Gravity is Pulling Me Down

Gravity is a constant force in our lives. It is always pulling us down to the earth and holding us there. There is also a Spiritual gravity that is pulling us down, away from God. It is part of the human condition. Listen to Shawn McDonald’s song called “Gravity” (You can find it on his MySpace).

Paul says in Romans 7, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (New Living Translation)

There is a constant force always pulling us down. In the Sundays of Lent we will look at some of those things that pull us down–Giving In, Ignorance, Shame, Prejudice, Death; and how Jesus takes it to the cross for us. Finally on Easter Sunday, we will celebrate the broken power of everything that pulls us down as we consider “Zero Gravity!”

By the way, there is a fantastic YouTube version of this song… check it out! It’s from a United Methodist church.

A God Sighting on the Road

Just after Christmas our area was hit with a rather large snowstorm. Even though our news originally said that we only got 6″ of snow, it became obvious after a while that we really got something like 14″ of snow with a lot of drifting. A day or two after our snowstorm, I was driving up I-75 toward Lake Orion. I was just south of the Palace of Auburn Hills. Those that live here know that there is a large mountian behind the Palace that is our trash dump. On most days, you can see trucks at the very top dumping their loads, surrounded by hundreds of seagulls. But on this day, the entire mountain was covered with snow, and now trucks had broken the pristine beauty that turned a trash mountain into a beautiful sight.

As I saw this, I thought to myself, “Wow, if God can take a trash mountain and turn it into a beautiful sight, He can cover the trash in my life with His love and grace!” Like the prophet Isaiah said, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)

This is what Jesus does for us. With His love and sacrifice on the cross, He covers the dirt and trash of our lives with the pristine beauty of God’s love. When our Heavenly Father looks at us, He doesn’t see the mistakes and the refuse of our life. Instead He sees the righteousness of the Son, covering us with His grace. What a joy it is to know that Jesus makes me fresh and new every day. Thank God that my sin is covered, and for that reminder on a snowy day of what God has done for us all!

Pastor Bill <