Can You Imagine being Mary?

Posted on April 8, 2023 by VoW under Christian Spirituality

It is written, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Can you imagine being Mary? Watching as your son is tortured? Feeling pain in the depths of your being as there’s nothing you can do to help? Then seeing him die on the cross…

When Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Do you think Mary knew of Psalm 22? That this would be the fulfillment of a prophecy?

Do you think her heart sunk with thoughts of her son’s abandonment? Or of her own? Can you imagine the mix of emotions as she trusted in her son when He said, “I’ll come back”? Would he? Is revival actually possible?

What does it look like to wait in anticipation? To be faithful during the “in between”? Can our hearts be both broken and expectant at the same time?

…Can you imagine being Mary?

Posted on June 22, 2014 by VoW under Christian Spirituality

If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped.

Unity First

Posted on June 4, 2014 by VoW under Conversations with God

When it comes to the issues of conscientiousness in the Bible, for example alcohol, use of profanity, piercings, tattoos ect, I believe you ought to develop your own convictions about these things, and then try your very best not to offend anyone else’s.

Afterall, it’s not about the laws or how well you keep them, but about what God has already done for you, through his son Jesus Christ, and what He continues to do in your heart today.

In short, find unity around Jesus and don’t let that unity be divided by something secondary.

How Much Do You Trust Me? -God

Posted on March 13, 2014 by VoW under Conversations with God

Tonight God asked me, “How much do you trust me?”

“A lot,” I said.

He laughed, as He often does, “OK. But do you trust me enough?”

He continued, “Enough to stop worrying about time and how much of it you have? Have you not seen how my timing is perfect? Enough to stop obsessing over your to do list? What if I have better things for you to do? When you pray to me ‘Jesus, take the wheel’, do you really mean it? Will you let me? Do you trust me enough to lay your head on the pillow at night without your mind racing? Will you accept my offering of peace? Will you find your rest in me?”

I sat, once again, dumbfounded in His presence.

“You say you trust me ‘alot’ but is it enough?”

You Can’t Take Someone Down From Their Own Cross

Posted on March 11, 2014 by VoW under Christian Spirituality, Daily Inspiration

It’s hard to see someone you love in pain. It’s an instinct of love, I think, to want to help the other. But who are we to say pain is a bad thing?

You can spend hours, days, weeks, or even years trying to help your loved one heal. But you have to protect yourself in the process because you alone, of course, cannot heal them. You can’t take someone down from their own cross.