A letter from me to you inspired by Paul’s letter to the Romans

Hi there to everyone reading this,

My name’s Helen and I’m a follower of Jesus. That’s pretty much all you need to know about me. I’m on a lifelong journey to work out what it looks like for me to serve God in my life and live this life to the full. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he lived and died and was raised to life again so that we all may know what it is to live in relationship with God, the way God always intended all human beings to live.

God’s love and grace and peace and life are for all of us.

I thank God for all of you, for all your lives of faith. It encourages me to hear about how God is at work in the lives of others. I’d love to be able to encourage you too and strengthen you in your faith. If this letter helps to do that in any way, then that would be wonderful.

May we all come to know more and more the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

Look around you. Lift your eyes to the sky. Do you feel that stirring within you, that awe and wonder at this incredible universe in which we live?

Look around and see God. In the creation of the world, God reveals his eternal power and divine nature. You may struggle to call this divine creative energy ‘God’. I get that. It doesn’t matter to me what you call it, just that you recognise it for what it is.  

So many people don’t get it. They look the other way, reject the notion of anything outside of themselves. They turn to worship man-made things and believe that retail therapy and popularity and fun can bring happiness and satisfaction. We can easily fall into that way of thinking too. It’s pretty seductive. We start to depend on things to calm us and make us happy. 

It all becomes a slippery slope. We lose track of what is right and natural and healthy and good for us, of what is life-giving and leads us towards the light. We give into excesses. We become slaves to what our bodies crave to make them feel good. 

And then, to make ourselves feel better about the state of our lives, we look at others and judge them. We feel we’re not as bad as them. 

What becomes of our compassion, our faithfulness, our love, our mercy?

Who am I to judge? Who are you to judge?

None of us have got this life of faith nailed. We’re all only human, after all. And those that think they’re more spiritual and enlightened and sorted than others prove that they’re not, just by thinking that way.

The good news is that God’s kindness is available to all of us. 

When we turn to Him and acknowledge Him for who He is, we find Him waiting there with arms open wide to welcome us into His best way for our lives.

Let’s be clear here. There is no us and them. None of us are any better than anyone else. We may feel that we are: that we were born in a Christian nation, in a Christian family maybe; that we’re part of a church tradition that believes it’s got it all ‘more right’ than all the others; that we do faith in a way that we believe is the right way and that others are in some way inferior…does anyone know what I’m talking about?

I’ve heard people describing some Christians as more spiritual than others. But they’re just looking at the outside. And people can have it all sorted on the outside and look so good to others and yet their heart is not right with God. They put all their efforts in looking like a good Christian that they forget it’s all about relationship with God.

It’s so easy to look at other people and judge them for the way they behave. ‘They can’t be a proper Christian if…’ We tell them what they should and shouldn’t do. We place restrictions on them. We don’t let them work out what their faith looks like for them in their life. We spend so much time and energy being concerned with how other people are living the Christian life that we neglect to develop our own relationship with God.

Here’s a bit of twisted thinking for you. If God loves to forgive and show mercy, then the more we do wrong, the more opportunity He has to show us His grace and love. Let’s never fall into the trap of thinking this way, of testing God’s patience, of taking His grace and mercy for granted.

All of us have messed up, that’s true enough. There is no us and them. We’ve all wanted to go our own way, rather than God’s way. I was brought up on this verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans – ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. My unworthiness was drummed into me from a very young age. The problem was that no one ever shared with me the second part of that sentence – ‘and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’. That’s the good news. We don’t have to do anything to earn God’s favour. We can’t. That’s the point. In Jesus, God changed everything. All we need to do is acknowledge that and live in the light of this truth.

That’s faith. Believing in God’s promises to us. Believing that the life and death and resurrection of Jesus changed everything. Believing that God has power to do what he’s promised – bring us into new life with Him, a forever life that starts right now.

Peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t ever fall into the trap of believing you’ve done something to deserve this. Far from it. There’s nothing any of us could have done to earn this position of peace with God. It’s all down to Jesus and what he did. Not us.

We simply have to believe and live in the light of this peace and grace and hope.

I’m sorry if you’re suffering right now. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I feel for you. I’ve had a really tough week. I’ve felt like I’m drowning in anxiety and despair. A couple of days ago, I felt like I couldn’t carry on. I lost sight of this grace and peace and hope.

With God’s grace and peace and hope, we can come through. Sometimes even come through stronger.

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through His spirit. He will keep pouring His love into our hearts as we open our hearts to receive this love.

And love wins.

There’s much in life that we cannot be sure of. So much we cannot control. We don’t know what is in store for us.

The only thing we can be 100% sure of, the only thing we can totally rely on, is God’s love for us. He’s always loved you. He will always love you. Nothing can change that.

The Christian faith can seem pretty complicated at times, but here’s a really simple way of looking at things.

Take the first man, Adam. He turned away from God to do things his own way. He didn’t want to play by God’s rules. He thought he knew better. And that led to a break in relationship with God, a break in the trust and obedience that we as human beings were created to live in. It ultimately led to death, separation from God.

