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When I was a kid I thought Easter was all about the Easter bunny, egg hunts, jellybeans and marshmallow peeps.   All great things of course, but I was completely missing the point!  It was not until I was in high school that I learned  Easter is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.   If you ask someone today, “What is the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection?” the most likely answer you’ll receive is, “Well, it’s simple.  It is the belief that after Jesus Christ was crucified and placed in a tomb, he rose from the dead on the third day.”  That is a huge part of what the resurrection is, but it is not all.  The doctrine of the resurrection is also Jesus saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”  (John 11:25,26)   There are two main aspects to the resurrection.  First, the resurrection is a historical fact to be believed – that Jesus Christ literally and physically rose from the dead.  Secondly, the resurrection is an experience to connect with.

The resurrection is not just a statement of truth to be believed but an experience we can know today.  We can experience the reality of the risen Christ in our lives.  We can enjoy personal interaction with Jesus.  This aspect of the resurrection is what Paul is getting at in his letter to the Philippians when he writes; “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.” (Philippians3:10)  The question I want you to consider as we celebrate Easter today is, “Do you know both of these aspects of the resurrection?”  Do you believe that the resurrection of Jesus is a historical event and have you had a profound experience of the resurrection in your life?  If you believe one without the other then you have a religion with form but no real power.  For example, if you believe that the resurrection happened but you have no experience of Jesus at work in your life then you have a dry and dead faith.  We need both the truth and the experience of the resurrection.

What evidence can you point to that shows the resurrection of Christ actually happened?

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8  ³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Peter,^[b] and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

What evidence does Paul cite that the resurrection of Jesus literally and physically happened?

NT Wright says this about the resurrection, “If there was only an empty tomb and there had been no sightings people would have believed the body was stolen.  If there had only been eye-witnesses claiming to have seen him but the tomb still had the body in it then everyone would have believed they were hallucinating.  But only if all of these were true:  the empty tomb, the sightings, and the permanently changed lives of the witnesses.  Only if all these were true could Christianity have ever even begun.”

Do you agree with NT Wright?  Why or why not?  

Paul says, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.”(Philippians 3:10-11)

How would you rate your hunger to know Christ and the power of his resurrection?

How have you experienced the power of the resurrection in your life?

Many people believe in the fact of the resurrection but do not experience his power personally in their lives.  Paul is saying the power of Jesus’ resurrection is the very life energy that took his dead body and raised it up. That same power can come into your dead soul and raise you up!     When you experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection you can become like Him!  Take a moment to look at the dead stuff in your life.  How can your anger be turned into forgiveness? How can your insecurity be turned into confidence?  How can your self-centeredness be turned into genuine compassion and generosity?

The dead stuff is taken over by the Spirit of God. The darkness in your heart is overcome by the light of who He is.  When you connect with Him personally His resurrection power transforms your life.

Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Matt Hammett

All of His followers were shocked.  He was actually dead.  Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to come in power?  Shock and confusion seemed to flood the minds of Jesus’ disciples.  I can only imagine what I would read if I found a journal entry of the secret disciple of Christ who buried his body:  Joseph of Arimathea…..

I placed him in the tomb myself.  I touched the holes in his hands as I sprinkled his body with spices and wrapped him with strips of linen. I laid his lifeless body on the stone. I wanted him to wake up and tell me it was over, but he didn’t move. He was dead. What does this mean? What do I do now? I had followed him in secret without other Jews finding out.   I kept quiet on the Sanhedrin because I didn’t think he would actually die.  Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to be victorious?  He promised he would never leave me or forsake me, yet he is gone. I felt cold and alone. I tried to remember his face, his smile, his commands, but my mind blocked the memories. As I walked away from the tomb, I tried to understand why this man drastically changed my life. I walked to a tree and collapsed on the ground; weak and broken.  As I laid there, the silence seemed to get louder and louder. I covered my ears hoping it would go away, but it didn’t. I was still there and he was still in the tomb. My mind was blank and I felt empty and powerless. There was something about Jesus that had instilled a strength in me that I could never explain nor understand. His presence gave me motivation to live and walk forward. I had walked in circles for so long until I met him. He believed in me and I knew he met every word he said. He loved me despite my shortcomings and my silence.  Did I imagine the encounters I had with him? No, because if I had, I don’t believe I would feel as empty as I do right now. I feel as if he took a piece of me, the new me, with him. Now I am empty and powerless as I was before he came into my life and changed me. He inspired me. Why did I keep silent?  Why did I not have the courage to stand up for him in the trial?  Why didn’t he stand up for himself!?  As I screamed these words in my head I realized I was clenching a branch on the ground. I opened my eyes to see my white knuckles wrapped tightly around it. For some reason, this reminded me of a statement I heard he told his disciples only a few days ago:  “…greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends…” A flood of tears burst from my eyes as I realized what these words meant. He loves me. He died for me. He chose me. He was my friend.  If only I had understood this earlier….

