Take Courage

32 "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone ; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Jesus spoke these words prior to going into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray the night before he died.  

You will have tribulation, but in Jesus you HAVE peace. Take courage! The Greek word that is translated here as courage here is the marriage of joy and courage. Imagine a boy finished with his homework finished flying out of his front door and bounding down the porch out to play with his best friends on  perfect day. Imagine Todd Beamer's state of mind aboard flight 93 and overtaking hijackers.

This is the state of mind that is ours because Jesus has overcome the world.

When hardness of life and uncertainty presses in, remember these words of our Savior.

Take courage, I have overcome the world. 

The Gospel and a New Home

 Our home was hit by the Good Friday tornado of 2011. We have been back in our home since January of this year. If you have asked me if we are back in yet or how we like the "new" house, chances are I have told you something like, "it is so much more than we deserve."

I say that intentionally. I say it because we could never afford a new house. When I say new, I mean that everything in it is new. Only the exterior walls and the sub floor remains from the Thursday before Good Friday. The interior walls, the lighting, the electric, the plumbing, the HVAC, the furniture...all of it is brand new and we could never afford it on our own.

All of that reminds me of grace.

I sit in my dining room as I type this. My dining room used to be a garage with a door that rarely worked and cob webs everywhere. There was a big plastic bin with my kids sports equipment, yard work tools and other junk . There was an old tire to a van I no longer own. Now that space is filled with a huge table and 10 chairs and friends and family. I don't deserve it.

Earlier today I sat on my porch. My porch used to be a small concrete surface with steps that were falling apart. Today, the porch is bigger and is covered. It is more than I deserve.

Sometimes I sit in my living room and look at the walls and look down the hallway. The lines that the walls create are crisp and clean. The arches going into the dining room and kitchen remind us of the old charm of the former home. The colors that I can see from the living room invoke warmth and smiles.

The walls used to be made of plaster that would fall apart if you ever tried to hang something on them. I always had a fresh jar of plaster patch on a shelf in that worn out garage. But I was never any good at using the plaster patch. I was also never any good at sealing the jar, so I had four or five jars of dried out plaster patch. That really sounds like grace to me. The broken walls that fall apart are gone, the need for me to try to patch the brokenness is gone, the jars of dried out plaster patch found their way into the dumpster.

That dumpster sat in our driveway for 9 months and was filled with yesterday's ruined stuff that was torn down and thrown into the dumpster and hauled off to some land fill. That dumpster reminds me of the cross.

Then there is the kitchen. My bride has always wanted a new kitchen. Our cabinets and drawers used to be part metal and part wood. The wooden parts did not quite shut right and splinters would drop into our silverware drawer all the time. The metal cabinet doors had hinges that were slightly off and the wooden doors never seated properly. The sink leaked and the space below the sink was too small and when I would try to get in there to fix the leaks, my back would hurt for a few days after. Jen got her cabinets and all new appliances too. It is more than we deserve.

All of this reminds me of grace. Many times I just stop and think about all of this and exhale and my mind goes to grace. Traces of grace are all around us. Come by sometime and pop in and ask for the Grace Tour.

Thanks for reading.