Posted April 5, 2026

GETTING TO KNOW HIM

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” (John 20:11-16a)

In order for what we’re doing when we gather to do us any good;

In order for our worship to bring joy to the heart of God;

We need to meet the Risen Lord…

Not as a memory from the past.

Not as a doctrine.

Not as a vague hope.

But the same way Mary Magdalene meet him:

In the power of his resurrection.

Even if we have met the Lord Jesus in this way in the past….

….we need to meet him afresh again and again.

So that we can walk out of the assembly knowing that something eternal, something supernatural has happened to us.

You could say that from the first Easter, there have been two kinds of people on this earth:

Those who have met Jesus alive from the dead.
Those who haven’t.

Thousands and thousands of people prior to the resurrection had seen Jesus.

They saw him open the eyes of the blind, make the lame to walk.

They ate supernatural bread from his hands.

They heard him teach.

And yet, their lives remained unchanged.

But now we begin to see some people whose lives will never be the same.

Mary Magdalene.

The eleven disciples.

Two men on the road to Emmaus.

500 believers in one place.

These people encountered something which changed them forever.

They met Jesus in the power of his resurrection…

… and tasted the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

And with this came….

a freedom,

a boldness.

a love they never knew before.

Many of these people paid a high price for the gift they received in meeting the Risen Christ. Some of them died violent deaths for their faith. But they had no regrets. Their lives were anchored in heaven.

The glory of God lived in their souls because…

… they came to know Jesus in the power of his resurrection.

And here we are in the 21st Century and what was true on that first Easter is still true.

There are only two kinds of people in this world:

Those who have met Jesus alive from the dead.
Those who haven’t.

Thousands and thousands of people in our churches know all about Jesus

They’ve been hearing about him since they were children.

They know about his miracles of healing.

They can pray the Lord’s Prayer without even thinking.

They’ve heard the words of The Sermon on the Mount….

….. for years and years.

But like their Jewish counterparts on that first Easter, they are essentially unchanged by Jesus’ gospel.

But again, there are people scattered all across this earth right now — whose lives will never be the same…because they have met Jesus in the power of his resurrection.

They have begun to taste the life of the world to come in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

They have come into…

a freedom and

a boldness and

a love they never knew before.

Many of these people will also pay a high price for the gift they received in meeting the Risen Christ.

Some are going to suffer persecution, perhaps even death.

But they know no regrets.

Their lives are already anchored in heaven.

The glory of God is living in their souls because…

… they know Jesus in the power of his resurrection.

What do you mean, they know Jesus in the power of his resurrection? Have they seen him with their eyes?

No.

They’ve never seen him.

Never heard his voice with their ears.

Never felt the touch of his hand.

And yet, they’re beginning to know him.

How they know him they could never explain. They could never prove to another soul.

But they know him.

Deep inside they are hearing his voice.

“My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.”

Once you begin to know Jesus in this way, you also know how much more you need to know.

And you spend the rest of your life getting to know him better.

And you live by his Spirit and you walk by his Word

The apostle Paul, after years of following Jesus, talks about suffering the loss of all things.

“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10)

It gets deeper and deeper all the time.

The better we know him the more we need to know him better.

Now, whenever we talk about getting to know Jesus in the power of his resurrection, the people who have already tasted this always perk up their ears…. because they know there’s more, and they’re thirsty for it.

And the people who have never tasted this fall into two groups;

Those who have that thirst in their hearts for the life of the Risen Christ.
Those who are bored with the whole idea, offended by the suggestion that they might be lacking something.

So the question that the Spirit of God asks each of us is,

“Has this Easter thing happened to you?

Have you encountered Jesus as Mary Magdalene did on that first Easter? Or as Saul of Tarsus did on the road to Damascus? Or as the disciples breaking bread with him in Emmaus?

It’s not a matter of visions or voices or high emotions.

It’s a matter of a door opening deep inside you and receiving him as your guest.

The Lord Jesus has different ways of knocking on that door.

Sometimes gently,

Sometimes violently,

— but he knocks….as he’s knocking now.

“You’ve heard my gospel for years and years, but do you know me”, he says.

“You’ve known about my healing power, but do you know me?”

All it takes is for us to trust him enough to open that door deep inside and say, “Lord, I want to know you in the power of your resurrection, even if I have to experience the fellowship of your sufferings. Yes, and even become like you in your death.”

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God; who are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1: 10-13)

We’ve all been taught his promise that when two or three are gathered in his name that Jesus is there. But in what way is he present when we gather? And for what purpose? Jesus is present in the same way he was with that first little fellowship of believers on Pentecost.

