Walking With Jesus

What Is Generosity?

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT)

Everything we have has been given to us as a grace-gift. “But wait a minute,” you may be thinking. “Didn’t I sacrifice and invest years of my life for my education, which ultimately led to the career to which I now give many hours of my day, which supplies the income I now enjoy, which affords me the nice house, nice ride, beautiful vacations and all the other wonderful benefits of my hard work?” Good point. But who gave you the mental and physical abilities that enabled you to get that education? That led to the career? That affords you all the other things of which you speak?

And do I dare believe for a millionth of a second, out of the billions of people on this planet, I just happened to meet the one person of my dreams? That I just happen to have the children for whom I’d give everything, including my life in a heartbeat? Do I live in the neighborhood I live in by accident? Do I attend the church I love just on a whim? Am I alive in this moment by any effort of my own? Do I not yet understand that I exist as a grace-gift from God and that everything I have or am or ever will be, is a gift from God, apart from whom, according to Jesus, I am nothing and can do nothing (John 15:5)?

I love the expression I’ve heard numbers of times: “We don’t give because we HAVE to. We give because we GET to!” That speaks to the root of generosity. How can I NOT give generously, of my time, my energy/efforts, my finances, my talents/abilities to forward God’s eternal purposes? If everything I have is a gift from God, it’s not mine to do with as I please anyway. I’m not an owner, I’m a steward, a manager of the resources, including my relationships, my money, my mind, my abilities, EVERYTHING to the honor, glory and fame of Jesus.

Generosity is simply allowing our lives to become a channel of blessing to others through the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (NLT) By generously exhibiting these characteristics of Christ’s love of us in our love of others, the greatest benefit to us is that we get to experience the blessing of God’s closeness.

We are introduced to the life God has desired for us since the Garden of Eden. It’s the blessed (“makarios”) life about which Jesus spoke in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. It’s a life of fulfillment of which Jesus spoke in John 10:10, a life of purpose and meaning; a life of satisfaction and peace; a life designed and equipped by the fullness of God’s presence living in and through us each second our heart beats and far beyond. It’s the treasure we seek as we pursue the trinkets of this world, but never find except in surrender to the One who gave His life for us.

Luke records in Acts 20:35 the words of Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, as he quoted the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (NLT) The word “blessed” in this verse is the same word Jesus used in His sermon in Matthew 5. It can be translated many ways, but in essence refers to the life we’re afforded in following Christ that can be offered us in no other way; a life of complete surrender to the will of God that results in unimaginable joy, peace, freedom and yes, happiness.

Generosity includes, but certainly isn’t limited to the giving of money. Though I never earned very much, I can’t use that as an excuse for not living a generous life. My treasure isn’t the measure of wealth used by this world. My treasure is Jesus. And for the rest of my life, I’m His, to be used by Him in any way He would choose. I don’t want to burn out in my service to my Savior, I want to wear out. When my eyes close for the last time I want to have given everything I could possibly give to His honor and to the furtherance of His eternal Kingdom.

The greatest benefit of generosity to me is to be able to say with the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” (NLT)

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Currency of Heaven

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NLT)

If you read yesterday’s Post, you may still be asking, “What does this have to do with the benefits of longing for Jesus, of being generous?” And my answer would have to be – it doesn’t, unless and until we understand that nothing we can experience with our five physical senses; nothing we can see, feel, taste, touch or hear is eternal. It simply won’t last. So, what? If it doesn’t last it has little or no eternal value, except to the extent it’s used for eternal purpose. What does that mean? It means selling myself to gain the pleasures of this world will end in death, eternal separation from the only Person who can satisfy the longings of my heart.

It means, as Jesus followers, when our hearts are tuned to the heartbeat of God, we want what He wants. We long for everyone we love to share the joy of our much anticipated eternal home in heaven. It means nothing on this earth has value to us unless it contributes to the mission of taking as many people to heaven with us as possible. So, we learn to use the “currency” of heaven. What’s that? Generosity, prompted and motivated by our love for and devotion to our Savior.

There are three “G” words that are inextricably interwoven, that when understood lead to the virtually unlimited benefits of living a life devoted to giving of ourselves and of our resources. Those words are GRACE, GRATITUDE and GENEROSITY.

Grace is the free, undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor of God. God’s love is a grace-gift. There’s nothing we can do to make God love us more and there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less. Then why do we serve, give, submit to His authority and obey His commandments? Shouldn’t we be trying to earn His love? No. No can do! He loves us, period. Then why? Gratitude!

Our lives, as followers of the Lord Jesus, should be living testaments of what gratitude looks like. Consider this:

The sum total of all this world has to offer doesn’t compare to the value of my soul
Jesus willingly laid down His life in my place to pay the penalty for my sin
Jesus’ sacrifice opens the door to the deliverance of my soul from Satan’s captivity
Which results in my eternal freedom to begin my journey of becoming all God created me to become in Him – a life of meaning, fulfillment and purpose
In light of the above, how can I possibly live my life without being grateful to God?

So, what might living a life of grace-filled gratitude look like? GENEROSITY!

We’ll look at that more closely tomorrow.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Longing for What Doesn’t Last?

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Mark 8:36-37 NLT)

In Mark chapter 8 Jesus is telling His disciples about His impending suffering, death and resurrection. Peter, unable to even begin to comprehend something so terrible, takes Jesus aside, seeking to correct His “misunderstanding” of future events. But to Peter’s surprise, Jesus tells Peter he’s taking his cues from Satan and “seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (NLT)

At that point Jesus calls the crowd to join Him and His disciples and begins to explain to them what following Him should look like. It was in this context Jesus asked a couple very pointed and penetrating questions in verses 36-37: “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (NLT)

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This may seem an odd way to open a blog on understanding our longings, but the reality is, the greatest enemy of longing for the things of God, is our incessant longing for the things of this world – “seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” And the irony is, generosity, which grows out of our longing for God, at its core isn’t even a matter of finances or possessions, it’s a matter of the heart. Generosity doesn’t originate in what we do, (i.e. how much of ourselves/our “stuff” we give away) but from who we are (i.e. our character, illustrated by how much of ourselves/”what’s ours” we seek to keep).

As always, Jesus is painting a picture that burns an indelible image on our heart and mind. When He speaks of gaining “the whole world,” He’s essentially saying, “and all that entails – every advantage socially, politically, economically, educationally, relationally – EVERY conceivable advantage this world could possibly offer – WITHOUT RESERVATION!” But the nagging question still remains: “Is all the world has to offer worth as much as my soul?” with the clear implication – NO WAY! But why not?

Most human beings, including many believers, because of their longings for the temporal things of this world, are choosing every day to trade their soul for the trinkets of this world, resulting in a stingy heart and a troubled, empty soul. We’re always looking for more. But more of what? Of what this world offers or more of Jesus? And to what end?

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a story about a man who finds a treasure in a field, and in his excitement, he sells everything he owned to get enough to buy that field. What was the treasure? Jesus! What’s the implication? Nothing, no amount of this world’s goods and services, can compare with the joy of knowing, loving, serving, sacrificing everything we own and everything we are for His honor and fame.

We’ll look at this more closely tomorrow.

Blessings, Ed 😊

*In yesterday’s article I mentioned that if you wanted to send me a message you could do so by going to the “Contact” page. That’s true if you’re on my Blog website; however, if you’re receiving my Blog via your email, the best way to contact me is to send an email to walkingwithjesus09@gmail.com I’m sorry for the mixup. 😦

Holding Life with Open Hands

“The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21b NLT)

Suffering loss can be debilitating, and it can take many shapes. If you’re a pet lover, you’ll understand how heartbreaking losing a pet can be.

Lola was only five pounds when she entered my life, but that five pounds was all she needed to win her place in my heart. Almost from the moment I saw her, I loved her. I’d had other dogs I loved, but there was something special about Lola. She was a Puggle, part Beagle, but mostly Pug, and man, did she love to eat.

When my mother-in-law first saw Lola, she looked at her little underbite and said: “She’s so ugly, she’s cute!” I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, because all I saw was a little girl who needed a daddy to love her well. From the beginning, we were inseparable. When I was home, she was on my lap or laying her little head on my chest.

I would sometimes quip, “If Lola ever loses her interest in food, I’ll know something is really wrong.” The years passed so quickly, and one day Lola kept going to the door, telling me she wanted to go outside. The first few times I thought she was just “milking” me for treats, but she wouldn’t take the treats when I tried to give them to her. Then I noticed blood on the carpet. We tried to get her into the Vet, but couldn’t find anyone to see her. Finally, in desperation, we took her to the VET Emergency Clinic.

