Month: April 2022

Lived, Not Told

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Some things are hard to understand without experiencing them for yourself.

Have you ever been on the trip of a lifetime and taken in the most breathtaking scenery? Even trying to capture it with a camera doesn’t do it justice. In the end, you throw up your arms and say,

“You really just have to experience it for yourself.”

Or maybe as a foodie, your taste buds have finally basked in the glory of that long sought after pasta carbonara, tender filet mignon, flaky pastry, or full-bodied wine. You try to string together the most perfectly descriptive adjectives to explain the complexity of flavours – but in the end you throw up your arms and say,

“You really just have to experience it for yourself.”

Whether it be…
travel
food
falling in love
or becoming a parent for the first time…

We’ve all lived through things that cannot be adequately described without being experienced firsthand.

No matter how hard we try to explain it, some things just have to be lived, not told.

Unfortunately, so many of us end up missing out on the FULL LIFE Jesus promises because we only go by whatever we’ve heard, and we stop there.

Perhaps all you know of Jesus is secondhand accounts of the experiences of others. So you’re left trying to sort through what you actually believe.

Maybe you’ve been told,

“You really just have to experience Him for yourself.”

In Luke 7, we read about how Jesus’ ministry is really gaining traction. People are flocking to Him for healing and teaching, and He’s causing quite a stir.

So much so, that John the Baptist, the last of the messengers from God to announce the coming Saviour, gets word of it while he’s in prison. After trying to sort it all out for themselves, John and his followers don’t know what to make of Jesus. Like most Jewish people at the time, they were expecting an overthrow of the Roman government and a messiah who would reestablish the throne of their ancestors.

Jesus didn’t seem to show signs of any of this. So John sends his followers to ask Jesus directly,

Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?

– Luke 7:19

Jesus’ response captures the heart of what I hope to get across here:

Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.

– Luke 7:22-23

Ok, notice what Jesus doesn’t do.
Jesus does not:

  • Debate with them about what the coming Messiah would look like
  • Pull out His ancient scrolls to show them where they were misinterpreting the Scriptures
  • Try to intellectually convince them to believe His words
  • Scare them into following Him by pointing out their flaws, sins, or doubts

In fact, as I really sat with this passage, I realized that Jesus doesn’t really say much at all. And He didn’t seem overly concerned with what they would do with His response to their question either.

He basically says, The proof is in the pudding. Look around and see for yourself. People are experiencing God’s transformative power. Lives are being changed. Draw your own conclusions.

For Jesus, it was never about using the right words to convince people to follow Him.

He knows we must experience Him in order to live the full lives He created us for.

So maybe you’re already there mentally or intellectually, but something is still missing, and you’ve yet to encounter Jesus in a way that can only be experienced.

To you I say… get to know Jesus by finding out about yourself!

Here’s what I mean: we were all created differently and therefore wired to connect with God differently. So experiencing Him is really about finding the ways that He created YOU to most easily and effortlessly find and connect with Him. It’ll be a little different for everyone.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes a comparison between the good gifts we give to our children, and the good gifts God the Father lavishes on those who ask Him.

For some context, He isn’t talking about material possessions or financial prosperity, but about a relationship! We know how to give good things to our children, even as broken and flawed people. So how much more does our Father in Heaven, through Jesus, One who is the full embodiment of grace, mercy, love, and compassion, want to give good gifts to us when we ask Him?

Friends, my point is this: He does not make it hard to find Him! Jeremiah 29:14 has the Lord literally saying, I will be found by you! So consider how this may be easiest for you, specifically.

When someone throws up their arms and says,

“You really just have to experience Him for yourself.”

This is not an exhaustive list, but if you gravitate towards:

  • Community
    Matthew 18:20 tells us that when two or three are gathered together, God promises to be among them. So gather with others who are pursuing God and want to experience Him! To actually live Him, not just be told about Him. This could be a Bible study, or simply connecting with another who walks with Jesus and wants to experience Him too.
  • Creation
    Romans 1:20 tells us that since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. This means that if you find yourself drawn to nature and sense His presence there – go do that! Experience God there!
  • Intellectual
    Psalm 1:2 talks about taking literal DELIGHT in God’s Word and meditating on it day and night. So if you experience God most easily through Bible study, podcasts, sermons, commentaries, and articles, then do that! I have no doubt He will reveal Himself to you as you continue to delight in Him there.
  • Music
    Psalm 98 starts by telling us to sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvellous things, then goes on about using musical instruments to make music to the Lord. We are created as musical beings – certainly some more than others! But if that’s how you experience God, then do that!
  • Prayer
    Philippians 4:6-7 tells us to pray about everything. To tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Time in prayer can be a powerful way to experience God.

The Two Waters

There’s a beautiful analogy that compares salvation to a tall glass of thirst-quenching water. When you come to faith in Jesus, your deepest hunger and thirst are satisfied in Him, just like a refreshing glass of water satisfies on a hot summer day.

But to really know God in a way that can only be experienced, is like sitting by the seashore and having a mighty wave wash over you, enveloping you and covering every last part of your being. It’s life-altering, and can’t be understood without being experienced. It has to be lived, not told.

What’s in the Ears

The last few months have been pretty reflective for me in a melancholy way. This song is indicative of this and really beautiful. Enjoy it!

Have you experienced Jesus beyond your initial salvation as I’ve tried to describe here? Which of the ways listed do you gravitate towards most? Let me know in the comments or send me a message!

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Mindset

Published on by tinavila202 Comments

Podcast available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Anchor!

Happy Easter to all! It is a GOOD, Good Friday. If you checked out my post on Lent, you know I invited us to try memorizing a portion of Philippians chapter 2 together!

Seeing as the passage has been on repeat and repeat and repeat for the past 40 days, I just HAD to dedicate my Easter post/episode to the Hymn of Christ – as it’s known.

I got so much out of studying it over Lent and I can’t wait to dive in together.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;
7 rather, He made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    He humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
    and gave Him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

– Philippians 2:5-11

One of my favourite things about about these few verses is that the sum of them actually represent the life of Jesus broken down into five sections.

1. Pre-Existence

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;

This verse points to the eternal nature of Jesus. He is not a created being or inferior to God. He is in very nature God. This means that any immutable (unchanging) attributes of God are also ascribed fully, not partially, to Jesus as well. In Jesus, are God’s omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), omnibenevolence (all-good), omnipresence (all-present), and eternal (all-existing) qualities.

Ok but, so what? Why does any of this matter? It matters because of what we see unfold in the next verses. Let’s go to the next chapter of the story.

2. Incarnation

7 rather, He made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,

This picture of Jesus gives us such a stark contrast to the Jesus we read about in verse 6. Jesus, being equal to God, before anything existed, actually left His throne and made Himself NOTHING. He didn’t come to earth as a mighty ruler or powerful religious leader; but poor, obscure, and vulnerable. So that we could actually relate to Him.

We don’t have to wonder what God’s love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, patience, and ultimately, His sacrifice might look like in our tangible world. Because of the Incarnation, all these qualities were fully manifest in the life of Jesus. So if you want to know how to live, what to prioritize, how to treat people, how to pray, how to love, and how to forgive, just look at Jesus.

3. Crucifixion

He humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

The more closely I draw near to Jesus, or more like, the more closely He draws me to Himself! – the more moved I am by His sacrifice. Because of Jesus, those who believe in Him will NEVER feel the level of pain, humiliation, or rejection that He experienced on our behalf.

His death meant that sin and death were conquered forever. So when He cried out on the cross, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me (Matt. 27:46), it’s because it was the first time since pre-existence and beyond, that He was not connected to God the Father.

God turned His back on Jesus and allowed the full wrath of God to fall on Him, destroying sin and death forever. Jesus was completely alone in those moments. Not just abandoned by His loved ones, but rejected by God so our sin would be defeated in the death of Jesus.

4. Resurrection

9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
 and gave Him the name that is above every name,

Jesus’ resurrection is the tangible proof that sin and death were actually defeated on the cross. Jesus said in John 10:18, No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded. His resurrection power is then available to anyone who calls upon His name.

5. Ascension

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus ascending to heaven means that we’re not simply saved from our sin as a result of the crucifixion, and then left to fend for ourselves. His ascension means two critical things:

  1. Jesus intercedes for us. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus lives forever to intercede with God on behalf of those who come to God through Him.
  2. The Holy Spirit was sent to help us. In John 14:16, Jesus says that He would ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. That’s the Holy Spirit

In His ascension, Jesus was restored to the full glory of God. And one day, everyone will know it too! Because on that day, every knee will bow and everyone tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Bonus

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus

You may have noticed that as we went through the Hymn of Christ, we skipped the beginning, where we are invited to actually adopt this posture in our own lives. Paul doesn’t go through Jesus’ whole biography for the purpose of growing our intellect, as great as that is. We are encouraged to actually live that way ourselves!

So whatever status, reputation, education, corporate position, fame, skillset, or dollar signs in the bank account, none of us begin at the same level of glory as Jesus, who in pre-existence, was equal to God the Father Himself.

This means by default, whatever level of humility we may think we’ve stooped to for the sake of others, it is nothing compared to that which Jesus subjected Himself, by being made in human likeness, becoming obedient to death on a cross.

So this Easter, let’s not just be intentional about appreciating the sacrifice that bought our salvation, but let’s look for ways to manifest the sacrifice, humility, and love that Jesus modelled for us.

Moreover, we must press into the resurrection power of Jesus. For anything else we might lean on for strength or meaning is an idol that will crush under the weight of our expectations for it.

The Apostle Paul says this in the Message translation,

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

– Philippians 3:10 MSG

Where does this land for you? Do you also recognize the eternal implications and benefits of having the same mindset of Christ Jesus? I hope so! Because I can personally vouch for the fact that there is no peace, hope, joy, goodness, or power apart from Him.

What’s in the Ears

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or send me a message! Happy Easter, friends!

