Believe

 

Believe

Believe - Audio/Visual 

              “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Preschoolers can recite it, and football fans paint it boldly across cardboard signs near the end zone. It’s brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to withstand 2,000 years of storms and questions. It begins with God, ends with life, and urges us to do the same. If you know nothing of the Bible, begin here. If you know everything of the Bible, return here.

The context of John 3:16 began with a silent figure moving secretly through the darkened streets of Jerusalem. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, one of the religious elites who militantly rejected Jesus. So, when Nicodemus decided to seek Christ out and to learn from him, he had to do it under the cover of darkness. Slipping through alleyways and dimly lit streets, Nicodemus finds his way to a simple house where Jesus and his followers are staying. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” (John 3:2)

Without hesitation, Jesus replies, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Now, I’m not sure what was on Nicodemus’ mind that night, but it’s clear what was on Jesus’ mind. And Christ’s exposition on salvation reaches its climax in the sixteenth verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In this one verse, we see the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it starts with two simple words: He loves.

And if those words are true, it changes everything, doesn’t it? Imagine what the world would be like without God’s love – a dark planet hurtling through space without direction; no hope; no future; nothing for which to live; no greater purpose to its inhabitant’s existence. Every death would be an end. Every grave a place of despair. But God loves the world. We see it in every sunrise and sunset, every blade of grass, every birth, and every child’s face. For God so loved the world. Isn’t that the message of John 3:16? And isn’t that the message the world needs to hear? That God made you special and that he loves us so very much.

The Bible says, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) He loves. And because he loves, he gives. Jesus said, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.…” Just to say “I love you” doesn’t really mean a whole lot sometimes, does it? That’s why love, agape, is a verb – an action word; it’s something that has to be tangibly demonstrated. It has to be proven – God’s love included. The Bible says, “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

That sounds so strange to some. So many people in the world respect the teachings of Jesus and admire his example. But no matter how they turn it around, they can’t see any significance in his death. One man even said, “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t need God to give anyone for me,” he claimed. “I’ve led a good life. Held a good job. People respect me. My wife loves me. I don’t need God to give me his son.” Maybe you agree. But are we really as good as we think we are? Here’s a little test.

“You shall not steal.” Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip, a peanut? Well, if so, that makes you a thief. “You must not lie.” Those who claim they never have just did. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Ever let God’s name slip past your lips in anger or frustration? The Bible calls that blasphemy. “You shall not commit adultery.” Now, before you start congratulating yourself on that one, guys, remember that Jesus said if you so much as look at a woman lustfully you’ve committed adultery in your heart. And that’s just four out of ten.

We could keep going, but I don’t think we’d do any better. I believe that most sincere people, if being completely honest, know that we’re really not all that good. We all have regrets. We’ve all made mistakes. The Bible calls that sin. And we do it all the time. In fact, if you’re still on the fence about it, the apostle Paul tells us that “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23) That’s everyone. And our sin separates us from God. So, if any of us are ever going to have a real relationship with our Creator, then it’s up to him to find a way to reconcile us. And that’s where Jesus comes in. He determined to build that bridge with an old, rugged cross. He gave himself. He gave Jesus to bring salvation to the world through his death. In John 3:14, Jesus alludes to an event in the Old Testament. It’s a story that’s told in Numbers 21:4-9. It’s a story of sin. The children of Israel – God’s special people – had rebelled against God, so God sent poisonous snakes that bit the people and many of them died. But it’s also a story of grace. Moses interceded for the people and God provided a remedy. He told Moses to make a brass serpent and lift it up on a pole for everyone to see, and anyone who had been bitten who looked at the serpent would be healed immediately. It’s today’s symbol for medicine.

And we’re in a similar situation. The whole world has been bitten by sin, and the “wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) Just as the serpent was lifted on that pole for the people to look on for healing, Jesus was lifted on a cross for us to look to for our healing. God sent his Son to die, not only for Israel, but for the whole world. And although God’s remedy for snakebite was sufficient for all of Israel, it was only effective for those who "looked upon the serpent." And although God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient for the whole world, it is only efficient if we believe.

Jesus said that God “gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish….” But this concept runs contrary to our instincts. The problem, it seems, is that it’s way too simple. We expect a more complicated cure, a more sophisticated salvation, right? Just like that Bible verse that says, “God helps those who help themselves”? (Sorry to disappoint some of you, but that’s not really in the Bible. It’s actually a moral from one of Aesop’s fables) But no other religion offers what Jesus promises. Judaism sees salvation as a Judgment Day decision based on morality. Buddhism grades your life according to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Muslims earn their way to Allah by performing the duties of the Five Pillars of Faith.

But not Christianity. Jesus calls us to do one thing: believe. Listen to what the Bible says: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18) “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36) “I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47) “Then he brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.’” (Acts 16:31) “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8)

But you’re thinking, “What about baptism, or repentance and that changed life stuff? Are you saying those things aren’t necessary?” No, I’m not. But baptism, repentance, and a changed life are not in addition to faith – they are expressions of it. They are acts of faith that work together with our belief to make our faith real. What Jesus wants us to see is that it’s not because of what we’ve done, but because of who he is. And it’s not because of who we are, but because of what he’s already done. All he asks is for us to put our trust in him, and him alone. God rewards those who seek him, not those who seek a doctrine, or a system, or creeds. Jesus died so that we could have a relationship, not a religion.

And the reward is that when we believe, we live. “Whoever believes in him,” Jesus said, “shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Although people sometimes imagine spending eternity in the clouds, floating around and strumming harps for eternity, that’s not really the Biblical picture of Heaven. The Bible describes Heaven as a place that will have rivers, trees, cities, buildings, gates, streets, mountains, and houses. (Revelation 21-22) Although its glory will be beyond description, its essential components will be similar to what we have now. Paradise lost will be paradise restored. It will be a world of beauty and grandeur; a paradise as God originally intended.

Perhaps the most amazing thing in heaven will be our intimate relationship with our Maker and Redeemer. In Heaven, the Bible says, “God’s presence is with his people, and he will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.” (Revelation 21:3) We won’t need to be drawn into God’s presence. We’ll live there, constantly and consciously. And our restored relationship with God will offer infinite possibilities, and the more we come to know him, the more there will be to know.

He loves. He gives. We believe. We live. It’s really that simple. God loves this world more than we’ll ever know. He gave his one and only Son so that we could forever live with him. Apart from him we die. With him we live. Choose life. Choose Jesus. Choose well.

Grace,

Randy

Frankenstorms

Frankenstorms

Frankenstorms - Audio/Visual 

“Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage — to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

With the death toll at more than 100 and rising, 2.5 million evacuation orders, 3.4 million-plus without power and $60 billion-plus in private insured losses, there’s not much we can say about Hurricane Ian that’s cause for celebration. Making matters worse, FEMA is running out of money and the storm's proximity to the November 8^th election gives it added resonance. At a time when the nation seems economically paralyzed and politically polarized, the calamity of “Frankenstorms” gives all of us some pause for thought. The perfect storm, they say. Florida’s deadliest hurricane since 1935, most of whose victims were drowned.

What Ian, and the response to it has demonstrated is that when the media devotes wall-to-wall attention to something, and government officials bring a sense of urgency and ask the public to respond in kind, remarkable things can happen. What last week, and the days that have followed has demonstrated is that even though we can't do anything to stop a hurricane, we can help mitigate a storm’s destructive impact with resolve and collective action. It appears that the capacity for human compassion and action is always present. But why do we tap into that kind of resolve only when natural disasters and external attacks occur? We’ve seen bombs over Baghdad and have witnessed the ancient land of Abraham become a war zone for his descendants. So, you’d think we’d have seen enough. But then came the tsunami in Japan in 2011 – a roaring wave that sucked life and innocence out to sea.

The truth is we have another crisis that's been hovering over us for years and shows no sign of blowing over. In fact, Jesus criticized the leaders of his day for focusing on the weather and ignoring the signals: “You find it easy enough to forecast the weather — why can't you read the signs of the times?” (Matt. 16:2-3) As you’ve listened to evacuees and survivors, have you noticed their words? No one laments a lost plasma television, or submerged SUV. Spontaneous fires are consuming electric vehicles whose batteries are corroding, but no one runs through the streets yelling, “My cordless drill is missing,” or “My golf clubs are gone.” If they mourn, it’s for people lost. If they rejoice, it’s for family found.

So where is God in this storm? The disciples asked Jesus that identical question. “Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side …. He went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now, when evening came, he was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.” (Mt. 14:22-24) In other words, what we have seen in Florida, the disciples saw on the Galilean Sea: tall, angry waves. Their fishing boat bounced and spun on the white tops. The sky rumbled above them; the water churned beneath them. And I wonder if they asked, “Where’s Jesus? He told us to get into the boat. Now we’re alone in the storm? Where is he?” The answer? Praying.

“He went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” Jesus made intercession his priority. Did he know about the storm? Could He feel the winds and see the thunder? No doubt. And when he sensed the danger, he chose to pray. He still does. He offers unending intercession on our behalf. He is “in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us.” (Rom. 8:34) He prays us through the storm. And, at the right moment, he meets us in it. “… Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” (Mt. 14:25) Jesus became the answer to his own prayer. He entered the turbulent world of his friends and reached out to them. And he’s doing the same at this very moment. Through the steady hands of first responders; the compassion of physicians; the kindness of neighbors; the generosity of people like you and me. We see only a small portion of his activity, but we know this: he still steps into the super-storms of life. And let’s face it – this is a turbulent time for our country. Struggling economy. International conflicts. A divided electorate. And now, an unprecedented storm.

Could Jesus also be reminding us that people matter more than possessions? In a land where we have more malls than high schools, more debt than credit, more clothes to wear than days to live, could Jesus be saying, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions"? (Luke 12:15) We see entire communities washed away, or up in smoke. We see demolished $40,000 cars that will never be driven again, hidden in debris. We see facades blown away, houses rocked off their foundation and tons of sand where grass once grew. We see tankers grounded in an area that was once a boardwalk and a park. And in the background of our minds, we hear the quiet echoes of Jesus saying, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Raging hurricanes have a way of prying our fingers off the stuff we love. What was once most precious means extraordinarily little now; and what we once ignored is now of eternal importance and significance. If all our possessions were washed away in a tidal wave of disaster, could we still worship? Better yet, would we still worship? The answer to that question is probably indicative of our grip strength on the stuff we cherish most. Through circumstances like Ian, Christ reminds us, “Stuff doesn’t matter; people do. So, understand the nature of possessions.” But we must be equally clear on the nature of people. We’ve seen the most incredible servants and stories of selflessness and sacrifice. We’ve seen people rescuing their neighbors and civil servants risking their lives for people they’ve never met. We saw and continue to see humanity at its best. But we’ve also seen humanity at its worst.

Looting. Fighting. Internet scams in the wake of Ian’s aftermath. We’ve heard stories of rapes and robberies and fights at the gas pumps and elsewhere. Someone once said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, but the streets declare the sinfulness of man.” The video footage taken in various areas of Florida has only served to confirm the sad truth of that observation. We are people of both dignity and depravity. The hurricane blew back more than roofs; it blew the mask off the nature of mankind. The main problem in the world is not climate change or Mother Nature, but human nature. Strip away the police barricades or blow down the fences and the real self is revealed. We were born with a “me-first” mentality. And if you don’t believe that, just ask yourself whether or not you had to teach your kids how to argue. They don’t have to be trained to demand their way, do they? You don’t have to show them how to stomp their feet and pout, do you? It’s their nature … it’s our nature. “All of us have strayed like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (Isaiah 53:6)

God’s chosen word for our fallen condition is spelled, “SIN.” And sin celebrates the letter in the middle – I. Left to our own devices, we lead godless, out of control lives of “…doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it.” (Ephesians 2:3) And we don’t have to go to Atlantic City or Las Vegas to see the chaos. When you do what you want to do, and I do what I want to do, humanity and civility implode. And when the Ian’s of life blow in, our true nature is revealed, and our deepest need exposed: a need deeper than food and more permanent than boarded up houses and police barricades. We don’t need a new system; we need a new nature. We need to be changed from the inside out.

A lot of discussion will continue around the future of some of the more devastated areas of  Florida, particularly Fort Meyers Beach where storm surge nearly reached the roofs of some houses. Will Florida’s hardest hit cities be restored? Will the boardwalk be repaired? How long will it take? Who will pay for it? But one thing is for certain: someone will have to clean it up. No one is suggesting otherwise. Everyone knows, someone has to go in and clean up the mess. And that’s what God offers to do with us. He comes into our sin-flooded lives and wipes up the old. When Paul reflected on his own conversion, it prompted him to write, “He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5) Our sins don’t stand a chance against the scrub brush of God’s grace.

But he does more than just clean us up; he rebuilds us. In the form of his Holy Spirit, God moves in and starts a renovation project, a complete makeover. “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Eph. 3:20) And what we can only dream of doing with the affected cities of Florida, God has done with soul after soul. And he can do the same with us, too. If we let him.

The most disturbing stories from last week were of those who refused to be rescued. Those who spent their final hours trapped in rooms and regretting the choice they’d made. They could have been saved. They could have gotten out. Instead, they chose to stay. And many paid a permanent price. But we don’t have to pay that price. What rescuers did for people in Florida, God can do for us. He has entered our world. He has dropped a rope into our sin-swamped life. He will rescue; we simply need to grab onto his promises and let him lift us out. Think of all the things that Noah couldn’t find because of the flood. He couldn’t find his neighborhood; he couldn’t find his house; he couldn’t find the comforts of home, or the neighbors down the street. Frankly, there wasn’t much left that he could find. But what he did find made all the difference. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Gen. 6:8)

You see, if we have everything and no grace, we’ve got nothing. But if we have nothing but grace, we have everything. Have you found grace? It’s right there. The hand of your rescuer is reaching out for you. Grab his hand. Trust in him while you still can. Your redeemer lives, and he wants to rescue you – Frankenstorms and all.

Grace,

Randy

An Epidemic of Spiritual Amnesia

 

An Epidemic of Spiritual Amnesia

An Epidemic of Spiritual Amnesia - Audio/Visual 

              Heaven is declaring God’s glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork. One day gushes the news to the next, and one night informs another what needs to be known. Of course, there’s no speech, no words — their voices can’t be heard — but their sound extends throughout the world; their words reach the ends of the earth. (Psalm 19:1–4)

What if you were told to stop praying? What if you were told to stop talking at God for just a minute and consider him before you speak another word? Solomon warned not to rush into God’s presence with words because that’s what fools do. (Eccl. 5:2) The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of him. It may seem a hopeless endeavor – to gaze at the invisible God. But Romans 1:20 tells us that, through creation, we see his “invisible qualities” and “divine nature.” We are a culture that relies on technology over community; a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by and excessive. Our culture says anything goes, and a fear of God is almost nonexistent. We are slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to become angry.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope, and now the James Webb Space Telescope, we are now seeing what’s been in the universe for thousands, perhaps millions of years and we didn’t even know it. For instance, why would God create more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies (and that’s a conservative estimate), which generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Maybe it was to make us say, “Wow, God, you’re unfathomably big”? Or perhaps it’s because God wanted us to respond, “Then who do I think I am?” And how about the other side of creation? Did you know that a caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head? That’s quite a few – for a bug. The average elm tree has approximately six million leaves on it. Or have you ever thought about how diverse and creative God is? He didn’t have to make hundreds of different kinds of bananas, but he did. He didn’t have to put 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle, but he did.

And how about the way plants defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins? Or did you know that spiders produce three kinds of silk? When they build their webs, they create sixty feet of silk in an hour while simultaneously producing a special oil on their feet that prevents them from sticking to their own web. Coral plants are so sensitive that they can die if the water temperature varies by even one or two degrees. Or did you know that when you get goose bumps the hair in your follicles is actually trying to help you stay warm by trapping body heat? Or what about the simple fact that plants take in carbon dioxide, which is harmful, and produce oxygen which we need to survive? I’m sure you knew that, but have you ever marveled at it?

Whatever God’s reasons for such diversity, creativity and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is his glory. God’s art speaks of himself, reflecting who he is and what he’s like. And that’s why we are called to worship him. His art, his handiwork and his creation all echo the truth that he is glorious. There is no other like him. He is the King of Kings, the Beginning and the End, the One who was, and is and is to come.

There’s an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us are immune. No matter how many fascinating details we learn about God’s creation, no matter how many pictures we see of his galaxies, and no matter how many sunsets we watch we still forget. Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know him better; that we are supposed to worship him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. Frankly, it confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? But when we love God because we feel we should love him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we’ve forgotten who God really is and our amnesia flares up once again.

We are programmed to focus on what we don’t have, bombarded multiple times throughout the day with what we need to buy that will make us happier, sexier or more at peace. This dissatisfaction transfers over to our thinking about God. We forget that we already have everything we need in him. But because we don’t often think about the reality of who God is, we quickly forget that he is worthy to be worshipped and loved. So, if the gravest question before us is what God himself is like, how do we learn to know him? We’ve seen how he’s the Creator of both the magnitude of the galaxies and the complexity of caterpillars, but what’s he like? What are his characteristics? What are his defining attributes? And how are we to fear him? To speak to him?

Well, first, God is holy. Now, a lot of people say that whatever you believe about God is fine, so long as you’re sincere. But that’s like describing your friend in one instance as a 300 lb. sumo wrestler, and in another as a five-foot-two, 90 lb. gymnast. No matter how sincere you are in your explanation, both descriptions of your friend cannot be true. The preposterous part about our doing this to God is that he already has a name; an identity. We don’t get to decide who God is. “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’” (Ex. 3:14) We don’t get to change that. To say that God is holy is to say that he is set apart and distinct from us. Accordingly, there’s no way we can ever fathom all of who he is.

But God is also eternal, and most of us would probably agree with that statement. But have you ever seriously meditated on what that means? Each of us had a beginning; everything in existence began on a particular day, at a specific time. Everything, that is, except God. He always has been since before there was an earth, a universe or even angels. God exists outside of time. And since we are within time, there’s no way we’ll ever completely grasp that concept. Not being able to fully understand God may be frustrating, but it’s ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we’re capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be! For instance, if my mind is the size of a bucket and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be ridiculous for me to say that God is only the small amount of water I can scoop into my little bucket. God is so much bigger, so far beyond our time-encased, air/food/sleep–dependent lives.

God is also all-knowing. Isn’t that an intimidating thought? Each of us, to some degree, may fool our friends from time to time about who we really are. But it’s impossible to do that with God. He knows each of us – deeply and specifically. He knows our thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down, sitting or walking around. He knows who we are and what we’re about. We cannot escape him, even if we wanted to.

God is also all-powerful. Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” However, don’t we live as though God is created for us? To do our bidding, to bless us and to take care of our loved ones? Psalm 115:3 reveals, “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” Yet we keep on questioning him: “Why did you make me with this body, instead of that one?” “Why are so many people dying of starvation?” “Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?” “Why is my family so messed up?” Or even, “Why don’t you make yourself more obvious to the people who really need you?”

The answer to each of these questions is simply this: because he’s God. Frankly, he has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving than we do of him. As much as we want God to explain himself to us, his creation, we are in no place to demand that he give an account. “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35) Would you actually worship a God who’s obligated to explain his actions to you? Or could it be our arrogance that makes us think God owes us some sort of an explanation? Do we really believe that, compared to God, “all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing,” and that includes us?

Finally, God is fair and just. If what we truly deserved were up to us, we would end up with as many different punishments and rewards as people who responded. But it isn’t up to us, mostly because none of us are good. (Rom 3:10) God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by him. And because God hates sin, he has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that’s not an appealing standard but to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. So, when we disagree let’s not assume it’s his reasoning that needs correction. Frankly, it takes a lot for us to comprehend God’s total hatred for sin. We make excuses like, “Yeah, I might be a bit prideful at times, but everyone struggles with pride.” But God says in Proverbs 8:13, “I hate pride and arrogance.”

In other words, you and I are not allowed to tell him how much he can hate sin. He can hate and punish sin as severely as his justice demands. God never excuses sin; he’s consistent with that ethic. And whenever we start to question whether God really hates sin, we only have to think of the cross where his Son was tortured, mocked and beaten because of sin. Our sin. No question about it – God hates and must punish sin, and he’s totally just and fair in doing exactly that.

So, should you stop praying? No, but the next time you approach the Creator of a billion galaxies, and the Maker who knew you, intimately, before you were even born, consider his holiness and then approach his throne and “cast all your anxiety upon him, for he cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7) You know, on second thought maybe a little amnesia about ourselves wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

Grace,

Randy