Transformed by Grace – that’s what we who place our trust in Jesus Christ as Savior are. Well, that’s what we are on the eternal plane anyway. Through the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are transformed by His grace from being lost in our sin to being forgiven and eternally held in the love of our Holy God.

For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. — Colossians 1:13-14

Wow! Take a minute…take a few more…and think about what that means. Really means.

Does this rescue, does this eternal transformation change anything for me here and now? Does it change how I think? How I speak? How I act? How I interact with others – with all others? Does it change how and what I do in public? How and what I do in private?

Does Jesus really make a difference in who I am? Does who I am in Jesus make a difference to those around me? Do I look and act transformed? How deep is this transformation? Does it only go to my superficial level? To my comfort level? To my go to church, offer my tithe, say some prayers, read my Bible level?

OR does the radical, outrageous act of Jesus dying on the cross to rescue me transform me in radical, outrageous ways?

…I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies [your whole being, all that you are, think, say and do] as a living sacrifice to God – this is your spiritual [reasonable] act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. — Romans 12:1-2

May we each allow the radical, outrageous love of God, who has rescued us and transformed us on the eternal plane, to radically, outrageously transform us on this earthly plane. Right here. Right now. Every day, in every circumstance, in every relationship we have.

May the Body of Christ – that would be us – look, love and live more and more and more like the Body of Christ! May we each be Transformed by Grace! Starting with me. Right here. Right now. Amen and Amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                                          Sylane

May Your Unfailing LOVE come to me, O LORD,

your salvation according to your promise;

then I will answer the one who taunts me,

for I trust in Your word.

Psalm 119:41-42

Oh, my goodness! Do you have anyone in your world that “taunts” you…mocks you…or just drives you totally nuts because of the way they interact with you?

If you don’t, get on your knees and give great thanks to the Holy Living Lord of all creation! Then, you may stop reading…and proceed directly to heaven!

But! If you do have someone that interacts with you in ways that totally drive you nuts…make you crazy…angry…frustrated…hurt…or dumbfounded, know that God is able to give us the manner in which to answer these people in our life.

And our answer to others is to be same the way that God answers us when we drive Him nuts…make Him crazy…angry…frustrated…hurt…or dumbfounded!

God answers us with His Unfailing LOVE.

God answers us with the fullness of grace and truth. God answers us — knowing our sins fully…yet in His Unfailing LOVE God determined to sacrifice His own Son our Lord Jesus Christ to pay the death price of our sins. God reaches into our  world and into each of our lives to offer us His salvation, His full forgiveness, and the promise of eternal life with Him. 

God answers us with His Unfailing LOVE.

May we invite God to come to us with His Unfailing Love so that we may know the peace, the joy, the healing and the hope of His promised salvation! And may we invite our God to work His Unfailing Love in us and through us (and in spite of us!) as we interact with all the people in our lives — even if they totally drive us nuts!

God’s Love is Unfailing…and BIG enough to do this! May we LET HIM!! Amen and Amen! 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

What really matters to God? What really counts as God’s top priority for us as His children–as His people of faith? God gets right to it, and He schmushes (my word!) everything down for us. God’s Word speaks so clearly and concisely that we cannot deny or doubt God’s meaning.

What matters–what counts–to God is that we love. Is there anything unclear about that?

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6b

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I know for some of you this is just a schmaltzy day that the card, candy, flower, jewelry and restaurant industries have infused with advertising-steroids to make it bigger and more important. I’m not going to argue that point. But let’s put all that aside.

What is going to make this day count for you? Whether you have that someone special in your life or not right now? Whether or not that someone special–that is in your life now–has been acting all that special to you?

Real love. Really given. God has given us His perfect, sacrificial, passionate, compassionate and everlasting love through the life, death and resurrection of His One and Only Son Jesus. God has given this love through His Son to all who would believe–that we may become God’s full children by faith in Jesus. Each one of us, as God’s child, is to draw from God’s love–constantly and continually–as we interact with others. All others. Our special ones. Our more challenging ones.

As a child of God we are given the answer for how to make Valentine’s Day count. Actually, God has given us the answer for how to make every day, every moment count. And it’s not convoluted or complicated. To live out our lives as a child of God–to live out our faith in Jesus Christ–the only thing that counts is love.

