When God called me to pursue ordination in the Anglican Church, He also called me to go to a specific place for the next three years of preparation for ministry—Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, in Ambridge Pennsylvania (in the Diocese of Pittsburgh where the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Bob Duncan, is now seated). I was overjoyed to learn that there was an Anglican seminary that was both theologically orthodox and spiritually alive. Going to Trinity in 1986 was a great adventure for Jen and me and our new baby, Andrew, who was six months old when we started there. God did many amazing things in getting us on the ordination track and in providing an excellent place in which to prepare for ministry in His church. I learned by first-hand experience that when God calls He also wonderfully provides.

Once we arrived at Trinity, I began to be exposed to people who shared the same faith in Jesus to which I had been drawn and yet expressed their faith in very different ways. At times this was very challenging for me. But I needed to be stretched in this way. One day I was struggling in my heart about one of my professors. He was teaching about the Gospels and I found his approach very different from the way I approached Scripture. Yet I did not find any grounds to believe that he was not orthodox in his faith. How to reconcile this? As has been my custom for many years I took this to the Lord in prayer and asked Jen to pray with me also. As Jen prayed, the phrase “united in love” came into her mind and she remembered it was part of a verse of Scripture. As it turned it out, it was from Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

Paul writes: “I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1-3 NIV)

The Lord used this passage of Scripture to settle my heart and to teach me something very important for my relationships with all other believers. I realized that my professor and I shared a love of the same Lord Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and ascended, and for God’s Word written. We were indeed united in the only thing that ultimately matters, our love for Jesus. I realized from this passage that Paul is saying that we need mutual encouragement of heart and unity in Christ’s love in order to have all the riches of complete understanding of all that God has for us in and through Christ and of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. To put it simply, we need each other in all the richness of our different approaches, temperaments, personalities, giftings, callings, backgrounds, preferences—all the grounds on which we are different. Why? Because it’s only as we interact with one another as believers with all our differences that we can begin to grasp the richness of who Jesus Christ is and all that God has done and will do through Him.

If we strive continually to interact with only those who are similar to us, we miss the fullness God has for us. We have struggled mightily to form an expression of Anglicanism that reinforces the idea that God calls us to have relationships based one of the most basic and pervasive differences between people, male and female. Those who are called to marriage are to have their most intimate relationship with a creature who, though sharing a common humanity, is very different inwardly and outwardly. This union of opposites is indeed the biblical sign of the union of God through Christ and His people—again a union of beings of an entirely different order, Creator and created. Here is the pattern for all our relationships—differences are from God and are brought together and indeed kept from flying apart only through the love of God the Father that is revealed to us in Jesus and made available to us through the Holy Spirit.

This same phrase “united in love” came back into my mind a few weeks ago during the Sunday morning worship. I did not feel a release to give it publicly at that time. More recently when our bishop, Charlie, was with us, he noticed that I was looking for something in the Bible and he asked me if I had a word for us that morning. I said yes and Ray David asked me to give it. I find it interesting that this happened when Charlie was with us since the Bishop is a sign to us of the unity of the Church across time and space.

I knew I should also write down this word I had been given (and elaborate on it) and I had been wondering what the appropriate timing would be. Yesterday, October 31, the Lord reminded me that the next day would be All Saints’ Day and that would be the time to share about the unity in love that all believers in Christ through time and space have with one another. For many years I have felt a fondness for the theme of All Saints’ Day and the light it sheds on a time of year where our culture seems to celebrate darkness. Thanks be to God that His light overcomes all darkness and His unity brings together all that fallen humanity and the devil would try to separate.

It also seemed to be the right time to write on this theme as Jen and I start a new adventure assisting our Archdeacon, Paul Charbonneau, at our sister church of St. Hilda’s in Oakville. We go with a wonderful sense of being blessed and sent from one vibrant congregation to another and with the continuity of the love of Jesus that we all share. Jen and I go with many precious memories along with mutually encouraging relationships that will not end. We have been enriched and have grown in our mutual love and understanding of Jesus through our time together with you. These blessings are eternal in nature—“an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” and us. (See 1 Peter 1:3-5).

Ray David has been very supportive of our ongoing ministry and has encouraged me to use the resources of St. George’s as I am led. In this vein, I do hope to make a blog posting from time to time.

With much love and affection in Jesus,

Greg and Jen McVeigh

Soon after I returned to the Lord many years ago, I began to realize that God has a plan and a purpose for my life and for each person’s life. I have, by God’s grace, endeavoured to discover and walk in that plan and to encourage others to do so. This has not been an easy journey as there is resistance both from within myself and from outside myself. Yet God opens unexpected doors and blesses and enables what He initiates. His plans indeed turn out to be good but costly (Jeremiah 29:11-12, Luke 18:28-30).

Others may denigrate or misunderstand God’s plans for you. I remember when the Lord sent me and my family to Thunder Bay to begin a new stage of life and ministry after my ordination in the Anglican Church. I was telling another recently ordained minister about this and he responded as if I were being punished or sidelined by being sent to what he perceived as a backwater. Instead of being offended or thrown off by this, I just thought how sad that his sense of serving the Lord is to go somewhere that seems to offer greater visibility. I have run into many believers who overtly or subtly hold this kind of attitude. This is the mistake Lot made in choosing his inheritance for himself and on the basis of what looked good to him (Genesis 13:10-13). Later he had to flee the place that looked good to him just before it came under a devastating judgment (Genesis 19:1-29).

(Sometimes, God does call a person to great visibility but we are neither to seek it nor resist it. It is God’s call and God’s timing, not ours. See Hebrews 5:4)

I served in Thunder Bay because that is where God knew I was needed and where God would work out his purposes for me and my family. Then when God was finished, He moved us on. Some resisted this move and would have held onto me. But God needed me somewhere else. God is the one to whom we will ultimately have to give account (Romans 14:10-13, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

I have found that the most important thing is to be faithful wherever God has planted me—to see whatever I am doing as ministry to Him first and then to others whom He sends across my path (Colossians 3:23-24, Luke !0:27). This principle applies to everyone not just to those set apart for ordained ministry or for full-time missions. It is so important to see whatever you are doing is a ministry not just a job or just filling in time or just earning money. It is important not to see whatever you are doing right now as just a means to an end rather than as part of God’s unfolding plan. Everything God gives for you to do is intended to be ministry to the Lord first and then to those whom He sends across your path. God will use you wherever you are if you adopt this attitude. He will use you to help others on their journey and use what you are doing for Him to transform you from the inside out—to increase His healing and holiness in your life.

I have also learned that, just as there are seasons in the year, there are seasons in life (Ecclesiastes 3:1). It is best to cooperate with the season of life and of the year into which God has called and placed you. We are now starting into the summer season. It is a season in which, for many, there will be opportunities for refreshment—both physical and spiritual. It is important to take such times that are potentially less hectic to seek God’s face (Psalm 27:8) and to let Him refresh you in every way (Acts 3:19-20). Avoid the temptation to fill up the time with too much busyness. Don’t be afraid of just being in the Lord’s Presence. God wants to minister to you and to speak to you and to be with you. Make space for Him.

In this season of my own life, I am sensing God’s call to finish a book-length manuscript that I started several years ago. It is a spiritual autobiography that focuses on my journey of receiving inner or emotional healing over many years. The purpose is to help others trust in the Lord for this kind of healing—especially for those who have experienced significant hurts early in life (Jeremiah 30:17).

So I will take my own advice and use this summer as a time to seek the Lord’s face, to receive His times of refreshing with an open and expectant heart and mind, and to respond to God’s call to complete the story of my healing journey. I won’t be doing a weekly blog for the next few months but, at this point, am open to starting up again in the fall if the Lord so leads. It has been a great joy to do this and it has helped to hone my writing skills. (It’s funny that, until the Lord made it clear that He had called me to write, I never thought of myself as a writer even though so much of my life has been focused on written and spoken words.) I really appreciate the encouraging feedback I have received and would greatly appreciate your ongoing prayers for this season of writing. I may post something on my blog from time to time to ask for specific prayer or to give a brief update.

In this Pentecost season of the Father’s love, may you by the enabling of the Holy Spirit fulfil all the Father’s plans for you as you trust in Jesus.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8) God is waiting for us to draw near to Him. He will not force us to draw near but when we do He responds. God does not hold grudges as we often do. He is not cold or remote or difficult as people can sometimes be. He is not too busy, preoccupied or overloaded as we often are.

When the prodigal son came to his senses and began his journey back to his father, while still a long way off, his father ran to him and embraced him and kissed him. The father welcomed the errant son back with open arms and with full restoration of his privileges as a son and indeed with joy and celebration. (Luke 15:11-32)

This parable of Jesus tells us that God is a loving Father who welcomes back—indeed runs to meet—all who have gone astray even while still a long way off on their journey back to Him. The father in this parable also reminds the older faithful son that all the privileges that he restores to the returning son are his already. This son already has the father’s full attention and constant affection. We too can be sure that whether we draw near to God the Father after a long time and a great distance away or after just a little drifting from him that comes in the wake of the distractions and temptations of daily life, the Father welcomes us into His presence and draws near to us in return.

Whether we experience a dramatic and corporate encounter with God as on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47) or a solitary encounter a Moses did at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-22) or something much more subtle and quiet as Elijah did in hearing God’s still small voice (1 Kings 19:9-18), God’s drawing near is real and life-changing. Sometimes we may both fear and long for something more dramatic. Yet even with the dramatic events of the day of Pentecost, there were some who did not respond with faith when God drew near, because they did not desire to draw near to Him. Instead they rationalized their resistance to God by accusing the disciples of being drunk.

When Moses had a dramatic encounter with God in the burning bush, he had to first turn aside and draw near to what he had seen from a distance—perhaps out of the corner of his eye. We too may not initially or fully understand what God is doing. Like Moses, we have to make a choice to draw near to God in faith and trust and openness. When we make a small move toward God, God moves toward us. As we wait for the Lord, just as with the disciples prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, God is already present to encourage us and to help us to have expectant hearts. He is already drawing near enabling us to pray and have faith.

God wants us to draw near in faith both individually as with Moses at the burning bush and in union with other believers as in the days leading up to Pentecost. Our drawing near is first individual (as no-one can draw near for you) and in concert with others as when we gather on Sunday and at other times.

The wonderful and unprecedented thing about Pentecost was that God would come and dwell not just with but in those who would believe, changing them and us on the inside—putting His desires in our hearts, indeed giving us new hearts where He could dwell.

All this was and is possible because of the Incarnation, Life, Atoning Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. Pentecost is the result of all that Jesus has done for us. Because of the faithfulness and resulting exaltation of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has been and is being poured out on all people, young and old, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, people of every race and language and earthly status—starting at Pentecost and continuing today and until the Lord returns.

In this Pentecost season of the Father’s Love, may we individually and together draw near to God the Father through Jesus, having faith that God by His Spirit will draw near to us.

It’s very easy in life to let things get blown out of proportion. Some people, by their inborn temperament and life experiences, are more prone to ‘catastrophizing’ than others. But anyone can lose perspective and fall into the trap of allowing an issue or problem to become larger in our minds and emotions than it really is. Of course, there are actual catastrophes as we’ve seen all around the world this spring. But often, it is less catastrophic things that can trip us up. As we dwell on the issues troubling us they get magnified. What is the solution? The following story gives us the Lord’s perspective:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)

Often we want Jesus or someone that we believe is in a position of influence to ‘fix’ someone else according to our preferences and priorities.

Instead of dwelling on the problem we are encouraged to dwell on Jesus. Fixing our eyes on Jesus helps us to gain a heavenly and eternal perspective on the things that trouble us. Spending time in the Lord’s Presence, as Mary of Bethany did, brings us back to a place of peace.

Jesus shed His blood to purchase for us peace with God and peace within ourselves. Contemplating this true and eternal reality puts the details and trials of this life in perspective. It is then that we can realize that His yoke indeed is easy and His burden is light. The ‘burden’ of following Jesus is far lighter than the crushing burdens we can place on ourselves and one another.

The hymn “Peace, Perfect Peace” came into Jen’s mind when we were praying together this morning:

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin? The Blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed? To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round? On Jesus’ bosom nought but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace with love ones far away? In Jesus’ keeping we are safe and they.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown? Jesus we know and He is on the Throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

It is enough: earth’s struggles soon shall cease, and Jesus call us to heaven’s perfect peace.

In this Ascension season of the Father’s love, may you be filled with the peace of Christ as you rest in Him.

Have you ever noticed when you’re driving that, if you start to focus on something other than the direction in which you want to head, suddenly the car will start to veer off course toward whatever you are looking at? The car goes wherever you focus your attention.

It’s even true with walking. Once, when I was about nine years old, I was walking home with my dad and telling him something about my friend’s house where I had just been visiting. I kept walking as I turned back and pointed and then I turned around and banged right into a concrete lamp post. I almost knocked myself out and quickly got a big goose egg. Another time, I was sitting on a sandy beach and a young man began walking backwards toward me as he played catch. Before I could get his attention he was falling over me. By God’s grace, I quickly ducked my head so that he wouldn’t break my neck as he tumbled with his full weight over me. I think you get the idea! It’s important that we focus our attention on the direction in which we are heading.

In terms of the direction of our lives, we need to first choose the right goal and then keep our focus on it. Our culture would probably agree about the need to focus on a goal. But the prevailing wisdom is that it doesn’t matter what the goal is. Just pick one. Create you own meaning. There is no absolute. Everything is relative. (Ray David addressed this clearly in last Sunday’s sermon “You are chosen”. You might want to give it a listen.)

For some reason, even though I was immersed in the idea that “everything is relative” (especially during my many years in university and working in the field of psychology), I never believed that. I always knew there was Truth (with a capital T) and I was on a search to find it. I had grown up with a just enough Christianity to make me think I had tried it and found it wanting. So I tried on all kinds of belief systems—in no particular order—and kept finding them to be wanting. Finally, I became open to trying Jesus again. In Him I found Truth. In following Him I found a worthy goal. But first I felt as though my life had been turned upside down. In reality, I had been upside down and was now turned right side up—disorienting at first but ultimately wonderfully reorienting. Things began to make sense and to work.

Now the challenge is to keep my focus on the goal of following Jesus, of knowing Him, of becoming like Him—all through God’s enabling ability by His Spirit working in me. (See Mark 1:17-18, Philippians 3:7-9, Ephesians 1:17-21, 1 John 3:2-3.) It is so easy to let other goals distract, dilute and preoccupy. But no other goal is worthy. No other goal will bear fruit that lasts forever. Everything else is temporary and so fleeting. In the last few months we have seen so many people’s lives turned upside down by earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, uprisings and reprisals, floods, fires, tornadoes. Even where things are comparatively calm, each one of us has to deal with losses and unexpected and unwanted challenges and changes of various kinds.

There are, of course, other secondary goals that we have to focus on–earning a living, dealing with the day to day demands of life. But do we see these goals as of ultimate or temporary value? If we see them in the light of following Jesus and keep that as our overarching goal, then we won’t start to veer off course. But, if these goals become ends in themselves, we’ll end up in the ditch going nowhere.

Finally, it’s important to remember that in setting the goal of following Jesus we are called to set goals in Him but not to let even these distract us from Jesus Himself. In everything we do we are called to trust Him and Him alone. We can only follow someone we trust. Trusting Him in and for everything enables us to keep our focus on Him. And we become like what we focus on whether we realize it or not.

I happened to turn on the television during the day a few weeks ago (which I rarely do) and I heard Joyce Meyer talking about struggles in the first few years of her marriage. While praying about not being able to trust her husband (and she had experienced many breeches of trust growing up with abuse), the Lord asked her not to trust her husband but to trust Him with her husband. The Lord does not want us to put our ultimate trust in any other person—not even in ourselves as we can easily fail ourselves—but to trust in Him with each and every person in our lives and every situation that arises in our lives. By doing this day by day, challenge by challenge we are enabled to keep our focus on the goal set before us—seeing Jesus as He is and in so doing becoming like Him. (1 John 3:2-3)

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s love, let us help one another to keep our eyes on the Goal.

Everything good that we have comes from God. Whether we realize it or not, we have received it as a gift. We are not the source of anything. God alone is the source. So why is it so hard to actually live as though this is really true? Our fallen natures get in the way.

I’ve been reading a book by Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian man, entitled “The normal Christian Life”, originally published in 1957. In it he talks about how the human soul has been overdeveloped ever since the Fall of man. At that time the first man and woman chose to follow the way of independence from God—to live according to their own volition, to be in effect their own god. That’s what Nee means by the overdevelopment of the soul. It’s the “I am my own person”, “I can and will chart my own course” sort of attitude. Well you can but where does this lead?

Nee makes it clear that it is not that we don’t need a soul—a personality, a sense of selfhood. But the human soul was meant to be dependent upon the One who is the source of all things and from whom alone life arises. Everything else is really death masquerading as or mimicking life. When we receive new life in and from Jesus we begin to truly live. We start by receiving him into our lives and hearts. But we still struggle to continue in receiving mode. Because of our fallen natures we still act with a sense of independence from God.

When we arise each day, we have a fresh start and a chance to make a choice. Will we receive what God wants to give us today? After His Resurrection Jesus said to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22) James writes to us, “and receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)

When I look back over my life I realize God was continually planting His Word by means of His Spirit in my heart—through Bible stories in Sunday school, through the Children’s Bible that my mother read to me, through the Word preached when my parents listened to Billy Graham. This led me to listen and respond to the message of salvation myself and I prayed to receive the Lord when I was fifteen. But I didn’t know that I had to go on receiving. I wandered far from the Lord until, by the age of 32, He had drawn me back.

Since then, the Lord has made it clear to me over and over again that I am to go on receiving from Him every day. Some days I get into receiving mode more easily than others. The more I do, the more there is peace in my heart and grace to walk in the path Jesus has set before me.

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s Love, take time to receive what the Lord has for you. Soak in His goodness and love. Be refreshed and strengthened. Be saturated in His Presence.

Have you ever felt that there was no way forward—that you were at a dead-end and there was no way out? Perhaps you feel that way now. All last night the words to a song kept coming into my mind: “God will make a way”. When I got up this morning I looked up the next lines:

“God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me.”

This song brought me back to a time in my life and ministry when any possible way forward seemed blocked. I remember listening to this song and letting the words strengthen me as I let the Holy Spirit minister to my tears and the discouragement and heaviness in my heart.

My experience is that God has always opened up a way as I have looked to Jesus and fixed the eyes of my heart on Him. Jesus said, “I am the way…” (See John 14:6.) I have found that the true way forward is always through Jesus. Other ways out turn out to be just escapism and false solutions. At times, Jesus, in His mercy, prevents the old false solutions from even appearing to work and I have come to the end of all hope in anything or anyone but Him. As I have waited, a door has opened. Jesus said, “I am the door…” (see John 10:9-11).

The song goes on to say: “He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side. With love and strength for each new day, He will make a way. He will make a way.”

God has not promised to make a way for our plans but for His plans realized in and through us. God brings us to impasses so that we can reach the end of our strength and ingenuity and experience His. The ancient Israelites experienced this when they followed God’s plan of escape from slavery in Egypt. They came to an impasse at a Sea which they could not cross with the Egyptian army bearing down on them to annihilate them or force them back into slavery. Their leader, Moses, in faith raised His staff as directed by God and the Sea parted. The people of God crossed over and then the waters returned drowning the enemies of God’s people, decisively eliminating what would have been an ongoing threat and closing the way for the Israelites to change their minds and go back.

I have experienced this myself—that when I wait for God to open the path and then walk in faith through the door He opens, God opens up whole new and expanding areas of fruitful service. God deals decisively with resistance to His will and prevents the enemy of our souls from further hindering God’s purposes.

This way of following Jesus is costly and blessed and produces fruit that lasts.

The Israelites experience at the Sea foreshadows a greater impasse and deliverance experienced by the people of God. When Jesus was executed, His followers experienced the greatest impasse of all. The only One who could deliver them had been killed. All hope was gone. Then the unimaginable happened. The One who died was bodily raised to a new and indestructible kind of Life. A door was opened to all who would believe in Him to a share in this new kind of Life now and forever. This Life involves a whole new pattern of living. As we reach each new impasse, large and small, in our lives we find that a door is opened through Jesus that, as we walk through it, proves to be a door of real hope and expanding Life.

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s Love, may you know and follow the One who is the Way forward and find renewed hope and purpose in Him.

Wherever you are, God has planted you there for a reason and a season. In your family. In your neighbourhood. In your workplace. At your seniors’ centre. At school. In the hospital or clinic. Playing sports. On the internet. God has you where you are for a purpose.

The Scriptures use the things of the natural world to reveal spiritual truths. Plants and trees and vines are images of our lives because they grow and reproduce themselves through their blossoms and fruit. Once we are joined to Christ through our faith in Him, we are enabled to reproduce His likeness through our lives as we allow His Resurrection life to flow through us. Our job is to let this happen.

There are people everywhere we go who need our prayers and our love and our trust in the Lord to help them to know that Jesus is there for them—to help them to experience the presence, comfort and strength that the Holy Spirit brings into anyone’s life who will believe in Jesus.

God has given us a powerful implement in prayer. Everywhere we are, we can pray for others. When you see a bad driver—instead of cursing them—pray that they will not hurt themselves or others. When you become aware of some tragic or difficult circumstance in someone’s life, don’t be oblivious or get overloaded, pray that the Lord will help them—especially that they will see that the Lord cares and that they will receive the gift of faith so that they can come to Jesus and believe in Him. We have something so precious to give and God will use us if we let Him.

Prayer is the most important part of this process. You don’t have to stop to pray. You can pray quietly as you go about your business. You can keep your eyes open as you drive and pray. Prayers can be short and to the point. Let the Holy Spirit give you the words.

The next thing that is needed is the willingness to speak and act. Sometimes you just have to mention something in passing. Just say “God bless” or mention something about God or church in a positive way. We don’t need to force anything on others. We just need to be ourselves. Are God and your church an important part of your life? Would you share good news if you found a good medical treatment or a good television program or a good brand of some product? If you’re going to talk about God or church, make sure it’s in a positive context and that you are genuinely friendly and engaging. People will start to make subconscious connections that overcome the stereotype of Christians as odd, judgmental, self-righteous, harsh or just plain cranky. And if there is something you get a nudge to do, do it!

Sometimes we are tempted to think that we can only bloom effectively for the Lord if we are ordained and up front on Sunday morning or at least have some certificate to show we’ve been trained for something or if we go overseas on a short or long-term mission. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You are His agent right where you are. Don’t miss the opportunities that God gives you every day!

You can make a difference in this world every day—in the lives of the people around you. Bloom where you are planted! Prayer makes a huge difference. Words and actions led by the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus have more of an impact than we realize.

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s Love, remember the words of Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” (John 15:5 New International Version, ©2011)  Alleluia, Christ is risen! May His Resurrection life flow through you.

P.S.  To all the mothers (including spiritual mothers):

Happy Mother’s Day.

Thank you for blooming where God has planted you!

Today it is estimated that two billion people saw and heard a Christian Marriage service as Kate and William wed! The first words heard were: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this Company, to join together this man and this woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate signifying unto us the mystical union between Christ and his Church.”