And then came Jesus, who changed all that. He opened up a new way, a way back to God. People had been trying to get back in relationship with God by following God’s rules, the Law, but that was never enough. Only Jesus through his death and resurrection could reconcile us to God. God has an abundant provision of grace to pour out on us all. His grace is more than enough. 

That doesn’t mean that we should be deliberately doing more and more wrong things so that we can access more and more of God’s grace. That’s not how it works. It’s time to put the old life behind us and to choose life. That old life died when we chose to follow Jesus and the live in the power of his resurrection. Now we can live a new life, the life that God always intended for us to live. We are no longer slaves to our unhelpful desires and wrong choices. We can choose to commit ourselves instead to life in all its fullness, for it is in doing life God’s way that we will enter into fullness of life and love and light. 

When someone comes to know Jesus, everything changes. It’s like a light is switched on. You might have thought you were a decent enough person before that, but now you see that there is so much that is self-seeking and not in line with Jesus’ teaching at all. It’s one of those cases where the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know at all. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m so not the the person I want to be. I really want to be someone who lives for God in everything I say and do but it just doesn’t work like that. I have such good intentions. Even when I know the right thing to do, I so often don’t do it. I give into temptation. I choose the easy route. I run out of energy and motivation. 

Over-eating and materialism and selfishness and gossiping and impatience and envy are so seductive, so easy to slip into. Maybe there was a time when we didn’t even think these things were wrong. Everyone was doing it. It’s just natural, part of being human. But now we know that is not the way to live, enslaved to desires that we feel powerless to overcome. We know there is a better way. 

But it’s a daily struggle, isn’t it? I have an expression I use sometimes -‘that’s never going to happen this side of heaven’. That’s true of me getting through a whole day living exactly as God intended me to live. The good news is that I’m heading in the right direction and I’m heading for that day when I will be made whole, I will live with God and for God and in God every minute of every day forever more. 

And so will you.

Let’s talk about the Spirit of God that is at work in the lives of all believers. The Spirit of God cannot be seen, cannot be drawn, cannot be described in words, any more than our own spirit/soul can be. All that is spiritual is beyond words. What can be described is the difference the Spirit of God at work in us makes. It’s like the wind. You can’t see the wind but you can see what it does.

God’s Spirit sets us free. In our own strength, we will never be able to break free from the things that bind us, but when we draw on the strength of a higher power, then we can enter into this freedom.

God’s Spirit transforms the way we think. The things that mattered to us before lose their significance as we seek God’s way for our lives. We walk in the path of life and peace, life in all its fullness.

God’s Spirit fills us with resurrection power. There is always hope, always the potential to bring new life to any situation. 

God’s Spirit connects us to God. We are adopted into His forever family. We are His sons and daughters. 

God’s Spirit helps us in our weakness. The Spirit expresses the groans of our spirit when the words run out.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Let those words sink in for a minute.

God is for us. God has our backs. This is the God of the whole universe we’re talking about.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Hear that? Nothing and no one.

Let these truths encourage you today and give you the courage to get through whatever you are facing.

Today and always.

I wish people around me – the people in my world who are special to me – could see and understand the transforming power of Jesus in their lives. I’ve never understood how some people seem to be genuinely searching for God and yet God doesn’t seem to reveal himself to them. I’ve never got that. God doesn’t make it easy for people to follow Him. Does God actually choose to reveal Himself to some people and not others? Is that how it works? Not that I have any right to question God and the way that He does things. I don’t understand, but how could I ever understand the ways of the one true God, the Creator of the whole universe?

We are all objects of God’s mercy. If He has chosen to reveal His love to us, it’s not because any of us has done anything to deserve that love and grace and mercy. We can so easily get caught up in believing that we have somehow deserved this, that we are special in some way because God chose us. People try so hard to reach God through their own efforts, by jumping through hoops and doing good works. It doesn’t work that way. We cannot earn this relationship with God. None of us can. Grace can only be grace if it is not based on any good works.

In some ways, it’s gloriously simple. We just have to believe in our hearts that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and speak that faith with our mouths. Of course, in reality, that faith in that which we cannot see and touch is far from simple. God promises to be there for all who call on Him. We don’t understand the how and when and where and what of that promise, but we have to believe in the reality of it, because God is faithful and will not ever let us down.

It makes no sense how some people turn to God and others do not. Two people can hear the same things, experience the same things, be brought up in the same family and yet respond completely differently. 

We live in a Christian nation. But don’t for a moment think that that counts for anything in God’s eyes. There are plenty of people all over the world living out their faith in a much more authentic way then we do in this country. When God looks at each one of us, he doesn’t see the passport or skin colour or Sunday School certificates or Christening photos. He sees the heart. With God, it’s a level playing field. Nothing about when and where we are born gives us an advantage or head start in our relationship with God. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s about a dramatic conversion or a great testimony or an act of healing either. None of us are superior to anyone else when it comes to God. The sooner we realise this, the better. 

None of us can ever know the mind of God. None of us can tell Him what to do. None of us should ever believe that we know better than God.

We have to find a way to trust that God knows what He’s doing. He is God and God is love and love wins. That’s all we need to know.

Let’s talk about worship. Worship isn’t a great band, stirring songs, dynamic Bible readings and innovative ways of approaching prayer. Not just that, anyway. Worship is a daily sacrifice. We’re giving ourselves to God – all that we have, all that we are – in response to the freedom He has given us to live life to the full in the way that He intended. There’s a cost to sacrifice. It’s not comfortable. We don’t know what God will ask of us this day or any day when we put all that we have and are at His disposal.

God doesn’t just want our minds and hearts. He wants our bodies too. He wants us to take good care of our bodies – that’s our responsibility – so that we can use our bodies to put love into action in our world. 

We all need to be careful not to slip back into doing things the way the world does them, thinking as the world thinks, desiring what the world desires. We have been changed. We are following a new way. This world is skilled at influencing our thinking. Just look at the power of advertising. Let’s not do life like everyone else is doing life. Let’s model a better way.

One of the things that the world pushes our way is constant comparison with others. We look at others and either feel rubbish about ourselves or better about ourselves. We make a value judgement. That’s not what life’s about. We are all equal. Different but equal. We all have different gifts and none of those gifts should be viewed as better than anyone else’s. We’re all here to work together as one body with many different parts. 

It all comes down to love in action. I’m coming to see that this is the very reason for our existence – to demonstrate the love of God in relationship with others. I could go into detail about what that looks like, but the list of ways to love goes on and on and on and on. You know what to do. Serve others with an open heart. Be generous and kind and forgiving. To everyone. Regardless of their standing in society. Regardless of what they have done to you.

Make everything all about love.

All this talk of God’s love and grace and mercy is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But if it does not affect how we actually live our lives, then what difference has it really made?

How we should relate to those in positions of power in our land and in the world as a whole is a hot topic right now. People are using Bible passages to back and show allegiance to leaders who are bringing in policies that are clearly not in line with Jesus’ teaching. At the other extreme, people are using Jesus’ teaching to condemn and mock and undermine the leaders in government. Politics seems to bring out the worst in people. We seem to think it’s OK to speak in a derogatory way about politicians because of their policies. There’s a whole lot of very personal character assassination going on.

We can’t understand why God has allowed some of the world governments and leaders to be elected and established. And yet we are called to trust that God knows what He is doing. We are called to obey the law of the land. Do the right thing. Pay taxes. Play by the rules. Be above reproach.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we stand by and watch people be exploited and discriminated against. The greatest law of the whole universe is love. It is right to give a voice to protest, to bring about change for the better, to do what we can to stand with the oppressed and marginalised. But there is a way to do this and that way has to be rooted in and motivated by the love of God. Love leads to respect and to right living.

Live in the light. Don’t imagine that anything you do can stay hidden for long. Live a life that when scrutinised will be seen as good and right before God. That’s what we’re called to do.

Let’s work out how to live in the way, the truth and the life today and everyday.

You and I probably don’t agree on everything. I get that. We are each unique individuals with an individual perspective and therefore the way we express our faith will be individual too. 

I’m not here to tell you what to eat and what to wear and when to get up and how to live in relationship with God. You do your faith your way and I’ll do my faith my way. Let’s not judge each other.

That doesn’t mean that we have the freedom to do whatever we want. If you were to see me doing something harmful to myself or others, I’d want you to tell me. And I would tell you if I saw you acting in a way that was clearly not in line with Jesus’ teaching. We need to be accountable to each other. We’re each ultimately accountable to God, of course, but sometimes we also need a nudge in love from a friend to open our eyes to the bad choices we’re making.

But there’s lots of other stuff that I feel strongly about that I will not impose on you. These things are outworkings of my faith and matter to me, but I get that you have other stuff that you care passionately about. The important thing is that we learn to live in peace with each other, not picking arguments over every little thing. Let’s find what unites us, not what separates us. Let’s show love to one another by respecting each other’s ways of expressing faith even if we don’t really get it. ‘Let’s make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.’ That means what builds us up and encourages us to move forward in our faith.

Let’s accept each other. That’s the key.

Let’s celebrate our differences.

May we all experience God’s love and joy and peace as we each do our faith our way.

I hope you don’t feel I’ve been preaching at you in this letter. You’re good people, I know that. You’re all working out for yourselves what it means to live out your faith in your context. I think you’re all great!

It doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the basics of our faith from time to time though, does it? God’s given me this task of reading His word and writing about it and I intend to see it through. I have a passion for communicating about this new life in Jesus to those who haven’t heard about it in a language that makes sense. I look around and think that it is often not Jesus himself that people are rejecting but the way he is communicated to them.

It would be great if we all managed to get together one day to discuss our faith face to face, wouldn’t it? But I can’t see that happening. But then, who knows what’s around the corner for any of us? Just know that I would love to meet you sometime. 

Pray for me if you get a chance. Life’s a struggle a lot of the time. I’ll pray for peace for all of you too.

Let’s all remember and give thanks to God for those we know who are serving Him in so many different ways. Each one has so much to teach us about faith in practice, love in action. We are all family.

Whatever you’re going through right now, just remember: Love wins. Love always wins.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

The grace of the Lord be with you.

The love of the Lord be with you.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!