Thinking we’d get some medication and take her home, our hearts broke when the Doctor told us she had a tumor on her spleen and there was nothing they could do. It was among the hardest things I’ve ever done, to say goodbye to my Lola. Even as I’m typing these words, I can’t hold back the tears. She was only 10.

Pastor Rick Warren says, “God never wastes a problem,” and that proved true in the devastating loss of our Lola. I love Jesus and I know He loves me and would NEVER allow anything to enter my life that He didn’t intend to use for my good and His glory. It took a while, but what the Lord taught me is that I must hold my life with open hands. What does that mean?

Holding our hands in front of us, palms up is a way of saying to the Lord: “The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21b NLT)

Open hands is a way to physically show our absolute dependence upon and trust in God. In my heart, it says: “Father, everything I have or will ever have comes from You. So, I want to position my life, through the way I live and love, to receive anything You can trust me to receive. But I also realize that there are things in my life I have needed to give up to You and things that will bring me to my knees when You take them – like when my wife left, when my dad, then my mom died and, yes, when my precious Lola died. But I trust You and You have always been faithful to heal me and bless me in ways I never imagined possible. Here’s my life, Father, use it, shape it, add to it or take whatever You want away from it, but in the end, Lord, be glorified in me. May my lips never fail to give You praise, not simply for what you give, or even for what You take away, but simply and forever, for who You are!”

Perhaps it’s time for you to pray a prayer like that in your own life. If you don’t know the Lord Jesus, you may wonder how or why I would ever pray like that. It’s because Jesus is my life. Without Him I am nothing and apart from Him I can do nothing of eternal value.

He wants to give you a life of fulfillment, meaning and purpose like you’ve never imagined possible. Place your trust in Him today. Please don’t wait. Click on the link and watch a brief video by Ron Hutchcraft that will help you understand what it means to follow Jesus. https://hutchcraft.com/the-bridge-to-god

If you’d like to reach out to me, send me a message at walkingwithjesus09@gmail.com. If there is any way I can help you see Jesus more clearly, I want to. That’s why I write these articles. My love and prayers are with you, especially if you’re in a season of loss. You are not alone! Please reach out to someone who knows and loves Jesus. I would welcome your email.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Martha or Mary?

“But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!’” (Luke 10:41 NLT)

Jesus’ ministry was largely financed by women of means who had placed their trust in Him (see Luke 8:2-3). One of those women may have been a woman named Martha. We first meet Martha in Luke 10 when Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem. That’s when Martha invited Jesus and, the context suggests, His disciples, into her home for a meal.

Martha was fretting in the kitchen and was not happy with her sister who had taken her place at the feet of Jesus, hanging on His every word. Martha complained and asked the Lord to have Mary help her with the meal, to which He replied: “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42 NLT)

This is often the predominant passage from which we’re drawn to our opinion as to whether we’re more like Martha or Mary? Are we more inclined to “serving Jesus’ needs, “ or “sitting at His feet?” As if those were our only options. We’re tempted to believe Mary’s love far outshined Martha’s. But did it? Is sitting at His feet the only way to express our love?

Some time later, in John 11, we see Martha and Mary in a different setting. Their brother, Lazarus, has died. When Martha and Mary heard that Jesus was coming, who would you have expected to run to see Him first? Mary? No, it was Martha. Again, she was not happy. “Lord,” she said, “if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21 NLT) But she didn’t stop there, revealing, not only her comfort in knowing she could share her heart with Him, but also her absolute trust that He was exactly who He claimed to be. She continued by saying, “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” (vs. 22) They continue their conversation, affirming the deep roots of faith Martha had in Jesus.

Martha then returned to let Mary know that Jesus was asking to see her. Without hesitation, Mary left to find Jesus. When she found Him, she knelt at His feet, making the same statement that Martha had made earlier regarding her brother (vs. 21), but for Mary, that’s where the conversation ended. Seeing Mary and the many others weeping, Jesus also was moved to tears.

He then walked to the tomb of Lazarus and told those standing nearby to “Roll the stone aside.” (vs 39). You would have thought, based on the affirmation of confidence Martha showed in verse 22, that she would have been first in line to help move the stone. But, again, Martha, “Miss practicality,” wasn’t so much focused on her rock-solid faith in Jesus, as her concern for the smell of death her brother’s body would cause if the grave was opened.

