The Love Initiator

Before we arrived at Clydehurst Christian Camp, I was oblivious to what would take place. I had two goals going into the week. The first was to look for God everywhere and in everything that I did. The second was to rest. After the chapel I was utterly blown away!

The morning series was about how the cross of Jesus Christ affects our everyday relationships. Every morning Jerry presented from the Scriptures an aspect of Jesus’ character that we see at the cross and how that should affect how we treat others.

The first morning Jerry described the love of the cross from a most familiar passage, John 3:16. Walking out of that chapel session, I almost believed I had never heard John 3:16 before. He carefully picked open the familiar verse revealing glimpse after glimpse of God’s love for us.

He started with, “For God so loved the world…” I never realized how much that phrase alone means! God, who is holy, perfect in righteousness, initiated love with the world, which was dead, filthy, and helpless in sin. That’s incredible!

Thoughts raced through my mind. Why would this beautiful and awesome God even look at something as unlovely as me? But He did! He looked at me with love! Such love that he sacrificed His own Son to free me from my slavery to sin and give me a new life!


Jerry helped us to see that we did not deserve this love at all. Steeped in sin, we were nothing – worthless. Yet God initiated love toward us, not because of who we were, but because of who He is. God is a love initiator! It’s his very nature.

Lately I’ve been reading in Ephesians. This is what Paul says about the matter:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live…Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:1; 3-4)

From an earlier post, the theological definition of grace is unmerited favor. Our salvation is the result of God looking on us favorably, in love, when we could do nothing to earn or deserve it. He is a love initiator!

Jerry ended with a challenge from the apostle Paul:

“Be imitators of God…as dearly loved children…and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:1-2).

I was challenged. I know the people in my life that I have difficulty loving. Suddenly it seemed easier; before the cross, I see that I was a very unlovely person, yet Christ initiated love to me. Now with the love He gives to me, I need to imitate Him and initiate love towards others, even those who are hard to love or don’t return that love.

The Big God

I spent the past week in Montana with my family. We went to Clydehurst Christian Ranch Camp for family camp in the mountains. What an awesome week! One of the highlights of the week was a hike that is called Steeple Rock.

Steeple Rock is the most difficult hike they run at the camp. I had heard alot about it from my Dad, but I had no idea what I was in for until I experienced it.

We set out right from "Old Faceful", the water fountain in the middle of the camp grounds, toward the mountains. The first leg of the hike was pretty easy, up a trail that horses routinely travelled on, until we reached a landmark called "Big Rock". It's called Big Rock because it's just a big rock on the ground :), about the size of a camper. From Big Rock we proceded up the mountain. Almost immediately, the trail got quite difficult. We were now trudging uphill at about a 60 degree incline through a series of swithbacks. We winded back and forth back and forth huffing and puffing, wheezing and coughing for a pretty long time...My calf muscles were burning and my lungs were dying. And the higher we got, the thinner the air got.

It was at this point in the hike that a friend commented to me: Can you imagine what it would have been like for Jesus to have hiked up Golgotha exhausted, beaten to a pulp, bleeding profusely, carrying the cross, and preparing himself to have the burden of the sin of the whole world heaped on his shoulders? That was a special moment for me. I caught another glimpse of God's love for me there, knowing that Jesus once hiked up the most difficult mountain path for me.

Eventually we reached the end of the switchbacks. The ground leveled out at a small place in the mountain where a helipad was constructed out of logs. We stopped there for a long break, gulping down the water and munching fresh fruit. When we were ready we continued on up to Steeple Rock. The next leg was much easier with a lot less incline through the forest on the side of the mountain. Not too long later we encountered the remains of a small log cabin by a stream. Hard to imagine someone used to live way up there at about 7000 feet!

Soon after we broke out of the forest onto this very steep incline of fallen rocks. Eventually we got past the uphill fallen rock field to plain dirt again but this time the incline was about 75 degrees. Basically, we had to clutch at tree roots and plants sticking out of the side of the mountain to continue up.

The very end of the hike was simply climbing up onto the rock called Steeple. It juts out of the mountain at 7700 feet in the air. We all clambered up there ontop of the rock, and I made my way to the very edge of the cliff.

The view was incredible. The mountains of the valley soared around me even at 7700 feet. On the other side of the valley I could see a snow capped mountain. The camp was small enough in the valley from where I stood on the rock to block it out with an outstretched hand. At that distance it was so small that it was impossible to see people with the naked eye. The view was incredible. Again and again my eyes were drawn to the mountains around, huge magnificent masses of earth. I have never felt so small in my life... I was completely awestruck at the beauty and grandeur of God's creation. I felt like a speck of dust in the eyes of an Almighty God. And to think that God loves me the way He does when I am so small and insignificant. Incredible.

I was reminded of an old rock song from my Dad's tape collection. The main line of the song was, "My God's a Big God, he walks among the mountains..." When I realize how big God really is, His love for me means so much more to me. For the first time in my life I had a real mountain path to climb, where I met God, just like Moses, in a way I never had before.

More to come on my experience in Montana soon! May you continue to seek Him with all your heart!

The Awesome God

The other day, I was reading in Ecclesiastes for my time with God when I came across this:

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know what they do wrong.

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words...Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God" (Ecc. 5:1-3; 7).


I am still feeling challenged by this several days later. How do I approach God when I go to spend time with Him? Do I treat Him like an emergency service, only ever telling Him what I need? Do I do all the talking in my time with Him, or do I leave room for Him to speak to me by listening? Do I spend some of my time with Him just standing in awe of who He is and worshiping Him?

More than anything this passage reminds me not to be self-centered or ritualistic in my time with God. He is worthy of my worship. He also doesn't want my time with Him to be a meaningless ritual; rather He desires a dynamic relationship with me everyday (Jn. 17:3). Time in His presence should always be "two-way".

"Shipwreck"

Lately I've been singing this song a lot to God in my time with Him. What a beautiful song of dependency, brokenness, and humility.

I built a fortress
With a hundred thousand faces
I'll keep it safe
With a hundred thousand more
But these masks are wearing thin
As You draw me in

I spent my time
On the empty and the fleeting
I spent my life
On much less than I'd dreamed
But I'm reaching out to you
To make me new


'Cause I am just a beggar here at Your door
I am just a shipwreck here on Your shore
I come empty handed
Ready to see
Your life in me changing who I've been
To who I need to be


You tell me my story
As You sift between the pages
I feel redemption
In the space between each turn

Could You take me in Your arms
And tell it just once more
Could You take me in Your arms
And tell it just once more

Song written by Starfield

The Majestic God

Anxiety chewed away at my mind as I lay in bed, only half asleep. I awoke to the sound of a muffled crash. What was that??? I looked at my clock. The bright green numbers shone faithfully telling me it was 9:27AM. Must have been thunder, I thought. I listened closely in the dark silence of my basement for the pitter patter of raindrops against the roof. Yup, it was raining. There must be a thunderstorm outside, I thought.

I jumped out of bed, dressed, and ran up the stairs. Walking out on to my drive way in bare feet, I could feel the rain slowly and steadily falling on me. As I watched the sky, the dark gray clouds flashed again and again; the low rumble of thunder echoed slowly behind.

All of a sudden a glorious fork of lighting split across the sky right above me. Shortly after a loud gunshot of thunder ripped the heavens open in reply. I listened and watched in awe of the majesty of our God. Who is like Him?

Shortly after the storm faded away, but the loud peal of thunder still resonates in my memory, declaring God's majesty. The lighting still flashes in my mind declaring His glory. It was a beautiful start to my Saturday morning.

The Creator God

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Rom 1:20).

I love the beauty in the world God made. I love how His world declares His creativity and His majesty! Both His World and His Word so "clearly" reveal who He is. With no excuse how will we respond to His revelation?

Sunrise was photographed by Allesha Ens. Thanks Allesha for capturing such an amazing glimpse of God for us.

Someone On Fire For God

This is my good friend Chris Meyer. I met him at Peace River Bible Institute this last school year. When I first discovered that he was young in the faith, I was surprised because he was so sold out to God and His plan. Just recently he started a blog. The first post is amazing. It's loaded with a heart and passion for God. If you want to see someone burning alive for the Most High, check out his blog:

Faithful When We Are Faithless

Faith: Our Response To The Faithful God

As my last semester at school came to a close I breathed a sigh of relief. I had finally made it, all pressure was off and it was time to relax. In a couple days I would be headed home for Regina.

[Two days later]

Oh boys! I sat there in my prof’s office dumbfounded. I was sure that this girl had understood my intentions, just to hang out as friends. After all, we had been friends all year, and to my knowledge I hadn't done anything that would have led her to believe that I was interested in pursuing a relationship with her.

The previous day she and I went for ice cream. I thought it was a fun time. Here I sat across from my prof as he told me about my ice cream run with my friend and the words that I had said to her. Eeeww. That was a gross feeling. From what I figured out, she had gone to the Dean of Women and complained that I had confused her with my intentions and with some of the things I shared with her on our ice cream run.

