Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 7)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.

 

Dear Child, 
   
Little one, behold, I am the Lion of Judah. I walk in strength, boldness, and majesty. I am the Warrior King. I am not caged, I am not tame. But I am good, little one. Hold fast to my mane. Do not be afraid.

I am the Lion whose roar created the heavens and earth! My roar called forth Lazarus, still tangled in the wrappings of a dead man. My roar hushed the mighty storm. "The lion has roared; Who will not fear?"

I am the Lion who became a Lamb, who laid aside his strength to stretch out on a cross.  I am the Lion, who crouched down low in order to spring forth in triumph with the fierce roar of my love! I am the King who comes in victory to make everything right again.

Listen for my roar! I have created you in power and beauty, I will still your storms, I will call you to life with my word. I have put my lion-heart in you--do not keep quiet--for my righteous ones are bold as a lion!     

Lion of Judah
 
“Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.  He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’"
Revelation 5:5

Genesis 49:9, Genesis 1:1, John 11:43 Luke 8:22-24, Prov. 21:8, Phil. 2:5-11, Amos 3:8, Prov 28:1

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 6)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.


Dear Child,
   
Life can feel dark and lonely. There are seasons so difficult that my children are tempted to hide in dim corners, pressing their hands over their eyes.

Open your eyes, my Child.  I am here.  I am the True Light. There is no darkness in me.  I have come into this dark world to rescue my children, to lead you out of darkness.

I am the True Light.  I bring clarity-- I reveal hidden things.  I know everything, sweet child. I long to chase your shadows away.  My light is not glaring, it is not blinding, but I will shine on you gently, and together we can bring every piece of your story into the golden light of my love.   Bask in my truth and freedom-- there is grace in being known by Me.  There is freedom in the True Light.

Dear one, follow my Light. Let any coldness thaw in my glow, and weave your fingers into mine. Come with Me. My word is a Lamp to your feet; you will not stumble in the darkness, but walk confidently in my path. My word is Truth—it will keep you from following false lights.

When you follow close with me, my light gets in you. Even those whose eyes are still closed to Me will see my brightness in your life.  Shine, Dear One!! Walk as a child of the light! Walk in love, for my True Light is the true nature of Love. My Love sees the pain of others and does not hide from it.  My light gets in through the broken places--you are bringing me glory when you let my light shine through your brokenness into the lives of others.  You are bringing my salvation to every corner of  this dark world!
 
The True Light


“The true light that gives light in every man was coming into the world.”
John 1:9

John 12:46, John 12:35, Psalms 119:105, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 5:8-9, 1 Peter 2:9,
1 John 1:5-7, 1 John 2:10, Philippians 2:15-16

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 5)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.

 
Dear Child,
   
I am Jesus, I am the Son of God, the image of the Invisible God. I am the One in whom the very fullness of God was pleased to dwell. In me, all things were created, all things created through me and for me.  I hold everything together.

Come boldly to me.  I sit at the Father's right hand, but I do not use my power or privilege to exalt myself.  Oh no, child, I abandoned it all to come to you.  I took on the life and body and limits of man, I submitted to death on your behalf.  I did not hold my very life back from you-- It is my delight to give you everything I have!

You have the ear of the prince, my Love.  Come to the Son of God, weak and weary as you may be. I will hold you together. I will give you rest.  My favor and grace are enough for you-- my power is made perfect in weakness.
 
The Son of God

“When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely He was the Son of God!’ “
Matthew 27:54

Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:16, Philippians 2:6-11

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 4)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.

Dear Child,
   
The Son of Man is a man like any other human.  Fully, completely, vulnerably, painfully, beautifully human.  My body formed in the womb of a woman--a mother like your mother.  I grew up as any boy would-- I cried for comfort and nourishment, I toddled and stumbled, I grew up gawky.  I worked and slept and ate and studied and grew strong and wise. I had family and friends and enemies.

I call myself "Son of Man" to remind you that I came to Earth to serve and not to be served.  I emptied myself of any advantage of deity, and submitted completely to the Father's will for my life.  I understand your weaknesses and weariness, little one.  In every respect I was as you are; yet I was without sin.  I lived a perfect life on your behalf.  My very real body lived and died, bled and breathed this life for you. When I died, my body grew cold in a tomb, 3 days cold, before warming again, lungs filling again, blood pumping again.

I am the flesh-and-blood Son of Man and perfect and spotless Son of God.  Don’t you see? You don't have to be perfect; I did it for you.  My righteousness wraps around your life like a snow white robe. Now you, too, can die to your old life and become real again. This is the delight of the Son of Man—for you to become the person I made you to be, dead to sin and alive to God. Eternal, abundant life is yours because of
 
The Son of Man

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45

Phil 2:6-8, Luke 2:52, Hebrews 4:15, Romans 6:11, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Revelation 19:8

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 3)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.



Dear Child,
   
I am the Truth.  I did not come to show the truth or teach the truth or model the truth.  I did not come to feed you facts or set up a moral standard for you.  I came to BE Truth.  Truth is a person.  Truth is who I am—Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

I came to you, not to win followers to my message, but to live as Truth in a deceptive and sin-warped world.  Child, peace is not found in facts, although I am Fact, I am Reality. 

Truth is not the same as certainty--certainty can be an idol even to the most devout believer.

Listen!  I did not lay down my life so my followers would be on the "right" side of an argument.  My blood spilled out on a criminal's cross because of the greatest Truth of all: for God so loved the world.  Truth is love that laid down his life for his enemies.

Truth is not an acquisition of ideas or a mastery of culture's latest tenets.  Culture's truths will change. Knowledge will pass away. Truth is more than a list of things not to do-- the desire to be right at all costs will crush you, and wound others.  No--Truth is a Person.  Truth is God made flesh and clothed in love.  Truth is God come to meet you in this beautiful, brutal world.  Knowing Truth is knowing me, knowing the image of the invisible God.

Oh! I long for you to seek the Truth; to seek Me.  The more you know me, the more you become conformed to my likeness.  It happens naturally--as you might take on the characteristics of a spouse or close friend, the more we are together, the more you begin to be like the Truth. Your words will sound like Truth, your actions to look like Truth, your very countenance to shine like Truth in a dark world. 

How I love you,

The Truth

“Jesus answered, ‘ I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’ “
John 14:6

John 3:16, Colossians 3:12-13, Romans 8:29, John 1:14, 1 John 3:16, Matthew 23:37, 1 Corinthians 13:8

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week Part 2)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.



Dearest Child,
   
Oh, sweet one!  You are on a journey--do you know that I am the Way?  The Way isn't merely a path or a direction or a choice among many.  The Way is a Person to follow!  I am the Way. To know the Way means to know me, to sink into trusting relationship with me, and to let go of your fear of the unknown.  

I don't offer you a map--you can't know every twist and turn of the journey ahead of time-- but my Word is a Lamp for your feet. My Truth, my character, is your compass.  You don't have to be afraid. My own journey through life included great struggle, but take courage: I am with you!  I am the Way of truth, of life, the Way to the Father, the Way to your true Home.  I am the Way to the place you were made for and the Way to the person you were made to be. I am the beginning, the end, and the in-between.

"This is the Way, walk in it."  I have called you to Walk in me, in Christ. Oh how it pleases me when we walk together! Don't look to the side.  Don't compare our journey to another's. Hold tight to my hand-- no dark, shadowy season can overtake you without My Presence leading and comforting you. I will never leave you, never--no, not ever!!
 
The Way

“Jesus answered, ‘ I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’ “
John 14:6

Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 30:21, Hebrews 13:5, Ephesians 4:1, Psalm 23:3-4, John 16:33

Letters from Jesus (Holy Week 1)

The names of God revealed in scripture give us glimpses into his character. For Holy Week, I am posting one letter every day from a different name of Jesus. These messages are lifted from God's word (references are below each letter), birthed in prayer, and intended to be a personal missive from the heart of God's character to you.  May you be blessed, and may the Name(s) of Jesus be glorified through my imperfect words.

 

Dear Child,
   
My name, Jesus, means "Salvation". 

"Salvation", the name heralded by angelic tongues to a simple carpenter. "Salvation", the name whispered by a virgin over her firstborn son. "Salvation", the name sneered at by the Pharisees. "Salvation", the name that crudely labeled Golgotha's cross.

This, this, is the name at which every knee will bow, the name above every name on Heaven and Earth. My very name is a prayer, a plea, a request that comes to my ears before it even passes your lips!  Whisper my name, child, "Jesus, Salvation!", and I am with you, mighty to save. 