Invisible to their eyes,

Inaudible to their ears,

….yet with such power that, when they opened their hearts to him in prayer, it was like a spiritual explosion in each of their lives.

And suddenly, they knew Jesus more deeply and more truly than they had ever known him during his days of flesh and blood.

If you already know him in this way, you’ll be the first to confess with Paul that you want to know him better

If you haven’t tasted this, would you like to know this Easter thing has happened to you the next time you are able to gather with other believers?

The Risen Lord visits us for no other reason than to make himself known to us…

…to ignite faith in our hearts.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

I will come in and eat with her and she with me.

Open your heart now and invite the Lord in for a fresh visit.

“Speak to me, Lord, I want to listen. Command me, Lord, I’m here to obey!”

And when you enter the assembly next time, come with a prayer…come with the door of your heart open wide.

“Here I am, Lord. I’m presenting myself to you in this place. Offering my life to you, for you to do with as you please. I’m asking you to visit me afresh with your resurrection life, that I may walk in your will, and live in your Spirit for the rest of my days here on earth and in the world beyond.” (REB)

Prayer: Yes Lord, this Easter we want to get to know you afresh, to know you in the power of your resurrection. We need to experience the freedom, the boldness, the love that you promise us. We need to know what it is truly like to meet you alive from the dead. Help us to know you, to thirst for you like never before. Ignite our faith once again. Come in. Eat with us. Speak to us. Open our ears and hearts. Wrap us in your love. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2004 Sharable/Printable Copy

Featured Artists: Francisco Borboa (Pancho) 1923-2025. He created 187 murals in 11 countries and 51 cities around, including Mexico Spain, Macau, China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong

Website: N/A

Posted March 27, 2026

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Imagine your surprise when you wake up one day and find yourself standing on a street corner in downtown Detroit. How did I get here in Detroit? What’s going on? According to the street signs you discover that you are on Woodward Avenue standing in Grand Circus Park. To add to your confusion, suddenly all traffic comes to a mysterious halt. All the people in all the stores pour out into the streets and for some uncanny reason everyone is compelled by a strange magnetic force to move slowly, at the rate of about one foot per minute southward toward the Detroit River.

You find that you can freely move east or west as fast as you like – but you can’t move north – and all the while your body is carried one foot per minute southward.

The streets are now filled with a human flood – thousands and thousands of people. There’s a man pinned against the north side of a building. Then, as if sucked by an invisible current, he moves eastward toward the corner of the building and on in the sea of humanity toward the river.

Some people are frightened. Some are laughing to split their sides.

“Hey, what’s going on?”, shouts a man who had been walking down Woodward, and suddenly realizes that everyone’s going the same direction.

He tries to turn around and walk the other way but he can’t. Everybody laughs. He grabs a railing and tries to hold on, but gradually his grip is broken and his body is pulled away.

Then the thought strikes you – if we keep moving southward what will happen when we get to the river?

Will we be able to stop? Or will we drown?

“If we can get to the Ambassador Bridge in time we’ll be carried over the Bridge instead of into the water.”

“Come on! Let’s head westward toward the Bridge!” you shout. “Relax” says a chap in a grey sweater, “This is the best thing that’s happened in town in years!”

So you set out walking toward the Bridge alone. Here and there you meet a few people who get the same idea. And together you form a little caravan walking briskly up Bagley and across Michigan Avenue.

As you find yourself slipping toward Porter Street you break into a run, and get to the Bridge plaza just in time.

From the Bridge you behold a sight that you never forget. Down below as far as you can see is a human flood slowly sliding toward the river’s edge. Slowly spilling into the water and disappearing.

Fantastic as this story sounds….

….we are all moving in just such a human flood.

Of course we can freely move back and forth in any direction we like in space, but not in time.

In the dimension of time we are all moving in the same direction and at the same rate of speed. It may seem that we are moving slowly….

…. But we are moving.

There is nothing in this world you can grab hold of to stop your movement through time.

Day and night the clock ticks and each time it ticks you are at a different place in time from where you were when it ticked before. And deep within you, you know that you are moving toward a destination. Your life won’t go on and on and on forever just as it is now.

You are moving toward another world.

Will it be better?

Will it be worse?

Will it be a dark, death-like river through which we sink into the terror-filled, wailing, weeping, lonely wasteland of Hell?

Or will there be a bridge that meets us and carries us up into the glory-filled Kingdom of Light?

Where are we going?

Where are we being carried as the days slip by and the years roll on?

There are those who say, “Relax.”

– “Enjoy yourself while you can.”

– “Get everything you can out of life while you’re able. Make the most of the ride. Never mind where you’re going.”