Then Jesus reminded Martha of what she’d affirmed in their previous conversation (vs. 22), He thanked His Father for hearing Him, the stone was rolled away, Lazarus walked out of the grave, the graves clothes were removed, and the party began!

So, what’s my point? Simply this. Like every other person who has ever followed Jesus, depending on the circumstances in which we’re seen, we can be the proverbial “Martha” or “Mary.” Because of the way the Lord wired us, there are elements of Martha and Mary in all of us. There are times to “prepare the proverbial meal,” and times to “sit at His feet in worship.” Does that mean I can only worship while kneeling at His feet? I certainly hope not!

Paul, a prominent writer of much of the New Testament, said: “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT) An attitude of worship should be reflected in whatever we’re doing, in whatever context we’re doing it.

Whether we’re more like Martha or Mary isn’t the point. The point is, are we becoming more like Jesus in every activity and detail of our life? May everything we do, say or think be inundated with our desire to worship and honor our Savior. To make His presence known.

Blessings, Ed 😊

How Can I Know My Purpose?

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:31 NLT)

What does the verse above mean? It essentially means that whatever we do – in our home, in private or in public, at work, at play – WHATEVER we do and WHEREVER we do it, it should reflect the character of Jesus, enabling us or whomever we may be with, to sense the glory, the presence, of God.

So how has the Lord equipped and gifted you? What are you passionate about? What are you really good at? What gives you satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment? Do you like to take orders or give them? Do you like to lead or follow? Do you like to invent a way or follow a prescribed way? Do you like people or would you rather go it alone? These things aren’t a means of defining your “calling,” but they might well be an avenue to more sharply defining how God has designed you to fulfill your purpose, your mission on earth, because of your calling to be His child.

Your truly “Happy Place” will only be found in your “all-in” response to become God’s child through faith in His only Son, and pursuing with your whole heart, Christ’s mission on this earth. Being a pastor for many years was fulfilling and I believe it was exactly God’s purpose for me. But since I’ve been retired it’s as if I’ve been set free to focus exclusively on what God wired me to do – love Him without reservation, and serve Him boldly as I love those He puts in my sphere of influence.

There are many genuine responsibilities that tug, not only on your heart, but your time, money, and energy. Your vocation, family, personal interests, recreation and on and on it goes until at the end of the day you collapse into bed wondering whether or not you’ve actually accomplished anything of eternal value that day. Been there!

One day, sooner than you can imagine, you’ll stand on the threshold of eternity looking back over the “blip” that was your life. The only thing – the ONLY thing – that will matter on that day is “Did I respond to Jesus’ call on my life to follow Him, and how effectively did I accomplish the purpose/mission I was put on this planet to carry out?”

I invite you to follow Him, love Him without reservation and find the fulfillment in your life you never imagined you could find. He’s the Treasure you seek, and His love will revolutionize your life. Trust Him. Love Him. Follow Him. He IS your calling. He IS your purpose.

Contrary to many people’s opinion, under most circumstances you don’t have to make a decision between God OR career; God OR family; God OR recreation, etc. The beauty of walking with Jesus, that I’m now discovering in such good and satisfying ways, is that Jesus is walking with me NOW, in this moment, WHATEVER I’m doing, WHOMEVER I’m with, as long as my heart is beating to please and honor Him. My happy place has a name. His name is JESUS!

Do you know Him? If you’re not ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE, please click the link and make certain https://hutchcraft.com/the-bridge-to-god

Blessings, Ed 😊

How Can I Partner With God?

“For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29 NLT)

Once we respond to God’s calling by accepting His invitation to become His child, then the journey of becoming conformed to the likeness of Jesus begins and that, my friend, becomes our purpose. Simple? Yes. Easy. Not so much. The plan to climb Mt. Everest may be simple, but it’s far from easy.

Confusion abounds because people like me, who was a pastor for 30+ years, like to speak about our “calling” to be a pastor. Do I believe I was called to be a pastor? Absolutely. But how that really translates is this – being a pastor was God’s choice for me as I sought to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, which is my purpose. Being a pastor was the plan God had for my life as a means of living out my calling as His child, thus contributing to the fulfillment of His purpose for my life.

