Back to Basics

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ~ Revelation 22:2

As another month draws to a close, I realize how quickly life passes us by as adults. As children time seems to crawl. We long to be grown up and seen as responsible. Now as we will soon be celebrating our second child’s graduation from high school, I am aware that the speed of time’s passing is a blur. Like the dotted line on a highway, each day passes by with a flash.

Spring is a season where we often renew efforts to physical fitness trying to make good on our New Year resolutions. We join our neighbors in yard work and other outside activities. It is a time of renewal and rebirth. How do we renew ourselves? How do we renew our relationships?

For Michele and me renewal comes in many forms. We date. We go out to a restaurant and a movie like we have since our first days together. We hold hands and tell each other, “I love you.” We may take a walk around the neighborhood, the park or take a ride on the motorcycle. But these events are often just a going through the motions.

What truly renews is our bedrock commitment to each other in holy wedlock. We are locked into this marriage. We both delight in the knowledge that God made us for each other. We fit like two pieces of a puzzle. Her heart joined to mine makes us whole. We remember fondly how we discussed marriage during our courtship. We both felt that God meant for us to be together forever. That belief has kept us in covenant even when we had a hard time keeping our vows.

Part of renewal is remembrance, not only of a romantic past, but of God’s promise of a glorious future. Even though time seems to rush by too quickly, there is a point on the horizon to which we are moving. It is the kingdom of God fully realized. Michele and I live out our faith and marriage with this destiny in mind. Our marriage is not based on some past romance, but on the belief that our marriage are in God’s hands. He shapes us according to His will and deepens our love for one another. He is making us each day more and more fit for life together in the kingdom of God.

Our hope in the new Jerusalem is the prime example of our hope in all of God’s promises which include a continual deepening of love and relatedness as He makes us into one flesh. The truer our love for God and each other, the more the Kingdom of God is a reality in our homes and with others.

Pray together that this spring will be a time of renewal in your marriage. Remember your wedding day. Look at the photos or the video of your wedding ceremony. This was a day you began this journey. Remember God’s promise for a great future together. Keep close to one another and recommit to this hand in hand, heart in heart walk into God’s bright future.

Renewal Through Remembering

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ~ Revelation 22:2

Spring is a season where we often renew efforts to physical fitness trying to make good on our New Year resolutions. We join our neighbors in yard work and other outside activities. It is a time of renewal and rebirth. How do we renew ourselves? How do we renew our relationships?

For Michele and me renewal comes in many forms. We date. We go out to a restaurant and a movie like we have since our first days together. We hold hands and tell each other, “I love you.” We may take a walk around the neighborhood, the park or take a ride on the motorcycle. But these events are often just a going through the motions.

What truly renews is our bedrock commitment to each other in holy wedlock. We are locked into this marriage. We both delight in the knowledge that God made us for each other. We fit like two pieces of a puzzle. Her heart joined to mine makes us whole. We remember fondly how we discussed marriage during our courtship. We both felt that God meant for us to be together forever. That belief has kept us in covenant even when we had a hard time keeping our vows.

Part of renewal is remembrance, not simply of romantic beginnings, but of God’s promise for a glorious future. Even though time seems to rush by too quickly, there is a point on the horizon to which we are moving. It is the kingdom of God fully realized. Michele and I live out our faith and marriage with this destiny in mind. Our marriage is not based on some past romance, but on the belief that our marriage is in God’s hands. He shapes us according to His will and deepens our love for one another. He is making us each day more and more fit for life together in the kingdom of God.

Our hope in the new Jerusalem is the prime example of our hope in all of God’s promises which include a continual deepening of love and relatedness as He makes us into one flesh. The truer our love for God and each other, the more the Kingdom of God is a reality in our homes and with others.

Pray together that this spring will be a time of renewal in your marriage. Remember your wedding day. Look at the photos or the video of your wedding ceremony. This was a day you began this journey. Remember God’s promise for a great future together. Keep close to one another and recommit to this hand in hand, heart in heart walk into God’s bright future.

Rich Wounds

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” ~ John 20:27a

During Holy Week I was listening to music from my college years and found myself overwhelmed with a flood of painful memories. I experienced guilt, shame, rejection and deep sadness. As I wrestled with these old wounds, it suddenly occurred to me that as Our Lord revealed His wounds to His disciples after he had suffered the cross and risen from the dead.

Often we think of the faithful departed as being disembodied spirits, vapors who show no deformity. This idea is present in the Star Wars first trilogy. In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) appears to his son Luke in a vision at the end of the film. If you know the film Darth Vader was horribly deformed in life having burned on a volcanic planet after his defeat in a battle against his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet in his appearance to Luke through the force, Anakin shows no sign of the scars. Instead he appears whole and smiling. In the special addition of the film, the younger version of Anakin appears, handsome, viral and complete.

The resurrected Christ, however, bears His scars. He is alive, a new creation, the first born of the dead…and yet Jesus still has the scars from his earthly suffering. Why? Why would God not recreate a whole and unblemished body?

The classic hymn Crown Him With Many Crowns has these words in the text:

Crown Him the Lord of love,Behold His hands and side,

Rich wounds, yet visible above, In beauty glorified.

Crown Him the Lord of life, Who triumphed o'er the grave,

Who rose victorious to the strife For those He came to save.

In some sense the wounds of Christ, the Resurrected One, remind us of His suffering which brought us victory over sin and death and all evil. His death and resurrection are complete and total victory. And as Peter quoted Isaiah, “by His wounds you have been healed.”
Old wounds can surface in our relationships and cause us to feel paralyzed and out of control. We do and say things we regret because of the past pain that has come into our present.

How might you find victory and healing knowing that Christ bears rich wounds that have set you free?

Discuss with your spouse.

If you need to ask forgiveness for past abuses, do so. Trust your spouse with your old wounds and together before Christ pray for healing.