If it were true that your journey through time is a relentless machine-like operation of blind fate –

If it were true that the world into which you will ultimately pass – Heaven or Hell – is selected for you by sheer chance as the giant millstones of the universe grind on – then the best thing for you to do would be to try to blank your mind about the future and try to have as much fun as you can now. “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow who knows?”

But Friend, you already know – by a knowledge much more sure than your five senses convey –

….that the world toward which you are moving is the world you will deserve.

It is not blind fate that decides whether you sink into the abyss of fiery darkness or ascend on the glory arch of that bridge of light.

You decide.

There is a choice which sooner or later will come to every one and has already come to you. And with this choice you set your own course toward Heaven or Hell.

The choice is very simple. So simple that a child can make it. So simple the village fool can make it and be responsible for his decision.

The choice is this:

What are you going to do with Jesus Christ?

Are you with Him or against Him?

Are you gathering with Him or scattering?

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Every creature.

Every man, woman and child of every place, of every time.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

“Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, whoever believes not (rejects mercy) will be condemned.”

Every time Jesus speaks of salvation – He speaks of damnation as well.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.

Whoever believes on Him is not condemned, but whoever believes not is condemned already, because they rejected the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3

When Jesus rode that lowly animal into Jerusalem it was the most beautiful scene ever beheld in the holy city. The fulfillment of the most comforting prophecy ever proclaimed over those blood stained streets where the prophets were stoned and countless servants of God met their death.

“Behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an ass.”

He comes not to condemn, not to judge, not to destroy, but to redeem.

Here comes the Messiah, the Son of David, to offer salvation to Jerusalem. But with this salvation comes also a possibility Jerusalem never faced before…

…. the possibility of being damned.

But what Jerusalem does with this man decides her destiny. Will she now become the City of the Great King?

Or will she fall under the judgment of the Holy God and be trodden down by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled?

“Hosannah to the Son of David!” she says.

But when He gets off the donkey, climbs the steps, and starts clearing the Temple, throwing out the money changers….

– when He convicts them of their hypocrisy

– when He commands obedience –that’s when eyes narrow and hearts harden.

As long as Jesus stays on the happy track, everyone is pleased.

He cleanses the lepers.

And casts out devils.

And opens the eyes of the blind.

Wonderful!

But then brings out the whip, and proclaims words of judgment,

– no more hosannas,

– no more palm leaves,

– stone silence.

Before the week is out, Jerusalem decides her fate by what she does with this man.

Whoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. Matthew 21:44

And so there was not one stone left upon another in that magnificent city in a few years’ time.

There are people who say, “I believe in Jesus Christ.”

“I’m on the upward trail.”

“I’m going to get to the Bridge.”

But when they say, “I believe in Jesus Christ,” it’s just , “Hosannah, Hosannah, Hosannah!”

When Jesus gives orders, demands changes in their lives, calls for disciplines that tie them down day in and day out to the holy will of God

– No more hosannas.

– Nothing!

There are two movements of people in that Palm Sunday episode…

….one toward destruction

….the other toward life.

On the one hand we see Jerusalem that shouted, “Hosannah”, but was soon ground to powder under the judgment of God.

On the other we see a little band of men and women who simply walked beside Jesus. Still walked with Him years later….

….And are still walking with Him now.

The difference between the disciples and the people of Jerusalem can be summed up in a single word: Obedience.

Go into the village over against you and straightway ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto me.

And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.

They obeyed!

If a person keeps my sayings they shall never see death.

If you love me, keep my commandments.

I meet these people who tell me they’re saved. They gave their life to Jesus in a flood of tears nine years ago, while the lights were low and the music was playing. And the next day they picked up their old life exactly where they left it. Beneath a religious veneer, their daily living is as selfish and godless and dishonest as you can get.

Were they saved as they claim nine years ago? They may think they were saved but all they did was shout “hosanna.”

There are people reading this today who have never done anything but shout “Hosanna!” Who have never seriously in all their lives tried to obey Jesus Christ.

You know that with every hour that passes, you are moving toward your eternal destination. Do you understand that to go with Jesus up the arch of that Bridge of Light, it’s going to take more than just saying Hosanna.

You’ll have to believe in Him not merely with the top layer of your emotions, but down in the depths of your heart.

– Down where you make your decisions.

– Down where you make your moral choices.

– Down where you prove yourself obedient or disobedient – to Him.

If you believe in Jesus and He tells you to cleanse the temple of your heart ….

….you’d better cleanse it.

If He tells you to bless those who curse you…

… you’d better do it.

If He tells you to seek first the Kingdom of God and stop worrying about your bankroll…

…you’d better heed Him.

