is Jesus, who is our right relationship with God. The belt of truth is Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life (not to mention our Father the God of truth, and the Spirit of truth). The shield of faith is Jesus, who is the One with complete trust in his Father and whose belief in us has never wavered, even when it cost him his life. And the shoes of the gospel of peace—the gospel and our peace being Jesus, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

In Gal. 3:27, Paul writes, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (NASB). We actively participate in our immersion in Christ by the practice of baptism, a one-time event showing our inclusion in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Being baptized is a tangible way we put on Christ, just as taking communion regularly is another way we “put on” Christ. And living in the truth of who we are in Christ—living in the “light” or the “day” where we practice Christlike ways of caring for ourselves and others in the way God means us to is another way we “put on Christ”. Our focus and attention are on Jesus Christ, on loving God and others (our risen-in-Christ life), and not on self-centered, self-willed ways of living or fulfilling the sensual desires of our flesh (which all died when Jesus died).

As we begin and end each day, we may want to attend to the spiritual realities by pulling our attention away from the things of our dead-in-Christ flesh, and concentrate on putting on the new-life-in-Christ ways of living and thinking. We can do this by spending time alone with our Lord, being focused on him, and by practicing spiritual disciplines such as prayer, listening, meditation, silence, study of God’s Word, worship, and contemplation to open ourselves up to his Spirit’s inner work. We live each day awake and fully alive, dressed in the armor of light and the robe of righteousness given to us by God through Christ in his Spirit. As we practice putting on Christ, we also are diligent to fulfill our obligation to love others, for as we practice other-centered Christlike ways of loving, giving, and serving others, we begin to live even now in the already-not-yet reality of the kingdom of God.

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us and so generously giving us your Son and your Spirit. Thank you, Jesus, for clothing us with yourself and including us in your own life with our Father in the Spirit. Thank you for filling us with your love, and causing it to flow from us to others. Grant us the grace to wake up from our slumber, to live alert and alive each day to your life flowing in and through us by your Spirit. Amen.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”      Romans 13:8–14 NIV

“Remain debt free; the only thing we owe the world is our love. This is the essence of the law. Love makes it impossible for you to commit adultery, or to kill someone, or to steal from someone, speak evil of anyone, or to covet anything that belongs to someone else. Your only option is to esteem a fellow human with equal value to yourself. Everything love does is to the advantage of another; therefore, love is the most complete expression of what the law requires. You must understand the urgency and context of time; it is most certainly now the hour to wake up at once out of the hypnotic state of slumber and unbelief. Salvation has come. It was night for long enough; the day has arrived. Cease immediately with any action associated with the darkness of ignorance. Clothe yourself in the radiance of light as a soldier would wear his full weaponry. Our lives exhibit the kind of conduct consistent with the day, in contrast to the parade of the night of intoxicated licentiousness and lust, with all the quarrels and jealousy it ignites.”     Romans 13:8–14 Mirror

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Just Who Runs the Show?

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by Linda Rex

August 20, 2023, Proper 15 | After Pentecost—I was watching a BibleProject video this week on the kingdom of God, and it struck me how we go about our everyday lives without realizing the significance of what it means to be real participants in God’s life and love. In fact, we often act as though we are in charge—in charge of our lives, our belongings, our communities, our world—but do not ever give much thought to the reality that none of it belongs to us. In the real scheme of things, all that we have and all that we are is a gift from God, a God who loves to share what he has with others, specifically with all of us.

Even a cursory glance at the cosmos in which we live and the earth on which we reside shows us the magnitude of what God made us responsible for when he created human beings and said to them, “Here, take care of this, flourish within it, and spread out in every direction to fill it.” This earth and this cosmos were never meant to be ours to use and abuse, but rather were a stewardship responsibility and gift, to be administered under the leadership and guidance of our heavenly Father through his Son and in the Spirit.

In other words, from the beginning, it was always about relationship. And when we stubbornly turned away from God, insisting on doing everything our way, according to our own determination of what was right or wrong, we found ourselves endlessly with our back against the wall, needing delivered by the Lord of all. God chose out a people through whom he would send his Son to take on our human flesh—the ancient Israelites. Through them came Jesus, the Savior of all and Lord of all, who was the way in which God once and for all established his rule and reign within our human sphere in the manner he always intended it to be expressed. In his Son, Jesus Christ, God’s will was, is and will be fulfilled here on earth as it is in heaven.

And that is the issue for us. We don’t want God dictating to us how to do things. And even if it is up to God, his kingdom and his will doesn’t seem to be being fulfilled right now. What we forget is that God always meant for his kingdom life to be expressed in and through us as human beings, those made in his image and after his likeness. And we stubbornly insist on doing it our way. We go about trying to figure it out on our own, when we were always meant to do everything in union and communion with the God who made us and gifted us with the responsibility to care for what he had made.

In Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32, our passage for this Sunday, the apostle Paul explains that even though his own people, the ancient Jews, had rejected God, God never rejected them. God had made a commitment to the ancient nation of Israel, and in spite of their constant rejection and disobedience to the covenant, God was faithful. And when Jesus came, he was rejected and crucified, even though it was evident that he was not guilty but was the Anointed One sent by God. In spite of Paul’s people rejecting Jesus in this way, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ made possible the acceptance and deliverance of every human being, Jew and non-Jew. The point Paul was making, and this is central to the book of Romans, was that every human being is guilty of sin and of turning away from God. But God, in Christ, has brought every one of us back to himself, and in the gift of the Spirit, unites us with himself in such a way that none of us can be separated from the love of God in Christ. It is a beautiful and glorious thing which God has done!

So, even though people from both sides of the aisle—Jews and non-Jews—have turned from God and are guilty of sin, both are set free in and through Jesus in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and by receiving the gift of the Spirit are included in the body of Christ. The body of Christ, the Church, is meant to be a pointer to or witness to the kingdom of God in this world today. In other words, when believers live out the truth of our inclusion in God’s love and life, living in other-centered love, they are a real expression of what it looks like to participate in the kingdom of God right now in the Spirit. We are citizens of this world in one sense, while we are even more so, citizens of the kingdom of God in another. As citizens of the kingdom of God, in right relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit, we live out our existence on this earth as stewards of all God has made, bearing witness to God and his love as his adopted, beloved children, living together in unity, equality, and those who uniquely bear the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, just as we were always meant to.

Heavenly God, thank you for never giving up on us, but always being good and being faithful. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to bring us home to the Father, and for sending the Spirit so even now we can share life with you. May we live even now in the true reality of your heavenly kingdom, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.

“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. … for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”     Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 NASB

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The Word is Near/In You

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by Linda Rex

August 13, 2023, Proper 14 | After Pentecost—Lately I’ve been realizing how blessed I was to have parents who insisted I learn to observe what the Bible teaches, however misguided their efforts might have been. Granted, there are things I wish I had not been forced to do, which I would not inflict on any child today. But there were some benefits to studying the book of Proverbs and learning texts such as the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount.

However, as the years have passed, I have come to see that all of the Bible-learning in the world does no good whatsoever if it only goes skin deep or we turn what we learn into rigid rules and regulations to live by. Often, knowing the right thing to do is worthless when our flesh insists on doing it some other way. And when everything in our world is crying out to us to follow our flesh, doing the right thing is even harder to do. Even when do we want to do what is right it is a challenge to go down the path of living in right relationship with God and one another.

In our New Testament reading for this week, Romans 10:5–15, the apostle Paul contrasts a righteousness based on law with a righteousness based on faith. There were benefits to living according to the law Moses gave Israel—blessings rather than cursings, peace rather than being invaded by other nations, and a better life over all without the heartaches of painful consequences. Unfortunately though, so often, the people did what was right in their own eyes, as Joshua wrote, and paid the sorry consequences. What we come to see in what Moses wrote is that the issue was an internal one—a matter of the heart. All the legislation in the world is useless without a change of heart and mind—without an internal movement, ability, and desire to do what is right internally present within the person or people involved.

When we believe it is all up to us to get ourselves right with God and to live a good life (i.e., a righteousness based on law), then we are in a really unhappy, unhealthy place. The reason is that no matter how hard we try, we cannot get there from here, no matter how many laws or regulations we may impose upon ourselves from the outside. Nor did God intend us to. No, he knew from the beginning how it would be and planned before time began to enter into our physical flesh to reform it and make us what he always meant us to be—from the inside out. From the beginning we were formed to be creatures who were dependent upon him for his life and his love. He always intended us to be joined forever with him in union and communion—in right relationship.

Realizing that when Jesus, the Word of God, died, everything in this cosmos died with him, and everything rose with him when he came up from the grave, is essential to realizing that we were not and cannot be separated from God in any way, shape, or form. The Scriptures tell us that all things were created by God in and through Jesus in the Spirit. We are held in God, even though the blindness of our sinful flesh often makes us believe we are separated from God. How often I hear someone say they are all alone in a very dark place. What may be wrong is they simply cannot see the reality that below, or above, all that darkness is the light of Jesus—the very presence of God is near them and in them by the Spirit. What they have lost sight of is God holding them and loving them unconditionally, offering them acceptance and forgiveness.

Our experience of our connection with God is what is at stake when we turn away from Jesus and insist on going our own way. We can certainly act like we are self-existent deities if we wish, but it doesn’t at all make it true. And time will eventually make evident this reality as life’s experiences and eventually death will show how powerless we really are over this world and even ourselves. Our choices in this life and our rejection of God have consequences, and we certainly don’t like having to experience how tough life gets when we stubbornly go our own way. And we even tend to blame God or even others when the world gets to be impossible to live in. But none of this alters the reality that God took every possible precaution to ensure that we, everyone of us, would be included in his life and love.

