At one time we were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things that we had done, but because of His mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:4-6

 God’s kind of kindness to us is not based on anything we have done to earn it.

God’s kind of kindness is not conditional.

God’s kind of kindness is not limited by our perspectives of self or others that may have been wounded or twisted because of our circumstances.

God’s kind of kindness is not weakened because we have been hurt by others or hurtful towards others.

God’s kind of kindness is not altered because we have been hated or hateful.

God’s kind of kindness comes to us through His unfailing, unlimited love and mercy offering us forgiveness of sins, healing of our minds, renewal of our lives and eternal life with our God through the sacrificial death and conquering resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is our choice to accept and fully receive the kindness, love and mercy offered to us by our God!

And, then, by God’s Spirit, to be fully renewed for all eternity…each moment by moment…each thought by thought…each action by action through the generous and powerful out-pouring of God’s kind of kindness!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.

Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

Isaiah 51:3

This passage speaks of a time when the LORD’s great comfort and compassion for the land—for the people of Zion—will be both historically and eternally realized. It will be a time when destruction will be completely transformed into abundant life and unfailing resources of beauty and nourishment. This is God’s ultimate fulfillment of His promise to His people—to those who will be living with Him in the true and eternal Zion. I can only barely begin to imagine the incredible, glorious place to which our LORD will bring us home!

And when God’s promise is fullfilled, thanksgiving and singing will be heard…and probably a bit of dancing will be going on, too!

Although we, as God’s people of His eternal Zion, must wait in the hope of the fullness we will yet know, we need to remember that God’s comfort and compassion and transforming power is here for us right here…right now!

The love of Jesus Christ, His eternal salvation and His powerful transformation should make all the difference in our world right now!

God’s comfort and compassion should radically change each one of us as individuals…and in every relationship and circumstance of our lives. What was condemned is now forgiven! What was dead is now alive! What was broken is now healed! What was bitter is now sweet! What was weak is now strong! What was poor is now rich! What was lost is now found! What was dark is now light!

Jesus Christ changes everything! May we let Him change everything in us! Right now! And when we do, thanksgiving and singing will be heard…and probably a bit of dancing will be going on, too!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

…the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. Psalm 32:11

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

To be meek is to show sincere humility, complete dependence and right acknowledgement of God as our Sovereign Lord. We accept that it is God who is our King, and not us. And we know and understand that this being meek is a very good and life-empowering place—and mind-set—to be.

And, oh! The blessings that come when we are meek—when we are living out the eternal truth of God’s loving, authority over our lives. We are to be meek. But in NO way does meek mean weak!

Jesus Christ demonstrated outrageous meekness—extravagant humility—through the unimaginable humble position that He accepted in obedience to His Heavenly Father.  The meek Jesus obediently gave His life for us on the cross! And, oh! The blessings that His meekness has given us! Eternal life…and our eternal home in the presence of our Heavenly Father—which is the ultimate promised land of the meek! And the meek will inherit that promised land with great blessings of joy and peace! 

Meek is amazing!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Trusting God. Simple trust.

Simple trust????? 

I’m thinking there’s really NOT a whole lot of simple when it comes to trusting God.

To trust God—to really trust God—takes a bold and courageous determination of our minds. To trust God we must constantly and continually choose to invite and allow God’s Word and Spirit to rule over our minds, our thoughts, our feelings, our fears, our stresses, our anxieties, our need for some semblance of control in circumstances that may be very much out of our control.  (Which really is the truth about pretty much everything!)

To trust God is NO simple matter. To trust God—to really trust God—is a conscious, effort-filled, energy-directed choice. God gives us a blueprint for this not-so-simple choice of trust: prayer…and thanksgiving. And God also tells us the result of following His blueprint: peace that transcends our understanding.

Trusting God does NOT mean that our circumstances will always work out as we want them to. But trusting God does mean that His peace will be at work in us.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

No, there’s NOT a whole lot of simple when it comes to trusting God.

But! There IS a whole lot of peace! Amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?

Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD.

“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:23-24

Comfort, Challenge, Awe—all in our One Holy God! And these are all good things!

Comfort: our God IS nearby no matter where we are, no matter what our circumstances, no matter how difficult, sad or fear-bringing our life may be at any moment in time. God’s Word declares His truth: I Am nearby.

Challenge: our God SEES  everything. God sees each one of us in every place, in every relationship, in every thought, in every word. in every action—in every moment of our life. God’s Word declares His truth: there is NO secret place away from God; we can NEVER hide from God.