If you have been shouting hosanna but not doing His will…

… for your own good repent!

Make up your mind that from this hour you have quit playing around with Jesus Christ and you’re going to get up and start doing the things he commands.

This is an invitation to you who have never done so before to start walking with Jesus toward the Bridge.

Each day when your eyes open, commit yourself to Jesus afresh.

Listen for the sound of His voice, as you read those blessed pages of scripture.

Take those commands you know, He’s already given you and that you have never really accepted…. and do them.

He will give you power to do them.

The flood of humanity rolls on through time and every single one of us is being carried with it toward an end — toward another world. Where we are being carried is not a matter of mood.

Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Whoever believes not shall be condemned..

You say you believe – just make sure you mean it!

You and I and every other human soul….

….will be where we will be, as a result of what we do with Jesus Christ.

Behold your King comes to you –

– He’s here right now.

Prayer: Lord as we move through this life, through our allotted time, help us not to lose sight of where we are going. Help us not just to say we believe and lift up our hosannas when all is good. But help us to truly behold you. To behold what you have done…and to behold what you call us to. And yes, help us to keep walking towards the Bridge of Light with every hour that passes. Keep us obedient, keep us living the redemptive lives you call us to. Help us never forget what to do with you Jesus. Help us to keep committing ourselves to you each day and to keep listening to your voice in every circumstance, every choice, every setback, every victory. Help us to behold you and see you with each of us right now. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2009 aka What are We Going to do with Jesus Christ. Sharable/Printable Copy

Featured Artists: Art courtesy of Nicholas Mynheer

Website: mynheer-art.co.uk/

Posted February 18, 2026

LOSING SIGHT?

“I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.”

John 14:18

When we begin to wake up from our spiritual slumber and open our eyes to the real world, we soon discover that God’s ways are a mystery to us. God doesn’t mesh his plans with ours. The awesome promises of the Lord Jesus are rarely fulfilled as quickly as we would like. We begin to wonder if we’re missing out somewhere.

“I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed to God to remove that vile thing from my life – it’s still there.”

“I’ve pounded on heaven’s door until my hands bled, begging God to spare my loved one for His Kingdom – nothing happens.”

“I’ve wept and tarried and tried everything I know to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – others receive and go on to mighty things, while I wait.”

Jesus says,

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:13

Was this promise meant for everyone but me?”

“if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will”

John 15:7

“Who’s He talking to? Nothing happens when I ask.”

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Luke 12:6-7

“Beautiful words but, where’s the evidence in my life?”

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Luke 12:32

“I went along with that. I got rid of the excess baggage in my life. I cut my ties with mammon…. sought that heavenly treasure — and where am I now? Desolate!”

“I’m getting tired of waiting! I’m getting tired of trying to smile and pretend everything’s all right when within my soul it seems like eternal night. Is there some kind of curse on me? Has God turned away His face?”

“O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?”

“I say to God, my rock: Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

Psalm 74:1 & 42:9

When a person who has never met Jesus Christ begins to experience desolation of soul we say, “Praise the Lord! He’s come to the end of himself. He’s given up trying to be his own god. Now he’s ready to meet Jesus.” “Come on brother, Let’s go up to the Cross.” “Let’s get down on our faces. Jesus wants to come into your life and make you a new creature.”

And as soon as that opens the door of his heart, the Son of God enters and makes him a child of Heaven.

But what do you say to a believer who has known the love of God – experienced the power of the blood? Who has known what it is to walk and talk with the living Christ – but is now empty, dry, joyless, and desolate.

Has God turned away His face? Never!

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Has Jesus cast them aside? Never!

“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

Understand this forgotten fact:

There is only one person who ever experienced real desolation –real God-forsakenness, and that’s the Son of God.

When Jesus hung on that cross, He was desolate.

The Father had drawn back and turned away His face from the sin that was laid on the dying body of His Only Begotten.

”My God, my God, why hast you forsaken me?”

Jesus could truly cry out those words – and He alone.

No human being has ever experienced anything close to the desolation that broke the heart of that Man of Sorrows, as He hung there abandoned by Heaven and earth and as the kingdom of Hell did its worst to Him.

It looks to you like your dreams are being smashed.

– Your loved ones are being taken.

– Your health is being taken.

– Your hope is being taken.

….and God doesn’t seem to care.

But have another look at Calvary.

If you are experiencing desolation….

It’s because you have lost sight of His desolation.

You’ve forgotten about the desolation He suffered for you.

His loved ones were walking down the hill shaking their heads. His health, yes His very life, was ebbing out of His body drop by drop, breath by breath.

His Father was gone.

He looked up and saw no light – only a closed door. And why did He go through this?

So that you would never have to be desolate!

The enemy will come along and try to tell you that you are the desolate one – but it’s a lie.

Jesus is the desolate one.

You’re the one He did it for – because He loves you.

He loves you!

And there’s no clearer proof that He loves you than to see Him hanging there dying.

God never promised that your loved ones wouldn’t be taken.

God never promised that your life wouldn’t be taken.

But God did promise to those who abandon their lives to Jesus –

Nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from His love.

The Son of God who hung up there in desolation and rose from the grave…..

….promises to be with you to the end of the age.

“I will not leave you desolate. I will come to you.”

“How long do I have to wait, Lord? When will it be?”

“What do you mean? Here I am. I am with you right now. Whose hand do you think is resting on your shoulder right now?”

If you think you’re desolate, it’s because you are closing your spirit’s eye to the glory that shines from His face upon your soul this very moment.

And all of us, with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness, from one degree of radiant holiness to another, even as derived from the Lord the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (WNT)

How could we reflect His glory?

How could we be changed into His likeness if Jesus weren’t with us?

And this is for you who are reading these words. All of us!

And all of us, with unveiled faces….

If we’re not reflecting that glory it’s not because Jesus’ face is turned away from us-

– it’s because our faces are turned away from Him!

If all we can see is our own desolation, it’s because we are looking into our own shadow, cast by the light of the Cross blazing on our backs.

All we have to do is turn around and look to Him and we see instantly that our desolation was a lie.

He is here! Jesus is here!

You’re not waiting, Friend….

He’s waiting.

– Waiting to fill you with all the fullness of God.

– Waiting to anoint your head with the oil of God’s Spirit, until it runs down over your face and covers your garments.

– Waiting to give you victory in that battle your flesh has been losing all these years.

He’s waiting for you to turn away from all else and just behold Him.

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

John 14:21

Jesus cannot manifest Himself to you…. when you’re looking back into the past and feeling sorry for yourself.

Jesus cannot manifest Himself to you…. when you’re turned in upon yourself – morbidly fascinated by your own issues.

Jesus cannot manifest Himself to you…. when you’re looking with envy at the world – lusting after things, vindication, and respect.

Jesus cannot manifest Himself to you….when you’re looking at the crooked and cold world – seething with rage.

Jesus can only manifest Himself to you…..

….when you are looking up toward Heaven, toward that Cross.

Look up and you will see Him.

And you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is keeping His promise to you.

There is no reason why you can’t know that Jesus is with you all the time – day and night –

– when you’re alone,

– when you’re in a crowd,

– when you’re working,

– when you’re talking, eating, sleeping.

Know that He is there!

It’s knowing that Jesus is there – that is our joy.

– If we have Jesus, we have everything.

– If we have everything else but Jesus, we have nothing.

He is our joy.

Of course, Jesus never promised to save you from desolate circumstances.

In fact, He promised that in the world you will have tribulation.

You will live in the midst of trouble.

Your life will be spent amid all kinds of sorrow, and confusion, and danger, and tragedy.

Yes, and even persecution..

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

“… a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”

John 15:18 & John 16:2

And yet he commands you to keep on serving.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”

“Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

John 9:4 & John 4:38

Jesus does not join himself to;

– idleness,

– laziness,

– people who want to do their own thing and call it ”the Lord’s work”.

But Jesus does promise that in the midst of….

– the most desolate circumstances,

– the worst persecution,

– the hardest labor

He will be with you –

– and in Him you will find rest for your soul.

I will not leave you desolate.

I will come to you.

I will manifest myself to you.

I will refresh you with the breath of my Spirit.

I will give you rest.

And all of us, with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness…..

The Spirit of God comes with special blessing to those believers who have thought that they were being left out. All you need to do is name your need before Lord Jesus.

Tell Him where it hurts, and He will touch you with the finger of God.

Prayer: Lord, when we feel desolate, lost, alone, unloved, unworthy, help us to see your love for us. Help us to remember your very nature, to remember all your promises…that nothing can separate us from your love, that you will not leave us desolate, that you will never leave us, that you will come to us and be with us to the very end. Thank you, thank you that we are not forgotten. Help us not lose sight of this. And Lord, may we also not lose sight of the desolation you suffered for us, so we would not have to be desolate. Thank you, Lord, for waiting for us to turn around and look. Help us to turn away from all our hang ups, our losses, our disappointments, our fears, and our obsessions. May we truly behold you and take your hand until your radiant holiness shines on us and transforms us into your likeness, so that we never lose sight of your perfect love again. Amen.