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If there’s anything to be said for times of crisis, it’s that we see everyone around us displaying the inner workings of their heart on their sleeves. When the broken world around us seems to fall apart, putting on display the reality of sin, the worst facets of human nature rear themselves, and it’s tough to watch. From hearing the despair of friends and coworkers about what’s going on in our world, to seeing stores picked apart, my heart honestly breaks for those around me who do not know Christ. The fear and uncertainty are palpable and powerful.

That’s why I feel especially blessed this week to have been able to attend church services this last Sunday. To see our body of believers coming together and affirming their belief and showing their confidence that God is greater than any fear, any sickness, or any agent of death has energized me and exemplified faith’s importance in my life this week. To focus not on myself, but to engage in prayer in worship of our Most High God has demonstrated the night-and-day difference His graceful peace makes.

When you really need God, are you crying out to Him? Psalm 57:2 & 3 reads: “ I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!”

With all the infectious negativity around me this week, I’ve found myself experiencing a lot of negative feelings frightfully often. But reading God’s word and focusing on Him picks me up and brings me joy every time. Now more than ever we can see how exactly God can bring us peace when we shut out the world around us and cry out to Him. For God, Most High creator of heaven and earth, greater than any other being or any other force in the world, nothing is insurmountable. No force could stop God from saving His children, from sending out His love to those who cry out in need.

This weekend, take Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:31-33 to heart: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

James 1:17

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

With our world changing so drastically recently, this verse is a soothing balm to my soul. When fear is all around us and we are tempted to be sucked in to its pull, we have Gods words and promises to steady us and bring perspective to every situation. He never changes even when it feels like everything else in our world is changing. He is not surprised by a virus, school closings, changes in travel plans, sickness or anything else we may be facing. He is still sovereign, All-knowing, with each of us every second of every day and the Giver of whatever is good and perfect.

As a reminder of who God is and some of what He has done for us, let’s look at a few of His gifts to us listed in the Bible. In Romans, Paul tells us that our salvation is given as a free gift, and also God is credited with giving us everything. In Corinthians, God tells us about the spiritual gifts He gives to all of us, and He is praised for giving us victory over the grave. Hebrews tells us that God gave us the Holy Spirit as a gift. Psalms talks about Gods word being a gift of light for us. Isaiah foretells Christ being given to all mankind. Matthew tells us that our Heavenly Father gives good gifts, and Luke tells us that Christ’s body was given for us. The book of John tells us that God’s peace is a gift to us. In Acts, God gave people power, and in 1 Timothy the Bible says God richly gives us all we need. James tells us that He is the giver of wisdom when we ask for it. I realize that we know all of these things, but sometimes when our circumstances feel upside-down, looking at a list of Gods gifts brings peace and comfort.

We have a heavenly Father. He knows exactly what each and every one is us is facing every minute of every day and night. He is the same as he was last week, last year, a hundred years ago, during Bible times, and when He created the universe. He is faithful, trustworthy, loving, perfect, above all, mighty, the ultimate healer, our protector, our strong tower, peace, and generous! We are His prized possessions. When our minds drift or race to fear and the worst that our world has to offer, can we change our thoughts and set our minds on His words in this verse today?

Maybe our fear and worry are more deep-seeded than being scared of a virus and it’s repercussions. Maybe we are struggling to trust that God is who He says He is. Maybe we don’t yet know, or haven’t experienced His trustworthiness in a tough personal situation. I think that hard things in our lives force us to get real with what we truly believe. I think it is okay to have questions and seek His personal response to our individual circumstances. When we are seeking Him, we actually see His action, recognize His voice, and experience His care. I promise that if you are looking to find Him, He will not keep Himself hidden. So I’ll close with His words, “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I enjoy every single part of it! My family decorates the house, puts up Christmas lights, cooks, cleans, etc. Even now that I am out “adulting”, I still find myself waiting in anticipation to come back to my parents’ house with a home that is decorated and filled with Christmas spirit. Christmas has and most likely will always be the time of the year that I am in awe of. There is something else in this life that I have never been able to truly describe. It may sound simple, but the grace of God and his love has always placed me in a loss for words.

I tend to be extremely hard on myself in all aspects of my life. When it comes to work, I want to try to do the best job possible, and when I find myself failing, I blame myself first. In my relationships with my friends and family, I reflect on how I can always be doing a better job. I look at how I need to be doing better always first, that is no different about my relationship with Jesus either.

