It’s so good to be back with you! There are some exciting changes coming at the ministry, and some new faces are joining us. This fall, you will be introduced to two new women who will be writing for the newsletter while I focus on writing the next Bible Study and speaking. I know many of you are encouraged by these emails, but there was just no time for me to write them, so I’m grateful for God’s provision in creating a ministry team.

I look forward to seeing how God uses them to encourage you!

In love,
Jennifer

———————————- How Many Paths? ———————————-
Facebook is an interesting thing. Sometimes I like it and other times I’m certain I would be better off without it. Recently, a string of comments about there being many paths to God and Heaven has weighed heavy on my heart. The most surprising thing is that the comments have come from both Christians and non-Christians.

I used to be a Christian who thought there were different paths to God. In fact, I have a very clear memory of defending that position at book club about 5 years ago. That memory makes me hang my head in shame now, but as a young Christian I had a hard time believing that God would let all the people of non-Christian religions go to hell. Some of you might have similar thoughts.

My argument came from only having a partial knowledge of God. I knew from the Gospels that God was loving and kind. My mind couldn’t reconcile a good God with a God who would only allow one path to Himself and His Kingdom. It was because I did not understand who God really is. My mind wanted to see only the love of God, not the holiness of God that requires justice.

A loved one recently said to me, “My God is a God of love and He is not going to keep people out of Heaven because they didn’t accept Jesus.” The point they are missing is that God IS Jesus. If you don’t accept Jesus, you don’t accept God – you simply worship a man-made image. Jesus and the Father are one. You can’t separate them or take one without the other.

God did not limit access to heaven through Jesus, He opened heaven to everyone through Jesus. Every single person on this earth has the opportunity to accept or reject Jesus, regardless of what religion they practice.

And, as Christians, we stand against Jesus when we do not proclaim this message of salvation through Christ and Christ alone. It IS the Gospel. If the message of the entire Bible were to be summed up in one sentence, it could be, “God created and so loved the world that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die so that anyone who believes in and accepts for themselves the death and resurrection of Jesus as the punishment for their sins shall not perish in hell but have eternal life in Heaven.”

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

I know some of you doubt whether the Bible is even true. I have found that most people who don’t believe the Bible is the true word of God haven’t even read it! That is the first step…read your Bible. Learn who God really is. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it’s the most important decision you have to make in this life.

While there is much historical evidence that supports the validity and truth of the Bible, it is still very much a matter of faith. Do you trust God and His plan? Do you believe the Bible is the true word of God? Or, do you think you have a better plan for salvation than God and therefore His plan must be wrong?

And, finally, if you still think there are many paths to Heaven, I kneel at your feet, and with great love and caring, ask you to consider with all your being: Have you really surrendered your life to Christ, truly giving your life over to the God who created you?

When you realize that you can’t earn your way to Heaven and that only Jesus’ death can pay the price to get you in – and you accept Jesus’ payment for yourself – you can know with complete certainty that you HAVE found the path to Heaven and that when you come to the end of your life on earth, you will be in the presence of God in Heaven.

———————————- Dig Deeper ———————————-
Here’s your chance to start researching this for yourself to determine what you believe about access to Heaven and whether or not Jesus is the only way. If you don’t have a Bible, there are many good websites you can use to look up Bible verses. Or, email me and I’ll send you a Bible.

1. Read Genesis 3:1-7.
a. Summarize verses 1-6.
b. From verse 7, what changed for Adam and Eve?
c. How did they react?
d. Read verse 8. How did they further react?

2. Mark your place in Genesis and move to Romans. Read Romans 3:23.
a. Who has sinned?
b. What, if any, exclusions are indicated?
c. What is the result of that sin?

3. Mark your place in Romans and move back to Genesis. Read Genesis 3:21.
a. What action did God take as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin?
b. What would God have to do to the animals to use their skin as garments?

Here we see the first death of the Bible – the first bloodshed in all of history – and it was shed to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. The death was required so that Adam and Eve’s sin could be ‘covered’ and they could be in the presence of God.

4. Read Romans 6:23.
a. What is the wage of sin?
b. Is a wage something you earn or something you are given?
c. What is the gift of God?
d. Is a gift something you earn or something you are given?
e. This verse indicates there is an avenue to receive the gift of eternal life. What is it?
f. What other avenues, if any, does it say will lead to eternal life?