Aaack! I panicked! My prof encouraged me to pray about it and see if I needed to talk to her. Unfortunately, I skipped the praying part and tried to get in contact with her right away. So she and I fought through the grossest and most awkward conversation I’ve ever had in my life. I had an awful time finding the words to say, and it left the two of us on a really poor note for the end of the school year.

As I read the story of king Hezekiah this last weekend in my devotions I very quickly realized what I had done wrong.

Unlike most of the kings before him, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Let’s take a quick look at the big picture before I show you what jumped out at me.

The Big Picture

Hezekiah is reigning as king of Judah. All of a sudden, the Assyrian army shows up on Jerusalem’s doorstep. The commander of the army starts threatening Hezekiah and the people. He says:

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ...How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand” (2 Kings 18:32; 35)?

Oh boys…I know what I would do if the largest army in the known world showed up in my home city asking me to surrender. The small city of Jerusalem couldn’t have stood a chance against the Assyrians who had already hauled off all of Israel (the northern kingdom) into exile and conquered several of the surrounding nations. I would have jumped in my chariot and ran for my life to Egypt!

The Small Picture

What does Hezekiah do? He runs to the Lord:

“Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God” (19:14-16).

“It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God” (19:17-19).

Wow! What a prayer! And what an answer to that prayer:

“That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men from the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning – there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew” (35-36).

Hezekiah realized that he had no control over the situation. Instead of trying to take control himself he turned to the one who is control of everything: “O Lord…you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth” (19:15). God responded to his prayer by delivering him from the Assyrian army.

Why did Hezekiah run to the Lord? Why didn’t he run away or even worse try to fight the Assyrians? Hezekiah ran to the Lord because he knew God was faithful. He knew that God would deliver him from the situation. He knew that God was in control of everything and would be faithful to provide for him.

Going back to my friend from school, it’s so obvious what I did wrong. After I talked with my prof I should have done what he said and prayed about the situation. I realized that I wasn’t control and what did I do? I tried to take control myself. I tried to fix the problem with her right away. Did it work? No.

Instead I should have done what Hezekiah did. I should have gone to the Lord, the one who is in control of all things, and asked for wisdom and guidance. I am convinced that He wanted me to leave it alone. But God used that to teach me a lesson.

What about you? When you reflect on some of the recent happenings of your life, what do you see? Do you see someone who impulsively tries to control other people? Do you see someone who avoids people or situations because of a fear of not being in control or not knowing what the outcome will be? Do you see someone who manipulates others?

This next week I am going to keep an eye out for those circumstances where I don’t feel comfortable or secure. I hope to do what Hezekiah did, and turn immediately to the Lord in prayer. In the relationships in my life where I fear the unknown, I will declare my dependence on God, the faithful God, and seek His help in prayer.

How will you respond to the faithful God?

He Exalts The Humble

Last week I finished up the book of 1 Kings in my devotional reading. By the end of the book I was getting a little overwhelmed with how the kings after David and Solomon seamed to progressively worsen. Near the end of the book, I read the story of a terribly wicked king named Ahab, and to my surprise, I caught another glimpse of who God is. Let me share what I discovered.

The Big Picture

The Old Testament story continues to unfold in my reading. The Israelites, after finally making it to the promise land, have rejected God as their king and asked Him for to appoint a human king over them. Though God was displeased with this desire, he granted their request to teach them a lesson and discipline them. He gave them Saul. After Saul David was given the throne of Israel, and after David, Solomon. Now when Solomon’s rule as king came to and end, the northern kingdom of Israel separated from the southern kingdom of Israel. The rest of the book of Kings tells the stories of the different kings of Judah and the different kings of Israel.

Because of Solomon’s disobedience and the idolatry he committed with his wives’ gods, God tore the kingdom of Israel from Solomon’s hands, leaving Solomon’s descendants only one tribe to reign over – Judah. God gave the rest of Israel to the kingship of Jeroboam. Almost immediately after Jeroboam becomes king of Israel, he sets up two golden calves for the people to worship (1 Ki. 12 25-33)!

When I read this I was appalled! God gives this guy the kingdom of Israel to rule and the first thing he does is set up idols! Not only this, but he sets them up to prevent the Israelites from going to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in the temple of Solomon (v. 27-30). What a wicked man. I can just imagine how furious God must have been, especially when their ancestors did the very same thing at Sinai.

Jeroboam didn’t stop there though. He built shrines on high places and appointed priests and he instituted festivals of worshipping the golden calves (v. 31-33). Listen to what God had to say about him: “You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods…you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back (14:9). This was Jeroboam king of Israel. It’s amazing when you look at all the kings after him on the throne of Israel because each one of them is either said to follow the ways of David or of Jeroboam, doing right in the eyes of the Lord or doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.

The Small Picture

To your surprise, Jeroboam is not the one I want to focus on. Later on in the book of Kings a man named Ahab inherits the throne of Israel. Jeroboam was a wicked king, but Ahab was ten times as wicked! Listen to what the summary of his reign says in Kings:

“Ahab…did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam…but he also married Jezebel…and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him (1 Ki. 16:30-33).”

Few lived up to king Ahab’s legacy of wickedness. As I was reading his story I was so taken aback by how it ended:

Elijah, the prophet, comes to Ahab and tells him that God is furious with him and his sin (21:20-22). The writer of Kings records another side note:

“There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites…” (21:25-26).”

And now watch this!:

“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly” (21:27).

Now let’s pause for minute. If I was God and Ahab did this I would have said to him, “Too late buddy” and struck him down for his wickedness. But as we read on, I cam to see that God was a little different than I first thought. Right after God speaks to Elijah about Ahab:

“Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son” (20:28).

Incredible! Unbelievable! When I read this, I sat there in my bed paralyzed with awe. Right at the end of his life Ahab humbled himself before the Lord and God extended grace and mercy to him. Remember this was the wickedest king who had ever ruled up to that point! Yet God gave him favor that he didn’t deserve.

It’s amazing to consider what this reveals about God. It shows me that he has a tremendously high value on humility. It shows me that he does indeed exalt those who are humble. If wicked Ahab’s humility can illicit such an incredible response of grace from God, how much more should we, having been justified in Christ, pursue a humble heart before the Lord in our daily walk? Our God’s beauty is beyond words. His majesty is overwhelming.

I am enjoying getting to know this God more and more everyday. May we continue to strive to know him better everyday.

The Faithful God

The other day as I continued in my reading of the Old Testament, I came across a favorite verse of mine. Since I had memorized it over a year ago, I had completely forgotten the context. But I was delighted to see God in a new light through an old truth.

The Big Picture

In the book of 1 Kings we read the story of Solomon, son of King David, the man after God's own heart. In chapter 8 we read Solomon's recount of God's promise to David. What did God promise David?

"Then he said:
'Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David...My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, 'Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart. Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name' ' " (1 Kings 8:15; 17-19).

God promised David that he would have a son who would build a temple for Him to dwell in. At this point in the book of Kings, Solomon has just finished building the temple and has just brought the Ark of the Covenant to the finished temple. Promise fulfilled. You might think that it was easy for Solomon to fulfill God's promise because he was the son. Yet Solomon gives the credit to God! If we look back a few chapters we can see why:

"Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

'You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name' ' " (1 Kings 5:2-5).

Building the temple for the Lord was no easy task and couldn't have been done without the peace that God provided with surrounding nations. One of the greatest reasons for this peace lied in Solomon's wisdom as a leader, of which God was the Source. In the building of the temple Solomon was merely the Lord's instrument and tool.

The Small Picture

Solomon realized how much of this fullfilment was God's doing when he worshipped the Lord in the book of Kings. It was then that Solomon stood before the altar and prayed aloud to God saying, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way" (8:23) Read that verse again. That was Solomon's response to God moving in his life. That day Solomon expressed a truth about God that his heart had come to know over the years of his life.

Solomon had discovered God to be faithful. So many times we throw that phrase around loosely, or sing it nonchalantly in our worship. It's something I am guilty of. We forget to consider some important details like: how is he faithful? faithful to do what? And it's here that Solomon's words ring loud and clear: "You...keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way."

Faithfulness has a lot more meaning when I read that. Step back a moment and consider what's going on. The wisest man to ever live on earth just declared that God is faithful to keep his promises. Isn't that amazing? And when I think back to some of the promises that I have read in the Old Testament, I find no different. When God says he will do something, he does it. When God makes a conditional promise to bless those who follow him with all their heart, you can be sure that He will do it! If God says that he will discipline you if you worship other gods, you can be sure that He will do it!

God is faithful to keep His word. All of His promises to you and me are sealed in His character to be fulfilled. How precious his words and his voice then become to me! How drastically this affects the way I live, knowing that every promise of God is a sure reality. I become more convinced everyday that a strong faith is not a blind faith. A strong faith is the result of a heart that intimately knows God as a faithful God, a God who keeps His promises.

In what ways has God shown Himself to you as the faithful God who keeps His word?

May you continue to strive for a Spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know Him better.