Oh, What Love

1 Peter 1:3
...in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead....

Have you ever considered what it means when something is defeated? When the hope you have resides in knowing that which you once were enslaved to now and forever is defeated, the word carries a more powerful meaning; one that merrits investigation.

The gospel is a beautiful and amazing story of God's love and mercy for a people so undeserving. Sacrificial love is something so counter-cultural and difficult to grasp. The gospel, however, does not end with sacrifice. The story does not end there. What is most often forgotten is Jesus' resurection. Jesus is alive. As a result, we were freed and made alive.

This relationship not only offers life, but life to the full - a life of freedom. Freedom found in perfect love. A Love that makes all things new. A Love that heals and redeems.

Defeated, death, sin and shame can no longer hold you captive. No longer in bondage to fears of abandonment or failure, to lies that you are too much or not enough, to believing that you are unworthy or unlovable. He, Jesus, defeted these things. Therefore our hope stands and will remain. Hope which is not fleeting or easily broken. Rather, a living, breathing, growing hope.

My mind often struggles to wrap around this concept. What I know to be true: Jesus has overwhelmed my brokenness. God is big enough to heal the extremely deep wounds of my heart. I no longer have to be enslaved to lies and sin and shame. Oh, to remember this:

Be free.

Beginning

Beginning: an act or circumstance of entering upon an action or state; origin; the first part.

The hardest part of starting something new is the blank page, the empty canvas, the vacant surface.... Beginning means rejecting fear of failure, setting aside perfection and realizing mistakes will be made. Recognize the beginning is not the end; the time in transit between the two may produce an astounding end that was not dreamed at the beginning. Beauty is found in the journey by learning from shortcomings and insufficiencies. This life is full of beauty waiting to be discovered, if only we would begin.

Now, to begin blogging. As a result of friends several miles a way and a love for writing, this blog exists. I am uncertain of what will be written and why, but I will begin. Thank you Misha and Karissa, I miss you two.