However, God gives us a gift that is indescribable, even when we don’t deserve it. When we look back to the Old Testament, God chose a people first and he promised to always be there for them no matter what. In Genesis 17:7, God makes a covenant with Abraham, “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you”. Abraham was a man that did fear the Lord but was in no way perfect to the standards that were set before him. Immediately after the initial covenant made with Abram, Abram claimed that his wife Sarai was his sister to protect his life while traveling to Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20). God promised Abram that he would be protected, but still Abraham gave into his human desire to follow his own plan. Also, while Israel was enslaved in Egypt, their great leader, Moses, that God called to lead His people out of slavery, still out of anger disobeyed God and broke the stone tablets that God gave him (Exodus 32:15-20). King David, described as a man after God’s own heart, committed the sin of adultery and murder(2 Samuel 11). These three men are just examples of the countless others that the Lord used who gave up, disobeyed, and sinned against the Lord. Even though time after time, the Israelites continued to sin against the Lord, God had a plan to always hold fast to His covenant that He made since the first day of creation.

The only way that God could break this cycle of sin was to provide a redeemer. In Jeremiah 33:14-26, God tells Jeremiah of a “branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely”. Jeremiah is foretelling of a redeemer, a Savior that will bring about a gift that will change everything. The savior that came, Jesus, came humbly to this world to save all of us from our sin and to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus came as an innocent child, from the line of David, and lived as perfectly man/God. He then died a gruesome death on a cross to save us all from physical and eternal death.

In the verse that was presented today, 2 Corinthians 9:15, says “Thanks be to God for inexpressible gift”. Another way I see that is indescribable, unattainable, and unimaginable gift. Jesus died gruesomely on a cross for a people who didn’t deserve it, so that way He could be with us forever. That is exactly what makes His sacrifice an inexpressible gift. There is no exact human way to express how wonderful the saving grace of God is. No matter how much we fail, sin, or give up, Jesus still forgives us of all that. He calls us “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I talked about how Christmas was my favorite time of year. It gave me feelings of awe. However, the grace of God and his love are truly inexpressible, nothing like the feelings of awe I get from Christmas.

When you think about the characteristics you want in a friend, what comes to mind?  Honest, kind, fun-loving, witty… What about advocatory?  Is advocacy something you value and expect from a friend?

• Advocacy (noun) – the act or process of advocating for something or someone.
• Advocate (verb) – to support or argue for a cause.

Verbs are action words.  You can’t advocate for something or someone if you just believe it in your heart, but keep your opinions to yourself.  If you aren’t willing to take action, you are not an advocate.

Advocacy shows up in friendship when a friend is willing to have your back.  They are willing to go to bat for you even if is unpopular or could be a personal risk for them.  In my own life, I’ve found this to be a pivotal characteristic that has helped me separate those I consider true friends from people with whom I just have similar interests or simply like to spend time with.  Unfortunately my list of true friends gets much shorter when I look at it this way.

Do you consider Jesus your friend?  Take a look at the passage below from John 15. Jesus considers us his friends.  There is no greater example of advocating for your friends that that of Jesus laying down his life for us.  If we subscribe to the principle that we should be following Jesus’ example, then advocacy is absolutely something we should expect from our friends.  More importantly, it is how we should be treating our friends.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15).

Last week I was listening to Matthew West’s song, God Who Stays, on my way to the office.  My heart was moved by the phrase “you’re the one who runs in my direction when the whole world walks away”.  This perfectly describes advocacy.

You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays

Jesus is our friend, our advocate, someone who runs in our direction when everyone else walks away.  Even when advocacy cost him his life, Jesus stuck by our side.  This is a true friend.

Psalm 36:9 “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see it.”

Psalm 87:7 “As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you’.”

Today’s name of Jesus is “Fountain of life“. Merriam Webster defines Fountain as “the source from which something proceeds or is supplied”. In these verses we are reminded that God is the source from which our lives proceed and are supplied. He is the creator and the source of our lives. Can you relate? You know God is your “fountain” when the morning just doesn’t feel right until you have spent time with Him. Or whenever life gets confusing, you are on your knees asking for His direction. Or when someone asks for prayer, you stop everything and pray for them on the spot……with them present! Or you see God’s answer to the prayer that you have prayed for years and you fall to your knees with recognition that He is sovereign over all. These are clues that God is the “fountain of your life”.

Mike and I recently overheard a conversation and one of the comments really stuck in my craw. We were not trying to eavesdrop, they were talking really loud and we happen to be in the same room. This child of God said, “The Bible should be used for inspiration, not for information“. Let that soak a minute? How does that make you feel? Does it make you heart sink? Do you find yourself agreeing with him? Does life feel easier if we allow the Bible to be merely inspirational and not informational? There are a plethora of “fountains” or sources to choose from in this life – politics, money, fame, fortune, status, myself. But in the end, where does that leave us?

If I could go back, I would have hugged that man. I would have told him he was a child of God, a wonderful unique creation. I would have told him that The Bible is the inspired word of God and every word is true. That it provides the framework for a life lived in the scope of God’s beautiful plan for our lives. The beauty of the Bible is that it is both inspirational and informative. Its not always an easy path, but it is one that leads to eternal life. He is the “fountain of life“.

The world today feels tumultuous. So much confusion, arguing, and fear. This world is terminal.  Share your fountain with someone that needs a new source. An eternal source.

Shelly