Chasing After God

There has been only one principle that Jan and I followed when needing to discover our next step in life. That principle has been to follow the Lord at all costs. We had a few times when we stumbled, but when we finally stepped out in faith, that single principle has led us without fail in the last 47 years of marriage and 40 years of service in God’s Kingdom.

At times chasing after God made no sense financially or logically. It created challenging times with good friends who did not understand. It changed how people viewed us, and in some cases, radically altered the trajectory of our lives.

As someone on the last lap or two of life, I can look back over the previous four decades of life and say, following the leading of the Lord has been the single most important decision we have ever made. It has been our key to fulfillment in all areas of our life. Today, Jan and I have no needs, but if tomorrow should a need arise, we know that in Christ, we lack no good thing. 

If you want to know your next step in life - chase after the Lord. His is the calling of your life, not what you do to express that calling. Follow Him wherever He leads no matter the cost or the jeopardy that choice creates. The place where God is leading you and how you will execute that calling will be the by-products of obeying His voice. That choice will challenge your faith when your doubts and the counsel of others tell you to take a safe and predictable course. 

Each day, Jan and I wake up and thank God for our life together, knowing we did not get here on our own or by our wisdom. We were brought to this place by a faithful Lord who invited us to follow Him. He is waiting to take your hand and show you how to move forward to something you could not imagine. Take Him up on His invitation, and you will never live with regret.

Defining Freedom

There is a great deal of conversation taking place in our culture about the subject of freedom. Today, I took a look at what Scripture tells us about true freedom. It became for me a meaningful personal reminder and a point of clarity. While some may say this only pertains to matters of the Spirit, I would respectfully disagree. It pertains to everything because it is everything. This understanding takes place at the core of our being and will form the substance of our principles and how we choose to live our lives. 

OUR FREEDOM WAS GIVEN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED - Once we believed in Jesus Christ, we were set free. To remain free, we must continue to believe and trust in the Lord. “But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:22).

OUR FREEDOM IS MOBILE - We carry our freedom with us wherever we go no matter what the circumstance. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (II Corinthians 3:17).

OUR FREEDOM IS NOT PROGRESSIVE – It took place once and for all and was made available to us by the death, resurrection, and enthronement of Jesus Christ. It is absolute and forever unchangeable by even the most challenging circumstance of life. “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (Ephesians 1:7).

Today, the Lord is inviting us to live and speak like free people. Our words and witness regarding freedom may upset some who still think their freedom is tied to the promise of a nation or a set of cultural ideals. While those can be noble and good, they do not promise the same freedom found in Christ. Nations will rise and fail, and human ideals will change over time. Only Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Pickup Your Memorial Stone

Amid all the noise, clamor, and disruption taking place in our culture, God wants to reveal His love and power. That love and power will be visible to those whose eyes have been trained to see His goodness.

When Joshua was leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, they had to cross the Jordan River, which at the time, was running at flood stage. The Lord stopped the river’s flow allowing the Israelites to cross over on dry ground. When the miraculous passage was complete, two memorials were constructed.

The Lord instructed Joshua to tell the people to choose a leader from each of the twelve tribes who would select a single stone and build a stone memorial where they would camp the first night after the crossing was complete. This would be a forever memorial to future generations of God’s faithfulness to deliver His people. 

The second stone memorial was built by Joshua. His memorial was built on the dry riverbed, in the middle of the Jordan. When all the people finally crossed over, the river began to flow again, and Joshua’s memorial would be submerged.

The crossing of the Jordan is a word picture for each of us.  We are making a crossing from what we once knew to a future yet to be defined.  Today, we have been given an assignment similar to the assignment that Joshua gave the Israelites. Stop and look for your stone of remembrance of God’s love and power displayed in the last few months. This stone is somewhere in your life. Only the eyes of faith can see this stone. Pick it up and carry it with you as you journey forward. It has a place on the other side of this time of transition where your stone will be placed with other stones of remembrance to remind you, your friends, and your family of God’s goodness.

If you are leading a family, a business, a church, or an entire movement of people, you also have a memorial to construct. Your memorial will be like the one Joshua assembled.  Place your stones where you stand today on the dry ground of your passage. When your passage is complete, it will be submerged and out of sight. In future generations, leaders will remember that your memorial to God’s faithfulness is there, somewhere underneath the future floodwaters of transition. It will give future leaders who follow in your footsteps the courage to step into the floodwaters of transition, knowing that God will always be faithful to reveal a way forward.

“Today, you will know that the living God is among you” (Joshua 3:10).

A Restart Line is Forming

A cultural restart line is beginning to form. In the coming days, this line will become visible to those who view what is happening with the eyes of faith. The Spirit is sending out invitations for people to begin lining up at a place called “Restart.” What began as a very confusing and desperate situation will morph into expectancy as people begin to respond to the Spirit’s call to line up. 

Once all the responding individuals and institutions are assembled, a release date will be revealed.  That date will not be announced by any news organization or government entity. This will be a God-call to begin moving.  The release will be called a move of God as people follow the leading of the Spirit into a hope-filled future.

Those who have allowed their ears to constantly be filled with a message of fear, dread, and cynicism will be unable to hear this call of God. Those who moved forward in faith and responded to God’s invitation will be the starting point of a restorative work of the Spirit that will lead us into a new future, not return us to the past. 

God is Reframing Our Future

Many times, I will see something just before I begin to write. This morning, I saw frames like the kind of frames that surround a photo or work of art. The frames were approaching a date shortly when we will emerge from this time of isolation. Each frame has a life it will encompass and a date when the reframing will take place.

Most of us have written something in the margin of a book or a Bible. As we read along, we jot down thoughts and observations in the margins of the text. There is actually a term for this: “marginalia.” 

Marginalia originally described the intentional designs in the margins of Medieval illuminated manuscripts. The margins of these manuscripts were filled with beautiful patterns and images in gold and silver that helped “illuminate” the text. 

God will be reframing many of our lives in the coming days. He has written on these new frames – the marginalia - His desire for the next season of our life. The new frame will make our lives come alive with fresh clarity revealing the original intent of the Artist. 

This season has not been a wasted or lost time. Each painful loss and disappointment will be captured by God and transformed into a hope-filled marginalia text that will reveal the creativity of His redeeming power. When you emerge from this time, and your new frame is placed over the image of your life, you will become a masterpiece of God fit for a place of honor in the most prestigious gallery.

Overwhelmed

This morning the word “overwhelmed” floated across my mind. I sensed this was a nudge from the Spirit to engage the word to see if the Lord had something to say. So, I checked out overwhelm in several dictionaries. 

Overwhelm has been used to describe something being submerged, sunk, engulfed, covered with water. It also means to be overcome by emotions or perpetual stimuli. One definition was especially interesting, considering the coming of Passover and Easter, “to pass or go over something.” The interpretation of the word can be good or bad, depending on what is doing the overwhelming.

We will all be overwhelmed by something. Many are beginning to realize how easy it is to be overwhelmed in a negative way at this time, especially if your job is affected and your family is trying to keep the kids educated and the bills paid. We can begin to feel alone and isolated. We can drown in these uncharted waters feeling like we are being submerged without our permission, buried alive, and emotionally suffocating.

With sensitivity to you and your situation, I want to make a suggestion. Jan and I have learned a life-principle that has never failed us in those times when it felt like we were being submerged in despair, and our life was descending into dark depths out of control. In those instances, we got down on our knees and worshipped. We did it out loud, not with cute Hallmark card kind of religious slogans, but with gut-wrenching words of honesty, praise and declarations to the goodness of God, especially when what we were feeling was anything but good.

There are times in life when the way forward is only revealed through worship.  We will either be overwhelmed by the presence of God or the disasters of this life. We will leave behind a testimony of our response and interaction with this unique moment in history. That testimony will be crafted from the choices we made that determined what we allowed to overwhelm our lives. 

A Raw and Vulnerable Beauty

A friend of our family shared this painting of the nativity scene by the artist Gari Melcher on her Facebook wall. When I saw the image, I stopped and stared, stunned by its raw beauty. It conveyed to me something more profound and impactful than any other nativity scene I had ever seen.

Melcher captured the reality of that night. In the image of Joseph, I see the weight he was carrying, knowing the story of a virgin birth would sound like a lie. Mary is asleep exhausted at his side from the pain of the delivery, and the King of Kings has allowed Himself to become a vulnerable infant under the care of a mother and father He created.

What makes this image so profound is the lack of addition. We have added so much interpretive license to our understanding of God and His Kingdom that we have lost an essential ingredient - reality.  

In the portrait of our lives, the most beautiful representations are created when we live raw and exposed to the reality of our circumstances. Like the painting, God is with us in the midst of our difficulty even if His current manifestation seems inadequate to help us through the night. 

Never allow personal fear or the demands of someone’s religious ideal to paint your reality out of the image. The Immanuel principle of God with us is the most beautiful and impacting when painted on the canvas of honesty, expressing the raw and vulnerable beauty of its reality.

The Peaceful Touch of the Father

Life with a new puppy is a unique experience. We have been here before, so it’s no surprise. It is a constant vigil for accidental piddles and making sure our little Boone boy knows how to fit into his new pack.  By the way, he is such a good pup. He is a quick learner. Already on day two, he knows how to go in and out of the doggie door to relieve himself. Whew!

We crate Boone at night. For those who wonder what a crate might be, it is a wire cage only large enough for a dog to lie down. It’s like a personal cave where a dog can feel secure. 

The first night home, we put the crate across our bedroom, and Boone howled and howled. After about 30 minutes of this dog-chorus, I had an idea. I slid the crate alongside our bed on my side. I could put my hand down and touch his noisy little nose that was poking up through the wire as he cried. As soon as he felt my touch, he stopped crying, settled down, and fell asleep. He slept through the first night, and now the second. All is well in Elkinsville.

Calming Boone in the middle of the night when he was thrust into a new and unfamiliar environment was a milestone in puppy training. It is also a milestone in our spiritual lives. Every new season will have a night experience when so much is unfamiliar and unknown that we will cry out in some form of anguish not knowing what is taking place. These strange circumstances may not change overnight, and that can be unsettling. The only thing that can calm us is a touch from God. 

Just as Boone raised his nose and poked it upward looking for comfort so it should be with us. The circumstance of our lives may be unchangeable and uncomfortable. In those times, we have control over only one thing.  We can decide where we will reach out for peace and security. Only God can provide those two things. If you are in a new and unfamiliar place, turn your attention heavenward, and you will feel the peaceful touch of God’s hand. His touch is the only thing that can calm the anxiety of life.

I See You

I remember reading about a young woman who was part of a team of noted researchers who accomplished a major scientific breakthrough. Her research produced the amazing results being celebrated by others yet her name remained hidden and unrecognized. Everything changed when another young woman who had risen to public notoriety from a place of personal obscurity noted her valuable contribution and made her name known on social media. The young woman was finally honored because someone noticed her.

We need to ask God to help us see the unnoticed ones who work behind the scenes. We live in a culture where those already standing on the public platform receive most of the praise and acclamation. Without the pivotal contribution of these unnoticed ones, the great accomplishments being celebrated would never have taken place.  

When you see these hidden gifts let them know you see them. They may be that one person who is the glue that holds an entire family together. They can be someone who introduced two people who formed a critical relationship that led to a powerful alliance or someone who gave of their limited finances to help an entrepreneur get started. They might lead a Sunday School class in a small church out in the middle of nowhere who led a great revivalist to the Lord. These people are all around us faithfully fulfilling their calling in life.

Noticing the unnoticed is something Jesus did very well and it is a skill all of us need to develop. Jesus saw apostles in fisherman and a future disciple in a tree. He saw an undiscovered evangelist in a Samaritan woman drawing water at a well. Destiny is discovered when someone is noticed. Seeing someone values them as a human being created in the image of God and that is the most beautiful thing to notice. 

The Angel of Nations

Today, in the early morning hours at precisely 5:23 a.m., I heard the phrase “Angel of Nations.” I looked toward the front door of our living room and sensed a presence. I knew an angelic visitation was taking place.  I could sense, but not see, the angel. As I engaged the angel’s presence, I began to hear instruction and receive insight. It was then that I looked down and my computer screen and noticed the time. In some way the date and time were important.

