In spending some time in Bible study and worship this morning, my eyes were opened once again to the Majesty and Mercy of our Lord. Consider this reflection upon our God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
You are love, pure, and sweet; its finest expression. Your loving, Lord, Your being, is so precious, a rare and exquisite gift. I think about our attempts to love. We offer our fallible tries to one another and to You. Oh, but You take our offerings and fill them with Your own worth, and they become beautiful. You are so gentle and gracious. It is hard to even put it into words. My heart is so bruised and frightened, skittish. And yet, in all Your mighty power, You find ways to communicate so gently. Who are You, who is like You, so forceful and strong that a human cannot stand in Your presence without being destroyed, and yet so humble and gentle that our hearts naturally turn to You, genuinely seeking Your face? Who are You, who is like You, who created galaxies and still lovingly and delicately knit each one of us together with astonishing detail? Who are You, who is like You, whose passion is stronger than death, yet whose life comes in a new-born baby’s cry? Who are You, who is like You, who tenderly and genly leads our stumbling and fumbling footsteps upon a holy path, and delights in doing so? You alone are worthy of our worship. You alone are powerful enough to evoke our truest fear, and yet humble enough to desire our truest love instead. You are a King of earthly paradox, yet robed in Heavenly perfection. You are holy; You are so holy; You alone are holy. And in bringing us to Yourself, You make us holy too.
When I stop to consider the holiness of God that is married to the humble lovingness of God, I am always drawn to worship. It is so wonderful to me that a God who is incomprehensibly awesome loves us flawed and messy human beings. He knows all my faults and yet isn’t scared away. He knows all my failures and yet sings over me with joy. Say those affirmations for yourself, because they are true for each and every one of us. The only one qualified to point a finger at us never does. Instead He tenderly walks with us, changing us from glory to glory until we reflect Him in the world.
This break, I encourage you to think about what you are most thankful for in your relationship with Jesus. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Him, I encourage you to accept the invitation He is offering you to be His close personal friend. It’s as easy as saying, “Jesus I want to be Your close personal friend, and I want You to be mine. Please come into my heart.” This is His desire for you: To know Him and be known by Him. Spend some time loving on Him this week and letting Him love on you. It will refresh you more than you can even guess.
Know that Jesus loves you and I do too.
Blessings,
Sami
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Friday, November 14, 2003
Prayers As the Semester Ends
Dear Friends,
God is so good! Just sending out this weeks letter with a prayer that you will be enveloped by the goodness of God. Please know how precious you are in His sight. And Jesus has carved out a special place in my heart for you as well. I am often overwhelmed by the love He feels for you. You are special stuff!
I want to offer you a prayer as we go into another busy weekend and as the semester draws to a close.
Dear Father,
I thank You so much for the joy and privilege of serving in such a wonderful place with such wonderful people. You must love me a lot! Thank You, thank You, thank You. I pray right now that you will bless each one, each student who reads this. I pray that as she or he opens this e-mail, You will flood each with a sense of Your presence. Help each one to know without a doubt how precious he or she is in Your sight. Help them all to understand the beauty of the unique creation You made them to be. I pray that for every stress they encounter, You will shower them with Your strength, knowledge, and insight. Help them to persevere in the crunch time of this closing semester. Give them peace about all that has already passed. Help them to understand that You are holding the whole world together by Your grace and love, and that nothing that happens to them is mightier than Your love and Your ability to step in and make things better. Help each one to know Your arms are so safe and trustworthy, and that they can take all of their cares and concerns to You and leave them there. Give them the grace to be able to let go of their worries and anxieties, casting them on You. Grant them the faith they need to move the mountains in their lives by believing You, not just believing in You. Thank You, Lord, for loving each one of these precious young adults more than I do, and for already making provision for their every need.
I love You, Lord. You are so much more than I ever imagined. Thank You for loving us and giving us abundant and eternal life.
Amen.
Friends, I hope you are blessed this week.
Much love,
Sami
God is so good! Just sending out this weeks letter with a prayer that you will be enveloped by the goodness of God. Please know how precious you are in His sight. And Jesus has carved out a special place in my heart for you as well. I am often overwhelmed by the love He feels for you. You are special stuff!
I want to offer you a prayer as we go into another busy weekend and as the semester draws to a close.
