In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." -Isaiah 6:1–5 NIV

Imagine what it would be like to see heaven -- especially if you didn't have to die first to do so. That's what happened to the prophet Isaiah, who wrote about what he saw in the passage above. Although he didn't have to die to see heaven, he quickly felt like he would anyway. In the presence of God, Isaiah falls on his face and says "Woe is me, I am ruined," (I am a dead man).

We don't talk much about the holiness of God. I think we don't know how to wrap our minds around it. When we do hear the word, we often attach to it meaning that it doesn't or shouldn't have. The word can bring to mind almost an arrogant moralism to our minds. On some level, the word means "other." God is somehow "other" than us -- alien, set apart, even on some level incompatible with humans in a post-Garden of Eden world. At the same time, we as people were made in God's image and likeness -- even after sin entered the world (sin didn't change the fact that we are image bearers of God). Admittedly deep stuff; the stuff of theologians and philosophers. But, it is also something that the rest of us benefit from considering. Read the words of Isaiah again. Now think about the fact that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can come before this same God with the salutation, Daddy. That reality blows my mind. God is perfectly holy, yet when we put our hope in Jesus, we are holy too. Part of our role as followers of Jesus, then, is to live into who we already are.

-- What comes to mind when you think about the holiness of God?
-- How does it make you feel to know that God sees you as holy?
-- What does it look like for you to live out that reality Monday through Saturday (as well as Sunday)?
-- What do you think God's idea of us being "set apart" looks like?

Seasons

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior - Habakkuk 3:17-18

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten -Joel 2:25

Hi Everybody

I love the changing of the seasons. I love when the leaves turn colors in fall. I'm intrigued by the changes in temperature -- even putting water out overnight so I could see it frozen in the morning. These are new things to a Southern California kid. This winter I was rooting for snow (sorry), but it never came through. Now it is spring and the leaves are beginning to return to the trees. I love the changing of the seasons.

God makes the seasons and in them we can see the rhythms of life that He intends for us. God desires for us to move toward Him and then out toward the world, toward Him and into community, in community and outward and then back toward God and with God. It is an amazing and mysterious rhythm of wholeness. Our connectedness to God can mirror the seasons that God has given us; the restoration of spring, the fullness of summer, the fruit of fall -- even the coldness and darkness of winter. The winter of the soul, the dark night of the soul is a real thing; a time when though we know that God is there, we cannot feel Him. God allows seasons like these in our lives, and through them draws us to Him in new and fuller ways. When you have experienced the winter of the soul, and come out realizing that God was there even when you could not feel Him, there develops in you a richer and deeper faith than would have been possible without the season of darkness. And yet it is hard. It is one of the reasons why we need community. it is one of the reasons that God calls for us to carry each other's burdens. God is with us, and we need to be with each other during the dark night of the soul.

Have you been in such a season? Are you there now? God makes a promise to you. He says, "I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten." Do you believe that this is true?

Next Step - March 7th

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 5:22–6:2 NIV

Everybody has struggles. At one time or another, each of us has something that weighs on us. We all have burdens. I'm pretty convinced that God does not mean for us to carry these things alone. In fact, I'm certain about that. God tells us through His word that each of us must carry the burdens of the others around us. In so doing, the verse above says, we "fulfill the law of Christ, " both showing the love of God to others and experience the love of God fulfilled in and through us.

Early on in the story of creation, God says that people were not meant to be alone. That has not changed. Yet, in a world where individuality is so treasured, we find it hard to share our burdens with others; we don't want to bother them with our problems. We find it hard to ask people what burdens they are facing; we don't want to pry or make them feel uncomfortable. But God knows -- and if it comes right down to it so do you and I -- that this extreme individualism is not the way that we were meant to live. We were not meant to be alone.

As a community of Jesus followers, we at Creekside are all in this together. This is a journey that we are all on – to connect the realities of Jesus with realities of everyday life -- including, maybe even most importantly, our burdens. Admittedly, it is a hard thing to do, especially if you are like me and it does not come easy. But, it is a better way, and it is a better life, as we step into this together.

What is your burden, what is your weight? Does anybody here know it? If not, why not? Carrying each other's burdens is an integral part of living in the rhythm of the God, of realizing the love of Him, experienced outward and from other people. But, how do we live this out if others don’t know? How can I know what your burdens are if I don’t ask? How can I know what your burdens are if you don't tell me? The answer is simple, I can't -- and we can't.

Don't let "How are you doing," become just a greeting. Let it be a question. Ask, and then wait. Share and ask. Risk. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.