He is (The Names of God) by Eric Ludy

I hope you are all having a blessed summer. The youth pastor at my church closed last Sunday's sermon with this video below. It is so powerful and gorgeous and will get your eyes upon the Savior of our lives. 

One of my favorites, "He is my Husband." Whew!

I encourage you to take the time to give it a watch and let me know what "He is" to you. God bless you. 

The Girl Who Drew Jesus (Short Story-Fiction)

A short story by Cassandra Benefield

David R. Tribble (on Wikimedia Commons)

THE DAY began with the shade of gray on the sidewalk where the girls took their oversized chalk and began drawing everything that came to their minds.

            “See here. That’s my pa.”

            “He sure has a funny shaped head.”

            And on that same sidewalk a little girl took a tiny square and claimed it as her very own with every color she had. On her slice of the world, there were blues and hues only a Technicolor movie could have made brighter.

            “What are you drawing?”

            “I’m drawing Jesus.”

            “You silly goose, Jesus doesn’t look like that.”

            “How do you know?”

            “I just know.”

            “Well, my Jesus looks like that.”     

            Just then, the little girl who was drawing her very own Jesus packed up her chalk and walked merrily home. She even skipped some.

            One step, two steps, three steps, four. And off she went into her very own door.

            “Hi sweetheart. Did you have fun today?”   

            “Yes, Mommy. I drew Jesus.”

            “Oh. And what did He look like?”

            “He was very colorful.”

            “That’s nice, dear.”

            The little girl put her stuff in the foyer and took off her tennis shoes. It was easy to do, since her laces were on the verge of being untied anyway.

            She pulled her socks up as far as they could go, which happened to be just under her knees. She stood up, wiped the dust off of her pleated skirt and skipped to the kitchen for her afternoon snack. She even hummed a bit.

            “Mommy, what does your Jesus look like?”

            “That’s a good question. I guess He’s the color of fire and of sinless perfection. Of the fullness of time and of endless ages. He’s the color of air and the wings of eagles. He has dove’s eyes and sounds like the voice of many waters.”

            “That sounds pretty.”

            The little girl smiled and swung her feet back and forth under the table. Both feet forward, both feet back. Both feet forward, both feet back. Then, she was done. She took her plate and placed it on the kitchen counter next to the sink, which was just above her head.

            After her snack, she went into the living room and turned on the television.

            “This just in ….”

            The little girl saw on the television people who were angry at each other, yelling and carrying on. Some even had guns.

            “Today in Jerusalem, hundreds have been injured due to a …”

            “Mommy! Mommy!”

            “Yes dear, what is it?”

            “Where is Jerusalem?”

            “It’s in the Middle East. It’s where Jesus walked.”

            “But Mommy, if Jesus was there, why is everybody so mad?”

            “Oh, honey, just because Jesus’ feet touched the same soil as the feet of those that are there now, doesn’t mean there is peace. He told us there would be wars and rumors of wars until His return.”

            “But if He goes there now, surely He will die.”

            “No, dear. The next time He comes, He cannot die. You see, He died the first time He came. He conquered death and has the keys to both hell and death now.”

            “You mean, they can’t kill Him.”

            “That’s right.”

            “I’m so glad.”

            “Do you understand dear, that Jesus died so that we may go live forever in Heaven with Him? All we have to do is believe He is who He said He was. That He was sent from God, His Father, led a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose up from the grave alive, so that we may be saved from our sins.”

            “Sins?”

            “You know all those colors you painted in your sidewalk today?” 

            “Uh huh.”

            “Did you use black?”

            “Uh huh.”

            “Well, black is kind of like our sins, dark, and filled with all our bad things, like lying, hitting, and so on.”

            “Uh huh.”

            “Did you use red?”

            “Yes mommy, I used red.”

            “That’s His blood. That blood was what was shed to cover our ugly sin.”

            “So the red goes over the black?”

            “That’s right. But only, when we choose to believe in Him as our Savior.”

            “Uh huh.”

            “Did you use white?”

            “Oh yes, that’s my favorite. It’s so bright!”

            “Yes, it is. When Jesus’ blood covers our sin, we are a new creature in Him. It’s like He erases the black and puts in its place the color white. And this is our color forever and ever.”

            “Forever and ever ... wow.”

            “And even though we may do bad things still, when we choose to believe in Jesus, He can never take the white away.”

            “I like white.”

            “Me, too. Did you use yellow?”

            “Uh huh, Mommy, I used yellow. It’s like the sun. And it’s like those pretty flowers you have in your garden.”    

            “That’s right. My sunflowers. Let’s just say that yellow represents gold.”

            “Like your wedding ring?”

            “Yes, like my wedding ring. In Heaven there will be streets of gold. And when Jesus saves us when we believe in Him, He forgives our sin making all our blacks white. And then we are now able to go to Heaven and be with Him when we die.”

            “But He has keys to Hell, right Mommy? You didn’t say He has keys to Heaven.”        

