All things aren’t good. But God always is…

And we know that in all things

God works for the good of those who love him

and are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

And God’s very greatest purpose for those of us who love him and have responded to His passionate, saving love call is that we would each be…

…conformed to the likeness of his Son…

Romans 8:29

So, no, all things aren’t good. But God always is.

Our own sinful choices separate us from God. Our own sinful choices and the sinful choices of others against us can break our hearts, warp our minds, rob us of peace, security, possessions and stability, and severely injure and even destroy our bodies.

It is only through the sacrifice of Jesus that we can receive the full and free forgiveness from our Holy God that we desperately need. It is only through the resurrection power and transforming love of Jesus that we are able to fully and freely forgive all people of all sins against us…no matter how grievous and evil those sins are.

So, no, all things aren’t good. But God always is. 

God is good when we face tragedy and disasters in the natural world—whether from floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, famines or drought. God is good when we face broken relationships or bankruptcy. God is good when we or someone we love dearly is ill or crippled, injured or dying…or dead long before we were ready to say goodbye.  

These things are not good. And God is not asking us to pretend that they are.  

God is good. And because of His sovereign authority and unfailing love God is able…and desires…to work all things for our good as we trust in Him and His good will that purposes to make us evermore Christ-like in every circumstance and season of our lives.

May we each choose to let our Good God hold our heads and hearts, even when things aren’t good, so that Christ’s image will be powerfully reflected in our lives…and in our character!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

P.S. For personal and ministerial reasons I will be taking a bit of a sabbatical from writing new devotional posts, although I will stay open to God’s good leading anytime He wants me to write a new one!

Be blessed by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ that is unfailing and transforming when times are good and when they are not! Amen!

Today is April 15th. This is TAX DAY in the United States. We have a debt to pay. All of our taxes for the previous year come due today.

Some of us may actually be getting a refund because our tax debt was already paid. (I’m happy for you! Really!)

Many, maybe even most, of us, however, still have a tax debt that we need to pay out to our government. Today.

Some of us may try to finagle our tax forms to ensure that the amount we owe is doing some version of what I call: “The Tax Limbo Dance.”  You know, “How Low Can You Owe?” 

Some of us may even choose to completely ignore our debt—ignore our responsibility—to pay our required tax amount. Determining in our own minds that it is we—not the government, nor anyone else—who decides what we do with our money and everything else that belongs to us.

Well, maybe some people will get away with the finagling that is done in figuring the amount of tax debt they owe. Others may seemingly get away with disregarding their debt all together.

Whatever our attitudes and our consequent actions are regarding the payment of our US taxes—our Lord Jesus has something to say to us. Really?

Yep. Jesus has something to say to us, not only about what we need to give to our governments, but Jesus has something, much more important, to say about what we need to give to God.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s. 

Matthew 22:21

I’m pretty sure that Jesus is telling us here that we each need to fulfill our responsibilities to the governments under which we live. And that includes paying our tax debt as a US citizen. Today.

And yet far beyond that, I believe Jesus is challenging us to really think about what actually belongs to God. And, then, Jesus is calling us to act faithfully in giving back to God all that belongs to God.

You and your accountant—or maybe Turbo Tax—will figure out the debt you owe in taxes.

As for figuring out what belongs to God, God makes that perfectly clear to us. No finagling here at all!

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,

the world and all who live in it! 

Psalm 24:1

Yep! All that exists, all that we have, all people everywhere, all of our very lives truly belong to God!

And, Oh! God really does want us to live—knowing and believing—the truth that we belong to Him! Our loving God desires the very best for our lives. And that comes to us when we give our lives fully back to the One, our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life for us!

Yes, living in the truth that we each completely belong to God is freedom. No fear of being audited. No finagling to look a little better. No need to ignore our debt.

Jesus has accepted the full responsibility to pay the full price of our full debt to God. Believing this truth, living this truth, is our way to “give to God what is God’s.” 

This is the true debt free living!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Do you know someone who is blind or seriously visually impaired? They may function amazingly well and live relatively independently in spite of the significant challenges and limitations they deal with every day. Yet, the fact remains: they cannot see clearly, if they can see anything at all.

