Summit

It’s Holy week. The week God sent his one and only son for. The week Jesus died on the cross for the world, that whoever chooses to believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

The scripture that has kept coming to me over the last week is Luke 4:18-19. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

As I’ve been reflecting on his words, I wonder if we’ve missed a piece of the puzzle. In John 14:6 Jesus told us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  

He came so that we could have LIFE and have it abundantly. John 10:10.

In B.C. (before Christ) times, under the Law of Moses, priests were the only ones who were given access to the Holy of Holies, God’s presence. Only after following a stringent ritualistic cleansing, did they part the veil and enter.

I remember a Sunday School teacher telling us they tied a bell and a rope to the priest’s ankle, because if the bell stopped ringing, they knew the priest had been struck dead. He hadn’t been fully clean. They would have to pull him out.

BUT… “It was not about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the nineth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Luke 23: 44-46

Jesus died to give us all access to God’s presence!

I think sometimes we feel it’s only through a pastor, priest, in a prayer line, or at an altar where we can receive healing or have access to God, but Jesus came and died so we could access him anywhere.

I was traumatized following our daughter’s accident. I couldn’t close my eyes or sleep. The images kept flashing back. I felt sick and had pain in my stomach. I was beginning to think I needed to see a therapist, but on Friday night, I looked at my husband and said, “I think I just need to spend some time with Jesus.”

I plugged in my headphones, put worship music on, and sat on our bedroom floor in a river of tears for an hour. And something happened, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit met me, enveloping me in love, power, and peace, healing the places the enemy tried to steal and had wounded. The images are gone, and I've had the best sleep I've experienced in years!

And he wants to do the same thing for you. He came to heal the brokenhearted, to open the eyes of the blind, to set the captives free. What are you holding on to? Where have you built walls around your heart? What has he asked you to surrender, but you continue to cling to in a vice grip? He came and died so you could be whole. He wants you to walk in his freedom.

Don’t wait. It doesn't need to be in a church, on a Sunday. Drop to your knees and call out his name. He’s been waiting on you, whispering your name. Ask and receive.

I’m going to be honest, before my daughter’s accident I don’t know if I REALLY believed God was going to come through for me. I’ve been praying for years for a breakthrough. A fragmented marriage, a home on the brink.

There are days I felt like I went to hell and back. I can remember sitting on the floor in tears on more than one occasion yelling, “WHY AREN’T YOU DOING ANYTHING!”

But he was.

You see it’s not always what he wants to do through us, but it’s also what he wants to do IN us. Our family has found healing through a wound, and wounds heal from the inside out.

Sometimes he calls us to the mountain. If you’ve been there you know, maybe you’re there now. It’s been long, arduous. You’re tired. I want to encourage you. Don’t give up!

The most challenging leg of the climb is always the one right before the summit. It’s the steepest, sometimes requiring hand over foot. Your muscles are strained. You’re fatigued. You can't see anything but ledge above you. You look down and wonder if you should just turn back. You don’t know if you can keep going.

But I have this image of Jesus leaning over the edge, his hand outstretched. He’s also behind you, giving you a leg up. He's surrounding you. Don't stop! You're almost there! The enemy is fighting you so hard because he knows how close you are to your breakthrough. Keep praying, fasting, pushing through, running. You’re almost there! I can almost smell the promised land on the horizon. He has so much more for you. He’s not done with you yet!

And for those of you walking through the valley, who feel lost in the shadows, this song is for you. 23 | Official Music Video From Young David | Angel Studios & Minno The entire Baird family is highly anticipating the release of Young David. The music has been honey for my soul.

Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

Isaiah 46:4 “I am HE, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and rescue you.”

Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Isaiah 43: 18-19 “But forget all that ~ it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Luke 1:45 “and blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

“The way out is the way in. You AREN’t finished yet!” ~Pastor Justin Sweeney

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  ~C.S. Lewis