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Let’s Get Social

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If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, or even just mildly interested in the Bible, see if any of these resonate with you:

  1. You’re curious about the Bible, but you don’t get it. So many metaphors, parables, cultural or geographical references that mean absolutely squat to the average person from the 21st century looking for an ounce of hope amidst this dumpster fire of life.
  2. You’re committed to following Jesus. You prioritize spiritual disciplines like fasting, tithing, prayer, worship, or serving. But the Bible? You’re ashamed to admit how dryyyyyyyyyyy it is. Maybe you’ve got a favourite psalm that’s encouraging, or practical reminders from one of Paul’s letters when you need it. But mostly… it just doesn’t draw you in. The Bible is confusing, contradictory, or downright boring.
  3. You’re very familiar with the Bible. You know the Scriptures super well, and have several passages or books memorized. You even enjoy different translations for different perspectives depending on what’s needed. However, a fresh word hasn’t actually hit from the Word in awhile. Your time in the Scriptures is growing stale. You hate to admit it, but what you loved about the Bible seems to be gone.

If you can’t relate, then I’m sorry to be such a Debbie Downer. However, I have a feeling some parts of that resonate for many of us.

So what can be done?

Whether you’ve only taken a nibble, or are feasting regularly on huge helpings of the daily Bread, it’s not uncommon for Scripture to taste stale at some point.

I believe a huge part of the problem is that we’re actually missing a significant approach to how we we’re meant to engage with the Scriptures in the first place!

See, the last several decades of Christian tradition have encouraged the discipline of a regular quiet time in God’s Word as the main indicator of a vibrant, personal walk with Jesus. I’m guilty of this too!

However for much of Christian history, individual access to the Scriptures was impossible. Until books could be mass produced and distributed, the Bible was not accessible to the average Christ follower.

So how did people grow in their faith?

How did anyone become familiar with the Scriptures in the first place?

As is true of the Christian walk…

The Bible was meant to be experienced in COMMUNITY!

It was written over thousands of years within cultures of a predominately oral tradition. Meaning, all important information was transmitted orally. The Bible included.

Biblegateway.com put together a great list of Scriptures where the Bible was read aloud. I’ve included the list here:

  • In Exodus 24, Moses read Scripture to the Israelites on Mount Sinai.
  • In Deuteronomy 31:9-13, the Jews were instructed to read Scripture publicly every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles.
  • In Joshua 8:34-35, Joshua read Scripture to the people of God as they entered the Promised Land.
  • In 2 Kings 23:1-3, the King Josiah read the Scriptures publicly AND STARTED A REVIVAL!
  • In Nehemiah 8:1-12, after the return from the Babylonian exile, the priest Ezra read the Bible publicly FOR HOURS EACH DAY FOR A WEEK, WHICH ALSO STARTED A REVIVAL.
  • By New Testament times, Jews were reading the Scriptures as a normal part of their weekly synagogue service. During one of them, Jesus began His public ministry after publicly reading God’s Word (Luke 4:16-21).
  • The Apostle Paul wrote to various churches that they were to read his letters publicly (1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16). Very specifically, in 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul tells the young pastor Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” The public reading of Scripture was put at the same level of importance as preaching and teaching!
  • Finally, a fascinating blessing is found in Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads ALOUD the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near”.

In the early Church, followers of Jesus gathered together and read aloud any Scriptures they could get their hands on!

Why?

They recognized what has been lost to many of us: God’s Word is LIFE. It is living and active, and something incredible happens when the Scriptures are read aloud in community.

My Story

It’s a humble, but sacred space.

I have the immense privilege of leading a small group of women in studying the Bible. I don’t take this lightly. When I say that it’s an immense privilege, I really mean it.

This won’t be news to anyone, but I don’t always know how to answer questions that arise. I don’t know everything there is to know about passages we study together either.

In fact, there are moments when I don’t feel particularly inspired or would ever prefer be someplace else!

But then we gather together…

A passage is read aloud and without trying, there’s a shift in the atmosphere. Something about the words being read aloud changes the way your ears and brain and heart receive them. Something is heard in the passage that was just never noticed before. We get to talking, conversation flows, observations are shared. Suddenly we’re learning, growing, and finding ourselves on holy ground in a way that happens as God’s people gather and hear His Word collectively. It’s magic. It’s the Holy Spirit.

Don’t assume we always agree or draw the same conclusions. We don’t. And that’s ok! The point is that we’re exploring the Scriptures together as they were meant to be: in community. And that’s all that matters.

I may never have the honour of hosting you in a group, so I’d like to end the way I do for our gatherings. I always close in prayer, but like I tell the group: I don’t like to end with my own words. So I read Scripture aloud as a prayer.

I’d like to do that here too. Trusting that God’s Word would do what my own could not: which is to transform lives. So if you’re reading this, read this passage aloud to yourself!

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

6 Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near.
7 Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.
11 It is the same with My word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

– Isaiah 55

What’s in the Ears

The lyrics of this song will get you. It’s about running away from God and how He draws us back. I believe He does this beautifully through community.

I hope this inspired you to connect with others in God’s Word. Let me know if it resonated with you! And please share this with a friend too!

Podcast version available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Anchor!