Awe: God’s presence FILLS all that exists—all of Creation—seen and unseen. God’s Word declares His truth: God’s presence fills all things in all ways at all times.

As we allow God to lead our lives, to truly be our Savior and our LORD, even what is a challenge to us—that there is NOTHING unseen by God—becomes an a good thing.

How’s that????

Because God sees and knows everything—we cannot hide any sin from Him. And that’s a good thing because sin destroys us—destroys our peace, our hope, our relationship with God and with people in our life. As we acknowledge that our God truly sees everything, God’s Spirit calls us to humbly and sincerely confess our sins. And in that confession we are given the full-measure of God’s loving forgiveness. Because our Lord Jesus Christ has already conquered the power and pull of sin through His death on the cross and His eternal resurrection! And that is a good thing!

Because God sees and knows everything—we cannot hide our fear or pride or shame or lack of faith from Him. And that’s a good thing because any thing that rules our heads and hearts more than the love and grace and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ keeps us in bondage and behind self-protective barriers at some level. And Jesus Christ has come to set us free—free to live a life of true courage, strength, peace and trust in Him! And that is a good thing!

Be blessed by our LORD’s Intimacy–GOD IS NEARBY!

Be blessed by our LORD’s Omniscience—GOD KNOWS AND SEES EVERYTHING!

Be blessed by our LORD’s Sovereignty—GOD FILLS AND RULES OVER ALL THAT EXISTS!

These are truths of comfort, of challenge and of awe that our LORD declares!

And these are all very good things!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

I am feeling so overwhelmingly thankful for the Body of Christ! And I just want to give a big shout out to all of you! Those I know and those I don’t know! (But, hey! We’ll have a chance to hang out in Heaven and get to know each other there!)

There are so many ways that my life—in the Big Picture and in the smallest of daily-day details—has been strengthened, gentled, sharpened and softened through different members of the one Body of Christ. This is just as true for the ministry of Transformed By Grace as it is in my own life.

I thank God for all of the outrageously loving, prayerful, gifted, generous people who have offered their diversity of personalities, perspectives and specialized skills as they serve in unity to reflect the love and transforming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

How awesome it is that as we embrace the diversity of gifts given to our individual brothers and sisters—especially where we ourselves are most lacking—God weaves us together in intimate unity and “each member belongs to all the others!” Because we all belong to Body of Christ!

There will be Body Blessings for each of us as we accept and celebrate the diversity of gifts that our brothers and sisters in Christ bring to our lives. Their presence and perspectives will encourage and challenge us to be more like Jesus. Their diversity of gifts will sharpen our own gifts and fill in gaping holes found in our personal repertoire of giftedness. 

There will be Body Blessings for each of us as we continually, passionately and tenaciously guard and build up the unity that has been given to us through the Spirit of God. This unity is transforming, humbling, healing and empowering as members of the Body of Christ choose to yield to the grace and truth of God, who calls us: to love each other as Jesus has loved us!

There will be Body Blessings in our diversity and in our unity as each member joins together to carry out our one true purpose as the Body of Christ: to bring glory to the name of Jesus!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

You work hard. You’ve got lots of responsibilities. But maybe not all the ability—or control—to make sure all those things that need to happen, happen. Your energy needs some boosting. Your mind, body and spirit could really use some refreshing!

Our God’s ways are so counter-intuitive to our human nature quite often almost all the time. Yet! Doing things God’s ways brings such blessings to us.

So! When you feel you don’t have a lot to give: Give. Be generous with your resources of love, time, effort, finances and prayer.

When you feel like you need some refreshing before you totally burn-out: Refresh someone else with the kindness of a smile, a thoughtful word, a thoughtful act—that shines with the love of Jesus.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refrehed. Proverbs 11:25

Yep! God’s ways are often counter-intuitive to how we want to do things or what we think we need to receive in order to be refreshed. But, go ahead! Try doing things God’s ways: Give Generously! Refresh Others!

And be blessed and enjoy the generous refreshment that comes to you—to each of us—when we do things in God’s counter-intuitive ways!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

When we accept Jesus as Lord, as our Savior—our salvation for all of eternity is accomplished. Done! Finiti!

Isn’t that fabulous?! We need never to fear damnation or death again! Jesus bore all the weight for our sins—we are forgiven! Jesus conquered death through His eternal resurrection—we have been given the promise of eternal life from the Life Giver Himself!

Our salvation is sure from the day—from the very moment—we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior!

It’s our transformation for which we need to make day by day—moment by moment—choices. 

Jesus Christ saves us from the power of sin and death. He just as passionately desires to transform us from the habits and patterns of thinking and speaking and acting that limit us from living in the full grace, truth, freedom, power and love that He has for us right now on this side of Heaven!

So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6

We should overflow with thankfulness for our eternal salvation! Its promise of eternal life with our Holy God is beyond hope, beyond joy—and I believe Heaven is well beyond anything I could ever, ever imagine! 

And we should overflow with thankfulness for the unlimited resurrection power of our Lord and Savior Jesus to bring true and amazing transformation to our lives here and now! Our Lord desires, and is able to, continually free us from every twisted lie and destructive pattern we have latched onto in our minds and in lives. We have to make the continual choice to let Him do it!

God’s passionate, powerful, saving, transforming love offers to give us life for all eternity…and for each moment! Let’s take God up on His offer!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…

Today is one of those days that I have to loudly, clearly and a bit forcefully make myself keep repeating what I call my Take Hold of My Head, God!—Jesus Refrain!

Which, right now, may be the only thing refraining me from slapping somebody!

Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17

Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…

Sometimes the evil in this world, the evil that we people do to other people—especially right in our own families or within our closest relationships—just overwhelms me. I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not. Not really. I’ve counseled people for many years and am intimately and personally aware of the ugly evil that pervades every life to some extent. So, no, the evil that I am confronted with is not a surprise to me. But I hate it!

The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Will evildoers never learn—those who devour My people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD? Psalm 14:2-4

And I know the evil in this world—this ugly, lying, devouring, truth-twisting, adulterous, idolatrous, greedy, rebellious, self-centered, prideful, cruel, controlling, manipulative, dangerous, life-destroying evil—is NOT a surprise to God!

This evil is exactly why Jesus—the  holy, righteous, pure Son of God—had to sacrifice His own life in order that we might become children of God. Jesus died for what is killing us: Sin—the evil that is killing our families, our relationships, our neighbors, our nations, our world. 

That is the Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…of Jesus Christ that is holding my head and keeping me from slapping somebody right now!

That is the Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…of Jesus Christ that is giving me peace, perspective, balance, willingness and strength to keep counseling, to keep forgiving, to keep living in—and sharing—the love, power and joy that comes from Jesus Christ alone!

Because the Truth is—sometimes I’m the one that somebody else may want to slap because of my sin–because of my own evil.

And the Grace is—Jesus has already died for my sins…and has set me free from the power of both sin and shame in my life! 

May the Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…Grace and Truth…of Jesus Christ—take hold of each of our heads! And rule in each of our lives!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Does God live in your house? Or is God just a neighbor of yours? 

You know, maybe you see each other when you come out your door to go work or to school? Or when you bring your mail in or take your trash out? Or on a really beautiful day–when you just have to be outside–you run into God walking around your neighborhood? 

And you’re a good neighbor to God. You always keep your yard mowed or side-walk shoveled as the seasons demand. You even toss His newspaper up closer to His front step if you’re the first one out in the morning.  As far as you can tell, you never do anything to really bother God. And By Golly! Anytime your paths cross you always smile, wave and say, “Hello!”  to God! So you’re obviously a pretty darn good neighbor. Some people don’t even say, “Hello!” to their neighbors after all!

But, somehow you know that everytime you have a brief—and even polite—encounter with God, He wants something more. It seems that God would love for the two of you to really get to know each other. But, you just don’t have the time. You just don’t want God in your life in any real way. Being God’s neighbor is just fine with you.

It’s not fine with God.

God doesn’t want to be our neighbor. God is not Mr. Rogers.

GOD IS our Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace—Sovereign and Intimate LORD! And God wants to live with us—and live in us.

Jesus answered, “Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and my Father is in me, and I am in you.” John 14:19-20

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23

So, the question is: Does God—His Word and His Spirit—live in your house—in your heart? Or is God just a neighbor of yours?

Do you just nod to God—and maybe even give a big, friendly wave to Him—anytime you see God next-door or around the neighborhood?

Or Has God taken up permanent residence with you? Is God’s name on the deed to your life—so that you are in an intimate, living, loving, day-by-day relationship with your Lord Jesus Christ?

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane