Tag Archives: His joy in us

Wrapped in Love Peace and Joy

Hidden with Christ in God

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For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3 NASB)

On a long weekend away at one of our favorite places, Wrightsville Beach, NC. It’s not only because of the turquoise surf and pristine sand, but also for how private and secluded it feels. When the kids were growing up, we enjoyed many summer weeks with their cousins at my brother in law’s beach house on the south end of the island. Today we’re at Shell Island Resort, close to where Mason Inlet, fed by the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, forms a sandy semi-circle at the northern end.

I read that I died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. I want to understand what this means. The thought of being hidden with Christ in God is extremely comforting. Hidden in His righteousness, His peace, His protection, His joy. I want to walk around clothed with Christ, fully understanding my spiritual death[1] and union with Him in every aspect of life. This makes me feel glad.

Lord, please show me more.

As a kid, my siblings, cousins and I would make up games around thick hedges we called the enchanted forest. Nestled on either side of our grandparent’s side porch, below towering circular white columns, were nicely groomed holly bushes with red berries. Whether we were playing hide and go seek or fleeing an approaching giant, we would slip in between them into an open area, completely hidden from view. Lost in our imaginations, we were safe and protected from any outside harm.

Hidden with Christ in God.

The verses before read:

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).

In order to walk out being hidden with Christ in God, I need to keep seeking (require, aim at, strive for) the truths of eternity. I live in time and space, but God isn’t bound by time. Right now, I’m spiritually positioned with Christ in God. Paul is telling me that if I want the peace, joy and security of being completely surrounded by Jesus, I must orient my life around the eternal, unchangeable spiritual fact that I died and Christ is now my life.

Outside of the enchanted forest, life can be brutal. People I love are deeply hurting. There’s critical illness. Relationships are strained. Marriages are splintering. But in the midst, God is asking me to rest in His nearness and trust His process. He tells me how my story ends: When Christ who is your life appears, then you will appear with Him in glory.[2]

Lord, I read these truths and believe them. I want to always keep an eternal mindset, rejoicing in Your continual nearness, even during very hard times. As I look out at the spread of Your ocean before me, I remember Your love for me is beyond knowledge – wider, deeper, longer and higher than the expanse of water and sky before me.  Please show me how to keep this very real eternal orientation even in the midst of sadness and loss.

Just walked to the end of the island and dipped our feet in Mason Inlet. By the pool now enjoying the breeze before a late lunch. A black bird keeps returning to the ladder to drink and bathe. I catch a whiff of a white lantana beside the lounge chair. The rhythmic sound of the ocean surf sooths my soul. God has created so many things for me to enjoy, all reminders of His presence and love for me.

If I’m to understand what it means to walk around, hidden in a Jesus hug, I need to come to full terms with my spiritual death. Paul tells us Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.[3]

Knowing and reckoning my spiritual death, truly frees me from much of life’s angsts. For example, if I died:

  • Can I be offended?
  • Can I seek after my own glory?
  • Can I push my own agenda?
  • Can I insert myself into situations I haven’t been invited?
  • Do I need to worry about fighting for my own satisfaction and joy?
  • Do I need to do anything to try and earn love from God or any person?
  • Is there any situation which comes up which is a surprise to God or is too hard for Him to handle?

Wow! Lord, I see it now. Knowing I died, must come before walking in the safety of Your embracing presence. When self rises up, in any flavor, it’s a direct pull against the abiding life You want me to live. Thank You for opening up to me the freedom of not having to worry about me anymore. For I died and my life is now hidden with You and in You. I walk out of the enchanted forest holding onto truths I do not see, but believe with all my heart. I need You. Please help me to keep me believing and trusting as I face the storms ahead. Amen.

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

[1] Romans 6:4-11

[2] Colossians 4:4

[3] Romans 6:11

Rick Velilla is the second biker on the right. He is now with the Lord.

The Cadence of Life (Receiving God’s love and Giving it Away)

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As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:9-12

A few years ago a friend of mine shared a secret he had learned during miles of cycling. “Don’t worry about the miles per hour,” Rick said. “It’s the cadence that matters. If you keep the cadence above 70 or 80, no matter how steep the hills, your miles per hour will take care of itself.”

What Rick told me turned out to be true. I had my bicycle computer set to always show me the Miles Per Hour. I  would strain, sometimes in very hard gears, to maintain my speed even on monster hills. But eventually my legs would wear out.

However, when I changed the computer to show my cadence, I paid attention only to how many times I pedaled in a minute. If it was at least 70 times, shifting gears as needed to accommodate changes in the gradient, my miles per hour worked out better at the end of the ride. It’s the key to endurance cycling.

As I think about how watching my cadence led to cycling success, I wonder if there’s a  cadence I can  focus on that will assist me in life. I want to be able to turn the computer of my life to a cadence which can be maintained during the ups and downs of life the way Rick’s suggestion kept me steady even during steep inclines in the road.

I think of  Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus gives us a focus for our lives, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love. The Beatles had it right. All we need is Love. 

Love is to be the focus of our lives. Jesus says it summarizes the entire Bible,  forming  a  filter for our every word and deed.

But how?

As I ask the question, I get my answer.

I John 4:19: “We love because He first loved us.” 

God’s love is the only true love. I can grind out a human love by straining at the pedals of life, but my love will wear out.

My cadence is to be His love flowing through me, as Rivers of Living Water flowing from my innermost being. (John 7:38)  Receiving His love and giving it away. In spite of life’s difficulties, I’m to love God first and then my neighbor, but with His love, not mine.

And Jesus tells me how to do this in John 15:9-12.

  1. Know how much Jesus loves me. Verse 9 says He loves me as much as God loves Him.  The essence of this truth is beyond my understanding, yet Jesus tells me it’s true.
  2. Remain in His great love. Verse 10 commands me to stay, tarry, abide in God’s great love for me, not moving from where God has placed me in the love of Christ.
  3. Love as I have loved you.  Verses 10 and 12  tell me how to remain in His love. I’m to be caught up in the cadence of loving others as He has loved me, allowing His love to flow through me to others.
  4. My joy is completed.  Jesus says when I know his love, remain in it and love others as He has loved me, I will have His joy, fulfilling all my inner longings.

Receiving His love and giving it away.

Lord, thank you for showing me the great focus of my life, knowing your great love, remaining in it and loving others with it. I need you to maintain this as my focus. I so easily shift into a mode of worrying about all that has to be done.

Yet, I know now that by receiving your love and giving away it away, all you need me to accomplish will get done. I believe this, yet I forget it so easily. Please help me live out this cadence of love moment by moment and day by day. Amen.