God extends His invitation to everyone. He doesn’t want anyone to miss their calling to become His child (1 Timothy 2:4/2 Peter 3:9), but with virtually every invitation, there will be those who respond positively, and some will reject the invitation. What’s the point? Calling is for everyone. Purpose, from a Biblical perspective, is only for God’s children, those who accept their calling to become His child and begin the long journey of becoming like Jesus.

Why is purpose wrapped up so tightly in becoming like Jesus? Because Jesus perfectly modeled what it means to be God’s child. He alone opened the door of opportunity for us to accept God’s invitation (calling), by laying down His life and paying the penalty for our sin which we could never in eternity ever have paid for ourselves.

So, what might your purpose look like? We get clues by looking at the life of Jesus. As I think of purpose, I see at least two primary dimensions. First, the character of Jesus, then secondly, the mission of Jesus.

In Colossians 2:9 Paul talks about the fact that in Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. In other words, Jesus was God in human form. Then in verse 10 he makes an astounding declaration that in Jesus we too are complete, whole, filled with purpose. How can that be? Because of our union (partnership) with Jesus! It’s critical that we understand our purpose is all about Jesus, not about us, and allowing Him to develop His character in us is essential.

You might see your “purpose” as being an astronaut, physician, all-star athlete, mother, teacher, etc, the list is virtually endless in terms of how our purpose is expressed. But if Jesus isn’t at its core, our true purpose will never be fulfilled. The question isn’t so much “What should I do/be?” It’s “Lord, may I never forget that whatever you’ve gifted and equipped me to do/be, may it be done to Your honor and fame and for the purpose of extending Your eternal Kingdom. May I use the gifts and abilities You’ve given me to accomplish Your mission on this earth – to allow Jesus to show His grace through my life.”

We’ll look at this more closely tomorrow.

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Look at Calling and Purpose

“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time – to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:9 NLT)

When I was fifteen, I responded to a public invitation by my pastor to commit my life to the Lord Jesus. I knelt at an altar in the front of our church sanctuary and as I did, I began to cry, almost uncontrollably. Though I didn’t understand at the time why I was so emotional or even what this all meant, when I rose from the altar I felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I couldn’t have explained it then, but I’d been forgiven and the weight of sin I bore had been lifted.

What I didn’t comprehend fully then (and very likely still don’t) was that God had called me to be His child and, as such, to follow His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe we often complicate this whole issue of “calling,” and thereby miss its simplicity. Calling is simply an invitation to follow Jesus (as complicated as that can sometimes seem). And though in many respects, as Christ-followers, our callings have many similarities, our specific calling can manifest itself in very different ways. That’s where purpose comes in.

Two of the Apostle Paul’s letters to Timothy, who was like a son to him, are recorded in the New Testament. In his second letter, chapter 1, verse 9, Paul writes: “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan (purpose) from before the beginning of time – to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.” (NLT)

In this verse we catch a glimpse of the relationship between calling and purpose, both of which are invitations from God. Though this verse is packed with significance and truth on many levels, for purposes of clarity and simplicity, I’m going to focus on the relationship between calling and purpose.

In many respects the relationship between calling and purpose is like two sides of the same coin, similar to belief and faith. One is not complete without the other. Belief is an intellectual acknowledgment that something is true. For example, I can say, “I believe the medicine the doctor has prescribed will help cure my illness.” But unless I exercise faith by actually taking the medication, my belief is of no value. In other words, unless I act on my belief it will have no benefit. That’s true in our relationship with Jesus as well.

Similarly, understanding that I am being called (invited) by God to enter into a relationship with Him through belief in Christ has no real bearing on my life until I exercise faith and say “yes” to God’s invitation to be saved and become His child, which then opens the door of opportunity for me to discover my purpose for being on this planet.

At its core, calling is an invitation to partner with God in the fulfillment of His purpose on earth. And what is that? “… His plan (purpose) from before the beginning of time – to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.” (NLT) So how do we do partner with God?

Good question! I’m so glad you asked 😊. We’ll look more closely at this tomorrow.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Do You Want To Be Free?

“The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10 NLT)

In John’s Gospel chapter 10, verse 10 Jesus says: “The thief’s (Satan’s) purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My (Jesus’) purpose is to give them (us) a rich and satisfying life.” (NLT) When we hide our secrets, hoping no one will discover who we “really are,” we allow Satan to rob us of the healing we so desperately need and we so earnestly desire. Since being set free in the small group meeting I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my wife and I have since led two similar groups, largely because we believe in the power of stories.

