We don’t find the thin places in our lives. They find us. And there resides the communion of the Holy Spirit. So in times like these, let us not feel adrift, but rather, anchored by God’s enduring grace.
The image of God within us means there is a love in us stronger than any hate that may move within us or divide us. It means there is grace within us strong enough to forgive any wrong done to us. In these days of disease and division, the image of God within us is greater than any fear or hatred that can hold us hostage.
Our behavior reveals the truth of who we are. Our appearance doesn’t matter if the behavior doesn’t match. We are here to put on the light of the Lord Jesus for all to see, as if he were a garment.
We faithfully love the abstract stranger, easily. Do we faithfully love the person beside us, too?
The person who loves with agape love will find a way to do both.
The church of Jesus Christ is at a crux, and we must ask ourselves how it can remain relevant in times like these. While we can embrace our traditions, we must explore the new places God wants us to go and move through his Spirit.
We are in a wilderness now that no one alive has ever seen. And in these times, what will you stock up on in God’s economy? Toilet paper? Hand sanitizer? Or the abundant grace that ensures God will bring us to a brighter and better day?
We should forgive because we were forgiven first, and completely. Until we come to grips with hugeness of that fact, we can’t share that gift from those that need it from us. Where is there some peace work you need to do? Some forgiveness?
We are in a malleable place, where new customs, traditions and institutions can be forged — and in that place is great hope. How will we use this time and place to move more fully into God’s calling of us to love ALL our neighbors?
Maybe this is the time we can learn a better way to be the church. Maybe it’s the time we can learn how many more ways God can be worshipped, and Christ confessed. Maybe it’s a time for us to issue a new invitation and put out a new welcome mat.
When we use our God-given gifts as a confession of faith, they become the gifts we give. They become an act of worship, and they allow us to be instruments of God’s own will. What your gift, or cross, looks like says a lot about who Jesus is to you.