We are called to love. Really love. Our love for God and our love for others really do count to our God. We shouldn’t waste any more time. We need to stop doing any and everything else that isn’t a true expression of love–no matter how entrenched in our not-so-loving habits we may have gotten. We need to get over ourselves and love those around us.

Make this day count for God, for others and for yourself. LOVE…really LOVE…in your thoughts, words, actions and interactions!

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6b

Happy Valentine’s Day…each and every day!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Holy One, first, thank You for You and Your love that even allows me to approach You.

Thank You, My Lord Jesus, for coming into this world, into my world to offer me full connection again to Creator Abba. Thank You for Your living words of grace, truth, freedom and fullness of life. Thank You for Your incomprehensible, extravagant humility in giving Your Beautiful, Holy Self over to death in my stead, for the forgiveness of my sins, for the renewing of my soul.

Lord, thank You for You. I can only begin to understand Your love for me, Your love for every person, in the smallest of ways. Yet what I know and grasp overwhelms me. You are God. Creator of everything — everything I see, everyting I can’t see, everything in my little world, everything in the universe. You are Creator of all things ”in all their vast array.” -Genesis 2:1 You are Sovereign over all that exists.

And yet, Holy One, You are here with me…now…in my little space filling my mind, my body and my spirit with a sense of Your presence, Your love, Your intimacy.

Holy One, Sovereign and Intimate One, thank You with all that I am. Thank You for life now and the hope, the assurance, You give of being with You for for all eternity. It is too much for me to truly comprehend, but I believe You and I trust Your unfailing love with my every breath. Thank You, Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving Day, my Lord and my God. I love You. You love me. Thank You.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

As the aged King David prepared his son Solomon to take up the throne—as servant of God and King of Israel—David had strong and wise counsel for his son.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.

If you seek Him, He will be found by you;

but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

1 Chronicles 28:9

David’s counsel to Solomon is counsel that we, too, as children of God should embrace fully as we live out the details of our daily-day lives…and during our times of great joy and peace…and during our times of great turmoil and sadness.

God knows us full well. And our LORD wants our hearts and minds to be wholeheartedly and willingly devoted to Him—actively seeking Him—in all that we do and think. Our blessing, and God’s promise to us, is that “He will be found”  by us!

Our God has promised that we will find and know our LORD, His loving, intimate presence with us and His strong and holy leading of us—all the days of our lives.

Through our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, we, as children of the King of kings, have been invited “to approach the throne of grace with confidence…” –Hebrews 4:16.

Is there anything stopping you from serving and seeking the LORD—and approaching His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind? 

Ask the LORD to take away any and all obstacles that you have put up in your own life that stop you from serving and seeking the LORD—and approaching His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind.

Ask the LORD to take away any and all obstacles of hurt, bitterness and resentment that may have grown out of experiences with other people or from disappointing and difficult circumstances.

Let nothing rule over you except the love and leadership of the LORD our God!

There is joy and freedom, peace and purpose as we serve and seek the LORD—and approach His throne of grace—with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane 

Today is going to be a very special, very meaningful day for me. I get to go back, for the first time, to minister to—and with—the Counselors and Staff at the Christian camp where I first accepted Jesus as my Savior. I’ll be doing, first, a session on Leading a Child to Christ in the afternoon and, then, in the evening I’ll be speaking at the Counselor and Staff Commissioning Service.

Thank You, my ABBA, for this humbling and beautiful privilege!

Forty-two years ago when I was seven (yes, that currently makes me forty-nine for all you math whizzes in blog-cyberspace—FIFTY in December!), my parents sent me and all four of my siblings (all of us born within five years from oldest to youngest!) to a camp for one week. They needed a break. I don’t think it really mattered much to my parents what camp would take us.

But! It mattered very much to our God.

For just one short week back in 1967 I attended Ontario Bible Camp in Oswego, NY. And through the faithful servant hearts of the OBC staff, and especially through the Camp Chaplain’s clear, powerful and loving sharing of God’s grace and truth through God’s Word, Jesus became my Savior. Oh! What a difference a moment…a day…a week—orchestrated by the loving heart of our God—can make in a life!

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

Jesus entered my life with His passionate love for me and His eternal salvation. I knew, then, that no matter what the hands of others would do to me, I was still held in God’s perfect, loving, strong, good hands.

Thank you, ALL of you, who have served over the years at OBC—or in any form of ministry, formal or informal—to share with others the grace and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, His salvation, His transformation and His outrageous, unfailing love!

