The Character of Jesus

God is ageless; God always has been, is, and always will be. Yet, entering our human timeline as Jesus, He was fully human and fully God. As fully human, Jesus had chronological age while here on earth–thirty-three years.

The chronological time we think of in our day-to-day schedules or even in the timeline of our lifetimes, in the Greek is the word chronos, or sequential, chronological time.

Paul wrote in Romans 5:6: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” In Paul’s original Greek, the word for “right time” is kairos. Kairos means “the supreme moment of grace,” and it also means a call to action, or an opportune time. At kairos, the supreme moment of grace, after Jesus of Nazareth had lived as a human being for thirty-three years on this earth, God brought about a supreme moment of grace, THE moment of grace, that would also mark all of “chronos” time for every living being on this blue planet.

There are some moments that are, in fact, meant to be, divinely ordained, especially set apart. And they work, not in opposition to sequential time, but still, somehow, outside of it.

Just by being born in the place and manner that He was, the prophecies about Jesus were undeniable. King Herod committed heinous violence in the name of preserving his position of power when Jesus was around 2 years old (Matthew 2:13-16). God kept Jesus and His family safe from Herod and they successfully fled to Egypt. Before He could even talk, simply by entering the human timeline, Jesus defined the ages into what we now call Before Christ (B.C.) and After Death (A.D.).

Humanity’s timeline was defined by Jesus coming into the world.

Jesus grew up living a fairly typical Jewish life after His early years in Egypt. Back in His hometown of Nazareth He learned carpentry, the trade of His earthly father, Joseph. In the gospel of Luke, there is a story about how Jesus stayed in the temple during His visit to the Passover festival in Jerusalem. He spoke with understanding and wisdom to the teachers there at just twelve years old. Jesus’ devotion to God was demonstrated even then, listening and learning in His Father’s house (Luke 2:42-50).

Jesus is a loyal and faithful Son to His Father.

At about the age of thirty (Luke 3:23), Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan for 40 days, and passed this test, remaining steadfast in faithfulness to God. After being rejected by the people (nearly being thrown off a cliff) in Nazareth (Luke 4:28-29), He left and started developing close personal relationships with twelve particular men, His apostles, but also women, several of whom he cured of disease, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna (Luke 8:2-3). He taught them all by His living example, caring for their souls’ well-being, and speaking of the Kingdom of God. He also occasionally taught in parables that compelled them, even when they didn’t understand them.

Jesus fiercely loves His friends and followers.

Thirty-three is the age many believe Jesus was when He suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world. After just three years of ministry, healing people, gathering grain on the Sabbath, and criticizing the Jewish authorities’ contrary hearts, God brought about the kairos, the ordained moment, for Jesus to give up His life for you and for me. Jesus chose to seize the moment, not avoid it. He leaned into His role in the kairos of God out of His faithfulness and love. He was put to death as a threat to power, both according to the Jewish leadership and political (Roman) leadership.

Growing up learning about Jesus I used to think thirty-three was pretty old, but it is not long at all to have fulfilled one’s entire life purpose, let alone God’s ultimate purpose for fulfilling His covenant with humanity. In thirty-three years, God turned flesh was able to make sure that everyone, Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, had a Way through Himself to live in hope and peace with the Father. This Way remains open to us to this day!

Jesus is our self-sacrificially courageous Savior.

Though He was crucified at thirty-three years old, Jesus rose again. He is alive today, seated at the right hand of God. He is ruling and working on our behalf, interceding for us even now (Romans 8:34).

Because of Jesus, life never ends for us, even when our bodies die. “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:17). Jesus has demonstrated His characteristic loyalty, faithfulness, love, selflessness, and courage flawlessly, even being fully human. We can know Jesus is interceding for us with the Father because of who He is! He knows that we are dust, meaning we are weak and prone to sin, and yet, He has deep and active compassion for us all.

Jesus is the present-day Ruler and King of all kings.

I’ll be turning thirty-three myself tomorrow. To be this age for me means sharing something, even in some small way, with Jesus. I feel it is a beautiful kairos, a moment to be celebrated and observed in light of God’s goodness. But it is not the only one, nor the last one. It is not the last chance. It is instead yet another invitation to enter into His unending grace. We have these invitations now, and at every moment, from Him, no matter what age we are or whether it is our birthday or not.

And that, friends, is something to celebrate.

“He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6).

“He is not God of the dead, but of the living. …” (Mark 12:27).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace.

July 25, 2020July 25, 2020

Life with the King Turns One!

Sharing words with the world has been one of the scariest and most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve always loved writing, but only since last year did I get up the courage to share it for the world to read.

The idea to share a behind-the-scenes peek into Life with the King (LWTK) came from a question from one of YOU fantastic readers: Where did you start and how are you finding contentment and creativity in artistic style?

I always love hearing your ideas; thank you for reflecting with me on the first year of the Life with the King blog!

Why start writing in the first place?

Just like many of the stories I tell in this blog, it all started with an internal struggle.

I have wanted to be a writer almost as long as I’ve been able to read. The problem was, I didn’t know what I would write about. The more I learned, the more I learned how much I didn’t know, and the more I doubted that what I had to say would be either new or helpful.

I also knew that if my writing wasn’t vulnerable, it wouldn’t be great. And I wanted to write something great. I didn’t, however, want to be vulnerable. So, I put writing off.

I journaled off and on; I wrote occasional poems and plays and essays. But I never called myself a writer.

I thought about starting a blog many times in my 20s. In 2012 I experimented with a travel blog and gleefully documented one of my trips nearly every day. But when it came to writing about life and meaning, the things that interested and fascinated me the most, the task seemed just beyond my reach.

I can’t properly explain how, but I knew intuitively that I didn’t have the life experience yet to produce the depth of content that I wanted to be able to share. I was aware enough to know a well of wisdom about this topic existed, and also that I needed more years in flesh and blood reality to anchor whatever it is I’d write about in that wisdom. So I waited, telling myself I’d write something great someday, trying to make myself feel better about not really doing what I loved. I told myself for years that I just had to be patient. To trust that someday writing would find me again.

How did LWTK start?

During my 20s, reality developed. I moved twice, had 3 jobs, 3 relationships, a family crisis or two, and a personal crisis of faith. Last year, I finally had a story that I was ready to tell.

It was then that writing became something I could no longer not do. Speaking to the question of contentment, I was at a point where I just wasn’t content until I started taking steps toward sharing my story through writing. I took this as a clear signal that writing this story was at least part of what I was meant to do here on this earth.

Yes, part of me felt it was a little self-indulgent to be writing about myself and my experience directly. But again the contentment wasn’t there until I sort of held my nose and did so. After all, writers must write what they know. Artists must express what they feel and observe. That’s the only way I know of to be honest, and honest writing is all I’d ever want to read. Or offer.

Despite being completely terrified, I published my first blog post one year ago today. I told my friends, “If only one person is helped and doesn’t feel alone in their faith experience, it’ll all be worth it.”

Needless to say now, it’s been more than worth it.

It’s been a life-giving creative outlet to write my story with the Lord, sharing what He has taught me in the process of rebuilding shattered faith.

And there is so much more to share that goes beyond the scope of this blog. My hopes to write that book someday are now more alive than ever, all starting with saying “YES!” to obey that tug on my heart.

Behind the Scenes

To get a little more vulnerable still, the writing journey while mostly positive hasn’t been all rosey. There was so much passion and momentum when this began a year ago. Not only that, but I was also helped and inspired by my sister Abby, who had launched her own blog just a month before. In those first couple of weeks, we packed our laptops on our family beach trip to keep consistent with our blogging. Without an internet connection where we were staying, we simply got up early nearly every day and drove off to find air conditioned WiFi, leaving the family asleep to work on our writing together. The first few weeks were relatively easy because of the excitement around it and the forethought I had put into a handful of topics.

However writing on my own was harder. Topics eventually run out. Blogging took time, discipline, and energy that I had underestimated in the initial rush of novelty. I soon struggled to post blogs weekly, working a full time job as well as a part time job. Discouragement set in and I stopped posting for several weeks at a time, not because I wanted to stop, but because I had to. I couldn’t continue if I was associating the blog with a feeling I dreaded.

Because I love this blog. It took a great deal of time, attention, and planning to get it up and running. I have pages and pages of notes just from working out what to call it. I talked to friends about their own blogs and what they learned along the way. The online hosting process alone took me weeks to set up. I set up a post structure to keep me focused before I ever started writing content.

Just because it was tough and discouraging at times didn’t mean I was going to give up on the blog.

And that’s exactly how God feels about us.

God didn’t give up on me, even when I quit on Him. He will never give up on you either.

This time, I wasn’t going to let go of the opportunity I’d been given that easily; I had already done that whole letting-discouragement-stop-me thing in my 20s. Not anymore.

How do you feel about the blog now?

I remember telling my family this January, “I finally feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.”

Writing is my act of obedience to God. There is meaning in the sharing of Life with the King, and that makes the pain I endured apart from Him have a purpose now. Writing is indeed my way of artistic expression. Bringing truth and light to the darkness is what God does. My aim for LWTK is to bring attention to what I see God doing. We all need a reminder to look for it, myself included.

Today, I can call myself a writer. Today, I can say that God is Good.

I hope Life with the King will continue to encourage you as it begins its second year; no matter how desperate or painful your faith journey might seem, God hasn’t and won’t ever give up on you. Even when you don’t see Him or experience His presence. Even when you don’t believe Him. There is still hope, and joy is still possible.

Don’t give up. You are not alone, and there is grace even here.

“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:1-2).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, it helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace.

May 23, 2020May 23, 2020

Purpose in Patience

I can think of many instances throughout life in which I’ve been impatient. I’ve been impatient to make friends at a new school, to succeed in a new job, and to just get to the next place I’m dreaming of.

How many times have we all believed that to get somewhere, we were the ones who would have to make it happen? This is common advice. But is that actually the best advice to follow?

While I am absolutely an advocate of taking personal responsibility for our lives, I find this motivating, feel-good piece of advice dangerous because it can easily lead people farther off the path of patience and into a state of hurry, striving, and impatience. That state of impatience seems to be preferred over the alternative state of feeling dissatisfied with the present condition of our lives.

Have you ever been so eager about something you expected for your future that you tried to rush ahead before you were ready? Abraham did that too. Or maybe you spent months or years not knowing what you were supposed to do with your life? Moses could relate. Both situations are a real test of patience.

Humans are meant to progress and grow, and when we aren’t doing so, it can drive us to go too far or do things that we might later regret. At least the impatient option provides the feeling of moving forward, right? But what if there was another state to choose from–a third option?

There is purpose in the here and now, no matter how you feel.

Here and now is all we ever have, but it can be difficult to think of life that way. In fact, as humans we are uniquely wired to expect the future to always be there.

What is God teaching us in the discomfort, whether feeling impatient or stuck? It is important to pay attention to our feelings here, they are a warning sign that we are getting too far away from God’s best for us. We must learn how to avoid the temptation of rushing ahead of God’s will for our lives. When we don’t know what our purpose is, it can be easy to get filled with our own ideas about what’s best and run ahead. Often in the wrong direction entirely.

To change this cycle, to factor God’s purpose into the equation, requires a shift in belief that goes against the world’s view:

Our life is not something that “we make happen,” but instead something that God makes happen.

Some of us have already been given a glimpse as to what that life is going to look like in the future, and some of us don’t know until after we’ve already gotten started. But God is preparing us all for a life of deep meaning and purpose, doing the work He has uniquely designed for us. He’ll lead us to do incredible work in His name that will last to the New Earth.

But are we patient enough to wait for His timing for this beautiful vision? Patient enough to wait for our maturity to catch up with a life that goes beyond our biggest dreams? Thinking back on my own life and how many times God has been willing to accept me back after running ahead of His will simply baffles me. God is patient, even when we aren’t.

The apostle Peter provides insight into the virtue of patience as a characteristic of God: “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

No matter where we are, impulsive or directionless, God is patient with us.

We can take reassurance in that. He knows it takes time to grow. He knows we need time to mature and uncover our gifts and develop our strengths. When we are ready, no earlier and no later, but at exactly the right moment, God will then make a way for the purpose He has for us. We don’t have to strive to make this happen ourselves. In fact, even trying distracts us from the here and now moment that is meant to serve our greater purpose.

Each and every one of us is called to the same initial purpose: to repent. For a discussion on repentance, click here. We need only to be willing. To repent opens doors of possibility. God has plans for our lives after repentance, plans that will go beyond everything we could ask for or imagine. In His great mercy, God is patient with us, allowing us the time we need to repent, grow, and meet His call.

God’s patience is a sign of salvation! (2 Peter 3:15).

“Okay that sounds great,” you might be thinking, “God’s patience is overwhelmingly merciful and loving, but real talk, how can I myself be patient right here and now when here and now is so tough?” I hear you. How can we develop this fruit of the Spirit?

Colossians 3 says that in Christ we have been brought to fullness, that God made you alive in Christ, and canceled our condemnation. This frees us to live a life of patience. Because God has given abundant patience to us, we in turn are equipped by Him to be patient with how our lives unfold, with ourselves, and with others. The key is keeping our eyes fixed on Him and not on our pain. We must intentionally stay inspired by Him and in tune with the ways He is working.

We must not run ahead, but walk alongside Him.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” (Colossians 3:12).

Being chosen by God and loved by Him gives us every reason to be patient! We have no need to hurry through our lives any longer. We no longer have to be subject to the constant striving for more in this world, but instead to keep pace with God.

The apostle Paul wrote, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). We are to have grace and show patience toward people when they show their humanity, their weaknesses. And sometimes, maybe even most of the time, we’ll need to show patience to ourselves too.

Paul was one of the most patient people, maybe ever. Imprisoned for long periods, he patiently waited out his sentence. He wrote, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). We see in Paul’s life:

Faith leads to passionate patience.

It all starts with the faith and repentance of the sinner; that’s every one of us, me and you. We must die to this world and its toxic values to be resurrected in Christ. The resurrection of our souls in Christ gives way to a life in which God is in control, a life in which we are transformed into a new creation, and held in perfect patience as we walk beside Him.

If something is holding you back from stepping into the patience that God freely gives us all in Christ, please reach out, I’d love to pray for you.

It’s okay to stop trying to earn what God has already given us.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,” (2 Timothy 2:24).

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” (Galatians 5:22).

Further suggested reading:

Garden City by John Mark Comer

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

To Hell with the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke

January 8, 2020January 9, 2020

Royal Identity

Happy 2020! I’m so excited to finally dive into the topic of identity. Understanding my identity and identity as God defines it changed everything for me in 2015. Identity was the key to regaining faith in God after I had lost every last drop of it. I used to define myself in all kinds of ways–by how good I was at my job, how I saw myself, how others saw me, what I knew and the kinds of questions I asked, the places I’d been . . . you get the idea. I’d also “try on” new identities when I found them to see if they’d fit. Nothing ever satisfied for long. It wasn’t until I realized I didn’t actually understand God or who He really is or the truth about why He made humans to begin with. Once I discovered that for myself in my own time, my identity became much more clear. Did you know that royalty is in our blood? (Genesis 1:26, 1:28). I certainly didn’t. But it’s True!

God made humans to rule the Earth.

We all have a deep-seated desire to rule, to bring order, to make something out of the world and our place in it. That’s not by accident. In John Mark Comer’s book Garden City, he unpacks this idea that we were always meant to reign, to work, make culture, build cities, and help people and animals thrive. We are actually designed as rulers of the Earth–we are kings and queens by birth.

We were never meant to die or leave this Earth but instead to rule it, reign over it, and enjoy it. Comer writes that it’s in our blood to desire greatness, because that’s who we really are. We descend from kings and queens, and we are designed to be kings and queens. How often do we live like we believe that?

You don’t have to strive to become somebody because you already ARE somebody.

Awareness of my sin blinded me to this identity for myself, and sometimes still does. I used to believe that if God was real, He had made me a sinner. From a very young age I recognized the pain I caused to myself and others and resented it and myself for it. In other words, I believed it was God’s fault that I was born “bad,” so why would I want to try to be anything better than I was? Shouldn’t I just embrace who I am, push others to do the same, and leave it at that? After all, that’s what Western culture fights for and tells us we should fight for too. Why would I want or need forgiveness from God like Christianity teaches if I couldn’t help but to be “bad” in the first place? Seemed pretty unfair to me. How could a good God send anyone to hell if He set us up to fail by making us sinful? But that’s a lie I believed. The truth is that God made us to rule.

Discovering and knowing that God didn’t set us up to fail was everything for me.

I knew there was a disconnect in holding this belief but no answers made sense to me for years. Eventually I asked the question, “Do I really know who God is?” The answer was a resounding no. Instead of a God of mixed and confusing messages, I slowly came to know God as the Creator of a beautiful Earth and the Creator of humans to rule over it, take care of it, and thrive. I came to know God as a loving, holy Father who always intended the best for us, and who created us good, in His Good image, to represent Him on Earth. I came to know God as the good, loving, merciful, faithful, sacrificial, kind, and patient God He is. Understanding Him not as the condemner to hell but as the Savior of souls that have wandered away from God’s design, longing for rest and peace. Instead of focusing on what confusion my pain caused, my thinking started to transform when focusing on the loving heart of God and His original intentions for us.

Knowing God’s love, all the pain, sin, and shame of my past just doesn’t matter anymore.

I mean, it still really sucks that we can’t rule as God originally designed. While royalty is in our DNA, sin crept into our hearts at the Fall and has been around ever since. In other words, we messed up our chance to rule the world as our natures predispose us to do. Instead, we were given a second chance by God in the form of a choice. That’s where the best news comes in. God allows us to choose whether or not to submit to His authority to get back to His design. Jesus, God in the flesh, took on our sin by His amazing grace and He now rules the Earth in our place, because we could not. Now, we must let God take care of the world. We can no longer rule the Earth on our own because sin entered into the world and our egos twisted the desire to rule for common good into the desire to rule for personal glory. But we may reign with Jesus over the Earth for all eternity as God’s design intended. All He asks is to trust in Him.

The end of the story is hopeful! Nothing could ever stop God’s design, it will come about regardless of human decisions. But God gives us the chance to reenter His design through believing in Jesus’ sacrifice covering the debt of sin we are responsible for. God in the flesh, Jesus, came to save our souls from separation from God. He fulfilled the human’s purpose to rule the world where Adam and Eve could not rule.

We are kings and queens because the King of all made it so. Not because of anything we’ve done, not because we deserved it, but because of the grace of the one True King.

Sometimes it takes hitting a low point like I did to realize there’s more to life than being born, working, maybe marrying or procreating, and definitely dying. There’s not only pain. Love is here. No amount of sin could wipe it out. Love is the reason you are here, and God doesn’t leave you alone in the mess of pain and suffering. He loved us so much He was willing to do anything to get us out of the mess and cycle of destruction we inherited from our ancestors, the human kings and queens of old. He doesn’t just show us kindness once in a while, when things in life seem to be going well, He doesn’t only think about us when we think about Him or pray to Him. He is kind and good to us all the time. He thinks about us always, wanting the best for us. Jesus provided the Way for us to get out of the mess of sin that distracts, destroys, and deceives us and allows us to live in the peace and joy of knowing Him and following His Way, his plan for your identity.

We were not made to suffer and die. We were made to rule.

You have purpose. You have value. You ARE somebody. You are precious, valued, and loved beyond what you or I or any human being can comprehend.

The King of kings has given us an identity, a name, a purpose that no doubt or sin can ever erase.

May we live as the kings and queens God made us to be, now and for eternity.

Further suggested reading: Garden City by John Mark Comer