Spiritual Income

I came across the above phrase in my daily devotions and it resonated with me. Hebrews 9:24-28 state, “For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Romans 5:1 confirms this: "Therefore since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 

What the writer of Hebrews was saying according to the devotional is that “something momentous happened when Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended." Furthermore, we, the followers of Jesus Christ, “have not been left with nothing to do.” He has left us “to live daily with trust and anticipation, set in a history replete with horror, injustice, and cruelty in which we must exercise all sources of “spiritual income,” including the daily disciplines of prayer and scripture reading.” I will add to that, praise, worship and honor to His name.

In spite of what we may be facing in our Christian walk, Jesus’ death has left us with faith and hope to receive the grace of God when we love, forgive, and trust in Him despite what’s going on in the world today. 

Cast Your Cares on Jesus

Sometimes we face hardships that weigh us down physically and spiritually. We become anxious and worry to such an extent we can’t see the end from the beginning. This needs not be so! God is standing by waiting for us to call on Him, to give it all over to Him because He knows we cannot handle it on our own.

Why don’t we, then? Because we lack faith or we are fearful to muster it up and activate it. The Bible describes having faith as the, “...assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”—Hebrews 11:1. The other side of the coin of faith is fear which can be described as having the assurance or confidence that something bad is going to happen. How do we counter fear? We begin by changing our thoughts and affirming that fear, anxiety, and worry have no power over us because God’s Spirit dwells within us and we have love, power, and self-control; by, “casting all our care upon Him, for He cares for us.”—I Peter 5:7. Once we do this, “Then we will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7.

Here is a card I made using watercolors. I learned this technique from Tiare Smith, a Mixed media artist, and blogger who encouraged me to give my creativity wings. I made the original version in a sketchbook (see below) and decided to try it on a card.

Sketchbook Version

Card

I am also trying to really carve out time to do Bible Journaling more frequently. I spend time on Sunday afternoons watching Sandy Allnock's YouTube Bible Journaling lessons or following Rebekah R. Jones' techniques. Here's some of what I've been inspired to journal so far.

Exodus 15:20-21

Jeremiah 30:1-2

1 Peter 5:8

Psalm 84:11

Matthew 25:35

Letting Go

Fear, anger, worries… these are all things we cling to.  We fear that which is unknown; we get angry when we feel we are wronged, or slighted, or misunderstood; we worry about everything… how we look in the eyes of others, how we live, what we eat or wear, we even worry about what others may say about us.  All of these come from some place in us that refuses to let go: let go of the fear that we don’t know or can’t see; of the anger we feel against those we feel have wronged us; of worrying about how we will make it or how we will survive.

A card I made for a friend diagnosed with cancer of the lungs.

I recently re-read one of my favorite books, “When I lay my Isaac Down” by Carol Kent.  Carol and her husband had to surrender their only son to the prison system after he committed the unthinkable crime: murder of another human being.  With that one act, their son, Jason Paul, or J.P. for short, had turned the family’s whole world upside down.  Throughout that whole ordeal, the Kents had to learn to surrender all – their hope for their son’s future, their living as it had been up until then to the Lord. They had to trust God to bring them out of the wilderness of anger, pain, fear, and worry, to a place where they could hope for the future and the future of their only son, who is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Today’s devotion in the Upper Room Disciplines 2014, deals with letting go of our Ishmaels (read Genesis 21:8-21); having the courage to release our grasp on that which we hold dear and to cling tightly to God and trust him with our future.   How can we do this, we wonder? I suggest that we start by building a relationship with God; one that will allow us to trust that when we stumble and fall, he’ll be there to catch or pick us up.  I’m not saying this will be easy, but once we invite God into our private space and begin giving him our fears, worries, pain, and anger, we will find the courage to surrender all of these to him and he will show us the way out of our wilderness.

I recently heard a song that spoke to my spirit, “I Will Follow” by Jon Guerra.  The lyrics to this song moved me to tears and it validated my trust in this God who loves me despite my faults and my failures. Despite my problems, my fears, and insecurities, I will follow him; I won’t turn back, I’ll keep moving forward.

I leave you with the video and lyrics to the song:

I Will Follow
Worship Leader: Jon Guerra
(Jon Guerra, Jacob Sooter)

When the sea is calm and all is right
When I feel Your favor flood my life
Even in the good, I'll follow You
Even in the good, I'll follow You

When the boat is tossed upon the waves
When I wonder if You'll keep me safe
Even in the storms, I'll follow You
Even in the storms, I'll follow You

I believe everything that You say You are
I believe that I have seen Your unchanging heart
In the good things and in the hardest part
I believe and I will follow You
I believe and I will follow You

When I see the wicked prospering
When I feel I have no voice to sing
Even in the want, I'll follow You
Even in the want, I'll follow You

When I find myself so far from home
And You lead me somewhere I don't wanna go
Even in my death, I'll follow You
Even in my death, I'll follow You

When I come to end this race I've run
And I receive the prize that Christ has won
I will be with You in Paradise
I will be with You in Paradise