We all have eternity ahead of us, it’s just a matter of whether your eternity will be life (with God) or death (separated from God).

5. Read Hebrews 9:22.
a. What is required for forgiveness?

6. Read Hebrews 9:14-15.
a. Record your thoughts.

7. Watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oDeREWqs8s (4 minutes)
a. What does God’s gift mean to you?

My friend, I am praying for you today. I pray that God will speak His truth to the depths of your soul. I pray that you will hear Him calling and that you will respond, turning your heart and your life over to Jesus and accepting His death as the payment for your sins, that you may be guaranteed eternal life in Heaven. Amen.

Be blessed,
Jennifer

As summer hit full swing, I caught myself jealously eyeing my kids, coveting their freedom. “Ha,” I thought, “they’re only free because I’m here to take care of everything for them.”

As soon as I finished my thought, I realized that we can all have the same freedom. Our Father, God, has promised to take care of everything for His children. We should have no worries! In fact, He specifically told us to worry about nothing!

Each day we have the ability to be free. We don’t have to worry or get stressed over what comes our way. We can joyfully embrace it all, secure in the knowledge that our Father is taking care of us.

My kids don’t worry about whether or not they’ll have what they need for their next adventure; they know I’ll provide. They don’t stress over what might happen in their life; they know I’ll have an answer. When they realize they aren’t able to do something, they ask me for help. They trust that they are my main priority and that I always have their best interests at heart, even when they don’t like what I ask them to do, even when I allow them to have hard times. They know I’m not always fond of what they do, but that I will always be there for them.

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 18:3)

The Lord asks us to be the same as children – to put our faith in Him and trust Him unconditionally to take care of us.

Where in your life do you need to put down your burden of worry and stress and strife and instead choose to trust the Lord Jesus and live in the freedom He has purchased for you?

Next time you catch yourself bearing that burden, will you make a conscious choice to say, “No, I will not worry. I will give this over to the Lord and trust Him.”?

Will you seek out the Lord’s will for your situation and trust Him enough to obey Him?

I’m praying this will be the summer you find your true freedom!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

^MkThe men seized Jesus and arrested him. ^LkWhen Jesus’ followers say what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ^JnThen Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ^Mt“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?” ^LkBut Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.   

- Matthew 26:50b-54, Mark 14:46- 47, Luke 22:49-51, John 18:10-11 (as presented in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order)

 Malchus.  The name made my day. I love the thrill of hidden treasure that comes from finding something new in a familiar passage of scripture. 

 Malchus.  I knew Peter cut the ear off. I knew Jesus healed the ear. But I never realized we knew the name of the servant.

 Malchus.  It’s not a name taught in Sunday school. It’s not a name we recognize but can’t place. It’s a name we don’t notice and easily forget.

 Malchus.  A man come to seize Jesus, at the forefront of soldiers armed with torches and weapons. A man seeking the Messiah, his piercing eyes fixed on Jesus.

 Malchus.  As he stands in confrontation against the troubling man from Nazareth, Peter’s sword is drawn against him and in one slash, his ear is hanging.

 Malchus.  Is he stunned? Angered? Doubled-over in pain? Filled with rage and ready to attack?

 Malchus.  The declared enemy of Jesus. Set to destroy Him. Prepared to end Him.

 Malchus.  A man on a mission to destroy.

 Jesus.  The God on a mission to save.

 Jesus.  Calming the situation with only His words (the Word of God is powerful stuff).

 Jesus.  Looking full-on the humanity set to destroy Him with calm. Facing His weapon-rich crowd of enemies without fear.

 Jesus.  Heals the enemy. Graces him with His powerful touch. Makes whole what has been broken.

 Jesus.  Searching eyes will find Him. Angry souls need Him. Broken lives are healed by Him.

 Jesus.  A no name encounters THE Name and nothing is ever the same.

 Jesus.  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

“… for I am the Lord, who heals you.” – Exodus 15:26

 I was reading a fictional book on the treadmill this morning about a young boy struck with leprosy and cast out of Jerusalem. As he was walked through the city on his way to exile, he was required to call out, “leper, unclean,” every ten feet. Twelve years old. Innocent. Scared. He can’t get his voice to work.

