RefreshingEDEN making all things new

As of this writing we have experienced over two full weeks of full-blown summer. The date is March 22! Every flower you can think of, usually spread throughout the spring, is in full bloom and even fading in the 80 degree days. Such a gift! But it’s funny how often I’ve heard the comment, “Oh this is so wonderful. We’ll be paying for this come April.” Is it so difficult for us to receive such gifts? I think this underscores how much we tend to see God as a transaction maker. He couldn’t possibly give us a good gift without us having to pay for it. And, of course, that means He isn’t a gift-giver at all.  Looking even deeper I believe these type of responses also tell us something about ourselves. It seems we have difficulty living in the moment. We’re so quick to race ahead, think about and even fear what lies ahead. And in doing so we lay aside our gratitude, and with it the life-breath He is offering now. What’s really scary about that is, if we have a hard time receiving gifts that are so obviously good, how will we deal with those “hard grace” gifts? That’s the scope of our lesson this week.

To listen to the lecture on lesson 16, “Continuing to respond to the Joy of Jesus – our Personal Trainer” click below:

HEB II lecture 16

For outline notes:

Hebrews II Les 16