Tag: joy

Eucharisteo

“The Eucharest: Receiving the holy grail of peace, grace and joy with thanksgiving.”

It was on Holy Thursday that Jesus broke bread with his disciples. Before the Passover Lamb could be sacrificed for good, he wanted to have one last meal with his friends & followers. 

Dr. Luke in the gospel account records the words of Jesus thus, “and he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them…” (Luke 22:19).

In the original language, ‘he gave thanks’ reads – ‘eucharisteo.’ The root word of eucharisteo is ‘charis’ which means ‘grace.’ Jesus took bread, saw it as grace and gave thanks.

So ‘eucharisteo,’  thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, ‘charis.’  And the Greek word for grace, charis forms the very heart of the word, eucharisteo.

Because it was soon to be the grace of God found in the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb which would form the very heart of the table of the eucharisteo – the table of thanksgiving.

And this brings us to the deeper meaning of the Greek word – charis. For it is derived from the Greek word, ‘chara’  meaning ‘joy.’

Because deep chara joy is found only at the table of the eucharisteo – the table of thanksgiving, where the grace of God that brings with it the promise of wholeness and shalom is enfleshed for us in the Person of Jesus – the Living Bread that was broken to give us new life.

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Charis. Grace. Chara. Joy.

The days after The Lord’s Supper were days that were going to see the deepest kind of wounding inflicted on him, followed by a day of gloom and despair, before he would finally be raised back to life again.

And the days that we are now walking into this Holy week commemorate & celebrate the same reality – if we suffer with him, we will also be raised up in glory with him (2 Timothy 2:12).

A Friday that saw Jesus suffer as the Lamb of God, a Saturday that marked a bridge between his suffering and his glory, and a Sunday that saw the resurrection power of God triumph over hell and death for all time to come are not only a testament of great hope to us, but also serve to take us on a brief journey that we will from time-to-time embark upon this side of heaven.

Take my hand, friend and let me lead you through it.

Good Friday:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

(Hebrews 4:15-16)

The above passage of Scripture reveals that though Jesus was sinless, he was not pain-free. He was in fact, ‘tempted in every way, just as we are.’ He too was familiar with the pain of abuse, persecution, insults, ridicule, rejection and betrayal; so much so that he eventually surrendered even to a most terrifying death on the cross!

This tells me that as we walk through the pain and trauma of this fractured world, we can trust that even when no one else understands what we are going through, Jesus perfectly does.

And he doesn’t tell us to deny it, bury it or numb it.

Much the opposite really.

He encourages us to bring our wounding to him, because by his stripes, we are healed. The day we reckon as, ‘Good Friday’ is proof of that.

For the crown of thorns on his head to be bartered for the wreath of peace we now wear, this was a day when the righteous died for the unrighteous, the godly for the ungodly, the sinless for the sinner.

It wasn’t fair, but it was necessary.

Likewise, your suffering and mine has purpose too. There is nothing glamorous about it, but it is glorious.

How, you ask…

Our pain, whatever it may be, when brought to the foot of the Cross, enables a divine exchange –

Brokenness for wholeness.

Human suffering now embraced by his glory becomes not only shared and dignified, but immensely transformative.

Eugene Peterson puts it like this,

“…people do not suffer less when they are committed to following God. But when these people go through suffering, their lives are often transformed, deepened, marked with beauty and holiness, in remarkable ways that could never have been anticipated before the suffering.”

Our pain produces purpose when it is embraced by the beauty and power of who God is. For this is the truth of the cruciform life –

The Lord walked through unjust suffering, we will too. There is nothing right about it,  but I’m reminded that love is the logic of heaven.

So if our Savior hung on a tree that we may have hope in the midst of our pain and suffering, then let this somber yet sacred day called, ‘Good Friday’  serve as a reminder to us that our brokenness on this side of eternity does not disqualify us from the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. In fact, it is through our brokenness that God works all things together to qualify us and to script songs of glory for all generations to echo.

So, as we have opportunity, let us approach the throne of grace – the table of the eucharisteo – to find the help we need in our time of need, but to do so with hope and joy, praise and expectation …

.. and a ton of thanks.

Silent Saturday:

“Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.”

(Psalm 27:14)

Sandwiched between Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection was a day where darkness seemed to have prevailed and all hope felt lost in Jerusalem. Grief and despair hung in the air as the disciples huddled together, without any comprehension of what was next. God had orchestrated this pregnant pause of sorts, but the atmosphere was thick with sorrow and suspense.

Friend, in our walk of faith, we too will have moments when we feel hopeless and discouraged. But when we do, we can always find comfort and camaraderie with the disciples. We can know that just like this wasn’t the end of their story, what we are walking through isn’t ours either.

‘Silent Saturday’ – a day riddled with fear and doubt – was in fact, a necessary bridge between the disciples’ history and their destiny. It was a purposed cross over between what was and what was yet to be – the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, which meant but one thing:

Life would never be the same again. But on a despondent Saturday wedged between a catastrophic Friday and a monumental Sunday, this secret was hidden from them.

And somewhere I suspect the same holds true for us too.

We may not be able to fully understand or comprehend the ‘why’ behind our perceived delays, but one thing we can be certain of –

God is in it with us, and he is not busy preparing the blessing for us, but rather he is engaged in preparing us for the blessing he has already prepared for us.

In other words, our waiting is not the end of us, but rather the ‘becoming’ of us. He is the Alpha, he is the omega; but the journey?

That’s where we’ll find him.

Resurrection Sunday:

“It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

(1 Peter 3:21-22)

I took a walk with the Lord the other day – a phenomenon I love calling, ‘walking with the Lord in the cool of the day.’

And as I walked on, I found myself toying with the two keys I currently possess. One is the key to the main entrance of my home, while the other unlocks my personal almirah. Wrapping each key ring around my right and left thumb respectively, I smiled.

Peering into the face of Jesus, I suddenly realised that what I really had in possession was not just the two keys that opened up portals in the natural realm, but rather keys that had authority in the spiritual. As this epiphany came through, it brought me right back to the message of Easter:

“Because on the third day, he rose again, I now have the keys to hell and death, in Jesus’ Name.”

He is Risen!

I am Risen!

Hallelujah!

So this is the Good News we celebrate on Passover.

Death has been swallowed up in victory, and darkness has been eternally vanquished!

Therefore, we can never be deadlocked in any situation because the Lamb of God has  overcome. As prized children of the most high God, we can rest in the assurance that what seems to be the end is now only a new beginning in his hands – which makes our lives a saga of unending hope, brave adventure and ceaseless glory.

The Bible states that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). So as we lift up the cup of the new covenant this Passover, let us look at our challenges square in the eye, pick up the sword of the Spirit, and decree what he has decreed over our lives, thereby enforcing the triumph of the Cross and establishing God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

One of the Lord’s last directives to his disciples was to take the bread, the wine, and to remember. Do this in rememberance of me. Remember, and give thanks.

For the truth is that after what the Lord has done for us, we can never repay him. But we can remember him.

And as we remember him, it is we who will be reminded of who we are and whose we are. The Psalmist puts it like this,

“So now, what can I ever give back to God to repay him for the blessings he’s poured out on me? I will lift up his cup of salvation and praise him extravagantly for all that he’s done for me.”

(Psalm 116:12-13, TPT)

So friend, as we approach the Holy Week, let us lay hold of the life that is truly life, let us celebrate the Lord’s grace with peace, joy and thanksgiving.

Let us take the bread, take the wine and take communion.

Let us remember..

…and let us give thanks.

Eucharisteo.

Feliz Navidad!

“Happy Birthday, King Jesus!”

🎄🎄🎄

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

(Isaiah 9:6)

Because He came, we can go.

Lets celebrate Him.

Merry Christmas, friends!

☃️❤🎅🏻

Abba

“What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by any amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.”

(Luke 12:6-7, TPT)

Friends, today as I sat with Jesus over this passage of Scripture in my ‘Lectio Divina’ time (btw, if you have not yet been introduced to this practice, I highly recommend you googling some information on it, you won’t regret it, I promise!) I felt a tender, gentle reminder from Abba’s heart to soak in the Truth that I am hugely valued and eternally worthy in His sight. He looks at me with the deepest affection in His heart, a huge smile on His lips and a pure delight in His eyes.

Hmnn…

So I have made up my mind.

That that’s really the only thing that is going to define me.

The Love of my Father, my Heavenly Dad.

❤

A love so deep, profound and faithful that it will never leave me nor forsake me. It will never abandon me. It promises to be eternally true to me –

To be with me, to fight for me, to make a way for me.

Always and forever.

And should you let me speak some Truth over you today, He is the same for you too.

A doting, hands-on Father who is intimately involved in the details of your life.

You are His child, beloved – sought after, precious, valued, cared for, wanted, needed, esteemed, honored, fought for.

And though man may fail you, Jesus never will.

He calls you beautiful, bold, fearless, wise, strong, courageous.

He enfolds you within His loving embrace and calls you His own – His image bearer in the earth and His chosen one.

And no.

We don’t deserve it. We couldn’t have earned it.

But it is a grace-gift and the Bible says that Abba gives good gifts to His children.

🎁

So I’m learning to receive this uncomon grace, friend in a way so free and trusting that it lets my Heavenly Dad know –

“I love you right back, Abba. I love you right back.”

👑

Be still and know

Don’t be distracted
And be anxious for nothing
Trust in Jehovah
For His Love has taken over.

He intervenes right on time
But can we be still meanwhile?
Reflecting on His unfailing faithfulness
And reminding ourselves of His unchangingness.

Tests may come
But only to reveal the gold hidden deep within
For we are salt and light
That shine only when it is a bit grim.

The sun will shine again
But we don’t postpone our joy to one day when
This is the day The Lord has made
So we will rejoice and pay attention.

To His Voice
Which drowns out all the noise
Cuts through the dark
For His Love never misses the mark.
⛅️

🎈

Though the mountains be shaken
And the hills be removed
You will not suffer
My foot to be moved.

Though the tremors be felt
For each of us differently
Yet You are Lord of all
And will meet us uniquely.

Let nothing take away our joy and laughter
We want to travel with peace and plenty
Trusting You with the glorious grace gift called, “Today”
For which there was a price that You had to pay.

The cheeriest Person I know is You
Taking the ingredients of my heart and making of it all a wonderful stew
That brings an aroma of love and light
A radiance that comes from Jehovah who shines ever so bright!

You meet me in unexpected ways
That always leave me with a grin and a smile
For I will live this day, “Today”
Because You’re The One who truly makes it all worthwhile.

One.

Like water flowing downstream
Cascading through the rocks
Is how we want to flow with you
But only over mountaintops.

Taking flight on wings like eagles
We want to soar with you above the clouds
A view so pristine, so precious
That it leaves little room for any doubts.

Closer to Heaven than we’ve ever been
We hear melodies as we fly
We join in the anthem
And say, “good bye, good bye.”

Good bye to the gravity that holds us down
And a resounding hello to the breaking of a new dawn
We fly light as You lift us up
The rays of the sun calling us up.

Excited to see what we’ve never seen before
But only believed
Brings a ring of joy in our souls
For we know beyond knowing
That we won’t be the same anymore.

Our only response is a humble, “Thank You,”
For the love in our hearts has been prompted by You.
The hope in our lungs is the breath you give
And closer than ever, we press in.

We press in
We pray
We praise
But above all else,
we see You face to face.

Never shall we be the same again
For we are found in Love
Over and over we go
Till we become fully one.

Amen

👑

3️⃣1️⃣st December, 2019 : the last day of the decade!

Dear 31st December,

You came sooner than expected. The days that led to you went by swifter than the wind. They were filled with all kinds of experiences, some felt like valleys and some like mountain tops. There were times where the unexpected intervened like a mighty rushing wind, and then there were times where the call to persevere felt stronger than the desire for breakthrough. The 364 days that have ushered you in have left us deeply humbled and profoundly grateful. All in all, you come with a bag of mixed emotions. You come with a sense of gratitude for all that was and a sense of wonder for all that will be. You come with a tinge of excitement and a gleeful expectancy of all that our Maker has in store for us. So we take a moment in time to pause and say, “thank you,” for being a catalyst to usher in a new era with new birthings and beginnings, for being a bridge that connects our history to our destiny and for being a game changing tool, for in you, we can now safely say a thankful “goodbye” to a time frame in our lives that has left us enriched, equipped and empowered in ways beyond articulation, and echo a joyful “hello there” to the new thing that God is doing in our midst, a new thing that comes with fresh faith, favour and focus.

Thank you for your arrival and we ask that you would seamlessly transition us now as we bid farewell!

Signing off with a confident expectation,

❄️☀️

Joy.

“It is the joy of relationship that gives us the strength to endure.”

With promises released from Heaven comes a joyful expectancy of seeing God come through for us yet another time. The joy of seeing our breakthrough manifest is undeniably huge. Jesus says it best,

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” (John 16:21)

Mary had her fair share of struggles as The Child destined to save the world was conceived by The Holy Spirit in her womb. When the angel, Gabriel appeared to her and foretold the plans that God had for her, despite the impossibility of the situation, her response was grounded in a humble confidence that never ceases to inspire me,

“May your word to me be fulfilled.”
(Luke 1:38)

She didn’t have a blueprint for how it was all going to work out, yet she responded in faith. The Child she eventually gave birth to is Our Saviour,

Jesus.

The Child who came as a babe in a manger and hung on a tree for our salvation, redemption and restoration; in order that we may savour the taste of having a constant and consistent relationship with The Father that takes us from one degree of glory to another,

Jesus.

The Child conceived by The Spirit of God now tabernacling with us through The Spirit of God,

Jesus.

The Child whose indwelling presence makes it possible for us to be constantly pregnant with promise,

Jesus.

The Child who came to reveal us as much loved children of God ourselves,

Jesus.

His Love inspires our trust in who He is towards us, thereby giving us the faith to believe. We begin to believe for the impossible and the outrageous, while simultaneously allowing God to cultivate within us the wisdom to not postpone joy to “one day when,” but rather enter into the peace and joy of believing in and through our relationship with Him, in the “here and now.”

It’s this joy that carries us through and enriches us through the process. It’s this joy that supersedes any traces of pain that we may have had to endure along the way. It’s this joy that intervenes on our behalf when we need it the most.

For even joy has a name,

And His Name is Jesus!

🌟

Count it all joy!

“Help me to find the joy in obedience as I release the need to control the outcome.”

When God reveals the battles He wants you to fight in your life in His Name and through His Strength, I have learned one simple truth. The obedience is our part, the outcome is entirely His responsibility. Because the God we serve is Faithful, we can be rest assured that in His own Will, Way and Timing, He WILL come through. That is not the question. What is though, is this:

How can we find the joy in our earnestness to obey on a consistent, day-to-day basis?

I believe the answer lies in a simple revelation. As the answer we are praying for awaits an appointed time, we can find joy in encountering the steadfastness of The One who has embarked us upon the adventure of a lifetime, in the first place. We can find joy in The Person of Jesus Christ, and the person we ourselves are becoming by being in a consistent relationship with Him. We can find joy in the tenacity, grit and courage that is developing within us the character necessary to sustain the blessing once released. We can find joy in the fruits of The Holy Spirit that are being birthed on the inside of us, forging the character of Christ; a sure evidence that though the answer seems delayed, it will arrive right on time.

We are called to, as The Bible puts it, “count it all joy.” Let me share the verse here,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This is one of my least favorite scriptures, yet unquestionable in the infallibility thereof. Because the truth is that as Jesus said, in this world, we will have tribulation. He however, did not proceed to tell us to brood or moan. Instead, He exhorted us to, “take heart!” Why? Because HE has overcome the world, and I will proceed to say that because we are IN Him, we too, are overcomers. We are overcomers in the face of the giants we are called to slay, the wilderness we are called to go through, the valleys we are called to scale, the mountains we are called to climb, the seas we are called to navigate, the life we are destined to live.

It is not the absence of obstacles that makes us overcomers, rather the presence of them. In our lifetime, we may face relational challenge, financial crises, an unexpected diagnosis, a gut wrenching betrayal. The disappointments in our life are an inevitable part of the process of “becoming.” However, it is the way we steward them that helps us know who we are and where we are in our relationship with Christ. One critical question to ask in such situations is this,

“What is God doing IN me and then, THROUGH me?”

In my walk with The Lord lately, I realized that He has begun within me a work of birthing and cultivating love. Where I once had a hard heart, He has remained Faithful as the Promise from Ezekiel come to mind,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Life does a darn good job of hardening our hearts by dealing us blows that can come packaged as disappointment, pain, rejection or loss. But when we enter into relationship with Christ, He begins to unravel layers of such toxic waste in our hearts which are detrimental in our ability to pursue and fulfill the Destiny that God has in store for us. God wants His Life to flow in and through our inmost beings, thereby touching and transforming the lives of those that are around us. It is for our good and His Glory. I believe Our Father rejoices when we commit to the painful, but very necessary process of allowing His Spirit to reveal and then, heal those broken crevices of our hearts, minds and souls that, apart from a relationship with Our Savior, we would have had no hope for.

But Christ in us is the Hope of Glory. The extent to which we allow the love and life of Christ to flow in us, and then through us is the extent to which God can use us in ways that as I write, I’m sure we cannot even fathom. His Promise comes to mind,

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

The obvious question is, what is the power that works within us? How deep have we allowed The Holy Spirit to go within us so that He can eventually reach out to those He wants to through us?

It is this process, dear friends, that we will have to learn to embrace and “count it all joy.” Addressing issues of the heart is never easy, but necessary if we are going to walk in the fullness of our God-ordained Identity and Destiny. As we allow His Spirit to access, heal, mend and restore what only He can, I know we will feel vulnerable. But let me encourage you with the encouragement I myself received as i chose to say, “Yes,”

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

This is our Immanuel. He is kind, compassionate, merciful and understands us in a way that we ourselves don’t. He has loved us, saved us, redeemed us and wants to renew us. He is too good to leave us fractured and fragmented. He longs to make us whole and mature, slowly but surely evolving into the full stature of who He calls us to be. Our confidence in His Character emboldens our spirits to let His take over, mending what was once broken, and fortifying that which He has initiated in our lives. He doesn’t want us to build our lives on quicksand, but rather on The Solid Rock that is His Name.

This process will see the stubbornness of our hearts gradually removed, and instead, be replaced with a softness and tenderness that comes ONLY when we learn to yield, surrender and give back to Immanuel that which is rightfully His – our obedience. Our confidence in His Character will enable us to trust Him with the outcome. The outcome, as a matter of fact, is only a result and simultaneously a reward of our obedience. It is not too much for Him to release that which we are praying and believing for. However, He does know that an answer when delivered prematurely can also serve to be a burden as opposed to a blessing, and we know that He is too good to allow that to happen. Hence, we trust, we believe and we continue to pray, because through it all, in ways we may recognize or not, we are being changed. We are being developed. We are being prepared.

The blessing is not being prepared for us. We are being prepared for the blessing.

The only question is,

Will we “count it all joy?”

Friends, I’m praying we will.

Amen.