Bridge the Gap

“We can’t go it alone.  We can’t do it ourselves.  We need help from others to bridge the gaps.”

Loren Thornburg

A gap is a space between two things.  Sometimes gaps provide to be helpful openings into a place we want to be or go.  Yet, a gap can also be the space that keeps us from going where we want to go.  In that case we need someone or something to bridge the gap.  We can recognize the importance of bridges that we drive or walk on that help us cross the gaps in the road made by rivers or ravines.  There are also many other places in our lives that help us cross over into a place we never could have gone without help.   Most of all I have seen how people have bridged the gaps in my life.  Teachers and coaches who made a way for learning and growth.  Counselors who brought me from pain into healing.  Friends who helped me see things in my life that I never would have seen on my own.  I am so thankful for all the people who have taken me places I never could have gone alone.  I want to a “gap-bridger”  too!!

“If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift...can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

Romans 5:15-17 Message

The truth is there was a gap.  Through Adam came sin and we were separated from God with no way back to Him.  Jesus came to bridge the gap by dying for us and what a bridge He is!!  There is no comparison between the gap we once faced and the life we can now have.  He became a life giving gift that set everything right for those willing to believe.  Jesus is there waiting for us, inviting us to let Him bridge the gap from where we are to where He calls us to be.  Then He uses us to bridge the gap for others to know Him and to fall more in love with Him.  Lets stand in the gap with Him that many more could “grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift.”   

Standing With You

“Our strength to stand comes by those who stand with us.”

Loren Thornburg

As I stood as a bridesmaid in a wedding of a good friend I was reminded of the importance of those who stand with us.  I love that picture of people standing on both sides of the couple and the implied commitment to stand with them.  It is said that this tradition originated from Roman Law which required witnesses at a wedding to outsmart evil spirits.  Those attending dressed in identical clothing to the bride and groom so that evil spirits would not know who was getting married.  Although we don’t exercise this same practice or belief that we need to outsmart evil spirits there is still a great protection in those who stand with us.  We need people in our lives who are willing to stand with us through the big events and small challenges of our lives.  People can support us when we need it, point us straight when we’re off, encourage us when we feel hopeless, and pick us up when we can’t get up ourselves.  We all need people willing to stand with us and we all need to be people willing to stand with others.  Let’s stand.   

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.”

Ecc 4:12 NLT

We are most vulnerable when we stand alone.  God knew that and He knows that.  He created us to be in relationship with Him and with people.  He created us to stand with others and to allow others to stand with us as well.  It’s in our design.  We weren’t meant to stand alone.  We were meant to stand “back-to-back and conquer.”  God created you to stand with others and to have others stand with you so that we can point one another to Him.  It has always been first about leaning on Him, looking to Him, and relying on Him.  Yet it is also often people that He uses to help us do that.  He uses those around us to represent Him, to be His hand of provision, and to point us back to Him.  We need people standing with us pointing us to Him.  Lets be those people standing, pointing to Jesus.   

Aligned

“Our lives function best when they are aligned in the way they were created to function.”

Loren Thornburg

After going to the chiropractor I was reminded of something that I often experience after my spine is adjusted...I feel better.  I can’t explain it, but I find I have more energy and more life.  It doesn’t happen every time, but often enough that I can’t ignore the correlation.  I find I function better when I am aligned from the inside.  Our lives also function best when they are aligned and in line with the way we were created to function.   Beyond physical alignment your life works best and has the most life to it when it is in line with doing the thing you were created to do.  Aligned means to put things into correct or appropriate positions.  That means prioritizing and putting first things first.  It means using your strengths and gifts and making the most of how you have been created in your desires, gifts and personality.  To be aligned you have to get aligned.  Are you? 

“Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified

David knew the importance of being spiritually aligned.  So much so that he sought after it and invited it in.  He knew that being aligned to the Lord and what the Spirit was doing in and through him would lead him in the way everlasting.  Our lives are the same.  When our hearts are put in the correct position with the Lord and one another we will indeed be led in the way of life, life and more life.  Now I didn’t say it would be painless.  Adjustments don’t come without some change which can be hard, but they put us in position to receive more life.  Invite Him in to put you in position to the way that He created you and designed you to live.  More than any doctor He knows exactly how to align your heart and life to more of His life.  

Beyond Ability

“You are not bound by your abilities, but rather by your ability to be willing to go beyond them.”

Loren Thornburg

A miracle is something that is highly improbable, surprising, or not easily explained by natural ways.  My parents would be the first to tell you that my life has held many obvious miracles.  I was the kid that never could get a handle on writing well.  I continued to struggle with it through college receiving low grades on papers even after the help of tutors.  Now...I continue to write and it has become a big part of my ministry.  I was also the kid that tried really hard in sports but was just never that good.  Now...I work with a softball ministry getting to use my many years of college competition and coaching to care for others.  These are two of the many miracles I have seen in my own life that remind me that we are not bound by our current abilities, situations, or realities.  What are yours? Your current reality does not bind you to what your future reality will be.  As you look back at your own miracles remember there are more to come.  

“This is my life work; helping people understand and respond to his Message.  It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details...I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.”

