TheRiverHopes

Holy Saturday is so pregnant with expectancy! In the middle day between Death (Good Friday) and New Life (Easter Resurrection), Holy Saturday teaches us about the gap between​ ​​our Now, but not Yet. Currently, "Now", in our present ​lives​, we live in the promise that death has been defeated by Christ, reconciling us back to God. But we will not reach the full glory and perfection of the Lord until we are face to face with Him after death (the not yet). Meanwhile, we remain expectant.... With hope that does not disappoint because​ God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us​ ​(​Romans 5:5)​.​ ​And in the here and "now" of our silence and solitude, Holy Saturday is also a day of reflection to look back on the the Lent we have kept together, ​​and see where ​​we have become more intimate with God and have come to love Him more deeply. Hopefully we can all say, we have grown, if only a li...

We enter the Triduum today, which means three days, beginning today with Holy Thursday and ending Holy Saturday night.   The events of these three days, the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, forever change the trajectory of the universe. Everything is now being redeemed and restored back to God through Christ (Col 1). The cosmic events of these three days happen fast and furious now, too numerous and wondrous, miraculous and ponderous to write about in this tiny bit of space. Silence and solitude calls and beckons us now more than ever to meditate upon what God has done for us in these three days. It's far bigger than, and yet far more personal too,  what God is doing in both the universe and in each of our lives to redeem and restore all of creation -  SO please share and add your own meditation, prayer, pondering, music, musings over the next three days.. It is sure to bless us all, adding to the splendor and glory and remembrance a...

Matthew 21:23-23:39. Holy Tuesday is often referred to as the Day of questions. As Jesus continued to teach in the temple, He was approached by the chief priests and scribes about His authority to teach. Rather than give a direct answer, Jesus questioned them about the baptism of John. They are trapped, and no doubt more infuriated after listening to the parable of the wicked tenants. So they changed tactics and asked the disciples, "Is it lawful to pay taxes the the emperor or not?" Jesus, of course aware of their malicious intent, answered for the disciples (and for us, too)....Yes, we must all pay our taxes.😢 So on this day of questions, Jesus made it quite clear that His authority comes from God, but at the same time He recognized the authority in this world. We are citizens of two worlds, and in both Authority must be obeyed. But God's authority is divine and able to penetrate the souls of all, unveiling the hypocrisy or unjust laws of the...

https://youtu.be/mgzA_IawuZ8

As Holy Week approaches, the symbol of the Cross take its proper center stage. And it is in the cross that we see the perfect metaphor of God's order for humanity.   "The cross is saying that there is a cruciform pattern to reality- that Reality is not meaningless and absurd." We can see how God created the heavens and earth by separating the void and creating order in creation.  We can see His ordered patterns in nature everywhere. We come to know His order for humans through marriage, parenting and right relationships with others.  And we all search for a coherent order, meaning and purpose in life.  "But neither is reality perfectly consistent.  Reality, rather, is filled with contradictions, what Bonaventure (1221-1274) and others called "the coincidence of opposites."  While we see God's beauty, goodness and order, we also experience suffering;  there is the palpable reality of evil, pain, tragedy an...

I​f​ you google "parenting,"  there are​ a mere​ 81,300​,000 sites to check out! Martin Luther once wrote that "human nature is like a drunk peasant.  Lift him into the saddle on one side, and over he topples on the other side."    This seems to be a pretty apt description when it comes to parenting, as styles of parenting have swung from one end of the pendulum to the other over the ages- from  an austere "children should be seen but not heard" authoritarian style to a "my child's every whim will be satisfied" permissive style. It begs the question, does parenting have a divine order? "How have we come to parent as though our child's greatest needs are to be prepared for sports, school, and succeeding in this life rather than being prepared to face eternity?   Oftentimes we as parents want to ensure that our children get all the good things the world offers, throw in a dash of Christian camps, a cup of youth programs (...

And the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." . . . So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib (side) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Gen 2:18, 21 22) ​Ever wonder why God did it that way? ​"​Why create one being and then take a part of that being and create a second, differentiated yet "bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh," a being who is sexually, emotionally and in other ways different, yet of his own substance?  Upon seeing her, Adam could have observed, "It's me . . . but not me."  Well, if you think about it, it does sound like the kind of thing you might expect a Trinity to do. The Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is a family, and thus man in God's image must be made a family...

As we officially enter into Spring this week, we invite you to try on the Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity this week.  Remember that term "Spring cleaning?"   It used to be a real rhythm of housekeeping- that once a year, in the spring, you would take inventory and wash and clean the things in your house that tend to get overlooked on a regular basis, and throw out or donate unused/unnecessary items.   It was tedious mundane work, but left you with a feeling of renewed energy and accomplishment to get your house in order. God's character is perfect order; He is not a God of confusion.   Made in His image and likeness, He desires our souls to be orderly too (not PERFECT, but ordered in our thoughts, emotions and behavior to reflect Him).   As Todd taught yesterday (if you didn't hear his incredible sermon, go and listen to it on the River website; and even if you did-it is worth hearing again)-  What, and where in our lives do we need a re-boot, a reset......

Genesis 1:1-3: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. As we look at God's heart for order this week of Lent, we all know to some depth and breadth the truth that in the very genesis moments of our own births and days in this world, we all seek how to bring order and meaning out of each new experience in the world. Because we are all created in God's image and likeness, we are on this quest to bring God's order into the world- to see that it is "good." That the world exists at all reveals something about God. God...

This short video points out three helpful insights when trying on the Spiritual Discipline of Prayer Walking: https://youtu.be/itA74C4BtuU 1. Find out about your community/neighborhood/ school's history A. What are its gifts/legacies? B. What needs to be redeemed? 2. Pray and ask God for revelation about what God wants you to know more about your community/neighborhood/schools. 3. Pray and ask God to open your eyes to strongholds in the community, and how to fill the empty spaces and bless the community/neighborhood/schools. As we continue to "walk out" our lives with daring faith, Jesus will be right beside us, holding our hands, reminding us that "what is impossible with men is possible with God." Lk 18:27. Lent is the time to remember that Jesus turned crucifixions into resurrections. He specializes in the impossible! ✨✨✨ And nothing is too big to prayer walk for, and redeem and bless in our neighborhoods/communities/schools......

This beautiful short video illustrates that generosity is much grander than giving money.  J.I Packer says that generosity is the focal point of God's moral perfection.  Generosity is at the Heart of Creation...It's an invitation into God's redemption of ALL things!! Have a Generous Friday 💙💙 https://youtu.be/JoKtpLFkmz4 (from the Reimagine Generosity Group)  Lyn Woodruff River Prayer Reflections

When Jesus taught that we must deny ourselves and pick up our crosses to follow Him (shedding our false selves), He knew how hard that would be for us to do. In fact, He knew that it would be impossible. Our willpower and good intentions will just take us only so far... It's like when you put the wrong kind of fuel in your car, you will stall and won't get very far. So too, when we draw from the wrong source of strength, we will soon sputter, become exhausted, and shut down. Of course Jesus knew this and so before He was crucified and leaving His disciples, He promised the Helper- "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him or knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you..." John 14:15-31. This is the generosity of God to us once again to never leave us BY ourselves, or TO "our selves...

Jesus experienced the fullness of His Father's generosity.   But the optics certainly don't look that way to us when we look for the evidence of generosity through the lens of Jesus' external circumstances- Jesus, Mary and Joseph were forced to flee to Egypt, remained poor, and Jesus was ultimately betrayed, mocked, tortured, stripped, and nailed to a cross in the most humiliating fashion.  His death was slow and full of anguish. Where was His Father's generosity in that? It seems almost inscrutable to understand in our culture today that Jesus BECAME the embodiment of His Father's generosity through PAIN and SUFFERING...  that through Jesus' pain, suffering and death, the Father unleashed all of His generous gifts of Love, freedom, forgiveness, healing, and eternal restoration upon all of creation.  How are we to grasp this paradox?   Jesus  taught his disciples that in order to fully receive God's generosity, we must...

As we can see with our own eyes and experience for ourselves through God's natural world (the universe), His generosity cannot be out-done. It is overflowing. Abundant. Without measure. And although "there are some things stored up for the future when we will be face-to-face with him (see Ephesians 1:13–14; Hebrews 4:8–11; 1 Peter 1:4–5), ... there is much that God gives to people here on earth now. In order to enjoy all of God's generosity. we have a part to play: Take possession Caleb said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it' (Numbers 13.30b). But others objected, 'They're way stronger than we are. They spread scary rumours' (vv.31–32, MSG). There is always going to be opposition but we must not be put off by the giants. '80 percent of the people said they were not able to defeat the giants, and only 20 percent believed God was greater than the problem', points out...

When you hear the word generosity,  what is your first impulse?   Is it to think of  generosity as a finite  "how much"  question?  "How much" do I need to give? Or how much should I give to be (come) a generous person?  God never asks "how much!" Instead, He models extravagant, infinite, continuous cosmic generosity-  It is on display everywhere in His visible creation. Take a moment and ponder the universe.   In our galaxy there are 100,000 million stars, like our sun.  Our galaxy is one of 100,000 million galaxies.   There are 25,000 varieties of orchids.   And The orchid is just one of 270,000 species of flowers.   God does not do things by halves.  He multiplies-  (like the fish and loaves, the land overflowing with milk and honey,  and the daily manna and quail). This should disabuse us of the way we might ...