            “That’s true. Jesus is like Heaven’s key. He said ‘I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.’ He’s the One Who knows who can enter and who can’t.”

            “Those with their black not turned white don’t get to come in, right?”

            “Right. Now, did you have any green?”

            “Oh yes Mommy! I had green, and I used it in my picture.”

            “Well, what do you know that’s green?”

            “Umm, trees and leaves and … umm, GRASS! Grass is green, and frogs. Frogs are definitely green, too, Mommy.”

            “Yes, that’s right, dear. But for the moment, let’s just stick with the green grass. When grass dies, it turns brown.”

            “Like our grass?”

            “Yes, dear, like our grass. But if we watered our grass, it would grow very tall and stay green. After Jesus saves us, we need to be well watered by the Bible, in order to stay green and alive.”

            “I have a Bible.”

            “Yes, you do, and when you learn to read a little more, you will be able to grow by reading it. You can also grow by praying and by going to church.”

            “Mommy, I love church! I love to sing. I love to learn those Bible stories. I believe Jesus. I have some blacks that need to be white. I’ve lied before Mommy. I want Him to turn my blacks into pretty white. I want to go to Heaven.”

            “That’s wonderful dear. Let’s ask Jesus together. ‘Dear Jesus.’”

            “Dear Jesus.”

            “Jesus, I believe You are the only way to go to Heaven. I believe You can turn my blacks into beautiful white so I can go to Heaven, too. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Please help me grow. In Jesus name, Amen.”

            The little girl finished the prayer with her mom. Then, she gave her mom the biggest hug ever.       

            “I knew I drew Jesus.”

(Originally written in 2003)

Being Still

“Be still, and know that I am God.”—Psalm 46:10a

I don't know about you, but I know all too well about me, that I am rarely still before my God. My prayer life is very weak. It's a struggle to pray for me in the morning. Reading my Bible and asking God to open my eyes that I might understand His precepts and principles better in His Word comes easy. But prayer and resting in His presence is difficult. I could easily blame the ailment of our age—busyness—and its ripple effects in my life, but the truth is I am just not a very still and patient person. I am so busy with all the activity of my day that I find it sometimes “slow” work just to spend quality time with my precious daughter as she explores every rock, leaf, and branch on our walks together around our block. Sometimes I like concentrating on her explorations because in it I do find rest. I am struck with the awareness that there is much about this life that begs slow and easy exploration, the kind my daughter exudes.

But being still also has another meaning in the presence of our Almighty God. This application came to me the other day in the quiet of my heart when I was meditating on a particular prayer request. Because I didn't quickly see how this particular request could be answered and I was contemplating another of my own ideas to try to quickly achieve the result I was praying for, God had stopped my thoughts in their tracks. In that moment, while I was reading Psalm 46, the Lord clearly, gently, and pointedly told me to “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Again, I don't know about you, but when my eyes don't see what my heart is begging to see, I have a tendency to work in my flesh (not walking in the Spirit) toward accomplishing what I believe and perceive to be God's will. The result being that I often find elusive the rest and the stillness this verse addresses. So, it was nice to be reminded at just the right time that God is in control. No matter how big or small my worries and concerns are I can trust God. He wants me to be still from my own works and ideas, and to know that He is in control. He can turn my burdens and my cares into the directions He wants them to go, and all I need to do is just rest in Him.

I know I've often discussed this in previous posts, but I wanted to mention again that I am so grateful for a God who wants to and does communicate to my heart's needs through His word. This is why I try to avail myself of His counsel daily in the morning before all the day's activity begins. I hope I don't come across self righteous or somehow laudatory when I say I really do love reading God's word for this very reason, as if I am somehow better than those who don't or don't even have these kinds of moments with God while reading His word. That's not my hope. My prayer is all who read this do have those very sweet times of fellowship with the Lord, and if they don't, that somehow they may be encouraged to ask God for them. With that said, God's counsel may come in other ways, but it will never contradict His word. So it is still wise to read His word to familiarize yourself with it so that you will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).

In the end, I believe God is asking us all to be still, and know that He, and He alone is God, and that every care, every worry, can be placed in His hands. He knows what He is doing. Sometimes, He may guide us in such a way to be a part of His work, but sometimes I believe He simply calls on us to rest in Him, as He takes care of our heart's desires and needs.

This was such a timely lesson for me in all my busyness, in all my assumptions that somehow my prayer requests need to be answered by me and my plans in my way. To use a modern phrase, we can sum it up with, “God's got this.”

