But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today… The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march! Exodus 14:13-15 TLB
In their wonderful devotional, The Divine Romance, Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodriguez have written a devotion called, Fearless Love:
Adventure awaits you, but fear can hold you back. Veiled under the shadows of concern, apprehension, and anxiety, fear highlights every thought that doesn’t agree with God. It silently screams from within and seeks to kill every ounce of faith you have. But fear cannot torment the one who is fully convinced of God’s love.
Opposition to your destiny has already been defeated. The darkness of fear is repelled by the brilliant glory that shines within you when His love becomes your confidence. You are no longer afraid of what you cannot see or understand because you’re convinced He loves to take care of you. If fear has beaten you down and consumed your thoughts, love can heal you. Saturate yourself with His Word. Change the atmosphere around you and the way you think and feel by agreeing with what He says. Speak it, sing it, declare it, and experience His power in your life. — April 20
Book Review, Everybody Always: KARL’S DIVE Part 5
On our last day of law school, Karl said he was sending a car to pick up some friends and me. We climbed in, and the car took us to a field north of San Diego. We didn’t know what had been planned for us, and a great deal of attention had been given to keeping the evening shrouded in secrecy. We guess we were getting to together with Karl to have a celebration picnic on the beach and to throw a Frisbee around a little. Instead, when we were far enough north to turn left to the beach, we turned inland and an open field came into view.
In the middle of the field stood a gigantic, colorful hot-air balloon a hundred feet tall with streamers hanging from the sides. A pilot standing in a wicker basket blasted flames into the canopy and the balloon tugged at the lines tethering it to the ground. Next to the wicker basket was a guy in a wheelchair who had steered it there with a straw. Karl wanted to do something amazing for us that he would never have the chance to experience himself.
People who have developed a friendship with Jesus and are becoming love aren’t immune to life’s setbacks. They have just as many as everyone else. Sometimes I wonder if they have a few more, but I haven’t tried to count. People like Karl have found something many of us are still looking for. He knows he’s neither defined nor limited by his circumstances. He sees power in his brokenness and opportunities in the opposition he faces. Karl’s not stuck trying to figure out why this thing happened to him; he’s too busy celebrating other people’s lives and making things happen for them. People like Karl don’t think about what they’ve lost. They think about what they’ll do with what they still have. And the answer is much.
In that field outside San Diego, we stumbled our way into the hot-air balloon basket. The lines holding us to the ground were untied, and after a couple of loud flame blasts we began to float away. As we did, big things became small and close things seemed far away. The experience was probably not a lot different than what might happen when we get to heaven and look down on our lives, because there will be no impediments nor limiting beliefs blocking our view anymore. Karl had given us the gift of a new perspective. It was the kind of worldview Karl had found long before but we were just discovering through his beautiful life.
We looked over the edge of the basket as we were lifted into the sky and waved to Karl. He couldn’t wave back, of course, but he didn’t need to. Great love expressing itself in the world doesn’t need any arm waving; it’s always recognizable and leaves little doubt in the lives of the people it touches.
Gospel Heart Prints
You see, God’s purpose for the law reaches its climax when the Anointed One arrives; now all who trust in Him can have their lives made right with God. Romans 10:4 The Voice
FOOTNOTE: God’s plan to restore the world disfigured by sin and death reaches its climax with the resurrection of Jesus. When the King enters, all the prophecies, all the hopes, all the longings find in Him their true fulfillment. There may have been earlier fulfillments; but these are only partial fulfillments, signposts along the way to God’s true goal. The goal has been the restoration of people to a holy God. With Jesus, we find the only perfect man with right standing before God. He comes to blaze a path defined by God’s justice, not by our own sense of right and wrong. All men, women, and children who commit their lives to Him will be made right with God and will begin new lives defined by faith and God’s new covenant.
Moses made this clear long ago when he wrote about what it takes to have a right relationship with God based on the law: “The person devoted to the law’s commands will live by them.” But a right relationship based on faith sounds like this: “Do not say to yourselves, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (that is, to bring down the Anointed One), “or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring the Anointed One up from the dead). But what does it actually say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the good news we have been called to preach to you). So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation. Romans 10:5-10 The Voice
Women With Destiny 