Category: Spiritual Bridges

Last night I woke up around 2:00 am, in a moment knowing a few things: I needed to go to the bathroom, and I needed to pray. Now, I am concerned that manic is kicking in for me, which can lead to hospital stays, and I can’t afford that, so if you’re reading this, pray for me about that!

I took care of need number one, and came back to my room. I wasn’t sure what prayers to pray. I realize some of y’all have never prayed with prayer points or bullets while engaging in spiritual warfare, but they are very effective. But, there is a new friend I met online, who had shared some special prayers to pray. Maybe eventually I’ll share them all on this blog. But I wanted to highlight this bridge for us.

In Matthew 26, we have a recording of Jesus with his disciples sharing the Lord’s supper. And, if you are not as familiar with the passage, he first gives thanks and breaks bread and says “this is my body broken for you.”

Jesus’ body was broken for us on the cross.

Then, Jesus takes some wine and gives thanks and he says something that maybe sounded peculiar to the disciples, but makes perfect sense to us today. “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28.

The covenant Jesus is talking about here is the covenant of grace. Previously, Israel had been under the covenant of works, or the covenant of the law. Jesus purchased the covenant of grace for us with His blood. He was the bridge between the old covenant and the new covenant. He alone could perfectly fulfill the covenant of the law, so he alone could bring the covenant of grace.

There’s this girl I follow on IG, she’s an athiest, and she will post things to try to stump Christians and kind of mock the God of the Bible. One day she posted about how cool it was that a God so powerful would take thousands of years to bring a savior to His people. But really, I don’t think she gets it. And that was the problem. Humanity doesn’t get it. We don’t see our need for a savior. It took those thousands of years to reveal how deep our need goes in redemptive history. I think God drew the story out, of course to display His glory, but also to make our need of a savior really obvious. Really, really obvious.

We clearly see the struggles of the Israelites in obeying God from the get go, leading to wandering in the wilderness 40 years, leading to captivity from Assyria and Babylon. We see in the characters we admire the most great flaws that show they aren’t perfect, that we needed a perfect deliverer and a perfect King and a perfect prophet and perfect savior to step in.

And between the Old Testament and New, there are 400 years of silence. It’s like a pause from heaven, for us to reflect on our need. Do you get it? God is saying. You are in dire need!

Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly. He spent 40 days in the wilderness and faced temptation perfectly. When Moses had struggled with his temper, Jesus perfectly delivered people with all sorts of needs. Whereas King David committed adultery and murder, Jesus raised the standard of the law, saying just looking at someone with lust is adultery, and just calling someone a fool is murder. Jesus made the law even more difficult. Impossible for all humanity. But in His perfection He proved His divinity.

Israel was expecting a political savior, but Jesus came to save us from a deeper need: our sin. Because our sin is what separates us from a Holy God, not an oppressive government. Our sin is what we need redemption from to be in a right relationship with God. And we all have sinned. If our government is perfect but we’re still in sin, and we’re still cut off from God, are we actually free? But if we are free from our sins, we are truly free.

Jesus’ blood was the cost of the purchase of the covenant of grace. Now He offers salvation to us freely, as a gift. His body, His blood, His life became the bridge to God for us. He is the bridge all of us need.

I don’t know who’s reading this, if you have crossed the bridge from sin through Christ on the cross to the Father, or if you’re contemplating that move, or if it’s never crossed your mind before. I pray you would cross from death to life on the bridge of Christ. And if you have, I pray your gratitude of Christ’s sacrifice would grow and grow more and more, as you realize the hole between your sinfulness and God’s holiness could have never been fulfilled by you. Knowing such truth will help you grow closer to Christ over your whole life.

The bridge between us is our need for grace. Jesus acts as our bridge to God the Father. The Holy Spirit is our bridge of connection to Jesus and the Father, and our bridge to new life filled by Him.

This is the most important bridge you’ll ever face. Take a step of faith. Cross through the cross of Christ to the other side.

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The Bridge of Masks

               I attempted to start this blog months ago, but haven’t kept up with it. I’m so sorry! My goal for this next year it to write at least one entry a week, which sounds easy but is actually hard to guard the time needed to explore a post in a deeper manner. Nonetheless, I will attempt this and see what God has in store for this blog and how it may encourage you. So I ask for grace, patience, and prayers as I start to unravel the commonalities all of us share. There are so many and it can be hard to know where to start. But God is impressing this topic upon my heart. I want to look these next few moments at humanities need to wear masks.

               I’m writing this post from Taiwan where I am on a missions trip for the week. It’s three in the morning, but because of jet lag, my body thinks it’s time to go! And my mind needs to expunge this thoughts, who knows if this week I will have the opportunity to share them, but I pray I do, because I think this is a message that can help many sort through their emotions in a constructive way.

               Masks are a funny object, aren’t they? We wear them to disguise ourselves from recognition. Some wear them for protection from pollution, some think they protect from sickness. In 2020, the world was forced to put on masks. Many capitulated to this demand, but many of us rebelled against it. I was in the latter category.

               I hate masks. They provide a false security to us. They cover our God given smiles and create fear instead. They keep people from seeing our true emotions. They isolate us from the people around us.

               I remember in February of 2021, I found myself in the mental hospital at a peak time of fear in the pandemic, and masks were required. I found myself being very rebellious and losing the mask any time I could. There were moments I was forced to wear it so I wouldn’t get a shot, but I got away with not wearing it a lot of the time. I wasn’t scared of a virus. I was scared of us losing the ability to connect with our fellow men. We need to see the emotions and expressions on each other’s faces. Masks cover up one of the most important ways we communicate with each other.

               Now, there are the literal masks we wear like those forced on us in 2020, but there are also masks of a figurative nature.  These masks are not visible to the naked eye, but we all wear them. These masks help us hide the undesirable emotions we experience from the people around us. They keep others at a distance, never really knowing the pain we have inside. And they can even steal our lives, if we are not careful, as they isolate us from the connections we need to exist, survive, and thrive.

               I’m thinking about masks right now, because this is the time of year many are hiding the pain in their hearts from the people around them with a smile and a happy face. Christmas can be a very joyous season, but it can be difficult for many as well. Maybe you lost a loved one at Christmas time in the past. Maybe you are suffering from depression. Maybe  you are even despairing of life. Maybe you are lonely and wishing you had a friend, or spouse. Maybe for you, Christmas time is actually one of the hardest times of the year. And maybe at this season, you have put on a mask to protect yourself from being exposed to the people around you. You are ashamed of your true emotions and feelings, so you hide them away. I think we all do this to some extent, for self-preservation. But I want you to see how Jesus dealt with our masks. Jesus had a way of taking off the mask of whoever He spoke to, and getting to the heart of heart, so to speak. And I want us to look at John chapter 4 together, where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well.

               We know that Jesus was Jewish, and they avoided interacting with the Samaritans, and it is surprising he approaches this woman for a drink. He is setting her up, though, because He begins to offer a different drink, a drink of living water. But he has to expose a first mask, He has to take off this mask of nationality, of race. He has to create commonality between himself and the woman, so that she knows he is safe to approach and she can let this mask down.

               We see again another mask she wears as she hides behind her physical needs. Jesus is talking about living water, something she’d never heard of, but she’s still thinking about her earthy physical needs. She’s not quite ready to expose her true need to Jesus. But He is about to cut to the chase. He knows her deepest need, and He exposes it to her, to draw her into a relationship with Himself, and with the Father.

               This mask is the mask of morality that she is wearing. It is a mask that keeps her from exposing her sin. But Jesus gently removes this mask as he speaks and opens up the subject of her sin. “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”  Jesus knows what’s behind the mask she is wearing, and he wants to get to the heart of the matter: worship.

               We cannot truly worship the one true and living God with a mask on. We are hiding from God, our creator, who knows everything about us already. We are hiding from our sin instead of confessing it to the Father. We cannot see our need for salvation from our sin if we deny the sin we carry deep inside our hearts. So we cut ourselves off from the relationship we most need, the only relationship that can save us and set us free.

               Worship is a heart issue, and make no mistake, God is after our hearts. Even though our hearts are wicked an deceitful, God promises to give us a new heart, a heart of flesh. A heart that’s not hiding from Him, that’s not pretending with self-righteousness, that’s not cowered by fear. He wants to give us a heart that can worship in Spirit and in truth.

               I want to challenge each of us this holiday season.  Some of us are holding onto a mask, hiding ourselves from our communities, and trying to hide ourselves from God. When we are hiding behind a mask, no one can see our true needs, and we isolate ourselves more in despair.

               If you find yourself clinging to a mask this Christmas, my challenge to you is to find a friend, or a few friends, you can open up to with your real needs.  Not everyone needs to know your deep dark secrets, so please don’t just open up to a stranger on the street!  But, we all need relationships we are safe to be open and honest in.  We need to be known. And we need to know, even with our struggles and sins, we are loved, by the God of the universe who created us, and by the people around us.

               Maybe you aren’t the one clinging to a mask right now though. Maybe you are in a healthy place emotionally, and are comfortable being honest in your closest relationships. My challenge to you then, is to look around you and discern, who is wearing a mask right now, and how can I help meet their need.  Maybe this person needs a friend to listen to them. Maybe this person needs to know they won’t push you away when they share the pain in their heart. And maybe this person needs the love of Jesus you have, and the hope you can share from your heart.

               Jesus came into the world to take off the mask we wear, the mask of covering our sin. We have masked ourselves since the beginning of creation, when Adam and Eve first sinned and created masks of fig leaves to cover their nakedness and shame. He is the God of the universe who knows us inside and out! He knows our sin, and He knows our need. And on the cross he dealt with our masks once and for all. He showed us why we wear masks, to cover our sin, and He absorbed our sin into His own body, giving us the safety of being able to approach a Holy God with His blood covering our sin. And He freely offers forgiveness and the privilege of living mask free in the only relationship that can set us free.

               Let this Christmas be a time of deep fellowship and love within your communities. Be real, talk about your needs, be vulnerable, and see where God will bring healing. This year, don’t settle for the superficial values of this world. This year, help create relationships of depth and love.  Let down your mask, be real, and experience what people need the most: to be known, and to be loved.