He does. So, let's honor Him by trusting our needs and hopes and all of our despair and care into His precious hands.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus Paid It All

“The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”—Romans 7:12

“The law of the LORD is perfect.”—Psalm 19:7

I have a dear friend who I crossed paths with before many years ago and today we are attending the same church. One get together and one phone conversation after another, she has been discipling me. Many of you who know me may think that I already have learned so much about God and His Word over the years. And you would be right. I say that not to highlight my achievements in studying (which are really a far cry from what others have to study for degrees and so on) but to emphasize, we never stop needing to learn and grow in Christ. Like most relationships, my relationship with the Lord has its ups and downs. And lately, my general fellowship with Him in His Word and among His people can be compared to someone wandering in a desert in desperate need of an oasis. My soul craves to know something more about Him. To enter that next step in my relationship with Him. We see Peter encouraging us, through God's Holy Spirit, to do the same: “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

That growing in grace is no casual statement for me either because it is this topic that my friend has been discipling me on. God knew exactly how to encourage me to grow in His grace and in the knowledge of Him by using someone who is as intense as I am about studying the Bible. It is fun for us to read great doctrinal truths and to go deeper into the knowledge of God's Word. Now, lest it sound like I'm looking for new revelation or truth, like the Gnostics of the New Testament days, I assure you this is not the case. The knowledge I am seeking is always there and changes not. But what has changed has been my readiness to receive this next level of growth in Him. And it has been a marvelous thing!

So, why do I open this post with verses on the law above? Well, one of the books I was encouraged to read by this friend was Alva McClain's Law and Grace booklet. I own his The Greatness of the Kingdom book, which is his theological masterpiece on the doctrine of the Kingdom in Scripture. It is a book I was highly recommended to read many years ago (and one I'm still in the process of reading) while I was an intern with the Fundamental Evangelistic Association when it was located in Los Osos, Calif. All that to say, I knew Law and Grace was a book that could be trusted because of who the author was. I read this 80-page booklet, and what impressed me most was just how holy and perfect God's law is. McClain shows how the law cannot be separated into three parts (ceremonial, civil, and moral) like it is generally done in Christendom and has been done down through the ages. His argument is that this separating of the law into parts and believing that only some of the law has been fulfilled in Christ (as in the ceremonial and the civil), has been the cause of much confusion and false teaching, especially resulting in the various forms of legalism we see and experience in every generation.

Below are three quotes that encapsulate how God's law relates to His grace, which is the truth that I wanted to share with you today. But first, I think it's helpful to understand that God's law was given because of man's transgressions (Galatians 3:19). This shows me that the law was given for protection against ourselves, which also shows us that God is gracious and loving. This was yet another eye-opening understanding for me, even though that truth was always in Scripture. 

Now, the quotes from "Law Unable to Save Men," Chapter 3 of Law and Grace.

“The law's demands could not be relaxed to accommodate the weakness of men. This is the curious idea that some people hold. Grace, to them, is God's tolerance in lowering the absolute demands of the law to the point where sinners can keep it. Such a misconception dishonors both the law and grace” (pg. 21).

“It was necessary, therefore, for God to devise a plan for saving sinners without any relaxation of the law. This brings us to the very heart of the gospel … the Son of God incarnate at Calvary paid man's obligation to broken law to the last farthing … Jesus paid it all” (Emphasis mine-pg. 22).

“The law of God can do nothing to save sinners. It cannot save us from the guilt of sin. It cannot keep us from the dominion of sin. It cannot provide a sufficient motive for obedience to the law. It cannot supply the power necessary to keep its requirements. It cannot recover us when we break the law. May God open our eyes to understand that our 'help cometh from the LORD' (Ps. 121:2). Our only hope is in Him” (pg. 23).

I just can't articulate these truths better than McClain. The law was fulfilled at the cross, and since then, all of God's children are free from the weight, burden, condemnation, and judgment of the law. We, who are His children, walk in grace today...not a grace that minimizes God's law but a grace that looks to Jesus, and with adoration and weeping, we fall down at His feet and say, thank You, Jesus, for what You did on my behalf. Thank You for saving me and giving me Your Holy Spirit to walk in newness of life.

What I have been learning in bits and pieces about His law and His grace has been a tremendous blessing to my heart, and it has given me a tender heart for His children who want to go back under God's holy and perfect law. It's not necessary. Jesus paid it all. We are free from the law!

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that is was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: The righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

Is that not a gorgeous section of Scripture in light of reading about the perfection of the law and how we are now set free in Christ? It's glorious! The way to tell if you are then walking in the Spirit or in the flesh is to read Galatians 5:16-26, where God reveals to us the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

If we are walking in the Spirit, it is not because of any goodness in ourselves. We need to understand that it is Christ in us, that gives us the power to walk in His Spirit, not our will or the works of our flesh. I believe many Christians are religious and think they are walking in the Spirit, but when one considers the results of their religion and religious teachings, they can be summarized by works of the flesh. Namely these—wrath, strife (contention, fighting, dissension, friction, rivalry, conflict are all synonyms of strife), seditions, heresies, and such the like.

My Christianity of the past was rife with these works of my flesh. Through this step in my growth in Him, in learning more about God’s law and His glorious grace, I now see how wrong I was.

Moving forward, I pray that my Christianity and my walk with Him and in Him permeates this glorious truth, that Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe.

(From Wikimedia Commons)