“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

JESUS IS OUR LOVER OF THE SOUL

It was a quiet March evening. My wife, LaRee, was sitting in her favorite chair beside the fireplace that you see in the photo above. She was knitting while I was writing a post for this blog and listening to J.S.Bach's "Saint Matthew Passion". Something occurred to me. I said, "It was 30 years ago yesterday that I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis." LaRee paused, put her knitting down on her lap, looked over her reading glasses and said, "We won. We beat the MS." It was of those revelations of life when the experiences of decades melt into a single moment: The room filled with thunderous silence  LaRee was right. We rose above the disease.

I gazed toward the fireplace and became lost in the flames. Our terrifying journey with MS did not drive us apart, it drew us closer. In the midst of the consuming fire of a terrible disease, we embraced each other tighter when the flames grew higher. Multiple sclerosis crippled my body but not our humanity nor our love for each other. In fact, our anguish made us grow spiritually and mature.  Like the mature fire warming our living room, LaRee's simple but profound words warmed my heart and my soul. We looked at each other with a deep understanding no words can express.

There have been times when all we had was love -- our love for
LaRee and me
each other resting in the divine love of God. We need not fear that which destroys the body if our souls are safe in Christ. (See 1 Peter 1.3-7.)


The love of God will prevail. Jesus is our lover of the soul. -- Mark

(Click on image below for Hillsong, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mff8_hwgWy4 )



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