I was told the Angel of Nations is the angel sent by God and tasked with helping the Church fulfill the Great Commission as described in Matthew 28. This angel is so powerful he has authority over all the principalities and powers that currently control the nations of the Earth that are not yet under the influence of God’s Spirit. 

As I waited in the early morning stillness of our living room, I saw this angel gathering nations under his wings as a prophetic sign of his mission on Earth. I believe the Lord allowed me to see this image because it is the work He plans to accomplish in the nations. I was also able to see this image because it will help us develop a deeper understanding of our role in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 

This Church has been given the authority of Jesus to accomplish an ingathering of nations that will result in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Jesus said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19). The Angel of Nations has arrived to accelerate the reformation of nations by the Spirit-empowered discipleship of individuals in each sphere of cultural influence represented within each nation. 

Instead of a confrontation with nations still under the influence of darkness, I believe we will experience a reformation of our mission that will cause our redemptive effort to look more like the unfolded and inviting arms of a loving Father. As the Great Commission grows in its impact, we will see nations stepping under the protective and loving covering of God’s presence. This ingathering of nations will take place because God will offer them a place of safety and security in a world filled with jeopardy and danger. 

What God sent the Angel of Nations to accomplish in partnership with the Church will be similar to the words spoken by Jesus over Jerusalem, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37). 

The Angel of Nations has been sent to help us invite the nations of Earth to come and find rest under the wings of God’s love and mercy. That is our commission. It is a Great Commission.

The Badge of Faith

I remember the first day I became a cop. I was sworn in and handed a badge. My badge number was 387. Whenever I enforced the law, I served under the authority of that badge. Both complaints and commendations referenced my badge number. It identified me along with my name in the hundreds of police reports I filed during my years of service. My badge was worn on the left side of my chest over my heart.

Yesterday, I was visiting the post office in the small town where I live. An officer from our local Sheriff’s department was walking through the parking lot. I called out and initiated a conversation. Officers in uniform never know who or what they will encounter in a citizen contact. My desire as a former cop was simply to say thanks and offer an encouraging word.  The interaction was consistent with the reputation of the excellent agency the officer represented. Later that day, I sent an online word of commendation for the officer’s professionalism and kindness regarding our interaction.

I thought about those of us who follow Jesus Christ. We are called to be enforcers of God’s heart. His authority backs up our actions if our actions are in line with His heart. We are called to enforce love, truth, and honor. Those three enforcement actions can take place in a casual conversation in a local coffee shop or a spiritually violent confrontation where our response will determine whether we live or die in our witness for the Lord.

Today, I hope someone writes up a commendation for the love, truth, and honor you represented by your words and actions. I also hope the enemy growls in protest and yells, “Give me your badge number!” when you interrupt his deception and he files a complaint about the uncompromising character and integrity you carry that interfered with his dark plans. God has your badge number and so does the enemy. Serve and protect the people you meet under the authority of God’s love.  That's what you signed up for. Stay safe out there.

Riding the Landslides of Life

A massive landslide took place last week on the Oregon coast. The landslide is almost a mile in length. It has displaced the coast highway downslope toward the ocean turning the highway into an impassible mass of crumbled asphalt and dirt. It looks like the remnants of a catastrophic earthquake. 

The strange thing about this landslide is the fact that it is still moving. Every hour it slides farther toward the ocean. The landslide was moving at two feet an hour during one 24-hour period. The destroyed roadway has cut off cities along the coast and will create a significant impact on the local economy and summer tourism.

What struck me was the fact that the landslide is still active and moving. These catastrophic events are not static. They can seem alive. So it is with the catastrophic events in our lives. When a loved one dies or divorce takes place or a friend betrays us these experiences can set off an emotional landslide. The landslides created by these broken relationships can come without warning and set in motion a slab of painful debris that keeps moving for many years.

As I looked at a picture of the devastation along the Oregon coast, I thought of some of you who are riding atop an emotional landslide. You are wondering if it will ever stop. Your life seems so uncertain and out of control. Something larger and more beautiful than the pain of this displacement is in play. What was planned for your destruction will be reversed. 

This painful movement will eventually come to an end and that will be your signal that the construction of a new roadway into your future is beginning. God has plans to remove the debris from your past and create a solid roadway on more stable ground. When He is done, you will be able to travel into the next season of your life with freedom, confidence, and security.

Crossing Life's Intersections

Every intersection of life has a word from the Lord in place that will function as a traffic signal. As you approach these intersections read the signals carefully and wisely. Some have sped through these intersections without wisdom and their assumptions have caused unnecessary collisions. As you approach your next intersection, take time to read and discern the signs God has in place. They were put there for your safety and the safety of those who are traveling with you.

25,240 Mornings

This morning I awoke to my 25,240^thmorning on Earth. Lord willing, I will awake to number 25,241. I have prepared the coffee pot, planned a BBQ and scheduled some errands for tomorrow. As the evening approaches, I am asking the Lord to reveal the assumptions He wants me to shed before 25,241 arrives. Everything taking place today that we think will continue on tomorrow uninterrupted is an assumption if it’s not connected to the love and eternal goodness of God.  Be at peace. Sleep well. God is with you.

Softening a Hardening Heart

When I find myself not particularly liking someone or when I sense the first pulse beat of a hardening heart toward them I will go out of my way to affirm the person. I might pray and ask God to bless them or hit a “like” button on their social media account or send them a supportive message. This choice and its resulting action align me with the mercy of God. It is a subtle form of spiritual warfare that has the power to disarm the enemy and foil his plans before they have a chance to breed suspicion and division. The cost of a hardened heart is too great a price to pay. 

The Awakened Ones

Years ago, I got up early in the morning while it was still dark and thought I was late for work. I hustled out of bed, showered and got dressed. After I was fully dressed and still thinking I was late, I looked at the kitchen clock and it read 1:30 am. I was not a happy camper. 

At the moment I realized my mistake, I considered heading back to bed but knew I was now fully awake. I got enough sleep to probably toss and turn for the next few hours if I did return to bed. I had another thought. 

I got in my car and headed to an all-night diner and had an early breakfast. As my car moved toward the diner my disgust at a premature awakening began to fade away. Once the issue of my early rising was resolved, I settled down and started to enjoy the vacant streets. I could see things in the night that were not there in the day. In a strange way, it felt like I was on a special assignment. The breakfast at the diner was great. I got to see people who lived in the night that did not appear in my normal schedule of life. When I finally arrived at work, I was fresh and ready to go while my co-workers were still trying to shake off the night.

Some of you have been prepared spiritually for a long time while those around you continue to sleep. You have been waiting to discover the reason for what seems like a premature awakening. You are about to find out the reason and then you will understand. In the meantime, the most important thing you can do is to adjust your attitude to your new circumstance. God has awakened you for a reason. Being awake, not asleep, is your calling. 

In your awakened state you will see what those still wrapped in spiritual slumber do not see. This is your time of prayer. You have been awakened to watch and pray. The dawn of your situation is coming. When it does arrive, you will have seen what God wants you to see and you will have invested in that insight with prayer. When the light of day finally illuminates the issues of your life, you will not panic and run around like someone who was awakened b a rude alarm clock. You will be ready to move in a level of confidence only available to those who have been awakened and prepared by the Spirit.

The Prophetic Food Chain

The most significant prophetic voices are not always those who capture the most social media attention or get invited to speak at conferences advertised with garish slick-page ads or who sell the most “product.” That is a narrow arena of Kingdom influence many times over-inflated in its effect. 

The most significant prophetic voices can be the unrecognized ones who live at lower levels on the advertised and promoted ministerial food chain. They live in the invisible and neglected trenches of life where pain and suffering are unvarnished and raw and where a prophetic word of hope helps a person choose to live another day. God has the uncanny ability to place these people next to individuals who carry cultural influence. These encounters appear to be coincidental but they are strategic placements by the hand of God.

These unrecognized voices speak prophecies of hope setting in motion a chain reaction of cultural breakthrough that will end up on the news announced as a major development. As the effect of these words become evident, their source can become lost in the shuffle. They may be lost to undisciplined eyes and ears, but not to God. God remembers His obedient ones and He will reward their faithfulness.