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had spoken up?  We are often afraid of what others will think and therefore hide our devotion to Christ.  Imagine being a part of the Sanhedrin and not having the courage to defend Jesus.  Are there moments in our lives where we are afraid to show our devotion to Jesus?  Is there someone the Lord is putting on your heart to invite to church tomorrow or call and pray for? Take a risk. Make the phone call. What is causing you to be timid?  

 - Tatum Lehman

There were many witnesses to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  What were they all thinking?  What was the atmosphere like?  If I found a journal entry of an unknown follower of Jesus, who may not have been prominent, yet authentically believed, I imagine reading something like this…..

I was in the marketplace, just like any normal day, when someone ran up to me and yelled “It’s Jesus!!  Come quick!”  I ran to the Via Dolorosa to see Jesus walking down the road with the cross on his back. What? No, it can’t be!  I watched in shock with tears stinging my cheeks. How could this be happening? I saw some people throw things at him, while others begged for his freedom. I was speechless. I had never seen him so weak and defeated.  As the crowd followed him to the top of the hill, I pushed my way to the front. Before I could get close enough for a good view, I heard the hammer and I stopped.  I knew that sound. I had heard it before, but I never thought that sound would be for Jesus.  When I was finally able to peek over the top of the heads, I saw the soldiers raise the cross.  Jesus was nailed to it; hands and feet. Arms open wide. The clouds began to grow darker and my heart stung. Why? Why is he doing this?  Why is he allowing this to happen?  He’s not even putting up a fight!  I fell to my knees crying, pleading “Please give him mercy!”  But I knew the answer before the words fell from my lips. I knew this was his mission. I looked up at him on the cross and I saw me for the very first time. I saw my brokenness. I watched the soldiers mock him and tried to tell them to stop, but my voice was hoarse and I could not speak. It was hard to watch him hang there in silence as they ridiculed him.  Hours passed by and the pain only worsened. My heart ached and I was angry. The mockery continued and the tears continued to fall. I looked around me and saw some people smiling and others weeping. Why don’t people see it? He is the Son of God. And then it happened. Jesus lifted his head saying, “It is finished!”  He then bowed his head and gave up his spirit. “NOOO!!” I screamed. “Don’t leave me.” I sat with my head bowed, oblivious to anyone around me, hoping I had only imagined the event that just occurred. But I knew it was true. I knew it was finished. I pushed myself up off the ground, turned around and slowly walked back to the marketplace.  What do I do now?

Have you ever imagined yourself at the crucifixion? I have imagined myself there, and I wonder if I would get it.  Would I have denied Jesus like Peter?  Would I have believed His promises as I saw Him die?

Now imagine yourself standing in the crowd, but with full knowledge of the outcome.  Imagine seeing Jesus look at you with loving eyes and saying, “Forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  Also, imagine the crowd is gone.  Do you believe that Christ would have died if you were the only one there?  Take a few minutes in silence to really let the images soak in and remember what happened on this day many years ago.