Marriage is the Sign given to us in Creation by God of the intimate relationship that God desires to have with His people. Our Lord Jesus died, rose again and poured out His Spirit so that we could have such an intimate and life-giving relationship with Him. Jesus is the bridegroom of His people and together we who believe in Him are His bride.

In giving instruction for Christian marriage, (Ephesians 5:31-32 NIV ©2011) the apostle Paul tells us he is ultimately addressing a much greater revelation: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

In the Book of Revelation 19:6-8, we receive a glimpse into the events which will unfold at the time of the Return of Christ: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

Fine linen, bright and clean,

was given her to wear.”

Oh that today people around the world would hear His voice and come to the Lamb who was slain for them! “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)

You may want to pray: “Jesus, I come to you just as I am. Cleanse me with your precious blood shed for me on the cross. I give my life to you. Enter into my life—my very heart. Thank you that you died and rose for me so that I can now enter into a close and life-giving relationship with you that will last forever.”

Oh that today we who are already His followers would receive this revelation of who Jesus is as our Bridegroom and would draw closer in intimacy and fidelity with Him.

You may want to pray: “Lord Jesus, draw me into a more and more intimate relationship with you. Fill me more and more with your Holy Spirit so that I can know you better. Help me, by your Spirit, to be always faithful to you just as a husband and wife are called to be faithful to each other in all the seasons of life.”

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s Love, may we know more and more the Hope to which He has called us. (See Ephesians 1:17-23.)

[Depiction by Matthias Scheits (c. 1630-1700) of Jesus being recognized by His disciples after the Resurrection in the Breaking of Bread]

On Maundy Thursday, all the ordained folk in our area got together at St. Hilda’s with Bishop Don for the yearly remembrance of the Last Supper and renewal of our ordination vows. As soon as the opening song began, I sensed the Lord had something to say to me and, as I waited, I received very clearly “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together.” (Psalm 133) I sensed that this is what the Holy Spirit wanted me to write about this week.

These words go right along with our Lord’s words and actions at the Last Supper. Jesus washed their feet saying in effect this is how I want you to treat each other: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15 ESV)

Later in the evening Jesus said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV) (By the way, the very name for this day, Maundy Thursday, comes from the Latin word ‘mandatum’ which means commandment and refers to this new commandment Jesus gave his followers: “just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.”)

Now let’s turn to our Remembrance of the Passion and Death of our Lord. There is so much that Jesus accomplished in his death on the cross on our behalf. But the key to “all the benefits of His passion” is as follows: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:9-11 ESV)

This blessed reconciliation with God is the vertical and crucial dimension of Jesus’ atoning death. But our redemption does not end there. We are reconciled to God in order that may also be reconciled to one another and to have a depth of unity and fellowship that is not possible apart from faith in Christ. This is the horizontal dimension of the cross. The apostle John puts it this way: “… if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7 ESV) And we are warned: “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother [in Christ] whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother [in Christ].” (1 John 4:20-21 ESV)

Coming into the light of who Jesus truly is and believing in Him leads to both cleansing from sin and true fellowship with other believers. Our hearts long for true intimacy with others yet our fallen natures get in the way of true fellowship. We are caught in a dilemma. We need relationships with others but are prone to both hurting and being hurt. Only through our new natures in Christ and by the inward working of the Holy Spirit can we begin to overcome this human dilemma. Like any part of our sanctification this is not easy. It is an ongoing work of God’s Holy Spirit with whom we must chose to cooperate. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26 ESV)

The blessing that God promises in this is wonderful! Hear the words of Psalm 133:

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,

life forevermore.

In heaven we will walk in the fullness and joy of this reconciled fellowship with God and with one another eternally! But eternal blessings are to begin from the moment we put our faith in Jesus. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version, ©2011)

In this Resurrection season of the Father’s love, let us look for opportunities to manifest this great benefit of Jesus’ death on the Cross and Resurrection from the dead. This benefit of our unity in Christ has been bought with the precious blood of the incarnate Son of God. Let us not take it lightly nor squander His blessings. This true and costly fellowship with one another is meant to bless us and to make us a blessing and a sign to a lost world.