{"id":24881,"date":"2025-03-11T09:01:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24881"},"modified":"2025-03-11T09:21:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:21:59","slug":"24881","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24881","title":{"rendered":"Eternally Present Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"It Is Well - Bethel Music (lyric video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j4taAN4QtbI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Theologian Serene Jones offers a compelling description of God\u2019s ever-present and transformative grace:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Divine love is the source of the universe and of the dinosaurs, the planets, the elements, and the air, the force that sparked us into existence and baffles us all while we exist, the current of love and joy and beauty that runs through the human experience.\u2026 All life flows into being out of one source, Divine Love, and it is forever deeply related and responsive to that love<\/strong>. That love defines, holds, and promises to be present to the lives that God calls into being. That eternally present love is, most simply stated, my definition of&nbsp;<em>grace<\/em>.\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>God does not stay at a distance from us but constantly seeks to transform our lives by asking us to awaken to the divine presence.<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;God is a mysterious, creative, sustaining life force.\u2026 God is there all the time. <strong>The challenge for us is to open our eyes, ears, hands, minds, and hearts to receive the truth of God\u2019s real,&nbsp;<em>persistent presence<\/em>, God\u2019s grace. When we open ourselves to it, we are changed by it. <\/strong>The way we perceive the world shifts, like a radically refocused camera lens, and we experience life differently. You see everything around you as suffused with God\u2019s love. You <strong>see God\u2019s grace everywhere, saturating all existence. This process of awakening to what is already true, but you haven\u2019t previously seen it, is called&nbsp;<em>conversion<\/em>\u2014a word that literally means \u201cto see anew.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Jones highlights the paradox of awakening to God\u2019s grace alongside the realities of sin and evil<\/em>:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sin simply refers to all aspects of life where the reality of grace is not manifest and evil flourishes. It\u2019s what happens when we\u2019ve got the wrong story about reality in our heads. <\/strong>If we do not recognize grace, we latch onto lies about who we are. These lies are manifest in an endless variety of godless dispositions: hatred, violence, greed, injustice, pride, despair, isolation, self-loathing, unbridled arrogance, a hardened heart, a cold soul. <strong>When these lies are aggregated over time, they get compressed into social systems and cultural patterns that look to us as if they are true, when in truth they are not. They are evil and profoundly destructive. This is what it means to be&nbsp;<em>godless<\/em>\u2014to not be awakened to the light of God\u2019s love. It describes grace-asleep people as well as whole grace-asleep societies.\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This constant tension between sin and grace in our lived experience doesn\u2019t mean, however, that they are equal partners in determining our destiny. <strong>Because grace is of God, it ultimately wins. We are forgiven by God, whatever horrors we commit or are done to us, however unmeritorious our deeds and broken our lives, because that\u2019s who God is.<\/strong> Grace is free; we don\u2019t earn it nor are we required to deserve it. That\u2019s what makes grace&nbsp;<em>grace.<\/em>&nbsp;It comes unbidden to us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong> A blog By Terri Sullivant at Life Model Works, the repository of thinking at the intersection of Scripture, NeuroScience and Therapy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have always loved these verses in Psalm 107 (NIV):&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>31 Let them give thanks to the\u202fLord\u202ffor His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On our way to Kansas City in 1987, the Lord highlighted these verses from Psalm 107 to me. The whole Psalm is about God coming to rescue and provide what people need in tumultuous times. There truly is nothing new under the sun. We live in an imperfect world with lots of challenges. <strong>There will be many storms that we will walk through in our lifetimes, including those within our church communities.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God is with us during every storm, and He wants us to cry out for His help. When we do, He will come to our rescue. In Psalm 107 He promises to hush and calm the waves and winds, and to guide us to our \u201cdesired haven\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The word \u201chaven\u201d means harbor or port; place of safety or refuge; a place offering favorable opportunities or conditions.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have personally experienced this over and over again throughout my lifetime. I\u2019ve discovered that we can inhabit this \u201chaven\u201d He provides for us \u2013 it becomes our own oasis of peace where we can abide and live at peace with our families and friends in our communities. The storms will come, but we will be able to return to joy and peace from all the emotions they create. It is a shelter in every storm.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do we need to do to \u201cget there\u201d?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li>Cry out to the Lord.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThen they cried out to the\u202fLord\u202fin their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.\u201d&nbsp; Psalm 107:28&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Practice gratitude and golden memories. Connect with Immanuel in them.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engage with Immanuel amid your emotions. Allow Him to calm the waves.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anchor the new story of returning to peace and joy from those emotions.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Share with your family and friends and help them follow these same rhythms.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enjoy each other and live together in the oasis of shared peace and joy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cLet them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind\u201d Psalm 107:31&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael and I have been following Jesus and serving in leadership in churches since we began our journey with Jesus. We have experienced many storms in our 48 years of ministry. Wherever you live and work, you will encounter those storms \u2013 church included. Because we have higher expectations of what we will experience in Christian communities, the disappointment can be greater. There are mentalities and patterns of relating in religious groups of people that can be mind-bending. <strong>Don\u2019t let that make you \u201cquit\u201d church altogether! That is the enemy\u2019s plan, not God\u2019s.<\/strong> We may need to change communities if the one we are in is too unhealthy to remain in, but do find another, healthier one. <strong>Because there are no perfect people, there will be no perfect communities.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid imperfect communities, we can create a haven of peace with others who are like-minded and doing the practices we have learned in the Life Model. <strong>These healthy rhythms build stronger and stronger attachment with the Lord and one another. <\/strong>This is where we can abide in our haven of peace, our refuge from every storm.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were able to do this with our family in our years of ministry. We also<strong> were able to find a \u201ccommunity within our community\u201d to live with in peace and joy<\/strong>. I\u2019m so grateful for this! The Lord did provide for us our \u201cdesired haven\u201d just as He promised.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immanuel truly can and will calm your storms and guide YOU to YOUR desired haven, it\u2019s His promise to YOU.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theologian Serene Jones offers a compelling description of God\u2019s ever-present and transformative grace:&nbsp; Divine love is the source of the universe and of the dinosaurs, the planets, the elements, and the air, the force that sparked us into existence and baffles us all while we exist, the current of love and joy and beauty that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24881"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24881"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24886,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24881\/revisions\/24886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}