And his father runs to him, sweeps him up in his arms, and calls out for him, “unclean, leper,” taking on the punishment of his son’s disease as his own, making his son’s exile his own.

 This brought me to tears. I sat on the edge of my treadmill and sobbed. My tears rose from the deep hurt and pain in my own heart that mixed with the encompassing comfort of knowing that I, like this little scared boy, have a strong Father to gather me in His arms and carry me through the pain in life – a Father who will make Himself exiled and unclean so that I can be loved and cleansed.

How does your heart hurt today? Where does your soul ache? Do you long for someone to come along and carry you?

We all have hurt and pain in our lives. We’ve all been cast out and exiled in some way. We’ve all been scared and lonely. But just as this little boy, we all have a Father, a Savior, who will not only swoop us into His arms and carry us, but who also has the power to heal our broken hearts, to bind up our wounds, and to set us free.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn, but to save. He came not to exile us, but to lead us to the Father who heals our broken hearts. One of the Hebrew names for God is “The Lord Who Heals.” The word used for “heals” means “to mend by stitching.” Picture God holding the pains of your broken heart in His hands while He patiently and lovingly stitching the pieces back together.

The sad truth is that we sometimes prefer to hold on to our hurts instead of being healed. Are you holding on to the pain in your life, or are you letting the Lord carry you and heal you? Do you need to forgive someone and move on?

No matter what the source of the pain might be, Jesus is the source of the healing.

O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. – Psalm 30:2

 “…God knows your hearts…” Luke 16:15

Our glass shower door is sometimes my best window into the hearts of my family. Emotions and feelings have a way of coming out as our minds wander in the steamy comfort and relative safety of our shower. When I find math facts in my daughter’s writing instead of her usual flowers and butterflies, I know she’s concerned about school. If the math is in Jim’s handwriting, I know budget and finances are on his mind. When it’s a drawing from my son, I see he’s trying to practice restraint – usually his imaginary explosions involve our shampoo and soap going down the drain.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a window into their souls to know the depths of their emotions and struggles. Nor can they see mine. It’s that way for all of us. We are never able to completely express to another person what is in our heart. Sometimes it leads us to be frustrated or angry. At other times, it causes us to be sad and lonely. And we’ve all had those days where we don’t even know what’s going on in our heart!

But it’s not true that no one knows our hearts. The Lord knows. He knows the truth of who we are and what we feel. We are never alone in our pain, doubts, struggles, loneliness, or frustrations.  We have a true friend who loves us deeply. He sees us where we are and He offers us hope and comfort. He offers us peace in the struggle and joy in the depression. He longs for us to draw near to Him so He can comfort us.

His comfort is always available. His arms are always open and He is always ready to provide exactly what you need.  But He leaves the choice up to you.  Will continue on in your own battle, losing against the darkness in your heart, or draw near to Him and accept His comfort?

This life is hard. The days are tough. You do not have to go it alone.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

I recently overheard my kids arguing because one of them “copycatted” the other during an art project. It’s funny how our natural instinct is to be original and not have our ideas stolen. We want to be the special person who came up with the idea. We also get upset when others take credit for our work.

In these ways we are so unlike, yet so similar to, Jesus.

We’re unlike Jesus in that instead of wanting us to find our own way and our own ideas; He wants us to be copy cats of Him. He wants us take His original, unique love for others and copy it. He desires for us to practice forgiveness with others, to sacrifice our wants to meet their needs, and to leave their judgment up to the Father.

Yet we’re similar to Jesus in that He doesn’t want others to take credit for His work either. As we are blessed with peace and provision, He doesn’t want us to credit chance, fortune, or luck. He wants us to credit Him as the giver of all good things. When we are able to help others, He doesn’t want us to take the credit and sound our own horn. He wants us to give Him the credit for not only providing us with something to give, but also with the desire in our heart to do so.

As you go through your day, ask yourself, “Am I doing a good job of copying Jesus today, or could I do better at showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?” And then do a mini-review at the end of the day asking yourself,”What has God done for me today? How did God help me to help others today? Did I give Him the credit?”

Since we’re created in God’s image and we have a sense of humor, I’m sure God does too. I think it would be fun to stand before Jesus in heaven and have him accuse us, with a gleam in His eye and a smile twitching at His lips, of being a copy-cat.