Dear Father,
I thank You so much for the joy and privilege of serving in such a wonderful place with such wonderful people. You must love me a lot! Thank You, thank You, thank You. I pray right now that you will bless each one, each student who reads this. I pray that as she or he opens this e-mail, You will flood each with a sense of Your presence. Help each one to know without a doubt how precious he or she is in Your sight. Help them all to understand the beauty of the unique creation You made them to be. I pray that for every stress they encounter, You will shower them with Your strength, knowledge, and insight. Help them to persevere in the crunch time of this closing semester. Give them peace about all that has already passed. Help them to understand that You are holding the whole world together by Your grace and love, and that nothing that happens to them is mightier than Your love and Your ability to step in and make things better. Help each one to know Your arms are so safe and trustworthy, and that they can take all of their cares and concerns to You and leave them there. Give them the grace to be able to let go of their worries and anxieties, casting them on You. Grant them the faith they need to move the mountains in their lives by believing You, not just believing in You. Thank You, Lord, for loving each one of these precious young adults more than I do, and for already making provision for their every need.
I love You, Lord. You are so much more than I ever imagined. Thank You for loving us and giving us abundant and eternal life.
Amen.
Friends, I hope you are blessed this week.
Much love,
Sami
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Friends
Today I am thankful for friendship. I see it growing so beautifully at the Foundation. There are new friendships that are forming and old ones that are being deepened. What continues to amaze and bless me is the atmosphere of love, acceptance, and joy that permeates our time together as a campus ministry. It is the same atmosphere that gave me new life as a student 10 years ago. Sometimes on the way home at night I sit and bask in the afterglow of the warm feeling I get from being with all of you.
Before Jesus died He had a heart to heart with His closest friends. He said to them, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). I have often thought that this was a weird message to give to the disciples. I mean, shouldn’t He be saying, “This is how the world will know you are my disciples, by the way you love everyone in the world” ? But then I consider all of the churches that are full of people who hate each other. It doesn’t seem like a welcoming place, even when it takes steps to reach out to those outside its walls.
I guess that is what makes the Wesley Foundation such a special place for me; it is the quality of relationships that are born and sustained through many years, reproducing with every generation of new students. Certainly this takes work. We have to continue to love one another, beyond our flaws and mistakes, always trying to see the imprint of our Savior in each other’s faces.
For those of you who have invested your hearts in this ministry, thank you so much. You have made this place special, a place where the presence of Jesus Christ comes alive through the unique personalities and gifts of students who love the Lord. If you haven’t visited us in a while, stop in sometime and say hi. Like Motel 6, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” And if you have never been to one of our services or group nights before, but always secretly wondered if you would enjoy it, know that you are always welcome here. You have a faith home waiting to take you in.
Just know that each of you are so precious in our Lord’s eyes. Each of you have something special to contribute. Each of you make a difference no one else can make. I know I say it a lot, but I am truly honored to be your campus minister.
Blessings,
Sami
Before Jesus died He had a heart to heart with His closest friends. He said to them, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). I have often thought that this was a weird message to give to the disciples. I mean, shouldn’t He be saying, “This is how the world will know you are my disciples, by the way you love everyone in the world” ? But then I consider all of the churches that are full of people who hate each other. It doesn’t seem like a welcoming place, even when it takes steps to reach out to those outside its walls.
I guess that is what makes the Wesley Foundation such a special place for me; it is the quality of relationships that are born and sustained through many years, reproducing with every generation of new students. Certainly this takes work. We have to continue to love one another, beyond our flaws and mistakes, always trying to see the imprint of our Savior in each other’s faces.
For those of you who have invested your hearts in this ministry, thank you so much. You have made this place special, a place where the presence of Jesus Christ comes alive through the unique personalities and gifts of students who love the Lord. If you haven’t visited us in a while, stop in sometime and say hi. Like Motel 6, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” And if you have never been to one of our services or group nights before, but always secretly wondered if you would enjoy it, know that you are always welcome here. You have a faith home waiting to take you in.
Just know that each of you are so precious in our Lord’s eyes. Each of you have something special to contribute. Each of you make a difference no one else can make. I know I say it a lot, but I am truly honored to be your campus minister.
Blessings,
Sami
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