John 18:10-11
¹⁰ Then SimonPeter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

This part of God’s story amazes me! We see here the confidence in Christ’s voice and how he has complete faith in his task at hand. Yes, he had spent the night in agonizing prayer over God the Father taking this very cup away if only it is his will, but now he is certain in this being the way. (For those who don’t know this cup that Jesus is referring to is the cup of God’s wrath, the just punishment for all sin past, present, and future.) Jesus has absolute trust that God the Father is in control and that even though this plan will be tortuous; his obedience is easy because his trust is so great. God will be glorified through the Son’s submission. This is the trust and confidence I pray for us all to have. A confidence that says, “you God know my heart and what I am capable of,” and a trust that says, “God you are sovereign and you will be glorified through my obedience.”

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14 )

Read verses 11-14 again. Can you imagine what our community would be like if we all prayed this for each other? How would our lives be different if we lived out the last two verses? If we lived as a community that had been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved son?

As you go through the day, remember that we are praying for you. Pray for one another. Remember the redemption you have, remind each other of the redemption that we have through Christ. May we live in the light of the kingdom into which we have been delivered.

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them… I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.” Isaiah 42:16, 45:2-3

A.W. Tozer prefaces these verses by saying, “God has charged himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.” (The Knowledge of the Holy).

Often times, as college students, we fear giving up control. We like to have our schedules just right, our classes arranged like so, our free time carefully allotted. To give God control, complete control, sounds scary to a lot of us. But how utterly refreshing would it be? How liberating to put your life in the hands of an infinitely wise God who has your good in mind? We don’t have to worry about where God will take us or what he will put before us. His heart for us is good. He will not forsake us.

So stop worrying about school, about relationships, about money, about your future. Stop trusting in your own wisdom and trust in God’s. Let him handle it. And experience the freedom of his love. He’s called you by name and is ready to lead you in paths you don’t know, leveling the ground before you and breaking down doors of bronze. Will you let him lead you?

(Mark 16:15)  And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

When you read these words from Mark’s gospel do you find yourself thinking “well this is only for those who want to work in the church, or missionaries.” I think that’s how I tend to read it, and I actually do work in a church. I read that and say, “well this is only for pastors, or evangelists, or missionaries serving in an African jungle, or really just anyone except me!” To be honest I think I’ve been so worried about theology and understanding the bible rather than telling others about its truth. That’s a scary place to be.

My pastor back home said it best one time, he said, “there are thousands of ‘Christians’ who have a head full of bible but how many of those also have a heart empty of truth?” Ok so to be honest those weren’t his exact words but it was something to that extent. I myself know so many people who claim to be Christians, who love to sit around and talk with other Christians about everything they know of scripture, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a story about them sitting down with someone who doesn’t know Jesus to tell them about the saving truth of Christ. I can say this with certainty because I myself am one of those Christians and I doubt I’m the only one. When will I (and I’m guessing ‘we’) start taking Christ’s commands seriously? When will WE start proclaiming the gospel to the whole creation? When will we start obeying?

“The only way the corporate Body of Christ will fulfill the mission Christ has given it is for individual Christians to have a vision for fulfilling that mission personally.” (David Jeremiah)

Colossians 3:2-4 : Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

When someone asks you to describe yourself, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Would it be that you are a student, who your parents are, or where you come from? Would it be your passions and hobbies? Or how about your sins and struggles? Although we may not project our sinful identities to others, how often do WE see ourselves only by these things? So my question for you is what is it that truly defines you? If I was to be honest I think I would answer with something from the above list. If we look into scripture, we see that Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians about where we are to find our true identity, and what it really is that defines us. Once we choose to follow Christ we are no longer marked by anything other than our life with our sovereign, holy, awesome God. He alone is our life, our hope, our security, our joy, and anything else we could ever dream of. In light of all the recent attention given to Tim Tebow (NFL quarterback) about his faith I have been challenged about where my own identity is found, and if others even notice my faith. I imagine there may be others who might want to reconsider their identity. So going into winter break I pray that we all examine what we believe defines us and what we are projecting as the most defining aspect of our lives: this should be Christ Alone!

Now that it’s December I can finally crank up the Christmas playlist and start humming the hymns that prepare my heart for .  Today’s thought is simply a reflection on one line in one song: “O Holy Night” Yesterday I was listening to the hymn (David Crowder*Band’s version-free download) and got caught in the lyrics,

Long lay the world in sin and darkness pining
Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth

I hope you catch that.  We – and all creation - were waiting.  We were hurting.  Suffering in the sin that has pulled us away from the captivating Presence of God since man rejected Him in the garden.  Then – oh…what a thrilling “til” – he appeared. He became man – in all the fragility of that word – and the soul felt that no matter how wounded or torn, it was precious in the Lord’s eyes.  How many of us need to know and believe and live each day like our souls are that valuable.  Like the Maker cherishes how each soul is woven together in a mother’s womb.  How each strand of DNA is crafted to anticipate the One who flamed stars, imagined sapphires, and the iris of an eye.
Listen to the song [I suggest this version].  Christmas — with all the magnitude of the glorious and silent night – is truly about the “night divine”.  It’s about the storyteller and his essence filling up the molecules of this little planet with his holy presence.  Let your precious soul hear the angelic voices.  Christ our saviour born to us – weary sinners, the broken ones, the beloved of the Divine.

It starts with a simple question every year:  What am I thankful for?

Now, sure.  This might end up with you and your family sincerely treasuring important events of the past year.  And together while holding hands you might offer words to whatever family deity you can all mostly agree exists and listens.

But for others – maybe you – it’s an invitation.  To probe your heart and explore what profound blessings have impacted your life…maybe even saved your life.  You take a breath and you let the recesses of your mind return thoughts, reflections and memories of everything from fleeting moments of exhilaration to numbing exhaustion. You remember the goodness of life.  Of God.

Our ancient fathers of faith had a word for God’s faithfulness – hesed.  It means something like “lovingkindness” or simply “merciful” and “kind” (in King James vernacular).  To you or me it might mean: He’s never given up.  He’s never stopped.  He’s always committed, focused, compassionate, truthful yet merciful…to us,  his children.

Read about hesed in Psalm 145, specifically in verse 8.  Reflect on 21 verses of ancient words expressing gratitude, then offer your own words to ascribe glory to the One – the One and Only – who gives and sustains your existence.  The one who never lets go.  The one who will be there tomorrow and for every tomorrow afterward.   May your “mouth speak in praise of the LORD.” And may “every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.” Ps 145:21

“Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when you wake in the morning look to Him; when thou lie down at night look to Him. Oh! let not your hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.” – Charles Spurgeon [more]

“Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Jesus, in Matthew 8:22

Within the gospels we are told 18 times by Jesus to follow him, to leave EVERYTHING, even our unburied relatives, and if you look at Jesus’ twelve disciples we see one thing that set them apart from the rest of the world. They did this, they left everything to follow him, their jobs, their families, and their security to follow Jesus. They still continued to fail, and that’s what brings me to believe being a disciple of Christ isn’t about being good, but rather it’s about truly recognizing who Jesus is and why he is worth following. This is encouraging because I struggle everyday with how messed up I am. Yet this message of leave EVERYTHING to follow Jesus brings us face to face with the reality that it’s never about what we have, and instead that it is only about Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. We must understand this though, and I mean truly understand it. We must stop the excuses that what we have is “too important to lay down.” Would we honestly say a test is more important than our savior? Or that our level of stress is more important than our sovereign God? Well if we wouldn’t say these things, then why do we live this way!?

Today’s ‘thought’ was written by Matthew.  Enjoy!  Comment!  Share!

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:15-20

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by our sinfulness. By our very nature we struggle with sin and can easily begin to doubt our heart. But be encouraged by Paul’s words: it is not you, but the sin within you, that causes you to disobey God. We are told in Ezekiel 36:26 that we have been given a new heart. That heart is good. Do not be discouraged by your daily struggle with sin. You are more than just a “sinner saved by grace.” You are a child of the Living God and a new creation in Christ. John Eldredge says it beautifully in Wild at Heart:

“You are not your sin; sin is no longer the truest thing about the man who has come into union with Jesus. Your heart is good.”

We can be confident that God knows our truest heart even when we don’t act out of it. Don’t get bogged down by your sin, but remember the good heart that Christ has given you and that Satan cannot take away. Live out of your true heart.

Today’s post was written by Salem College senior Hannah Jenkins.

Matthew and I are currently in Atlanta, Georgia, attending a conference called Catalyst. We’re surrounded by 13,000 Christian leaders worshipping their faces off for Jesus.

Katie and her girls

It’s a wonderful moment …but it’s a little more endearing to think that these are the men and women who are pouring themselves out day in and day out and come to the well tonight (with us) quite parched and ready for a drink.  Hearts are crying out with bewilderment because we just heard the story of 21 year old Katie Davis who lives in Uganda, founded a ministry that feeds over 2000 children and oh, by the way, she adopted 13 girls.  That’s right: THIRTEEN GIRLS.  ADOPTED.  Her blog (and new book, Kisses from Katie) tells a story that parabolically reminds us of an amazing truth: God adopts us.  His costly mission really does possess a sweetness that we can see in Katie’s eyes and she holds one of her girls.

He literally lays claims to our lives and offers something pure and eternal.  Acceptance.  A name.  A future.  Purpose. We’re free.  Really free!  And in that freedom he whispers something revolutionary, “Call me Papa.”

Wow.  Even 13,000 ministry leaders can’t get over this moment.   I wish you were here.

He is truly and amazing Papa.