JESUS IS OUR BRIDGE TO AN ABUNDANT LIFE

I am always amazed when I travel abroad and see the absolute majesty that God has created. Throughout the world there are simply too many places where the evidence of Jesus and His Life are truly Shining in Glory ! Places filled with beautiful churches, Holy ground, saints and martyrs, battlegrounds and castles. Stories and struggles of the people who lived in these places, seemingly always being overrun by one empire after another. Churches set aside for only the elite, while just down the road, another for the common people. The simple understanding of the work and resources to build some of these churches is truly staggering. Golden statues, and endless jewels, carvings, paintings….all depicting Jesus. His Life, Heavenly Hosts, Angels and Demons, apostles, and all those moments that one can find in the finest annals of Christian HISTORY. THE CHURCH was the center of life in those times….the one place that mankind could perhaps find Hope ? Hope in a world filled with struggles, poverty, disease, war, and most of all Uncertainty ! The church it seems offered protection and a foundation for perilous times. Conquering Kings led to constant upheaval. Governments would rise and fall. Dictators and Polticians used military might and clever relational partnerships to move toward their one supreme goal…POWER. Power to make and force people to do their will and see Their Vision for A Designed Future. Almost as if they considered themselves To Be Gods ! HAS MUCH CHANGED TODAY ? Standing in the middle of a place in Nuremberg, Germany, where Adolf Hitler had built his power structure, with huge boulevards, air fields, podiums, and buildings of splendor. All designed to show the world and people of Germany the magnificence of his take on beauty….all now gone….and Purposefully made into the most basic of things. PARKING LOTS ! An effort to cover over all of his evil and twisted vision. WHY IS IT THAT MANKIND ALWAYS WANTS TO MAKE LIFE THEIR OWN INSTEAD OF SEEKING GOD TO LEAD THEM ?

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS. Proverbs 3:5=6

FOR STILL THE VISION AWAITS ITS APPOINTED TIME. IT HASTENS TO THE END-IT WILL NOT LIE. IF IT SEEMS SLOW, WAIT FOR IT; IT WILL SURELY COME; IT WILL NOT DELAY. Habbakkuk 2:3

YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU AND APPOINTED YOU THAT YOU SHOULD GO AND BEAR FRUIT AND THAT YOUR FRUIT SHOULD ABIDE, SO THAT WHATEVER YOU ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME, HE MAY GIVE IT TO YOU. John 15:16

As I stand in these magnificent churches, a few simple questions seem to come into my heart and mind. Would Jesus have been pleased to see so many resources and such large effort go into magnificent churches filled with gold and elite rule, while common people suffered ? In His time on earth, Jesus was truly poor for a season. He never required splendor or idolization. HIS GLORY IS IN A HEAVENLY THRONE THAT WILL IN THE FUTURE COME TO EARTH ! I also pondered, “If we are the temple of Christ, and He abides in us, what is the current time message in all these places ? Many are simply museums…cold, dark, and empty. NO PICTURES ALLOWED. I can’t help but wonder…where are the People ? I Believe That Jesus Came To Free Us From Ourselves. Our Sin. Our Vision. Our Self Will. Our Eternal Death And Separation With God The Father. JESUS IS THE BRIDGE IN EVERY ONE OF OUR LIVES TO ETERNAL COMMUNION AND ETERNAL LIFE IN GOD’S KINGDOM. No ornate building matters, but the Community Of People who share Christ surely do ! Jesus Is our BRIDGE to the Body Of Christ, and HE ALONE gives us Salvation, Righteousness and Holiness. No buildings, no rules and regulations (laws). He came to be our BRIDGE to Freedom and Faith. Grace, Mercy, Peace, and Rest !

EVERYONE SHOULD LOOK NOT TO HIS OWN INTERESTS, BUT RATHER TO THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS. ADOPT THE SAME ATTITUDE AS THAT OF CHRIST JESUS, WHO, EXISTING IN THE FORM OF GOD, DID NOT CONSIDER EQUALITY WITH GOD AS SOMETHING TO BE EXPLOITED. INSTEAD, HE EMTIED HIMSELF BY ASSUMING THE FORM OF A SERVANT, TAKING ON THE LIKENESS OF HUMANITY. AND WHEN HE HAD COME AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF BY BECOMING OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH= EVEN TO DEATH ON A CROSS. Philippians 4-8

JUST ONE THING, AS CITIZENS OF HEAVEN, LIVE YOUR LIFE WORTHY TO THE GOSPE; OF CHRIST. Philippians 1:27

How are you living your life ? Are you seeing Jesus as a BRIDGE ? Trust in Him will lead you across all the mighty gaps and challenges that you are facing, but YOU must begin the walk. His Joy is in each one of us who surrenders to self and becomes a new creation IN HIM. He is looking for YOU to Give Him Your Heart. He is looking for YOU to recognize others and care for their needs before your own. We live in a world consumed with selfish visions, and a thirst for Power and Rules. Seek God’s Kingdom. Seek His Righteousness. Find Humility and Serve Others. As I come to the end of my European Journey, I GIVE THANKS ! My Savior, Lord, And King is willing to meet me where I am. He doesn’t need a place of Gold or a place of Grandeur. He is happy to walk beside me Just As I Am :)

JESUS IS THE BRIDGE TO LIFE/JAA

SEEK THE LORD AND HIS STRENGTH. SEEK HIS PRESENCE CONTINUOUSLY. 1 Chronicles 16:11