Easter & Forgiveness they sure are good!

Well we are now in Holy Week in the church. Many people see Christmas as the big holiday of the year, but I think as Christians we miss that Easter is the more important holiday. As scripture says in Hebrews 9:22 "without the shedding of blood there cannot be any forgiveness of sins."

How true is that. Christmas Christ enters the world, but at Easter He accomplishes the whole reason why He came. This Easter as we remember the death and resurrection of our Lord may we truly honor and celebrate in a way that it truly deserves.

So we are about to end the Easter season and lent. I propose the question on how did you do this year? Did you give something up? Did you add something? How has your walk been with Christ over these past 40 days? Well for me I have had some up and downs. I don't know if I have really added any good habits to my spiritual life, but I think God has spoken. He surely isn't finished with me yet, never will that be till the day comes that He brings me home. But God continues to show me who I am in light of who He is. That is surely a bigger picture and a better one.

I praise God for His blessings and His continual forgiveness and restoration of my life. For without Easter and His Gift I would surely be lost and condemned! So as we celebrate Easter and then move onto the next big thing in our lives, may we take a little Easter with us into every part of our lives!

Giving Something Up?

Have you ever given anyting up for lent. Well if you haven't been paying any attention yesterday was Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent. It is the 40 days prior to the Crucifixion and Ressurection of Jesus Christ. It is a time that many peopel enter a time of reverance and solomen reflection on what the season means and what will occur.

However for us Prostant Christians it is something that we struggle with. We either don't observe or we halfway observe. I find it so weird that people go around and ask each other, "so what are you giving up for Lent?" Then they work so hard to abstain from that one thing only to pick it right back up again after the six weeks.

This past week I was reading in Matthew 6:1 which states, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." We need to be cautious in our giving up and acts of righteousness this time of Lent so that we don't draw attention to ourselves but only that our attention in on Christ.

I this year am not going to give anything up for Lent. However I am going to add something to my life. And hopefully at the end of the 40 days that this might become a habit. It is a spiritual discipline between me and Lord. I encourage you to do the same. To find something that you need more in your life to help you grow in Christ or to serve Christ or to reachout with the Love of Christ.

Good luck! And may the next 40 days be our 40 days closer to Christ! Closer to the meaning of this season, closer to the cross and closer to the reason for our Hope, Jesus Christ.

What is Love

"And so we know and rely on the love god has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in god, and god in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 john 4:16-18)

Have you ever known real love? We us the word everyday of our lives. We say we love someone, or we love something or we love the meal. We use the word so candidly and easily. But what is behind the word? What is our motives or intentions? What are we describing? Is it a feeling we get when we feel good or feel accepted? Is it a state of mind when things just make sense?

Love can be quite difficult. Actually there are many different levels and kinds of love. But let me throw out this question. Is it possible to know and give love without knowing the perfect love that Christ has for us? You might say, "Scott of course you can love without knowing Christ, look at all the people that aren't Christians but still love their spouses and family. What about them?" I would say of course. They are loving each other and having experiences and moments of affection or attraction with one another. I guess I should rephrase my question. It might sound a little leading, but I think it gets down to what we find in scripture.

1 John 4:8 says, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." It states here that God is love. Not that He has love for us. Or that God is capable of loving like you and I. Look a little closer. It says the HE IS LOVE. That you cannot separate the two. Where God is you find love and where love is you find God. They are connected. So I would reason from that those who know God have the ability to really love. That's my questions. Do Christians and those who have know God's love; are they more capable of loving and experiencing better love?

I think it is a fair question that one needs to unearth themselves. I encourage you to ponder this question, to wrestle with it and find you own answers. I have been alive long enough to know that there are several different kinds of love and choices when it comes to love. I have experienced the joys of love and the anguish of it as well. But what I do know is the surpassing Greatness and Perfect love that God has for me. I know that no matter how low I am or where I go, God still loves me. He desires for me to know him and to experience that great and powerful love He has for me.

I think when we begin to understand the vastness of God's love for us it allows us to love and accept others as God would want us to. Let's bask in the love of God and love the world as God loved it.

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

The End of the Beginning

When it comes to something new or something different, how excited do you get? Do you become overcome with joy and tension all at the same time? Well that is exactly how I become. When I approach something new or different I get filled with this joy and tension (anxiety) all at the same time. It is quite an amazing feeling.

But them I am reminded that is what I want to latch onto. We need to take this sense that we feel in the pit of our soul and move with it. We need to embrace it and let it challenge us. When we come to something new or different something difficult or unknown we need to take it and work with it. We need to prod it, to stretch it, to even might rip it a little. But revelation doesn't come easy. It is somethign that we sort of start at the end and work back to beginning. Why am I here? Why am I feeling the way I do? What am I to do with all this? What might God be asking of me?

That is exactly what this space here at Igniting Vision is all about. It is just a springboard of ideas, thoughs and questions to challenge us to go to the next level. God is calling all of us to greatness. The question we have is what is that task or responsibility? What is that great adventure that He has for us? Well I really don't know what yours is. I am wading through my journey.
I am inviting you to wade
-----------------------trod-----------------------------------------------

---------------even possibly fall ------------------------------------------

------------------and fly--------------------------------------------------

with me as we search for what God has given us.

-------------What he has created. ----------------------------------------

---------------------LIFE-----------------------------------------------

Will you join me? Will you join Christ? As we search.......................................