Someday, the Lord will retrace the prophetic steps that led to solutions and innovation that became prominent on the world stage. At that moment, we will see it was not the most visible and dramatic ministries whom the Lord will choose to honor, but the unknown ones who took the first step of obedience and spoke a simple word that set in motion a supernatural work of God. 

A Safe Shelter

When I was on the football team at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, our coach asked if any members of the team could help a friend. The coach’s friend was a doctor who lived in the northern panhandle of Idaho. He was a sheep rancher. In the winter of 1969, a deadly snow storm was killing his unprotected sheep. The early storm caught the doctor off-guard. He was halfway through the construction of sheep sheds. The roof had not been installed in time. The doctor needed a few football players to help his Basque sheepherders finish the roof to get the sheep out of the weather. I had a free weekend and the pay was good, so I volunteered.

We finished the job, and the sheep were brought in from the storm. The rest of the animals survived. On the final evening, we sat down to dinner with the doctor and his wife and the Basque sheepherders we had worked alongside. The dinner was a victory celebration of sorts. A Basque feast filled the table. It was amazing. On the drive back to Spokane, my belly was full and so was my wallet. It felt good to have helped create something that allowed life, not death, to prevail.

When I recalled that memory from long ago, I thought of the Church and how important it is to create a safe place for people to survive the deadly storms that blow into our lives from time-to-time – storms of betrayal, division in an unsettled culture and the subversive works of demonic powers. Real sheep, like the ones in northern Idaho, need shelter from natural storms and so do the followers of Jesus Christ who are defined in Scripture as sheep and will encounter deadly storms in the spiritual realm. 

Our place of shelter in these storms is not found in the structure of our ministry or in fearful places of isolation. Our shelter is found in a person – Jesus Christ. He is our only sure shelter when the winds of darkness and division begin to pierce our soul. Any other protective enclosure will not have the insulating properties needed to keep the cold of a loveless faith away from our hearts. Shelters built around preferred theologies, political ideologies or unrestrained human emotions will always put sheep in jeopardy of dying a premature spiritual death. 

Examine where you and your sheep are grazing. When the personal and cultural storms come, where can the sheep under your care run for shelter? When the storms arrive, you have been called to give people a place free from the bone-chilling winds of deception that can easily hide behind a mask of religion. Entry into this place of safety does not require agreement on anything but the person of Jesus Christ. All other shelters will put people in a position of unnecessary vulnerability. 

If you help to build a place of shelter, you will someday sit around a table of fellowship when a storm has finally passed, and the sheep are safe and warm. At that moment, you will know you did something right and good.

Everything

Everything in this life is passing away. At the end of all things, only love will remain. Our accomplishments, successes, and breakthroughs will eventually yield to the outcome of love. Love will purify all we have done and present everything to the Lord as the fruit of His victory, not ours. This is why we must possess every moment of goodness with an open hand free from the grip of pride and fear. Everything becomes a fleeting vanity if not held by love.

The True Value of Our Lives

I was walking through the historic cemetery in our town when I noticed a sign with the word "Pauper." In the 1800’s, sections of cemeteries throughout the United States had dedicated areas to bury the poor. There were other signs in these cemeteries that defined the burial plots for fraternal organizations and religious affiliations. It was the sign with the single word “Pauper” that caught my attention and tugged at my heart.

A dictionary definition notes a pauper to be “a person destitute of means, a very poor person who relies on charity.” We don’t use the term anymore. Though the word seems antiquated, it can still define the financial and social status of some people.  While there are people of faith who struggle for the material needs of daily life, their real value is never determined by the social designations people attach to their life. Every human being deserves dignity, not designations.

Our true value is only determined by God, not by any cultural placard placed over our life. I know that in the pauper section of the historic cemetery lie buried followers of Christ who did not have much in terms of physical wealth or social status. These believers were wealthy beyond human measurement because they were loved by God. Today, many of their graves are unmarked, but in the life to come, they will be wearing crowns studded with the gems of their faithfulness. That will be the ultimate and final declaration of their value and the only true measurement of how they lived this life. 

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2: 4-7).