When people pull back the curtain of their heart and reveal who they really are by sharing their stories, it builds unbelievable rapport, opening doors of friendship and deepening relationships that heal and bring wholeness. Sharing our stories promotes transparency and reduces defensiveness, inviting others to walk with us in our pain and development as a child of God. But perhaps most importantly, it gives freedom to the Holy Spirit to flow through us into the hearts and souls of those with whom we share.

Photo by Mental Health America (MHA) on Pexels.com

It seems strange to have to admit that I hadn’t been able to grasp the impact my growing up years actually had on me as an adult. So many of the decisions and life-choices we make are a direct result of circumstances we experienced as children. But we can’t lose sight of the fact our stories are still being written and will continue to be revealed as long as we’re on this planet. Essentially what can happen is, God’s story, the Gospel of Jesus, our Savior and Rescuer, changes our story, which when empowered by God’s Spirit, can lead to the changing of someone else’s story.

That’s great news, because regardless of how badly I’ve failed, how fully I’ve allowed the tentacles of sin to envelop me, because of who Jesus is and what He’s done for me through His death on the Cross, by His grace alone – I’M FREE! Free to be everything God has intended for me to be from the foundation of the world; free to pursue the fulfilled life Jesus died to give me. The shackles of my past have no hold on me. I’m alive in ways I’ve never been before to the fullness of God’s Spirit at work in my life and I’m finally beginning to understand what love really is and why it was so central in Jesus’ decision to come to earth.

Well, for now, that’s my story, but because of Jesus, my story is continuing to change for the better! May the Lord enable you to trust Him to use your story as you share it with others.

True freedom begins with an invitation for Jesus to forgive and give you His Holy Spirit to indwell, guide and enable you to live in the freedom only He can give. Have you experienced that freedom? I invite you to click the link below to watch a brief video by Ron Hutchcraft. You can begin walking with Jesus today. https://hutchcraft.com/the-bridge-to-god

Blessings, Ed 🙂

My Story

“Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24-25 NLT)

So, by reading the above verses I’m suddenly now all better? Yes, and no. Yes, from the standpoint that the Bible, God’s Word, points me to Jesus, in whom every promise of God is “yes and amen!” (2 Corinthians 1:20) What does that mean? To me it means there’s nothing Satan can throw at me that Jesus and I can’t overcome, BUT (and that’s a very big “BUT” :)) He often chooses to use others to walk with me into my victory.

Growing up, my mom was an alcoholic and both parents were unfaithful to one another. Though I felt loved, there was a lot of chaos and instability, which led my two older sisters to marry right after high school, leaving me to fend for myself. To say my family was dysfunctional is an understatement, but it was all I knew. I didn’t realize then how I was being shaped by my environment.

Through God-guided circumstances, I came to the Lord at age fifteen and soon after met my high school sweetheart at church. We dated for four years, but our relationship ended after she met someone at the University she was attending. My heart was broken, but I understood and couldn’t blame her. Our relationship had been plagued with jealousy and possessiveness, but I didn’t understand why it was so uncontrollable. As I grew in the Lord, I sensed His call to ministry and attended a Christian college and then Seminary. I married, at twenty-one, a girl I’d met at college.

As the years passed, we had two children, and ministry opportunities directed our path, but the tentacles of underlying anger, common in adult children of alcoholics, and lust filled my heart and, too often, my mind. The demands of ministry, family and other distractions, resulted in my lack of attention to my wife. We sought counseling and I thought it was helping, but ultimately my wife left me for another man. After more than twenty years of marriage I was alone and felt lost.

Fast forward to a few years ago. I was in a Small Group at the church I was attending, with my “new” wife (we’ll soon celebrate twenty-eight years of marriage). Reluctantly, I began to share some of what I’ve written above, but by God’s leading I shared in more detail about my sin and shame. Ironically, what had held me back from sharing for almost thirty years, was fear that if someone really knew me, they would reject me. But after I shared my story, I shed tears of relief, and joy filled my heart as the men and women in the room affirmed and loved me in spite of what I’d done.

Over the weeks as we shared our stories, our hearts were opened to one another in healing ways. The members of our Small Group are now among my dearest friends. That’s the power of sharing your story.

Blessings, Ed 😊