- Tatum Lehman

The next three entries will focus on what happened two millennia ago.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of different people surrounding Jesus during the Passion narrative.  What were they thinking and feeling?  If I found an old journal entry written by the apostle Thomas, I imagine reading something like this….. (Context:  John 13 & 14)

Today was a weird day.  It all started with Jesus washing our feet, and then kept making all of these references as if he was leaving us.  But we were just getting to know each other and there were so many more people who had not heard him. Sure we have travelled throughout Galilee and Judea, but there is so much more and his message is great! Today he spoke about going to his Father’s house to prepare a place for me and he promised to come back to take me with him. But I didn’t understand where he’s going, so I asked him, “Where are you going and how am I supposed to know the way?” He replied with one of his fancy answers that are so hard to understand: “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” I felt more confused after he answered the question. How have I seen his Father and how do I know him? I know he is the way and truth, but what does he mean by life?

The time I have spent with Jesus has definitely rocked my world and I have done things I never thought I would do. He has reached out to people who I used to ignore when they walked by.  He has hugged people I could barely stand near because the smell was so overwhelming.  And he looks at you with a love that I have never experienced before. And man is he patient with us!  We ask him stupid questions over and over again, and he’ll always sit down, smile and give us a greater explanation than we expected. My favorite part is when the Pharisees try to trap him with a question, because they think they are so smart, and he always surprises us all with his intelligent answers and stumps us with his figurative language.

I thought I was getting better at understanding his crazy examples until today.  He kept talking about going to the Father soon, but then after a little while, I will see him again. Where is he going? Why is he leaving? I was scared to ask so I nudged Peter to say something.  He always opens his mouth, but he wouldn’t ask. However, Jesus knew we were confused so he sat down and explained again how we will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. Now is our time for grief, but when we see him again we will rejoice. Is he really leaving us? Is this really it? Is it over? I have given my life for him. I have left everything I knew to be normal to follow him and now he’s leaving. I’m not ready for him to go. I don’t want to do this alone. I can’t.

Have you ever felt any of these emotions?
Have you acted like you understood what the Bible was saying, but you ended more clueless than before?  Even in hindsight, it is sometimes hard to have 20/20 vision of what happened so long ago.

There are often things we don’t understand even if it seems like we should.  Sometimes the risk we need to take is to lean into those questions and authentically ask Jesus what He is trying to say, just as Thomas did.  God may speak to us directly through His Word, through an experience in our life, or through the words of other people.  Instead of ignoring the questions, is God calling you to take the risk of approaching Jesus with authenticity?

- Tatum Lehman

Wow. There have been a lot of great devotional thoughts so far. If you’ve kept with them all, I would imagine that the strength “input” ranks high for you. I personally have been challenged by some not so much because it’s completely new information, but due to the difficult task it is to put God’s truth into practice.

If you grew up in the church, maybe you remember the story from Sunday school. The story of the two builders – the one build his house upon the rock, and the other upon the sand. They both finished their house. And they stood, for a little while anyways. That is, until the rain and the flood came. Then the house on the sand collapsed.  Jesus finishes the story by sharing:

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:26

Satan really is working hard to distract, discourage, disenfranchise and detour us. Satan’s cheap imitations aren’t the real thing, but they sell well. Satan recognizes that he has already lost the battle, but that he has a little left to try to make it messy for us. Satan will make all kinds of promises and accuse us of all kinds of lies so that we will buy into something that will not stand when the rain and flood come.

But, don’t lose heart. Jesus offered the Holy Spirit to walk with us. In fact, in John 16:7 Jesus mentions that it is to our advantage that He goes away so that the Helper will come to help us. The Helper will guide us to build our lives on the rock and put into practice those lessons Jesus taught.

Mark is not formally attending school at the moment, but he enjoys those dialogues. If there’s something interesting you are learning now that you’d like to share, he’d like to hear about it.

When God created the earth, He was able to create it in six days. On the seventh day He took a day of rest. Not due to the fact that He was getting tired or didn’t have anything else to create, but because He knew the value in taking time away from work.

I am not an expert in getting proper rest, but merely someone who knows when more rest would help. In order to get more time to rest, we need to plan to not work and protect that time. We may have to say no to some good things so that we can stay on our “A” game through life. Taking time to rest will help relieve us of the lie that we are needed to do everything to keep the world going.

There are all kinds of positive benefits for taking the rest we truly need. Some of those benefits are to: restore, recover, recline, reflect, relax, replenish and renew.

As an aspiring endurance athlete (also amateur), a logical thought is the harder I work to improve, more that I push myself, and the faster I work – the better I will become. For about a summer I did that. I worked really hard and rode my bike nearly every day pretty hard. And after a while, I was getting worse. I had less of a desire to ride and was getting more frustrated to not see significant improvement. This began the realization process for me that my rest was just as important as the time training. Time to stress the body is just as important as the time a body needs to recover.

“Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’”
- Mark 2:27

• Are you getting the rest that you need?
• Have you made time for rest lately?

 Mark is struggling to rest during a weeklong vacation from work. Despite being a last minute vacation after a busy season that requires rest, it is still hard to rest.

Community with other believers can start in all kinds of places. For some it may happen over coffee or at a Community Group or in passing on Sundays.

The starting point for a group of guys and I took place after a growth group launch at Flood. Initially, there were names and phone numbers on a piece of paper of guys that I didn’t know. After a few weeks of meeting together, we began to learn more about each other as we studied the Bible together. Over time, some people brought spiritual questions that they were wrestling with to discuss as a group.

There’s risk in reaching out to people that are unfamiliar to you. For some guys that joined the group, this was the first time in a small group. For others, it was another chance to be part of a good small group. To some extent, the most opportunity for growth takes place when the most is risked.

At different points our group has become comfortable in how we relate to each other. We become more familiar with each other’s understanding and view of God. This allows us the opportunity to either stop meeting or continue to move deeper by sharing more of our lives.

After a year and a half as a group, we have watched God work in each other’s lives. Looking back it is exciting to see how God orchestrated strangers with different backgrounds to become closer brothers in Christ.

This journey that our group has been on is similar to the reference that Paul makes in several of his letters. As a result of his missionary journeys to minister to churches, his relationship with the people grew. Several of his greetings in the New Testament letters (epistles) share:

“I thank my God every time I remember you.”
- Philippians 1:3

Paul could have easily avoided the travel to meet new people and work towards their spiritual growth. Thankfully, he didn’t. His work among the churches allows us to include several of the letters in our Bible.

I, like Paul, am beginning to understand more of what community is about through my growth group. There are people I am truly thankful for because they took the risk to share their life with me and allow me to share my journey with them.

Mark’s journey also includes basketball and road biking in addition to a growth group. As a growth group they enjoyed discussing the Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. 

Several years ago, the kids and I were enjoying a sunny day at the park over Easter vacation.  Along for the ride were two brothers, both friends of our boys.  A few weeks earlier, I’d given Jacob a cross necklace.  One of 12 I’d purchased to pass out to the kids at church for Easter.  The cross was made of nails, tied with a leather strap, and Jacob loved it.  He was proud of it and wore it almost every day.  As we made our way home in the car, I listened to the boys’ conversation.  “Cool necklace, Jacob,” one of the boys remarked. “Where did you get it?”  “My mom gave it to me.  I wear it because I’m a Christian,” he said proudly.  “Oh,” they replied, “We thought the cross was just a sign for peace.”  “Not exactly, Jesus died on the cross so that’s why Christians wear crosses. My mom has more, do you want one?!” Jacob asked expectantly.  They thought for a moment before one of the boys responded.  “No, I don’t think so.  I thought it was just a peace sign.”    The car fell silent.  I could tell that Jacob was disappointed and deflated by their answer.  As a parent there are times when you step into a conversation to help it along and there are times you don’t.  I sensed that this was the latter.  I felt the depth of Jacob’s defeat and I wanted to see how he’d handle this.   I’m friends with the boys’ mom; she and I had enjoyed many conversations about spiritual things and we’d been inviting them to church.  I knew where their family was at spiritually.  Though they believed in God, they didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.

We dropped off the boys and on the way back to our home, I watched in the rear view mirror as Jacob slowly and silently removed the cross from his neck and set it down on the seat beside him.  Not saying a word, he sat looking out the window for the rest of the ride home.  Jacob is an introvert; an internal processor and a deep thinker.  As his mom I’ve learned to read his face and I could tell the wheels were turning.  Disappointment, doubt, rejection.  I felt a lump rising in my throat.  I wanted to explain away his friends’ response and make him feel better.  But I sensed the conversation taking place in Jacob’s heart and knew this would be a time of growth for him.  I needed to keep quiet and let him work this out on his own and with God.   When we arrived home, Jacob picked up his necklace, took it to his room and set it on a shelf.  The cross sat on his shelf for 3 days.  Every time I walked by his room and saw it sitting on his shelf, I had to fight that lump in my throat.   Finally one morning Jacob emerged from his room wearing the cross necklace.  I mentioned that it was nice to see him wearing it and he gave me a nod.  I knew the wrestling match taking place in Jacob’s little heart and mind was over.

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.   Romans 1:16

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.    1 Corinthians 1: 18

Roxanne Hammett

^“18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.  

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”           -Matthew 4:18-22

Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  They appear to be ordinary guys with average jobs, fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.  No shiny credentials or public speaking experience that we’re aware of.  Not necessarily the resumes you would expect of men who are about to change the world!

So what did Jesus see in these men that prompted Him to call them by name, to ask them to leave the safety of their nets and follow Him?  And more importantly for us, what was it in these men that compelled them to immediately follow Jesus?  The Scripture tells us they AT ONCE left their nets and followed Him.

I love this story because these “ordinary” guys were not so ordinary after all.  Hand-picked by God, Peter, Andrew, James, and John recognized the divine authority of Jesus’ voice and like a child responding to the command of a parent, willingly left everything they had to follow Him.  They were not impulsive, foolish fishermen and this was not their first meeting with Jesus.  They’d spent time with Him (John 1:35-51) and had listened to Him teach (Luke 5:1-11).  Now their hearts were restless.  I believe these men knew they had been created for more and were simply waiting for the call.  Yet until Jesus extended this invitation, this commission, they had no idea what God had in store!

Jump ahead two millennia to modern day America.  We work hard to establish and provide a secure and stable environment for our families.  Before we go to bed each night…Doors locked.  Check.  Windows locked.  Check.  At the end of the month…Mortgage paid.  Check.  Car payment.  Check.

Very safe.  We want stability.  We want security, both physically and financially.  We want, in essence, a smooth ride.  That’s “happiness”, right?  And are these goals wrong?  No.  But what if God wants more and has more in store for us but we’re too busy being “safe” to notice?  What if tomorrow he called you out of your current, comfortable lifestyle to take a risk, to follow him in a new venture?  Would you recognize his voice and how would you respond?

Perhaps it’s not as dramatic as a change in vocation or location.  Perhaps God’s call to you is to lead a growth group, to mentor a younger Christian, to invite a friend to church, to give more, or to step up in your home as a spiritual leader.  These can be risky…there are so many “What If’s” swimming around in our heads, keeping us from taking those first steps.  What if I fail?  What if they say “no”?

Or possibly you have an addiction or a destructive behavior God is asking you to give up that is holding you back in your relationship with Him and with others?  It requires risk to ask for help and accept accountability.

There’s a quote by W.E.B. Du Bois…“be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.”   The fishermen were ready to give up what they were, and all that was safe and familiar to them, to become fishers of men.  They took a risk and said yes to Jesus.

Are you willing to give up your security, your fears, your baggage in order to respond to God’s call and follow Him? 

What is God asking you to do right now, today, that involves risk?

Are you listening, and what is your response?

Are there any behaviors or addictions God is calling you to give up?  Can you take a risk and share it with a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor? 

What are ways you can serve at Flood and impact people within our community?

What dreams has God put on your heart?  What is holding you back and why?  What steps can you take to fulfill the God-given callings in your life?

Roxanne Hammett

Our son Jacob is 12 and in the 6^th grade.  He is bright, funny, a straight A student, and a super little athlete.  Yes, I may be a little biased!!  Up until this last year, he slept with 2 very “special” blankets.  And that’s what he’d call them.  “Mom, where are my special blankets?!”  He needed them to go to sleep.  He wanted them when he was tired or sad.   Yes, it is sweet and helpful when your children latch onto something special, a blanket or perhaps a stuffed animal they received as a baby.  However, the problem with having special blankets when you’re 11 is that it’s a little embarrassing, right?  So if Jacob’s friends came over to visit or to spend the night, into the corner of the closet the blankets were stuffed!!  When Jacob was 9, he was preparing to leave for Winter Camp.  In a hurry to pack up the car, I completely forgot my “mom-sense” and asked him right in front of his friends if he wanted his blankets.  With wide eyes he replied, “Oh, no, Mom, I don’t need those!”  As his buddies left the room, he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Both of them!!”   I discreetly rolled them into the bottom of his sleeping bag!

Several years ago, I hired a cleaning lady to come in and help me “catch up”.  She’d never been in our home and wasn’t aware of Jacob’s special blankets (yes, not one, but two!).   That evening as Jacob got ready for bed he asked for his blankets.  They should have been under his pillow.  Well, I began to help him search.  We looked in all of his usual hiding places, frantically searched his closet, nothing!  Then it hit me.  The cleaning lady must have thrown out his blankets.  You see, these were two soft, knit blankets my mom had lovingly made for Jacob as a baby, and now they were absolutely shredded, threadbare, and full of holes from years of use.  From all outside appearances there was nothing special about them!!  They looked ragged and old.  I had stopped trying to repair the blankets years ago, there was almost nothing left to them.  They were beautiful when he was a baby, a constant comfort to Jacob, and now they’d been thrown out as trash!  Of course Matt and I took a flashlight and searched through the garbage cans (thank goodness it wasn’t trash day!)  Fortunately we found the blankets in a bag with a few broken toys I’d asked her to throw out.  We consoled Jacob, put them in the wash, and they were good as “new”… to Jacob.

Jacob finally “retired” his blankets last year.  I guess all the sleepovers helped break the habit.  His blankets are now tucked away in the closet, tattered balls of yarn with no intrinsic value.  Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t sell them at a garage sale or even give them away!  Who would want them?  Yet they are and have always been of great worth to Jacob.

Sometimes I look at my life and choose to focus on the rough edges, the areas that have been tattered and torn.  As my own worst critic, it is too easy for me to tear away at my sense of worth when I don’t measure up to my own or others’ expectations.  Fortunately God does not allow me to wallow there too long.  I know I am a child of the King and that my worth is ultimately found in Him.

Jacob’s blankets were old and worn, yet he wouldn’t have had it any other way.  He could have let his blankets sit on a shelf and admired them from afar.  They would still be shiny and new, but he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to receive the love and comfort they represented, and they would mean nothing to him!   I’d like to look at the worn edges of my life and appreciate how my experiences, for better or for worse, have shaped me into who I am today.   God’s Word says when we are weak, then He is strong.  It is when we admit our weaknesses and ask for His courage that he is able to use us to touch others with the comfort we ourselves have received.  I’m sure we can all think of a few experiences in our past, mistakes we have made, that we’d like to change.  Can we hit rewind and “do-over”?  No.  Can we move forward and allow God to use us just as we are?  Yes.

Scripture reveals Satan as deceiver, a great con artist.  The accuser of lies.  He’d love nothing more than to have us focus on our weaknesses.  He takes great delight when God’s people neglect to accept the gift of grace that God so freely offers.  But Jesus came to shed light in the darkness and to remove the guilt and shame that comes from our sinful hearts.

My mom is a sweet grandma and seeing the special blankets in such ragged condition, she set out on a mission to “save” the blankets and rescue Jacob from impending loss as his tattered balls of yarn dwindled away!  She knit a pillow-case style cover for the blankets, one that looked and felt like Jake’s blankets.  However, Jacob didn’t want the cover, he wanted his blankets, tattered and torn as they were.  Used, loved, imperfect. Sometimes we think we need to be perfect in order for God to use us.  That we need to have it all together.  We’d like to smooth out those rough edges.   Jesus went to the Cross to pay for our imperfections, for our brokenness.  He who was without sin became sin for us, so that we would be complete in Him.

⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9,10

How have you experienced God’s strength in your weakness?

What lies are you tempted to believe about yourself?  In what ways do you hold yourself to an unrealistic standard?   How have you experienced the sufficiency of God’s grace in your life?

Roxanne Hammett