Your seemingly small act of service in the Name of Jesus, the Name that is above ALL names—ABOVE the names of abuse, incest, rape, fear, brokenness, hate, anger, my own sins, the evil I have done and the evil done to me—has made ALL the difference in my life! For all eternity!

Before I left OBC I was given a Bible.  And it was—and is—only through God’s intervening love, God’s living and active Word and God’s intimately present Spirit that my life has been completely healed and transformed—from a broken, abused child to a mighty woman-child of our Sovereign God!

Yes, today is going to be a special, very meaningful day for me at OBC! Thank you, JESUS! It is All from you and it is ALL for you!

May we ALL seek to let Jesus use us to touch at least one life for Him! Oh! What a difference a moment…a day…a week—orchestrated by the loving heart of our God—can make in a life! Amen!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Have you ever started something—maybe a new job, a new course of study, a new career, a new hobby, a new relationship, a new move out of your old neighborhood…or out of your old comfort zone—and then hit some kind of challenge, confusion, distraction or frustration?

You’re left wondering:  So then, WHAT happens? WHAT should I do?

In order to live out our faith in Jesus Christ—whether it is a fairly new faith for us OR we have been on this faith journey with Jesus for a long time—God gives us all the same clear, full answer to the question: So then, WHAT??

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 2:6-7

No matter WHAT challenge, confusion, distraction or frustration we may face in our faith journey with Jesus—our Loving, Living, Fully Present, Powerful Lord lets us know exactly WHAT we need to do—and provides everything for us to be able to do it…now and for all the times yet to come! 

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

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here;

HE HAS RISEN!

Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee:

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’ ”

Then they remembered His words.

Luke 24:1-8

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

This Truth changes everything! This Truth changes all who believe!

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

Jesus has conquered the power of sin.

Jesus laid down His pure life to purify us by His own blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And through this act of ultimate love, Jesus bore the full punishment of condemnation and separation from our LORD so that we who trust in Jesus as our Messiah-our Savior may approach our Heavenly Father as His holy, dearly loved children! 

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

Jesus has conquered the power of death.

Our Lord Jesus could not be bound by the cords of death! He is the Lord of Life—with all power and authority to eternally conquer death and to grant eternal life to all who believe!

Jesus Himself assured us of this great hope, this great victory over death:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me

has eternal life and will not be condemned;

he has crossed over from death to life.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come

 when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God

and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself,

so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

And He has given to Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.”

John 5:24-27

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

And Jesus desires each one of us to hear and believe His Words of Grace and Truth:

I died for your sins. I alone could do this. I Am GOD. You are forgiven. You are free of all blame and all shame. I bore it all for your freedom!

I have eternal life to give you. I alone could do this. I Am GOD. You need never fear death again. I swallowed it up in full victory. Death cannot hold my children—you who believe in me. I have already rescued you from death and brought you into the promised eternal life with Me!

JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

You have a choice to make. We all have a choice to make about Jesus.

Believe the message of Jesus and receive the salvation and eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ alone.

HOW? Ask Jesus, even now, to be your Savior. Let God know that you believe that Jesus is His Son who died for your sins and rose from the dead to give you eternal life.

God loves you so much. Your Heavenly Father wants you to hear and believe; God wants you to be set free from the power of sin and the judgment of death.

God wants you to know the total forgivess that Jesus alone offers and the hope and joy of eternal life with the Soverereign and Holy God of all creation!

Believe. And thank God for hearing your confession of faith in Jesus as your Savior. Tell someone about your decision to trust in Jesus for your forgiveness and eternal life!

Welcome Home, precious one, Welcome Home!

 JESUS HAS RISEN! Always Remember!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

There is a series of commercials that list the price of all kinds of things, e.g.:

Cruise for 2: $2300; Snorkeling Excursion: $150; Rental Snorkel Gear for the Excursion: $75…then, the punch line: Pictures of each other in Snorkel Gear: Priceless!

It seems that it is always about the Relationship Factor—no matter what the commercial is about—that the word Priceless is unltimately used.

And that is true of our God’s love. Not only is it PRICELESS, God’s love is also available to all people…no matter what our station in life may be…or what state any of our other circumstances and relationships may be in at the time.

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:7

God’s love is unfailing when so much around us and within us fails. And that is Priceless!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane