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GRACE LIKE AN AVALANCHE

By Israel Ledesma Leave a Comment

Photo by Cailin Henson

Photo by Cailin Henson

What is my worth? What is my value? I think these are questions that every person has asked himself or herself at one time or another. I grew up with this idea that everything that was ever given to me had to be earned. I used to have such a difficult time receiving things from people. I remember how awkward birthday parties felt as a kid. I used to hate being the center of attention growing up. Subconsciously, I never really felt worthy of people’s time or money, let alone God’s love and grace. It felt like I had to earn it and prove I was good enough.

I believed that if anyone really got to know me, they would quickly realize that I didn’t deserve their gift, their friendship, or whatever else. It wasn’t like I was out committing debauchery, robbing people, or murdering puppies. I even grew up in a good Christian family, with parents that would always try to force me to go to church. I used to hate church.

Still, I grew up pretty sheltered. I wasn’t even exposed to porn until I was 17 years old. I still remember that day a friend from my football team approached naïve, oblivious, teenage me and handed me that DVD and told me, “Dude. Go home. Watch this. It’s going to rock your world.” Even worse, I didn’t even know what a virgin was until later that same year. I just had this feeling since a young age of dirtiness and unworthiness that I just couldn’t shake off. It haunted me, and I was reminded of it every time someone tried to express some kind of kindness or generousness towards me.

[bctt tweet=”I grew up with this idea that everything that was ever given to me had to be earned.”]

Personally, I believe value is connected to identity. You need to know who you are. I really believe that you really don’t know who you are, until you know who Jesus is. Jesus said if you lose your life, you find it (Matt. 10). I never quite understood that growing up, but I have come to realize that if you lose yourself in Jesus and keep a clear perspective of who he is, you won’t ever forget who you are.

1 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I go to a church called Bethel Church in Redding, California, which is an amazing community I’m proud to call home. Our pastor, Bill, once said, “The blood of Jesus actually changes our history into his story.” I love that. His forgiveness and grace actually changes our past.

It’s a truth that took me awhile to learn. When I graduated from high school I decided to do a little bit of community college. I decided to major in accounting, but I dropped out after a year and got a job at Target, living the dream, working the early morning shift from 4am to 12pm.

[bctt tweet=”If you lose yourself in Jesus and keep a clear perspective of who he is, you won’t ever forget who you are.”]

One day, I remember coming home from work, exhausted, and I awkwardly sprawled myself over my bed, when out of nowhere I heard a voice. The voice itself was powerful and strong, both fearful and loving—the kind of voice you would hear from your dad. This was unusual for me, hearing God so audibly. It sounded so real to the point I believed someone was in the room with me. It said, “Israel, my grace doesn’t excuse you. My grace enables you.” That was it.

My goal isn’t to convince you this voice was real or any of that, but to this day I believe it was God speaking. I didn’t understand what I heard right away, but as time passed, I became obsessed with this thing called grace. I had to understand it.

As I explored this idea of grace, I began to realize that grace isn’t just some ideology, philosophy, or doctrine. Grace is a person. It is so easy to abuse a system or set of rules. It is much more difficult to abuse a person or relationship. Author and Minister Jack Hayford once said, “Grace is God coming to man at their greatest point of need in the person of Jesus.” That is beautiful and possibly the best description of grace I have ever heard.

I still remember when I first met that person. I was 13 years old, just making that awkward transition into a teenager. That day is forever embedded in my mind. I was home watching my 3-year-old brother when my mom came home, asking where he was. I was in my room, playing video games or something like that, and wasn’t sure where he was. Great big brother, I know.

We looked everywhere but couldn’t find him. We were starting to panic and began thinking the worst. I went outside and noticed my dog Raffles—yes that really was his name—was barking hysterically, tugging on his chain, wanting to be loosed. I let him go and he rushed to the back of the house where our neighbor kept his horses.

I ran right behind him until he finally stopped. I’ll never forget what I saw. Lying in a massive puddle of blood was my little brother. I forced myself through the barbed wire, as it was cutting at my skin, and rushed to him, chasing away the horses that were around him.

I turned his body over onto my lap so his face was facing mine. That image is engraved in my mind. His skull was crushed in and he was barely breathing. Children should never have to experience that type of horror.

We rushed him to Harbor View Hospital in Seattle, Washington. I remember hearing the doctor talking with my parents, saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Ledesma. I want to be honest with you. Your son is in critical condition and is being rushed into surgery. Just be prepared for the worst.”

I remember walking away down the hallway that lead to the cafeteria, angry with myself and angry with God. I kept walking. Then I stopped, leaned against the wall, and slid down to sit. The pain was so unbearable. I wanted it to be me, not him.

As I sat there, tears streaming down my face, I had a conversation with a God I wasn’t even sure existed. I don’t believe you really make deals with God, but I was only a kid. I sat there and said, “God, if you are real, please save him. If you save him, I promise I’ll give you my life.” It was strange, but it felt as if someone sat down next to me and put their arm around me. Love and hope filled me. In that moment, amidst this tragedy, I knew God loved my brother and that he loved me. People can tell you, “Hey. God loves you.” That’s great and all, but it’s completely different when God himself tells you he loves you; same words, different lips. The first is a fact, and the second is revelation.

 

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I was gone for a while. When I got back, I saw the doctor talking with my parents. He explained that the surgery went amazingly well and that my brother would be out in two days. Two days! Not weeks or months. To this very day he remembers everything. He is completely normal and does everything a kid should be able to do. The kid’s a living miracle.

By no means am I saying that God allowed something horrible to happen to my brother in order to grab my attention; we just happen to live in a world where bad things happen. But, amidst my pain, God reached out. I met the person of Jesus and my life was changed.

I didn’t live a perfect life from that point on. I still made mistakes—so many mistakes that I would wonder if I was even saved. But when grace approaches you, you become transformed from the inside. First comes an internal change, which later turns into an external change. Religion simply cares about the external, and I hate religion.

It is vital that we as followers and ambassadors of Jesus understand what and who grace is. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of your works, lest anyone should boast.” Did you catch that? Grace is a gift. When you come down to it and see it for what it is, you begin to realize that the essence of our belief system is based on a gift.

The thing with a gift is that it ceases being a gift the moment the person who received the gift attempts to pay back the person who gave the gift. It is then no longer a gift, but a debt. Romans 4:4 says, ‘Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but debt.” The New Living Translation says, “When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.”

There is no “paying back.” There is no “working for.” There is no “earning” when it comes to grace. I believe that when we try to get what we already have by grace through our own efforts, we voluntarily put ourselves under the power of the law.

Still, there are so many people who don’t realize that grace is a free gift. Some have this mentality that they need to first work on themselves before they approach God and ask him in. They say things like, “Don’t worry. I’ll come to God eventually. I just need to work on myself. I need to do my part,” and God is just like, “Your part? Your only part is trusting me. Your only part is depending on me, leaning on me, resting in me. You have no other part.”

I have a friend from Florida who raises horses. Weird, I know. Alligators I get, but horses? Weird. One day he explained to me how he had a young colt who was stubborn and simply wouldn’t pull the yoke that was placed on him. He just wouldn’t budge. But when they decided put a much larger horse—who ended up taking up most of the burden—next to the colt, the colt decided to move alongside him.

We were not created to try to work for love, but, rather, from love. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…and you will find rest for your souls.” Our only job is resting in him and receiving the gift he wants to give. There is no effort.

Without an idea of what grace is, people can go their whole lives trying to earn God’s love and burn out, never coming close. That, or they can live a ridiculous life expecting God to forgive them every single time Sunday rolls around. He does forgive every time, but there’s more to grace than that. I believe Paul says it best in Romans 11:6 when he said, “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

I must admit I still don’t completely understand this idea of grace, but when I think of it, I think of an avalanche. I find avalanches so intriguing. If you could go onto my YouTube account and see my suggested videos based on my viewing history, you would find videos of lions versus hyenas, puppies, Ellen, and avalanches.

The thing with an avalanche is that there really is no escaping it once you get caught up in it. Avalanches can reach speeds up to 80 mph in as little as five seconds. Ephesians 1:7-8 says, “…the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us…” That word lavished means to bestow profusely. Profusely means abundantly, never lacking, always enough. Grace is like an avalanche that sweeps you away. The truth is that if you would just allow yourself to get caught up in his grace, you would go further than you could ever go on your own.

[bctt tweet=”We were not created to try to work for love, but, rather, from love.”]

You might be reading this, thinking, “That’s great and all, but you don’t understand what kind of life I have lived. My life is just too screwed up. I’m nowhere near perfect. I’m just a hot mess.” That doesn’t matter. Colossians 3:3 says, “You are dead and your life is hidden in Christ…” In other words, when God sees you, he sees Jesus because your life is now hidden in Jesus, and Jesus is perfect, therefore God sees you as perfect. The Bible is clear that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more (Romans 5).

The scandalous truth about grace is the belief that a perfect God would die for flawed humans. C.S. Lewis once said that the death of Jesus on the cross was completely perfect and completely humble. Perfect because he was God. Humble because he became a man. No one else could do what he did with his perfect sacrifice.

As I mentioned earlier, grace doesn’t excuse you, but enables you. It empowers you to live the life you couldn’t live on your own through works. Don’t get me wrong, works are important, but we no longer do works to be saved. Rather, we do them because we are saved. I believe that when we embrace this avalanche called grace, we don’t just get empowered to do what we can’t do on our own, we get what we don’t deserve too, the best gift possible—we get Jesus.

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Filed Under: Featured, Foundation, Grow Tagged With: Issue 24

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newidentitymag

New Identity | Exploring Faith
We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 Issue is out today! There are some great articles inside that we hope you'll love! Enjoy! 🤗 #linkinbio⁠
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#newissue #newidentitymag #liveidentified #magazine #kindness #anxiety #waiting #worththewait #mcu #eatableheroes #marvel #godswill
Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishl Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishly want happen; it’s about making us want what God wants.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Prayer - The Alignment of Our Souls With God"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @maryannkariuki from Pexels⁠
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – Haldir⁠
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In Lothlorien, Haldir is encouraging a downcast Fellowship with a glimpse of the larger story in which they find themselves. His words reflect the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the church, that we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). For there is a form of grief from which there is no recovery – one in which there is no resurrection of the dead. If death is the final word, then we must suffer grief without hope, grief that diminishes our love for life because of the crushing weight of the loss we’ve experienced. But Tolkien believed that death was not the end; therefore, we may experience the beautiful juxtaposition in our own lives of deep sorrow mixed with rivers of joy. Instead of crippling us, our grief may actually help to cultivate in our character the virtues of faith, hope, and love that are necessary to continue to carry our heaviest burdens. ⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#faithhopelove #lotr #thefellowshipofthering #thelordoftherings #middleearth
The Bible stresses that despite our differences we The Bible stresses that despite our differences we are called to love each other above our political positions. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14). You may feel like how politics and religion intersect in the public sphere communicate the exact opposite of this, and you’d be right. Media outlets report drama and conflict. Gracious and loving political opponents are not newsworthy.⁠
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✍🏽: Matthew Hamilton in "Our Identity In Christ Is Always Greater"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
#politics #voting #love #loveyourneighbor #loveyourneighbornotmattertheirpolitics
The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest, with its scars and wrinkles, lean toward me, and brush me with their limbs. The leaves beg me to examine their veins. “Have you seen this?” Each different, but each spectacular. The infinite busy creatures. The carpet of green, the dome of blue.⁠
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A few moments later, I feel like an amazing creature in a world amazingly made. I feel the astounding power of God, where the smallest thing around me, a leaf, an ant, is more complicated, and alive and amazing than anything humanity has ever thought of.⁠
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Really, there is nothing like it. The author C.S. Lewis noted that the best place to take a non-believing scientist or a real thinker is nature.  Eventually the noise of God in nature is deafening.⁠
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Once you’re in that place, just a few minutes into your walk, your mouth will hardly be able to keep from pouring out praise to God. It becomes so easy. Connecting to God like that, in praise, as a consequence of observing nature, is so freeing and so empowering that you will return to your office balanced and ready, clear headed and encouraged.⁠
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The prayer that most blesses God, most blesses the one who prays it. And there is almost no easier way than from within the sanctuary of nature, which itself raises up its branches to him in prayer with every sunrise.⁠
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✍🏽: Tom Koel in "Muting The Noise of the World - Deconstructing The Prayer Hike for City Dwellers"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
#prayerhike #prayerworks #prayandpraise #prayerwalk #timewithgod #prayerchangesthings #heispraiseworthy #faithjourney
Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own culture, language, and historical understanding. Sometimes we use these to interpret the Bible, but the hard work of bible study requires that you get rid of those things and interpret the passage by allowing it to speak for itself in its own language, cultural context, and historical background. In other words, interpretation is hard work because you are trying to to discover what the passage meant to its (original) audience 2000 years ago (even though we are reading it today). ⁠
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✍🏽: @the_christopherscott in "How Anyone Can Study The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#biblestudy #biblestudytools #growingingod #godsword #spendingtimewithgod #biblejournaling #holybible #christianliving #biblescriptures #dailybiblereading
Everything we do should be done for the ultimate e Everything we do should be done for the ultimate enjoyment of God. For instance, our enjoyment of a loving relationship with our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God, and is therefore something God uses in order for us to better understand his love and how we can love him better.⁠
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This entails that God has given us the Bible as a means to an end. The point of reading the Bible is to come to enjoy God better and more fully. It might seem odd, or even a little sacrilege to think of the Bible as a means to an end. This is because we rightly think of the Bible as holy or sacred. But, it is not God. It is holy and sacred insofar as it is the word of God, given to us so we can better understand who God is. ⁠
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By reading Scripture we learn more about God, his work in the world, his plan for us, and his expectations for us. This is one of the means God has provided for us to enjoy him more. In fact, St. Augustine of Hippo believed that if a Christian could hypothetically enjoy God perfectly in this life, that they would no longer need to read the Bible. Of course because we will not come to love God perfectly in this life, reading, meditating on, and yes, memorizing scripture, will regularly be a source of knowledge that help us to love God more. However, Augustine wants his readers to remember, that knowledge is not the goal for reading the Bible.⁠
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✍🏽: Jeffery Porter in "How A Roman Bishop Changed The Way I Read The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @ rickyrecap from Pexels⁠
#biblereading #heartknowledge #
People with unbelieving hearts only seek after wha People with unbelieving hearts only seek after what prospers them. Apart from Jesus, we set in motion lives filled with harm, with no hope and no future. A person can only have hope and a future when life is lived out for Christ. We get light through reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. This light of life can be obtained through an open line of communication with the one who gives it—Jesus. Apart from him, life can appear meaningless. Our purpose in life is to glorify God with who we are and what we have. –Steven Butwell⁠
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"No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." –Psalm 25:3 NLT⁠
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✍🏽: Steven Butwell in "The Light Christ"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @fotografierende from Pexels⁠
#hopeinchrist #hope #faith #godsplan #godisgood #hopeinthelord #bethelight #godislove #livinghop #thegospel #godislove #godisfaithful #christianliving #bethelightinthedarkness
What’s your favorite article in the new issue? F What’s your favorite article in the new issue? Follow the link in our bio to read it online or download it free to your tablet. ⁠
Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to die on the cross to take punishment for our sins, God reminded people of the importance of fearing him. God is not only our savior, comforter, and friend who promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20), but also the most powerful being in the universe. There is a place for the right kind of fear—the reverential awe and respect—in our lives.⁠
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✍🏽: Délice Williams in "Fear The Lord?" Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @emrrekuzu from Pexels⁠
Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Word who brings light and life to the darkness. Jesus is God’s Word that comes to us, to those who are dwelling in darkness. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus declares his mission to be in John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” This Light and Darkness imagery pervades the gospel of John. People love darkness because they don’t want their actions, thoughts, motives to be exposed by the light. But the truth is that deep down we need (and want) to be seen. We want to be loved despite our dirtiest deeds and foulest feelings. We need to restore the relationship that Adam and Eve once had with God–complete openness, and deep love–but we can’t do it on our own. Only God can (and did through Jesus) bring that relationship back.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "The Light of God's Love"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Emre Kuzu from Pexels⁠
In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener a In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener and he prunes every branch that does not produce fruit. A person stuck in his or her ways of sin is like a prickly shrub growing a lot of branches with no fruit. These branches must be removed so good fruit can grow. In the same way as a bush is unable to prune itself, a person who is living in sin is unable to remove all the unfruitful branches in life. Paul described this condition in chapter seven of Romans when he called himself a wretched man and realized only Jesus can change him.⁠
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Jesus provides the essential elements for growth; he gives us his Word (the Bible) for fertilizer, other believers for sunshine, and the Holy Spirit for water. When our roots begin to receive this new water, sunshine, and fertilizer, new branches begin to grow. This time the branches are not prickly bushes, but beautiful new branches adorned with the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control,” (Galatians 5:22). Our old acquaintances will marvel at who we have become. When we allow God to be the gardener, he will shape us into his design.⁠
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✍🏽: Delbert Teachout in "God The Gardener"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Timothy Grindall from Pexels
As new creations, those who have been forgiven by As new creations, those who have been forgiven by and reconciled to Jesus, we now have the task of being reconciled to each other. As Christians, we are not just called to forgive others in our hearts but keep them at an arm’s length away. No, we are called to be of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32) with our brothers and sisters—we are called to be reconciled.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "Repairing Broken Bridges"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
