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thought mashups from garret shelsta

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Bellingham, Wa

Day 37: Good God, the Gift of Freedom

April 06, 2017  /  Garret Shelsta

[If you want to know how and why this devotional came into existence feel free to read this]

What you will need:

(Here is the week 1, week 2,  week 3,  week 4 and week 5 sheets if you want them)

Day 37.png

Theme:  Longing

Passage for April 6th: Isaiah 60:1-3

Bars from “How Great”

Don't believe in signing, I seen dollar signs
Color white collar crime
Good God, the gift of freedom
Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up slaves from Southampton to Chatham Manor
The type of worship make Jesus come back a day early

A Thought:

When I first moved to Washington state from Colorado I thought the whole, “it is so rainy and you never see the sun in Washington” that I had heard from my friends and family was overstated. Don’t get me wrong, it was more overcast and raining than what I was used to but it was totally manageable. But then this winter happened. And it has been dark… Like super super dark. When mixed with the divided socio-political climate, which has become normalized since the summer, this winter has been super dark. This season I want the sun to break in and make all of the darkness fade away. For the both the Hebrews and Chance, they too long for an to the darkness end. Their longing, however, is significantly more immanent and pressing than the inevitable changing of seasons. 

The Hebrews have been oppressed by multiple world powers. First it was Assyria, then Babylon and soon Persia. Chance is longing for an to the racial oppression of black people in this country, which finds it roots in America’s founding. There is a very real darkness that blankets our world and it has stretched into every nook and cranny of our lives. There is the relational darkness of broken friendships and families, and the emotional scars that result from them. There is social darkness and racism. The spiritual darkness of feeling God’s absence. The list of the ways darkness reaches into the world could continue but not come close to describing the experience of it, nor the weight it has on our lives. We like the hebrews and Chance long for it to end. 

Jesus will is break every darkness with the light of his resurrection. 
He will disarm the darkness with the cross. 
Soon it will have no power. 
We pray that day comes quickly. 

Here is the question I am contemplating today: In what ways is Jesus' resurrection going to put an end to the darkness in the world? What would that look like in my life? 

Mediation: Psalm 2:1-3

We are starting to make a turn toward the final days of Jesus’ life. Read the meditation passage slowly and deliberately today asking God to prepare you heart for Holy Week. Lock in on a phrase or a word that seems to be sticking out to you. As you color today, ask God why is this phrase sticking out to you. Listen to what he is saying in response

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