That fact puts those who are blind and seriously visually impaired in a far greater risk of danger when something comes into their presence or path that they cannot see or that they are ill-equipped to avoid or even recognize. Likewise, those without clear vision can be a serious danger to others when they choose to ignore the presence of the people around them, pushing right through on their own determined paths in a self-focused and sightless, insensitive way. And there are certain activities, like driving a car, that those without sight should never do at any time. There is neither any excuse for acting in such wrongful and foolish ways, nor is it possible to avoid the pain and suffering that would affect all involved when the inevitable crash comes.

We, too, can act as though we are blind or at least seriously visually impaired—emotionally, relationally and spiritually—when it comes to having a clear perspective on how our self-focused, sightless and insensitive words and actions can cause damage to our own lives and to the lives of those around us. And it is often upon those with whom our lives are most closely bound—our husbands, wives, children, parents, friends—that our blind perspective wields its greatest destructive blows.

But our God does not want us to be blind any longer. We have a choice…and in letting God open our eyes, we also have a purpose! We must choose to let God be God, and allow His holy perspective and His perfectly clear view of us—of who we are and what we do—rule our lives so that we will no longer be blind or dangerous towards anyone! Then, we will see and know the freeing truth and purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ who opens our eyes so that we may be His righteous people. We are called to be a light to the world and to speak and act in ways that will open the eyes of others still trapped in their blindness!

I, the LORD, called you in righteousness;

I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people

and a light for the Gentiles,

to open the eyes that are blind

Isaiah 42:6-7

Let God open our eyes to His righteousness and watch the blindness fall away from us and others!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

I’m in New York City this morning. For me personally, I love this city…because God loves this city…or rather, God loves every single person in this city…just as God loves every single person in the world!

For me whenever I’m here I am so powerfully aware of how very different we people are…how many different sizes, shapes and shades of skin we people come in, how many different countries, cultures, socio-economic and language groups we people come from, how many different perspectives and preferences we people have.

Here in NYC, I am sharply aware of so many different people with so many differences. Yet, the Word and Spirit of God confirm to me even more sharply that God loves every single person passionately and fully…and that our Lord Jesus Christ has been fully offered so that each and every person may know the salvation and intimate love of our Heavenly Father!

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son

that whoever believes in him

shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

May we as messengers of this powerful truth of God reach out to all others around us—no matter how similar or different to us they may be—with the saving, transforming love of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

So often we hear someone (or myself…or maybe even you) say: “I just don’t have enough time.” OR “Time goes by so quickly.”

TIME. We know that in the grand scheme of eternity the time we each have on this earth is short. So, first! I’m just going to stop right now and thank my Lord that He has promised His children eternal life with Him! What a blessing and a hope we have in Jesus. This sure promise from our Lord gives me the courage to face the truth of the brevity of my mortal life…and it pushes me to embrace each moment that I have here on this earth as a gift.  

TIME. It isn’t about not having enough of it; for TIME is all we have.

TIME. It’s not about it going by so quickly; but rather not wasting or missing the TIME that we have been given.

Scripture tells us that:

My times are in your hands

Psalm 31:15

May we each choose to consciously recognize the gift of TIME that God offers to us and holds in His hands for us every single day of our lives. And may we each choose to hold onto God’s hand…and allow Him to guide our TIME by His love, His Spirit and His Word every single day…every single moment…in every single circumstance of our lives. What a gift of TIME that would be for ourselves and for all those with whom we interact!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

P.S. It may be God’s sense of humor OR just my very bad relationship with cyber-space and all things technical! But! This post on “TIME” was originally written to post at the beginning of the day on April 10th! However, without boring you with my own personal cyber-space battle, every attempt to post anything over the last few days was met with a total shut down! My hero and cyber-space rescuer, Curtis Peters who is currently living in Japan with a 13 hour TIME difference, helped to get me back up and running! My TIME truly is in God’s Hands…for everything I do…and for all the TIMELY support that comes through His love and the Body of Christ! And that is certainly a gift!!

Whenever anyone accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, our Mighty God seals him or her with His Holy Spirit. This precious one is now a new born baby of the Kingdom of heaven. The saved soul has been rescued from death and the destiny of hell.

There will still be a struggle with the sin nature everyday on this side of eternity, but the saved soul is no longer held captive by the power and bondage of sin. That was the old order he or she was under.

In Christ there is freedom, there is power, and there is a renewal and transformation that is fully available, and well beyond our imaginations, to all who are held within the saving hand of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;  

the old has gone, the new has come! 

2 Corinthians 5:17

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane 

Peace—Real…Inexplicable…Transcending Peace. This is what Jesus gives.

Peace—Real…Inexplicable…Transcending Peace. This is what Jesus offers to each of us who will run into His arms instead of running into that doggone, stupid Hampster Dance Ball where we let our worries and fears, frustrations, anger and sadness take over our hearts and our minds and run us ragged.

And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philippians 4:7

We have a choice to make. 

May we each choose to let God hold our hearts and our minds so that we will know and intimately, powerfully experience, no matter what we are going through, His Peace—His Real…Inexplicable…Transcending Peace!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

This morning as I drove to work, one of my special quiet times to pray, I was behind a truck for quite some time. Within a bright, yellow background across the back panel of this truck was written one word in big, bold, black letters: THINK

THINK. Nothing else was written. Just THINK. And so I did…and I started thinking about what God tells us about His own thoughts…and His own ways:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways” declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

And through the Apostle Paul, our God tells us what we should THINK about:

Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable—

THINK about such things.

Philippians 4:8

And as we choose to THINK about these things so, too, should our ways be changed through the transforming love of our Lord Jesus Christ who empowers us to have our thoughts and ways increasingly reflect the higher thoughts and ways of our LORD!

So: THINK!  This is wisdom from God…as reminded by a truck!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Today I wanted to share the reflections I wrote for our most recent TBG newsletter because Easter is not just for a day for a child of God.

The Resurrection and The Life—Do you believe this? Do you believe Him?

“I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live,

even though he dies;

and whoever lives and believes in me

will never die.

Do you believe this?”

John 11:25

Do I believe this? Do you believe this?

We cannot choose to stay passive in our attitude about Jesus. He demands an answer. We have to either acknowledge the truth of who Jesus is-or we need to admit that we are actively dismissing Him.  

We cannot be passive about Jesus.

There is nothing passive about the way that Jesus went about His ministry-His interaction and interruption of time, space and people’s lives.

There is nothing passive about the way that Jesus taught people God’s truths; nothing passive about the way He healed people from multiple maladies; nothing passive in His exorcism of demons or His raising the dead to life. And Jesus certainly didn’t go to his death passively. Without fighting His crucifixion, yes. But His death was actively planned for, prepared for and chosen by Him with a purpose: He alone could be the full and worthy atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins by our Holy God.

Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. And believing this frees us completely from the bondage of sin and death-for all eternity…and right in the very midst of the lives we are living now.

Jesus is never passive. He is passionate. He is present. He has purposed to offer us His very life and the power of His resurrection. We need only to receive what Jesus us offers as we believe Him and who He says He is: The Resurrection and The Life!

May this be the truth you believe this Easter…and every day as a child of God—with the fullness of its power and the depth of its peace!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

This is the day after THE DAY. Yesterday was Easter. Churches were filled well beyond their usual attendance numbers. I’m okay with that. I’m just so thankful for any opportunity that people will allow themselves to take to hear the message of hope—the very message of life—found only in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Pray for all those who went to Easter services yesterday! Some may have attended because of a sense of duty to a religion…or a sense of duty to family…or maybe others were cajoled into attending by a faith-filled (or annoying) friend or family member.

And others attended these Easter services as sincere believers in Jesus Christ who wanted to join in the celebration of all that our Lord Jesus has accomplished through His death—His greatest act of humility—and through His resurrection—His great act of Sovereign power! All this was motivated and accomplished by our Holy God’s passionate and unfailing love for all people!

Does Easter…Will Easter…make a difference in your life—whether you are a sincere believer or you are one of those who was cajoled into attending the services? Does…Will…the beautiful, passionate, outrageous love of Jesus Christ really make a difference in your life? Does…Will…the sacrifice of Jesus’ life and the power of His resurrection make a difference in your daily-day—filled with so many responsibilities and distractions—life???

Jesus calls out to each one of us, right in the midst of our busy, responsibility-laden, distraction-filled lives:

“The time has come. The kingdom of God is near.

Repent and believe the good news!”

“Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men.”

Mark 1:15, 17

Yes. Even the day after THE DAY is the time! The time to repent and believe…the time to follow Jesus and the time to reach out to others with His unlimited love, with the hope offered through His death for our sins and His eternal resurrection and with His passionate and intimate power that transforms lives both practically and spiritually!

This is the day after THE DAY! Does…Will…the grace and truth of Easter make a difference in your life…and, thereby, in the lives of others?

HAPPY EASTER—each and every day!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane