Author: Holly-Rae Van Hoof

jesus follower living in the midwest with husband, kiddos, and pup. i enjoy digital design, root vegetables, creating, running, photography, outdoors, in no particular order. current fav scripture: Rev 12:11 They overcame because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.

Kind, Kind Father

Luke 6:27-36

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

He is Kind to the ungrateful.

Am I kind to the ungrateful? Or do I mostly love those that love me back? Do I extend mercy to others, the same mercy that God extends to me? When I think of the mercy he has shown me, wow. He is a kind, kind Father. 

This week’s passage challenged me, and I spent time taking inventory of my relationships (especially the tough ones), and what they would look like if my kindness matched our Father’s.

The world says “fake it till you make it”…I have a friend that says Faith It Till You Feel It. What a great approach to showing kindness to those that can’t repay it, blessing those that say bad things about us, or praying for those that mistreat us. We can take that step in faith to show love and kindness, and ask God to change our hearts, the situation, all of it. C.S. Lewis says it this way in his book, Mere Christianity: Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”

A lot of relationships are complex and need help, healing, and boundaries. A small act of kindness can be a place to start. It won’t fix everything, but it just might align our hearts to be more like the Lord’s.

God With Us

Taking us back a few decades to Dances With Wolves and the Native American named Stands With A Fist. I’ve always loved that movie, and wondered, if we had literal names, what would they be? Ask your family, see what they come up with as your name. Get ready for some laughs!

    • Laughs Too Hard
    • Drinks All The Coffee

I looked up some names from the Sioux tribe and loved some of these!

    • Wears A Red Shirt
    • Friend to Everyone
    • Chief When Child

Can you imagine calling your son for supper, “Hey, WEARS A RED SHIRT, TIME TO EAT!”

And that’s exactly what was happening in Jesus’s day. It was foretold in Isaiah that the virgin will bear a son and he will be called Immanuel, which literally means “God With Us”. While this type of literal naming was common then, I wonder what the friends and family of Jesus thought of calling him God With Us. So there’s God the creator, and this is God With Us. We picture this a lot of times at the birth of Jesus, and it leaves me thinking of his early life beyond birth – was he directly called God With Us, as a name?

It’s pretty amazing that God knows exactly what his people needed – and he provides for them. God created community. We are made in his image to desire community. He provided God in the flesh to walk with us, give us an example, show us how to avoid temptation, turn the other cheek, and so many other life lessons. But then after leaving his glory in heaven, spending time on earth, he became a sacrifice for us – so we can be reunited with God the Father! And it doesn’t end there. He defeats the grave and because of his resurrection we have life! And if Jesus is God With Us, then I like to think of the Holy Spirit as God In Us. God sent us a helper to literally live inside of us, guide us, comfort us.

My prayer for each one of us is that we will feel God with us – the Holy Spirit living inside of us. He isn’t a distant God, but a God that walks with us, guides us, and brings peace by His presence. Take a moment and jot down where you experienced God with you this week.

Two days ago, my kids and I were on a run (gotta love E-learning PE!) and a downpour seemed to come out of nowhere. And shortly after, the most vibrant, complete rainbow appeared. I couldn’t think of a better example for my kids to see his faithfulness in that moment. We were soaked, ready to be home, and then, WOW, such a beautiful surprise and reminder. We have storms in this life – and He will always be with us through them. His promises are true and he is good.

(photo credit, Sharon O’Shea)

This weekend, how can we recognize his closeness? Is there time we can carve out to hear the God Inside Us? Are there some areas of our heart we can clear and make room?

 

Hiding Place

You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for your word. Psalm 119:114

Hiding place.

In times of hiding, we may experience confusion, fear, doubt, sorrow, anger, loneliness, and so many other emotions. David provides us an awesome example of praising God while he is being protected and waiting.

As as our hearts are on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, I have to wonder about Saturday. Where were all of his followers? Some scattered? Some together? Hiding? What emotions were they experiencing? Were they recounting Jesus’s words of his resurrection? Fearful of what may happen to them next? Mark 16tells us that they had unbelief. Were they confused that Jesus didn’t perform a miracle on the cross and remove himself? Angry at Judas, or even themselves? Luke records that they were all together after the crucifixion. I picture them sitting around a table, in a secret back room, recounting and piecing together his every word and having some “ah ha” moments.

I’m guessing that their hearts and minds were swirling, likely feeling a need for protection and their souls to be comforted, unsure of what to think or do next.

Do you long for your heart to be comforted and are you seeking protection right now? Are you experiencing some of those same emotions during this time of quarantining? From David, to the disciples of Christ, to us today, we all long for the perfect Hiding Place. And God is a great provider!

This Easter will be different for most of us. The church building will be empty – but we can still celebrate that the tomb is empty! Jesus defeated the grave and He is alive! With hearts full and in our homes of protection, we can cheer, sing, and praise the victory over death!

As we “shelter in place” this weekend (and beyond), let’s do it with grateful hearts like David, praising God for who He is. Our protector, our hiding place, our shield. There’s no place I’d rather be than hidden by the Lord.

Echoing Jon’s invitation yesterday, if you don’t have a home church with online services available, please join us this Easter. Gather your household together around your computer and let the miracle of Jesus bring you grace, healing, and peace.  https://www.eastviewonline.church/live-stream

Happy Easter to each of you!

God of Peace

As we explore the God of Peace together today, what comes to your mind with the word peace? Take some time and think about how you would define peace.

In English, the word “peace” conjures up a passive picture, one showing an absence of civil disturbance or hostilities, or a personality free from internal and external strife. The biblical concept of peace is larger than that and rests heavily on the Hebrew root slm, which means “to be complete” or “to be sound,” according to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.

This definition makes me think of words like Perfect. Whole. Righteous.

What does peace feel like to you? Physically? Close your eyes and think about what God’s peace feels like.

I feel a huge inhale and an audible exhale. A release of every muscle and tissue. Hands open. Eyes closing and letting go of the clutter in my mind. An overwhelming sense of calm and perfection. A smile across my face and sun shining down and warming me.

I believe we are created in God’s image, with a desire for peace, a searching for His wholeness to consume us. One day we will be made perfect and live completely whole in His peace. Can you imagine it?!

Are you currently in a season of searching and seeking peace?  Ready to give up the worries and anxiety that we are surrounded by? I don’t know what is stealing your peace today, but lately I know I need:

        • His steadiness for my spiraling
        • His shield for my storm
        • His strength for my struggle
        • His saving grace for my sin
        • His sovereignty for my self-reliance
        • His sanctification for my shortcomings

In order to have more of His peace, I need to draw closer to Him and His ways. I loved Jon’s encouragement yesterday to Cry Out to the I AM! He will rescue us with His peace – the world can’t offer anything close!

Our God isn’t just the author of peace – He also tells us how to have His peace in our life. He wants us to live fully in His peace and He tells us how to do it! Do you believe – truly believe – that living with God’s peace in your heart, is a choice? Do you believe that you can choose to have more peace in your life? His word tells us it’s true, will you join me in clinging to this truth and choosing peace? Let’s start together, today!

When scriptures tell us to “let” something occur, I like to replace that with “allow”. Let’s do our part in all of this ALLOWING:

Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  John 14

Let the peace of God rule in your heart. Col. 3:15

Think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise…and then the God of peace will be with you. Phil 4:8

When you break down piece by piece and put Phil 4:5-7, in your on words, we learn that because God is working, we have no reason to be anxious:

God is here! Pray with gratefulness and ask our Father to meet our needs. His peace – which is greater than anything we can even understand – His peace will protect our hearts and our minds – in Jesus!

Rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances… hold fast to what is good and abstain from evil, and the God of peace will sanctify you. 1 Thess 5:16-23

Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with another, live in peace. 2 Cor 13:11

Those that love your law, have great peace. Psalm 119:165

The Bible is full of instructions on how to have His peace in your world, while living here in this world. Make your own list of actionable steps from scripture, to have more of God’s peace. I’d love to hear what scriptures have helped you have more peace. The more we spend in His word, focus on Him and what He has for us, the less we focus on ourselves and the unrest of this world.

I will leave you with this final beautiful picture from Isaiah 55:

“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

The Gardener

Read aloud the last several chapters of “Wonder” to the students. [substitute teacher plans]

I saw the book on the teacher’s desk, and never hearing of it before, I asked the 4th graders to give me a summary of what was happening up to this point.

There’s a boy that is picked on, bullied, and made fun of because he has a deformity with his face, they explained.

Choking back tears, I read those last several chapters of this boy, Auggie, who wins an award at the middle school graduation for kindness. In presenting the award, the principal verbosely describes the impact when each of us are “more kind than necessary”. And this is when I really had to take all the deep breaths and swallow the lump in my throat… He quotes another author that explains how you can “recognize the face of God when people show more kindness than necessary”. I loved seeing the reactions from the students I was reading to, and this story has come to my mind over and over again over the past few weeks since I read this book.  God is what is seen when we show kindness… 

Kindness seems to be on trend right now, with “BE KIND” messages on everything from shirts to social media. How cool that a fruit of the Spirit is being recognized globally! While “paying it forward” and “acts of kindness” are buzzworthy, we know that our heavenly Father is the creator of kindness, and because of him, we are kind. When this fruit from him is evident in our lives, God shines through! He is recognized and glorified!

John 15 outlines how our Father is our gardener. I have always been in awe of gardeners. The skill and expertise to know just what to do to get the right fruit. The care and love for each individual plant. The meticulous approach to the individualized needs of the plant – sun, water, food, love.  The pruning…Oh, the pruning! Such time and patience that gardeners invest.

How much more does our heavenly Father invest in us, so we can bear fruit? And why? Why does he want us to be fruitful? To glorify him! And it’s only through him that we bear any fruit. So what’s our role – what do we do in all of this? REMAIN! Remain in him. He is the vine and we are the branches. Stay close to him and we can bear much fruit, and show that we are his disciples. The world will see God, through the fruit he brings out in our lives. This passage has challenged me to draw closer and remove any barriers that keep me from the most amazing Gardener!

Reading through the list of fruits of the Spirit was another big motivator to me this week to draw close and remain. We get to be a vessel that brings God glory – and with some amazing fruit! Fruit like kindness. Joy. Patience. The traits of our Gardener, shown right in front of us.

The world is watching and searching, so in need of a loving Gardener. How humbling that God uses us and bears his fruit through us – so He can be seen!

 

Suffering

Today we explore suffering. Jesus was called the Man of Sorrow and also known as one Familiar with Suffering. It was even foretold in Isaiah 53 that he would be despised, rejected, not esteemed. He would suffer. GREATLY. God perfectly designed Jesus to be fully human and experience all the highs and lows of the physical life. Some of those lows are recounted in John 11:35 when Jesus wept over his friend Lazarus’ death, and in Luke 19:41 when he wept over the city of Jerusalem. A vivid moment of sorrow is in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is disappointed that the disciples couldn’t stay awake, all the while he is praying and asking his Father to “take the cup from me” if it be His will. He knew the suffering that was going to begin, and he reveals his human emotions, completely aware of what the cross would entail.

Jesus, being fully God, also knew that Lazarus would come back to life, yet he still wept. He also knew the victory he would have over death, defeating the grave, yet he was still sorrowful and troubled. I love how God revealed his heart to us, showing us the full range of emotion. We are created in his image and the sorrow we experience is real.

Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate physical suffering, and then he experienced the greatest spiritual suffering when he took on the sins of the entire world and was separated from his Father. He did this for us – so we could be with him forever. Our sin separated him from the Father, and Jesus experienced the loss (Mark 15:34).

Nothing in my life comes close to that level of suffering. It’s hard to even call my experiences “suffering” when thinking of the true suffering that Jesus endured.

When I reflect on the more difficult seasons in my life, even now in hindsight, I have to admit that I wouldn’t choose them. While I have complete faith that God’s perfect will prevails and He will use any suffering I have experienced, I can’t say I’m to the point where I count it all joy, or even pray for tribulations and suffering. I’m so inspired by those that do, and face it so bravely. As God continues to sanctify me, I have confidence that one day I will genuinely rejoice in the scary medical diagnoses, challenging family dynamics, major marital strains, and unexpected deaths.

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4

In searching my own heart, I find that I don’t like the lack of control and the unknown that comes with suffering (in addition to the actual suffering part). Sounds pretty obvious, right?

You may have picked up in past posts that I dabble in running. The past 25 years, there have been seasons of running for fun, running for health reasons, running socially, or running to reach goals. Each season is different and I’ve enjoyed all of them (and the dry spells). Running to reach goals includes an amount of physical suffering. Runners sometimes call this the pain cave, this place where you are intentionally positioning your body to suffer. And you don’t choose to run hard workouts so the pain lessons or it gets easier, runners choose this so they can endure the suffering longer. This chosen “suffering” is controlled and calculated. There’s an end to it, and you know there will be gains. Runners embrace this suffering in order to achieve goals. This hit me right between the eyes when trying to overlay this chosen suffering to unwanted suffering. Are there certain hard things in your life you’re able to choose, and other hard things you wish you could end?

I love how we are challenged to truly rejoice in suffering! How amazing to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we choose hard things on this earth! And let’s be honest, any of my suffering is so much different than the true suffering of Christ. God hasn’t given me a calling that lands me in jail, I haven’t been beaten or persecuted for my faith. My experiences can hardly be called suffering or compared to Jesus’s suffering.

So what about you? Where does this topic land on you? Are you praying for trials and rejoicing in suffering? If not, what do you think is holding you back? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

My Deliverer

David spent seven years running from Saul. He was literally hiding in caves and trying to elude his enemies night after night. He had lost his wife and best friend, and yet he continued to have faith in the Lord. Even when he had opportunities to end the discord with Saul and could have stopped all the fighting, he didn’t. He showed grace and restraint, knowing that God would deliver him, in his time and in his way.

Do you have relationships that are adversarial? Maybe you know you need rescued from the chaos, and delivered from the strain? How does David’s example of patience and grace sit with you? It’s pretty humbling and leaves me wondering… if I were in David’s shoes and had the opportunity to “have the last word” and end the back and forth in difficult relationships, would I take it? Or would I follow David’s example and let God work how and when he will?

We can learn so much from David’s long suffering in his relationship with Saul, starting at the very beginning. 1 Samuel 18 outlines the jealousy that grew in Saul: David being praised by the people as a stronger warrior than Saul, and also David’s relationship with Jonathon. Saul got caught in the comparison trap that so many do, and his jealousy spiraled out of control. Jealousy turned to scheming and plotting, trying to get David killed and not able to threaten Saul’s position as king.

I’m sure there were many cold nights on the run where David didn’t know how it would end. He was afraid and wasn’t sure what to do next. Psalm 57 describes on of these nights, where he is equally pleading with the Lord for mercy, and also declaring God’s faithfulness, love and glory. What a testimony to the faith of David!

2 Samuel begins the reign of David after Saul’s death. David worships his Deliverer, and his words are perfect:

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.  2 Samuel 22

I love both of these passages, to pray through when I’m in the middle of a storm and need delivering. He IS faithful, He loves us so.  And then praising God for his deliverance. His ways and timing are perfect!

Today’s focus challenged me to make a list of my own rescue stories of deliverance. Long list. And it got me thinking, what’s NOT on my list? What rescue missions did He deliver me from that I’m not even aware of? Maybe something that I consider a closed door, or a failure, He used as a deliverance. Or situations I am oblivious to, He orchestrated a rescue mission. He’s so so good to us.

The Chosen One (Big C)

Goodbye January and Hello February! I have loved starting this year off focusing on the attributes of Jesus. It’s pretty amazing to think of how God planned each intricate detail of who Christ is and what He did for us.

Today we come to CHOSEN. Jesus is the Chosen One, God’s Son. We find this several places in scripture:

Foretold in Isaiah 42, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.“

I love this alignment to yesterday’s reading that Jon led us through, showing us Jesus as a carpenter and servant.

John the Baptist is the first to declare Jesus as the Chosen One, while he was on earth. In John 1:34 he is recorded saying, “I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.”  

In stark comparison, we see this name of Jesus being used as a mockery, while he is displaying his love for us on the cross. “Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God.“ Luke 23:35

And finally, in 1 Peter 2:4 we see Jesus being referenced as “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.”

Does your mind ever wander to life two thousand years ago? Do you think the first followers understood Jesus, the Chosen One, as fully God himself and also fully man, as the Son of God? Did the doubters think he was a regular fully human man that God then gave some special power to? Or did they get that Jesus himself was God, chose to come down as man, and be the sacrifice for us? It’s mind boggling, isn’t it? We know that from the womb, Jesus was referred to as Immanuel, God with us.

When we talk about Jesus being the Chosen One, it can draw us to scriptures references of us being chosen.

Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us “We are chosen in Him, predestined for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

Because of the Chosen One, we are also chosen. I like to think of this as, because Jesus is the Chosen One, we are able to be chosen – big C, little c.

And wow, all of the different studies and opinions on election are equally mind boggling! Tons of viewpoints on both sides of this (Calvinism vs. Arminianism). I personally love learning about it and wrapping my mind around it – not because I come up with a right answer, but because it draws me into trying to understand more of our God. But when we get to heaven, I highly doubt we’re going to have dialogue with God of “I chose you”, “no I chose YOU”. “No, I CHOSE YOU”. And then maybe Jesus comes from around the corner and says, “Yeah, but I’m the CHOSEN ONE”.  🙂  See all the crazy things that happen inside of my brain?

Back to the Big C – that’s all that matters. Thanks, God, for coming to earth as fully yourself and fully man, and being the one and only Chosen One, so we can be with you. Forever.

Celebrating THE Baby

Three weeks after Christmas, on a day we were putting away some Christmas decorations, our family was studying Hebrews 8. As I was listening to the verses being read, I was overcome with joy of the Good News being described. At the conclusion of the chapter, I shouted HALLELUJAH!, leading to a surprised and puzzled six year old.

This chapter describes Jesus as the new, better, eternal covenant for God’s people! Hallelujah – to God be praised!! As best I could, I explained to my son why this is amazing news for us. God is so merciful!

When we look at Luke 2, our passage for today’s journal entry focuses on Jesus as a baby. He’s born in Bethlehem and the very next thing is the angel and heavenly hosts appear to the shepherds, share the news, and proclaim Glory to God! The shepherds went and found baby Jesus and then they shared this with others and praised God!

Christmas is a season that draws our hearts to the Lord and closer to one another, and is an opportunity to celebrate the Good News of who Jesus is, and how he came to save us. In general, babies represent hope for the future, newness and freshness, the miracle of life. And Jesus as a baby brings us so much more than that. Each year I’m challenged to keep Christmas in our hearts a bit longer, and not let the excitement of the good news be put away when the nativity is carefully packaged back up, when we take down the tree, and all the celebrations are over.

I love the example that the angels and shepherds gave us at the birth of Jesus – they wasted no time in telling others and praising the Lord!  In a few months we will celebrate and remember this perfect and complete gift from God, as Jesus becomes our sacrifice and then defeats the grave. Between now and then, will you join me in keeping the excitement and gratitude of this gift alive? What are some practical ways we can continue to share and worship like the angels and shepherds did? I’d love some ideas from others!

 

 

All in All

All in All

It’s pretty astonishing to look back and see how God paves the way for life lessons to be used decades later.

In my teens, I had a close friend that recognized my mind would get distracted with worries of what others thought or said about me. She wouldn’t even entertain the discussion or thoughts I’d bring up, and I was always impressed with her boldness to tell me directly, “You need to stop worrying about what others may think”. I’d never had a friend come out and say it that pointedly to me – and I would be taken off guard and the conversation would halt. She later died of complications with diabetes, and I credit her with first recognizing and helping me work on this area in my life.

In my twenties, God used my boss to help me with this. And when it comes down to it, it’s really a pride issue. Most worries, wondering, or anxiety about what someone may think of us, can be traced back to pride. If you keep asking yourself “but why are you concerned about that” when it comes to these types of worries, it’s usually more about us and our pride, than anything else. My boss had an awesome way of asking me, “Is this an issue between you and God? Have you sinned against this person? If no, and they have an issue with you, let the Holy Spirit do his work. Don’t take other people’s problems personally.” What an encouragement! I’ve seen those memes that say “not everyone is going to like you… you’re not bacon”, which are funny, but there’s some truth to that. Not everyone IS going to like me. And guess what? That’s okay. That’s not my problem, and I’m not going to take it personally.

In my thirties I found myself in a scenario where I had thoughts of “oh great, they don’t know the full story and they’re going to think X, Y, or Z about me, my choices, etc”. And again, God put a church leader in my path to remind me that it’s not mine to worry about. “Pray that they never have to walk the road you are walking or make the decisions you are making.” The encouragement and act of prayer brought me  peace from worrying what others may perceive or feel about me in that moment.

And it’s pretty easy to get into that cycle, right? Wondering can quickly escalate to worrying about what others may perceive, judge, speculate about us. Understandably, as we are designed for community (common union). We are called to live peaceably among all, and not cause others to stumble. Where this gets tricky – is we are also created as different members and parts of one body, all with different purposes and experiences, uniquely designed to glorify God and further the kingdom. How boring (and unproductive) if we were all identical! Different humans are going to have different thoughts – and that’s how God designed it!

So how do we keep our focus, first and foremost, on our relationship with the Lord? What are some practical ways to center God as our ALL in ALL, and not let relationships in this world come before him? How do you recenter when you feel out of balance?

Recently I felt prompted to apologize for a comment I made to someone. Even after I did, it still bothered me. After I spent time reflecting and praying about it, I figured out that I was more concerned about what the person may think of me after I made the comment, than I was about what God thought of it all. That may partly be because I can rely on the fact that God knows my heart and God knew what I meant by the comment. There’s grace there. But this situation caused me to examine other areas where I may have been more concerned with what others perceived, than I was about sinning against the Lord.

He’s so faithful to continue His work in us! I’m sure my forties will find me using some of these same life lessons about letting go of other people’s opinions and focusing on God’s.

Decisions become easier when your will to glorify God outweighs your will to please others.

I loved these passages that reflect the vastness of God. He’s more than we could ever comprehend or need. Relationships on this earth may fail, but God doesn’t fail. He came for each of us and has a plan for all. He really is our all in all.

He came for all and lives in all of us. (Col 3:11)

He is the source of all (1 Cor 8:6)

He supplies all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

He originated all (Romans 11:36)

He is all our hope (Psalm 62:5)

He is over all and through all (Eph 4:6)