Fruits of the Spirit | Faithful Through It All

Like a tender Bridegroom He longs for us, 
His church,
To beckon his call.
He desires to caress us with his love,
And envelope us with His warm embrace.
He is true to His promises,
He fulfills them all.
When we make our case,
He lends a loving ear.
He leans in to hear our cry.
He is faithful through it all.
Like a beloved Father He cares for us.
He desires to fulfill our every need.
He wipes away every tear that falls. 
He plants and sows the seed.
Deep down in our hearts,
We heed the call.
His beautiful Bride
Will never again fall.
As He redeems his blessed Body.  
We abide in his faithful love.

I wrote this psalm while pondering the promise and symbol of the rainbow. This picture expresses my trust and hope in The LORD, my Rock and firm foundation. In The Message Bible, by Eugene Perterson, he expounds in Hebrews 11:1-2 that “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, it set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.”

He will remove every man-made obstacle and help us overcome every hurdle. He has placed His faith in those that trust in Him, in those that are called according to his purposes. We can have confidence in the LORD. In turn, He enables us to dwell in this land and securely rest in His faithfulness no matter what trials or tribulations come our way. Like Job, when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will grant us the desires of our heart as we commit our ways to Him and patiently wait and lean on His fatherly goodness (Psalm 37).

He is the Loyal Gardener and the hearty vine. As we are pruned and sanctified to mirror His likeness and characteristics, He delights to remain in us. We are able to bear the spiritual fruit of faithfulness because of His character and truth. As his disciples we are his branches. Apart from Him we can do nothing. If we abide in Him, and He in us, then whatever we (and the Holy Spirit) desire, will be done for us, and the Father will be glorified through His good gifts, that He bestows on His children. We complete His joy when we are faithful and keep our promises, His commandments, and teachings. He delights in us as His good children. We are called to unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as He does for His Body. He calls us His friends and reveals to us His great mysteries. He has chosen us, appointed us, and purposely planted us to go and bear good fruit; and keep on bearing it daily, in the small and mundane and grand ways. We are His bond servants as we choose to remain in his service. As his beloved bride, we are to do all that He has commanded us in His word and prompted us to do through his Spirit (John 15:1-17).

Proverbs 3:3-6 explains how you should bind His loyalty around your neck. Let his mercy, kindness, truth and love define you. Write His promises on the tablet of your heart. Rely confidently on the Lord and do not lean on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge Him. Grow to recognize His promptings, and He will make your paths straight and smooth.

The LORD, the Great I am, My Great Physician, and Good Counselor abounds in constant fatherly dedication, and lavishes on me His agape love. The Holy Spirit, almighty, omnipotent, and omnipresent creator, has fashioned me in the depths of my soul. He daily sustains me with every inhalation, exhalation, and guides my thoughts and feelings. He protects my heart and satisfies my desires, grumbling hunger pains, and quenches my parched mouth. In my dry deserts and low valleys He is my compass, protector, and guide. Because of His sustaining presence in my life and His spirit dwelling inside me, my soul can stir up strong and empowering qualities that enable me to overflow with faithful goodness, peace, patience, joy, gentleness, meekness, love, mercy, grace, generosity, and self-control. As a Registered Nurse, my job requires me to draw from this well of attributes daily. Each morning I try to resonate my soul with The Spirit, so that I might be able to show; compassion, sympathy, empathy, and lend a healing hand, and or a listening ear. Throughout the day I can sense His power and He grants me the wise words and enables me to counsel the ill and hurting individual or families at any given moment. I am in constant conversation through prayer with God throughout the day and the Holy Spirit groans on my behalf.

We were fashioned in His handiwork and made alive in His Spirit. We all fail at times and live in our passions of the flesh, and are governed by our own selfish desires: But, He has made us new. Because of Christ's fulfillment of the prophecies, and new covenant; We are made alive, through His grace, undeserved favor, and mercy. He raises us up and seats His disciples/followers in the heavenly places; So that, in the ages to come, He might clearly show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches and redeeming kindness towards His creation through Christ Jesus’s triumph over death, return and restoration of the New Earth, and eternal reign to come. For it is through His remarkable compassion and favor that He has drawn us to himself and bestowed on us the gracious gift of salvation, because of Christ’s great sacrifice. Our inheritance cannot be earned by our good works or keeping all the rules. Instead He has fashioned us, as his workmanship and created us in Christ Jesus, birthing us from above and spiritually transforming and renewing our minds, hearts and will, which He has prepared in advance for us to walk in and empowers us to chose moment by moment (Ephesians 2:1-10)

