This week is Pentecost, and I usually write about the Holy Spirit coming down on us, etc etc etc. For some reason, I’m just not feelin’ that message right now- not that I don’t feel the Spirit, but I just didn’t want to write the same old, same old. So I pulled out my copy of The Message and took a peek at this week’s second lesson – a passage from Romans. And holy cow! It’s a good one! I have trouble wading through Paul’s letters sometimes, but this passage just jumped out at me! Want to hear it? Yay!
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we now who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
Romans 8:12-17 (emphasis added)
Action! Adventure! Really wild things! That’s what God promises us. And God’s Spirit gives us the strength and courage to meet the adventure head on with excitement, like a little kid at an amusement park going, “That roller coaster was cool, Daddy! What can we go on next?” Life with God is like that, if we can really open ourselves up fully to living with him.
Not that it’ll always be cotton candy and roller coasters – Paul reminds us of that too. “We go through exactly what Christ goes through.” And Jesus went through some pretty tough stuff, right? His own family not really understanding him, his friends betraying him, his own neighbors not believing him and trying to run him out of town…it’s not always an easy life. But look at the next part…”If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” And boy, the good times are SO WORTH the hard times!
Sometimes the good times are really obviously exciting and adventurous – like when you go on a mission trip, serve Feast Incarnate, or something like that. Sometimes the good times are a little quieter, like when you serve in a procession or as a reader in church. Sometimes the good times are simply seeing God’s love reflected in the actions of people around you – people you care for and are in ministry with. Those times warm my heart and remind me what it’s all about. But whatever the good times….hang on tight! You’ve got things to do and places to go – beyond your wildest imagination! Let God use you, and who knows what will happen!
Have a blessed week, my friends!
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we now who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
Romans 8:12-17 (emphasis added)
Action! Adventure! Really wild things! That’s what God promises us. And God’s Spirit gives us the strength and courage to meet the adventure head on with excitement, like a little kid at an amusement park going, “That roller coaster was cool, Daddy! What can we go on next?” Life with God is like that, if we can really open ourselves up fully to living with him.
Not that it’ll always be cotton candy and roller coasters – Paul reminds us of that too. “We go through exactly what Christ goes through.” And Jesus went through some pretty tough stuff, right? His own family not really understanding him, his friends betraying him, his own neighbors not believing him and trying to run him out of town…it’s not always an easy life. But look at the next part…”If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” And boy, the good times are SO WORTH the hard times!
Sometimes the good times are really obviously exciting and adventurous – like when you go on a mission trip, serve Feast Incarnate, or something like that. Sometimes the good times are a little quieter, like when you serve in a procession or as a reader in church. Sometimes the good times are simply seeing God’s love reflected in the actions of people around you – people you care for and are in ministry with. Those times warm my heart and remind me what it’s all about. But whatever the good times….hang on tight! You’ve got things to do and places to go – beyond your wildest imagination! Let God use you, and who knows what will happen!
Have a blessed week, my friends!
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