We are faced with a challenge: to make God the cen We are faced with a challenge: to make God the center and purpose of our lives in a world of demands. God asks us to listen for his voice, and it’s no wonder why he chose to speak to Elijah in a “still, small voice” in 1 Kings 19:12-13. He doesn’t always shout at us because he wants us to choose to listen, to put other things aside so that all of our focus is towards discerning his will in the specifics of our lives. We have his will for us in general, as communicated in the Bible, which is to make disciples of all nations, to glorify the one true God, to serve no other gods, to love our neighbors as ourselves, etc., but sometimes we need to figure out how those general plans fit the specifics of our lives. Hearing God’s voice is part of how we relate to him, but in those moments of uncertainty, quieting ourselves becomes even more important.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Listening For A Whisper"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Jara from Pexels⁠
Imagine if every Christian started praying to God Imagine if every Christian started praying to God and asking for him to bless us with gifts of encouragement for the sake of the world around us. The Church would make an immediate impact on the lives of people.⁠
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✍🏽: @lukegeraty in "The Gift of Encouragement from the Great Encourager"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
Everything sad will come untrue because we are not Everything sad will come untrue because we are not doomed to be forever parted with those we love, nor will our souls simply turn to dust and fade with the memory of those we leave behind.⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth - Why I'm Always Tolkien In Movie Quotes"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Dirk Förster from Flickr
"Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness a "Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness as a community will help us to endure our sorrows for the night, for joy comes in the morning." @slimkeman from his article The Beauty of Community & The Beast of Isolation 🌤 Can you name some of God's promises that keep you encouraged and grounded? We'd love to hear in the comments below - and just maybe it might be the hope someone else is needing right now! 🤗⁠
“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors “Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keepin’ me awake. I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take. A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” ⁠
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As P.T. Barnum sings these words to Charity in the beautiful montage of their young lives, we are captivated by the hope that they share, the possibilities of their bright future, and the chance of their love overcoming the wall between privilege and poverty that keeps them apart. The Greatest Showman asks us to wrestle with the quest for the holy grail of our modern world: success and happiness. ⁠
What is the good life? If a million of our wildest dreams came true, would we truly be happy?⁠
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In Jesus, we find a man who invites us into his presence with these words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is the only one who can fill “the infinite abyss” of desire in our souls. When you have fully devoted yourself and your dreams to your Creator, you will discover that “everything you ever want” and “everything you ever need” is “right here in front of you” in Christ Jesus.⁠
{Steve Limekman}⁠
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✍🏼: by @slimkeman in “The Greatest Showman”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: from newidentitymagazine
Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten under the age of five dies of a preventable cause, and nearly every day in America eight in ten adults consume coffee. What do these numbers have to do with each other? A lot, according to the One Cup Project, which is using America’s love for coffee to reduce the number of children dying in Africa by converting coffee profits into life-saving aid.⁠
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The One Cup Project started in 2010, when Christian Kar, the founder of an award-winning Seattle-based coffee company, partnered with the Christian humanitarian aid organization, World Vision.Remarkably, every dollar spent on One Cup Coffee generates a dollar of aid for Africa.⁠
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Buy some coffee, put up a post on your Facebook page, ask your church, local café, or workplace to change their coffee, or run a One Cup Fundraiser. In doing so, you just may help hurting people find healing, hope, and life. Change the world for the better, one cup at a time.⁠
{Thame Fuller}⁠
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✍🏼: @thamefuller in “One Cup Project”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio or click on this link to take you directly to the One Cup website: https://onecup.org/our-story/⁠
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📸: by @AftaPuta from Pexels
When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old p When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old priorities behind and make Jesus the center of their life. Jesus calls each of us to share the good news with the world. He came to give living water to a thirsty world, and we have the honor and privilege of sharing his message by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).⁠
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The most important thing you can do is enter each conversation with a posture of prayer. Pray for the person you’re sharing with, that God would open their heart to accept him. Pray that God would give you the words to say. And a loving way to say them.⁠
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Expect God to work in your relationship and use you to share Jesus through your friendship in his own timing. No matter how long you have been a believer, you can share Jesus with the confidence that he is with you and that he will use you for his glory.⁠
{Eric Gulley}⁠
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✍🏼: Eric Gulley in “Sharing Your Faith”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: by @OliverSjostrom from Pexels
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