When Jesus, the Word of God, the Son of God, took on our human flesh, lived our life, died our death and rose again, taking us home to the Father, he sent the Spirit so each and every person could participate in his own face-to-face relationship with his Father in the Spirit. In Jesus Christ—who is Lord of all, every one of us has the assurance of being included in the love and life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit now and forever. Do we believe this is true? If we don’t, we will continue to struggle to make ourselves right with God, living out a righteousness based on law.

If we do believe it’s true, we will live accordingly—living out the reality of a personal relationship with our Father through Jesus in the Spirit (a righteousness based on faith). We will allow Jesus to live his life in and through us, participating in what he is actively doing in this world, which includes sharing this good news with others. We will act as if we are full participants in Jesus’ own life in face-to-face fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. What does that look like? Well, that’s where all those descriptions of the Christian life in the Bible come in handy—they give us a clue as to what it looks like to live as God’s very own beloved children, in right relationship with him and one another. And that’s where a little Bible-learning comes in handy.

Heavenly Father, thank you for including us in your life with your Son in the Spirit, through his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. By your Spirit, grant us the faith of Jesus, the One who trusts you completely and implicitly, that we may quit practicing the righteousness based on law and start practicing the righteousness based on faith, sharing this good news with others, as we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus our Lord is risen from the grave. Amen.

“For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down), or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’  But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feed of those who bring good news of good things!’”     Romans 10:5–15 NASB

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Talking to the Air

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by Linda Rex

July 30, 2023, Proper 12 | After Pentecost—When I talk to some people about praying to God, they get extremely uncomfortable, especially if I mention Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For some people, doing this is the equivalent of having a tooth filled or being asked to give an impromptu speech before a stadium full of people. One believer said it was totally awkward talking to the air as though someone was there that they could not see—it felt weird and psycho. Other people I know believe prayer is best done at church, and saw no reason that it should be done at any other time. After all, this religious stuff is only for when we’re in church and has nothing to do with our everyday lives, right?

I’m sure you realize I am being facetious, and not serious. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that it’s not about getting our location of worship correct—it’s about worshiping God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). Jesus brought it out of the realm of religiosity and ritual into the space of personal relationship. Jesus, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension brought all of us up into his own union and communion with his Father in the Spirit, and by the Spirit we participate in their inner life and love. The apostle Paul teaches that our bodies are the temple of the Spirit of God corporately and individually, with the indwelling Spirit enabling us to freely participate in intimate fellowship with God and each other as God always meant for us to do.

The apostle Paul in our reading for this Sunday, Romans 8:26–39, reminds the believers in Rome that in Jesus Christ the incarnate Son, the elect chosen One, all persons are elect and chosen, “predestined to be conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (v. 29). In our gospel reading for today, Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52, Jesus’ parables point not only to the catholicity (the universal or cosmic scope) of the gospel, but also to the reality that God does all the heavy lifting. What we do is participate in what Jesus has already done, is doing today by his Holy Spirit, and will do when he returns in glory.

Paul explains that rather than working so hard to justify ourselves, we rest in the reality of God justifying us and glorifying us. Rather than trying to get ourselves right with God, we accept the reality that Jesus made/makes us right with God. Jesus interceded for us and continues to intercede for us as our advocate with the Father in the Spirit. And when we can’t seem to come up with the words we need to say, the Spirit intercedes for us, enabling us to commune with the Father through his Son Jesus and find healing and restoration. In this whole scenario, we find the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—bringing us into right relationship with himself, doing the hard work of uniting us with himself.

Our joy in all this is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—are for us. In other words, who can stand against us if the God of all stands in our place, advocating on our behalf, defending us and reconciling us? And our other joy is that nothing—in heaven or on earth—can separate us from God’s love. Not even the worst possible thing this world could possibly come up with. Not even the evil one or his demons.

So, we are invited to talk with our triune God, in every circumstance, in every situation, at all times. We are encouraged to speak to him as Father, as brother, as friend, and as mother. We are asked to give him our attention—to listen to him to hear his response, whether by written Word of God, or the myriad ways in which the Spirit finds to communicate with us through books, conversations, podcasts, videos, devotionals, worship music, spiritual disciplines, or the inner still small voice of the Spirit.

Having a conversation with God may require the use of what Larry Hinkle of Odyssey in Christ calls our “sanctified imagination.” It may mean stretching ourselves a little out of our comfort zone to try something new and scary, that may feel a bit weird at first. But in time, we may discover that it has become as normal as putting on clothes in the morning, or sending a friend a text. We may be surprised to find that it has actually become a part of who we are, something we always were meant to do as a part of our everyday life as God’s beloved children. And we will also discover that we are beginning to look just a little more like Jesus in the process.

Dear God—Father, Son, Spirit—thank you for loving us so much that you have done all that is needed for us to be in right relationship with you. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Holy Spirit, for interceding for us so faithfully. As we begin to take steps toward deepening our relationship with you, enable us to see with the inner eyes of your Spirit, and to hear and obey your Word to us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”     Romans 8:26–39 NASB

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