We need personal right now

Artist, Greg Olsen

Happy Sunday!  We're already near the end of July, and by one avenue or another, the kids will be back to school.  I hope you are well despite the chaos in the world.  I recently watched season one of a series called "The Chosen."  It's a series about the life of Jesus.  Growing up, I saw several of these types of movies, including the most recent one in 2004, "The Passion of the Christ."

This series struck a chord with me.  For the first time, I saw Jesus portrayed as personal, as a human who experienced day-to-day living, as we do.  I saw him cooking, setting up a tent (his living quarters), experiencing his friendships, and showing his sense of humor. In all of the previous series, I had a hard time picturing Jesus as truly human.  In other movies, he is depicted as more of a godly form than human.  Don't get me wrong.  I know that he lived without sin, so his humanity was limited to a sinless nature.  However, "The Chosen" showed Jesus as a man, a son to his mother, a friend to his disciples, and a compassionate person.

In the scene where he performed his first miracle to turn water to wine at a wedding, we see him dancing and laughing with his friends.  He is making merry and celebrating the wedding of this couple. He is also seen entertaining children at the wedding.  In another scene, we see how he loved his mother and was glad to see her after he'd been out of town for awhile.  We see him calling his disciples to follow him and how he befriends them.  They raise tents together, eat meals together, take journeys by foot together: and one can see how he and the disciples adored each other's friendship.  He was patient with the disciples as they struggled to understand his parables and his ways.  

When a leper came toward him and the disciples, the disciples drew knives and told the unclean man to stay away.  They tried to shelter Jesus from the leper and draw him back to protect him.  Jesus gently nudged them off and said, "It's okay."  Jesus took off his back pack and laid it down.  He slowly advanced toward the leper, who had fallen on his knees asking Jesus to heal him.  The leper had tears of desperation and loneliness in his eyes.  Not only did Jesus come close to the man, but he knelt down to be face-to-face with him.  Then he didn't just speak words of healing, he reached out and touched the man.  He said, "Be clean."  The leper's wounds healed immediately and he was cured of leprosy.  The man cried words of gratefulness, and Jesus' smiled at him.  His face glowed with love and compassion.

We need to see Jesus as he is.  He is our Savior, but he is also our friend.  He loves us with a love that we can't understand.  He accepts us for who we are right now...not when we have our lives together...not when we're less anxious and worried...not when we're joyous instead of depressed...he accepts us as we are right now.  In this time when life seems so fragile and unstable, with the Corona virus causing illness and fear, with the political platforms in constant conflict, and with the racial tensions that plague us, we need a Jesus that is personal.  He was human, he lived in this world, he experienced many of our same emotions, and he understands.  

Approaching him is easy.  In "The Chosen," he talks about how prayer should be short, not fancy, and from the heart.  He tells the crowd to go into your closet, where it is private, and talk to God.  He doesn't expect long, drawn out rhetoric.  He wants to hear from us, as a friend would.  He is approachable and always ready for us.  

Jesus is personal.  He wants a personal friendship with you.  Talk to him.  He longs to hear from you.  Remember, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."  John 15:13

Find "The Chosen" at the app store.  Search for "The Chosen app" and download.  It's free to watch!

Do not be discouraged

Hi there!

Can you believe we're more than halfway through July already?  I thought that being socially isolated at home would make the summer drag on.  It's been quite the opposite.  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some kind of normal again.  So much has happened this year, and most of it has been scary.  The most obvious scary happening this year has been COVID-19.  It has changed so much of our daily living. Like you, I wonder how long it will be in the forefront.  Every day, wherever I go, I wear a mask, and I sanitize my hands.  I'm not sure if my kids will be returning to traditional school, which they desperately need.

I suppose we're all feeling a little desperate.  Not only are we dealing with a pandemic, but we are also reeling from the current protesting and rioting.  There has been so much destruction of personal and public property, and many people have been injured, even killed, during this time. There is talk of defunding the police in several cities, and the election banter is overwhelming.  It feels like the world is falling apart.  Part of me feels mostly safe when I step outside my door at home, but there is also part of me that worries and feels fear.  What next?

At times like these, I have to turn my worries over to the one who can handle them.  I'm not always sure to what to pray for.  In fact, many days I just feel overwhelmed.  Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit of God helps us.  It says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."  That encourages me.  When we don't know what to pray, God knows our hearts and our worries.

Next time you are lost for words to pray because you feel discouraged, anxious, or overwhelmed, remember that God knows what you're feeling.  He knows what makes you anxious, and he knows what you need.  All you have to do is go to Him.