We can have ultimate confidence, steadfast reliance and absolute trust in His Son. We are sufficiently qualified to fulfill His plan. We are His witnesses and He has bestowed on us His glory, and splendor to proclaim His very good news. We are able to act and speak in courage, boldly unveiling His tender heart and redeeming story and plan for mankind. He is faithful through EVERY circumstance and miniscule detail. He delights to hear our every request and loves to give good gifts to His children. We are able to keep our word, and let our yes be yes and our no be no. When we are true to our word, He calls us blessed, spiritually mature, morally courageous, and makers of peace. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We cannot remain hidden. He has designed us to glorify His faithful Father and let our light shine before men in a way that they may see our good deeds and moral excellence, and recognize, glorify, magnify, worship, and honor our Father. Through him, we are able to fulfill our vows to His people and to the LORD, not making meaningless oaths (Matthew 5). I urge you to be brave and courageous and lean fully on the Spirit in you, trusting him to hide you in the shadow of His wings, let you soar like an eagle and run this race with endurance.

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About the Author

Mollie is recently married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Cycles | Turn Turn Turn

I love the fall! As the summer sun is now setting earlier and the warm mornings are replaced by the brisk cool air, I am moved to thank the Lord for the shifting cycles of the seasons. The fall season for our family is full of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and an abundance of meaningful family time together. For me, fall is also a time of retrospection. Sometimes, that reflection is bittersweet as I consider all that has shifted and changed over the years; the highs and lows and the wins and losses. Life itself is a continual cycle.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 references these cycles and sets the tone of expectation. Life has cycles and seasons; times that we will experience, enjoy, and in some cases, endure. Life is intricately woven with cycles of change as its center strand. I’m sure that all of you relate and perhaps some of you, like me, reluctantly surrender to that truth. The only thing consistent about change is that it’s inevitable.

In the midst of uncertainty (my pet word for life itself), I find it imperative to have a fortress, a terra firma, a solid ground to stand upon, when the inevitable occurs. In these seasons, I turn to the truth of Lamentations 3:22-24, written by Jeremiah. The previous verses lay out the context of Jeremiah’s “uncertainty.” He was a personal witness to the atrocities of war, of sin, of judgment; as his own nation turned from God to false prophets. He witnessed the darkness of tragedy (Jeremiah 3:2). He experienced the captivity and heaviness of grief (Jeremiah 3:7). He felt the bitterness of the hardship of his people being taken captive by their enemies (Jeremiah 3:15). Jeremiah was branded by uncertainty. It seared him, scarred him, deeply disturbed him. But in the midst of this intimate confession of how the uncertainty of life has marked him, he dares to hope.

Lamentations 3:21-23 (NLT)
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

May this be our hope as well. As the seasons and cycles of life turn, turn, turn, may we find God’s faithfulness, his unchanging love, his fresh mercies, to be our stalwart; our faithful companion. And may we trust him, like David in Psalm 23, to lead us through life’s hills and valleys to places of anointing and rejoicing. No matter which cycle life is throwing at you today, dare to hope in God’s fresh, unfailing love and faithfulness for you. He will lead you faithfully through it to the other side!

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About the Author

Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and four kids. He loves Jesus, art, music, and poetry. He currently works as the Manager of Learning Technology Solutions for Los Angeles Pacific University and is passionate about adventuring outdoors.

Adventuring with God | The Pilgrim Journey

I think one of the hardest things I ever did in my life was move from Chico, California, a small university town that I loved, to live with a relative in Eugene, Oregon. Some people might consider a move out of state after college to be a welcome adventure, but I desperately did not want to go. In hindsight, I clearly see the Lord was calling me out of a virtual prison with my spiritual life at stake. This dramatic leap of faith was the true start of my committed spiritual journey with Christ.

The hard part for me was moving away from my serious boyfriend. I naively thought I would temporarily move to a bigger city to get more job experience and maintain the long-distance relationship until I could move back to Chico. It wasn’t until I was living in Eugene for a while that I learned much of Oregon was in a deep recession with high levels of job loss, in part due to a housing crash and restrictions applied to the timber industry. In the early 1980’s, jobs were very hard to come by, and Eugene’s relatively small advertising market supported a limited amount of graphic design jobs.

As part of an agreement with my relative to live rent-free until I could get a job, we attended church together at Eugene Faith Center. This was not easy, because although I accepted Christ years before as a High School freshman, the pull to return to my non-Christian boyfriend warred against my growing desire for more of Christ’s healing peace and love in my life.