Ephesians 3:7-8 Message

Paul wasn’t kidding.  It was a huge surprise, a miracle, that God chose Him to preach his Message.  God called him from a life of persecuting to a life of preaching His Message.  You might join with him in thinking that he was the least qualified of any to be the one to be called by God to preach.  You might also join with him in thinking the same of yourselves.  Our tendency is to base our level of qualification on our perspective of our natural abilities, but as Paul has so clearly shown us, it has nothing to do with that.  God may use your natural abilities at times, yet don’t forget what God’s tendency is...to be the one to qualify you. Throughout the Bible we see Him do this over and over.  He calls people out of their weaknesses and uses them in those places.  It’s in those places that we can’t help but see God’s hand in it and not accredit it to ours.  Now is not any different than it has been throughout the ages.  God looks at you and your life and sees beyond your abilities into His ability to use you just as you are.  No need to determine whether you are qualified.  When God is calling it’s up to Him...not you.  

Courageous Waiting

“It takes courage to wait.”

Loren Thornburg

Waiting requires courage.  Waiting is something that we as a culture are not accustomed or trained to do well.  Although technology has made most things available instantaneously there are some things in life that have always and will always require time.  Growth, healing, relationships are among a few of them.  It’s no wonder that we get so impatient for things to change emotionally when in so many other aspects of our lives we don’t have to wait.  This is where courage comes in.  We need courage to believe that it’s worth waiting for healing, it’s worth waiting for personal growth, it’s worth waiting for the right relationship.  We need courage not to run away from the pain, not to take the easy way out, not to settle for something or someone that we know isn’t best.  Take courage as you wait.  It’s the only way you’ll stand the test of patience in a culture that requires so little.  

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:14 NLT

Wait means to fix your hope on Him.  Not just wait, but wait patiently.  Fix your hope on Him through the suffering, trial and delay.  I love that David repeats this cry to wait for the Lord.  The repetition gets my attention.  Then sandwiched in between this call to wait and fix our hope on the Lord is the key needed...courage.  It takes courage to wait on the Lord.  It takes courage to believe He will be faithful when there is no sign of it.  It takes courage to trust the Lord will comfort, heal, and provide.  It takes courage when we see other ways to do it ourselves.  It takes courage when those around us are pointing us in the opposite direction.  It takes courage to wait on the Lord, but I’m so glad when I do and I regret it when I don’t.  Wait on the Lord, yes, wait on the Lord.  It’s worth it.  He is worth it.  

Poured Over

“What we give away has a way of getting all over us.”

Loren Thornburg

 

Sometimes in trying to pour from glass to glass it doesn’t work very well.  It gets all over me and my glass.  Maybe you have better glass pouring skills than I do, however for me in doing this I often find only half of what I poured got into the other glass and the other half was on me or my glass.  What I find is that it seems this is what happens when we pour our lives out in giving to others...it gets all over us too.  We too are blessed when we give of our lives for others.  Yes, sometimes like the pouring between glass it gets a little messy.  Other times it may seem it has been wasted in falling to the ground.  Yet, always it blesses us too when we pour our lives out on others.  Keep pouring.  Everyone wins!

“If you give, you will receive.  Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over…”

Luke 6:38 NLT

God is the best pourer, giving abundantly to all in need of being filled.  Each time we pour ourselves out we have made room for more of Him to pour back into us.  He fills us to running over.  Here in Luke Jesus is explaining many things to the disciples encouraging them to really listen to these truths He was explaining.  He knew that their tendency was like many of ours.  We look at our little and don’t see how we could give that away, not knowing how we will make it if we give it away.  Yet, Jesus was teaching just the opposite.  When you give it away you will be given to.  It may not happen as we think it would, but it happens. So now we have no reason not to give knowing God is faithful to return to us.  He knows how to pour gifts into our lives and to fill our cups to running over.  Pour your life out knowing God is pouring it right back into you.

Rooted Roots

“It’s what’s below the surface that greatly determines what grows above the surface.”

Loren Thornburg

Being in Colorado where there are months of brown has shown me the importance of roots. Somehow in the midst of many harsh weathered months when the trees have looked dead, life still remained. Now, as green, white and pink begin to bud on those tress that looked so lifeless I can see that life remained beneath the surface. Trees hold life even when they are brown and so can we. Depending on what we are rooted in, we too can hold life in the midst of the storms and winter seasons that blow our way. We can hold life that grows again into something beautiful like colors on a tree. It’s all a matter of where we place our roots and where we are looking for life. If we are looking above the surface to our circumstances it will be hard to grow into more life again. However, if our roots go down deep, founded on truth, which is not dependent on circumstances, we are sure to find life that grows into more life again. Grow your roots deep where the real life lies.

“May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the Holy Spirit Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality. May Christ through your faith actually dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.”

Ephesians 3:16-17 Amplified

Paul understood the importance of being rooted in the innermost depths of who we are with the truth of the love of Christ. He spoke here of an experiential knowing. That’s where the life lies. Rooted means to establish or cause something to be thoroughly grounded. We can be firmly established and thoroughly grounded in the real love of Christ in a way that dwells to the inmost part of our beings. That’s how we find Life when our lives don’t give us reason to. Look to Him for Life! Root down deep in His love! Ground yourself in His truth! Allow Him access to dwell in your heart! As Paul prayed these verses let us continue to do so that we would be “rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.”