My name, Jesus, Salvation, is my identity--it is who I am, it is what I delight to do!

Within my name is my heartbeat, my joy, my loving intent for my people. I saved you, not because of anything you have done, but because of my own purpose and grace.  Salvation is not a possession, but a Person. I am Jesus, I am your Salvation.

Love,
   
Jesus


 “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus,
because He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21

Matthew 27:37, Luke 6:11, Phil 2:10, Zephaniah 3:17, 1 Timothy 1:15, 2 Tim 1:9, Romans 10:9 

El Shaddai: Stretched and Empty

Motherhood has stretched me.

In my seven years of bearing and nursing babies, my body has gone through quite a metamorphosis. And if I'm honest, I feel less like a butterfly than a cocoon, stretched and emptied and stretched and emptied and repeat and repeat.

And now things, well, things are stretched...and empty.

But it is more than physical, this transformation, this widening. My soul, too, is expanding, jagged with stretch marks as God and my children grow ever bigger.

And I wonder, if I'm made in the image of God, then doesn't my body--my stretch marked body, have something to do with His Image?

--

I recently learned more about one of the names God gave Himself. All I knew about El Shaddai was the Amy Grant song, so I was surprised to discover the meaning of the Hebrew word "shad" in Shaddai.  It means "a woman's breast".  (I doubt we would have sung this song in youth group had we known that.)

Although El Shaddai is commonly translated "The Almighty" in scripture, many scholars believe that El Shaddai is more literally rendered the All Sufficient One, the God who Provides, or the Pourer-forth.  Because, breasts. That's what they do.

We often hear traditionally masculine analogies for God and kingdom life.  But what if we are missing something vital about God's character by only thinking of Him in rough-tough burly man terms?  When God revealed himself to Abraham, He didn't call Himself "the God who Coaches" or Touchdown Jesus. He did not say He was the Ultimate Ninja Warrior God, or even our Father. He called himself El Shaddai.

It was as El Shaddai, literally the breasted God, who made covenant with Abraham, promising this Patriarch would become the father of many nations. The name El Shaddai puts a different face on power than we are accustomed to. This isn't military prowess or brute force.  El Shaddai, the Pourer-Forth, holds the power of the breast: the power to create and sustain life, the power of nourishment and growth, peace and comfort.  This is not a power that coerces.  This is not a power that overthrows. This is a power that beckons, "Come."

El Shaddai invites us to turn to him like a baby to her mama's arms, equipped only with our own weakness, our mouths open and expectant.  He wants to fill us up; His desire is to fulfill every need.  He meets every need for love and connection in his All-Sufficient presence.

 photo credit: Susan Nield

I've breastfed four babies, and I can attest to the power of producing everything your offspring needs to thrive.  I've also known the pain of trying to feed a baby who will not eat; sometimes even a well-loved child is too fussy, too sick, or too busy to receive nourishment and comfort.  There is a physical ache in a mother's breasts to satisfy her children--a stretching out, a filling up to pour forth.

So yes, God is our Father, but we cannot miss what he reveals to us through the name El Shaddai:  God manifests, perfectly, the tender and nurturing power of a mother.

This picture of God--this feminine facet of His character-- is repeated throughout scripture.  God the Father holds his lambs, his people, close to his heart. The Holy Spirit comes to us as Comforter. Jesus compared himself to a mother hen, longing to gather his children under his wings (the word "wings" here can also be translated as skirt--I love that!). Jesus was publicly overcome with emotion at the grave of Lazarus, only moments before He himself resurrected his friend from the dead. This world feminizes emotion, assuming it indicates a lack of strength.  But the life of Christ redeems emotion, and His example teaches us that tenderness--that femininity--does not equal weakness.

God's character reflects the distinct value of a woman's heart. Even more than that, He identified Himself with women--with their physical bodies, their breasts-- when He called himself El Shaddai. His word says,  "Long for pure spiritual milk!", "Taste and see!" and "Open wide your mouth so I can fill it!  His very nature is to pour out His grace on our lives, that we might be satisfied with His nearness.

The Almighty One stretched out for us, full of power and glory and grace, so that He might be emptied like a mother's breast, to fill His children with Himself.

And women bear His image, the image of El Shaddai.  

Stretched and empty.