In less than a year, the predictable thing happened; my long-distance relationship ended abruptly. My boyfriend and I broke up over the phone when I realized he was dating someone else and failed to tell me. I hit rock bottom emotionally. I had a job by then, but I hated everything about Eugene. And most of all, I missed my lifetime collection of friends and extended family in northern California. Moving back with my parents in Sacramento was not an option, so I stayed in Eugene.

Around this time, I started reading a book titled “Hinds Feet on High Places”. It is an allegorical story of a disabled orphan named Much-Afraid who has difficulty walking and talking. Still, she is determined to make a long and possibly dangerous journey away from her foster home with the Fearing Family in the Valley of Humiliation. She works for the Chief Shepherd, and at his invitation, she longs to live with him in his mountain “High Places” of unconditional love, joy, and peace. After her escape from her loveless home environment, the Shepherd starts Much-Afraid off along a path He gives her. The path takes the main character through places with symbolic names such as the Forest of Tribulation, the Valley of Loss, the Furnace of Egypt, and the Precipice of Injury.

I read the “Furnace” chapter repeatedly which described Much-Afraid’s emotional struggles while traveling through the barren desert, with its burning wind and stinging sand. I felt an unexpected comfort when reading these pages and closely identified with this experience. Much-Afraid met the Shepherd in the desert and learned important lessons there. The story gave me an example of how to not hate the desert journey, but instead let it teach me to focus on following the path before me to Christ.

My first years in Eugene led me through a figurative desert in which I felt like a foreigner and fought feelings of isolation. I am most comfortable in the company of people-friends or strangers. In my youth, time alone was a trial to be endured. But for a time, God placed me in His desert crucible and it was completely empty and very quiet. Initially, the deafening silence shouted at me, calling my constant attention to the emotional pain I felt. As I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, by living daily life, I was motivated to walk out of that barren desert. I realized that my feelings of isolation were a lie because the truth is that my good Shepherd is as close to me as my breath and I only need to call out and He is there to comfort and guide me. I gained momentum in my walk on the path, and I finally “heard” the quiet and felt its calming power. I realized Christ had plucked me out of a harsh and danger-filled existence. I was now safe in the desert because He was with me. And Jesus gave me His spirit of peace and completeness, Shalom, which destroys chaos.

Ironically, the desert experience that I hated became my place of protection. I could hear Christ’s voice there without the distracting and confusing opinions of friends and family. Each day, Christ translated the lies of my emotional injuries from work and family arguments into His healing truths. And most importantly I began to learn to filter my thoughts and feelings through scripture instead of swallowing the raw lies. It spared me a lot of emotional indigestion.

Years later, at a Ladies’ Retreat sponsored by my church, the keynote speaker, Jody, was a highly experienced teacher and Biblical counselor. As an exercise, we split into groups and were assigned to write our life story in 5 chapters. Each chapter described a different set of life events and the corresponding lessons we learned.

I reviewed my life and shared with the group that I had experienced the majority of the important life-shaping events and lessons by myself. And these lessons usually involved a physical or figurative journey away from what I was comfortable or familiar with. I explained that at first, I went through the experiences alone, out of desperation, and as a last resort. But I learned that God met me during those times and blessed my efforts abundantly. He was always with me, guiding me, regardless of what I saw and felt.

With knowing eyes reflecting a deep, personal knowledge of God’s faithfulness, Jody thoughtfully said: “Ah, the life of a pilgrim.” My immediate thought to myself was ‘But I don’t want to be a pilgrim!’ My silent response made me chuckle, but it was true. I left my home and was willing to wander through an uncomfortable and lonely desert because I ached for a better life on the other side. The home I grew up in was not an emotionally safe place, and the lies I heard there preyed on my thoughts. I now see that Christ called me to come out of the hostile environment I lived in for so long. And I followed Him because I craved His unconditional love. My pilgrimage towards Jesus became my healing journey. I am now, so very thankful Christ led me through His desert because I got to know more of His true character there.

At the end of the book, the character Much-Afraid reached the High Places to live with Christ. Through her journey, she was transformed in body and spirit and received the new name Grace and Glory. She traveled back to the valley with the Shepherd to share Christ’s good news with those she left behind and free them also.

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About the Author

Sara has attended CitySalt Church since 2004, the year it was founded. She studied Journalism, wrote for her college newspaper, and is a member of Oregon Christian Writers. Sara also enjoys singing hymns with friends: “there is a sermon in every hymn waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.”