truth – Sarah Guldalian

In God’s Will

What is God’s will for your life? “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

I don’t plan to be miserable. I won’t allow it, in fact. I have been labeled gullible, under-researched or uneducated by the hope I carry. I am aware, researched and educated. (I’ve been doing this media and politics thing professionally for years.) I simply will not allow this world to rob my joy, my hope, or my gratitude. I will not throw my pearls to the swine. The trash situations of this world will not steal the peace Jesus fought for me to have.

I will seek joy. I will seek the Lord in prayer – more than any person or source. I will continue to thank Him, filled with wonder and gratitude for what He has done in my life. This culture will not keep me from giving God the praise He deserves. Joy, prayer, gratitude, hope, wonder, love – always.

I am kept safe in my Father’s arms even as the world quakes, shakes and shutters. My inexplicable hope, peace and confidence comes from Him. I am in Him. I am marked as His. I never did nor do I now belong to the world.

Therefore, we will enjoy Christmas as before… Our children are only this age once. I am only 40 once. This is life. This is my life that God gave me, and I intend on living it as a form of worship to the creator for giving it to me. Live. Joy and peace are available to us in His presence.

A Willing Sacrifice

“I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17b-18).

For 10 years, I traveled very regularly, primarily to New York City and Chicago. One of my habits was sharing about Jesus’ love with my cab drivers. This made for some interesting conversations. Many of them were encouraging.

I encountered several who thought, or tried to convince me, that their religion and mine had the same God. They would say they even believed in Jesus. It sounded deceivingly similar. Yet, near the end of the conversation, they would work to plant a seed – a very dangerous seed that, if believed, could uproot the truth of who God is, and who Jesus is, in a person… They would say that Jesus only died because God the Father made Him, but that He didn’t want to die. One man told me directly, using scriptures out of context, that Jesus didn’t love me, that He only did what His Father made Him do.

In case you have heard this and have questioned this, or you have experienced this same objection or doubt, I want to share this crucial verse from Jesus Himself: “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17b-18).

Jesus laid down His life for you, for us, out of His own willingness, out of LOVE. He chose to do this for us for our healing, our forgiveness, and to make us right with God so we could spend forever together… “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

It is SO crucial to our peace here on earth, and to our eternity after, that we recognize the truth and depths of Jesus’ love for us. It is also crucial that we are aware that the devil will use scripture out of context to uproot our fundamental beliefs and threaten our eternity. And it is crucial we stay in the Word of God to combat that with the truth of God’s Word! Or, if you are not a Christian, talk with a Christian friend about any of these things (like me)!

Here’s the truth: God loves you! Jesus loves you! Jesus died for you from His love. And there are not multiple ways to the Father, to Heaven. There is only one way to the Father, to Heaven, and that is through your faith in Jesus Christ as LORD – not as a prophet, teacher, or good person – as Lord. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Jesus loves us so, so much, you guys. He dotes on you – no matter where you are or where you have been. He wants to spend eternity with you. After all, He created you out of His love and desire to spend time with you – together, in fact! He has changed my life, and I cannot keep quiet about what He can do. He is so, so good!

I want to encourage you that Jesus’ love for you is real. He willingly laid His life down for you because He wants to spend eternity with you. I encourage you to ask Him about His love for you today. Praying is just a conversation with God, and the Bible tells us that He is attentive to our cry: “This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). He is near, and He wants to save you from any trouble because of His vast and infinite love for you!

I know I cannot live a day without Him, yet His love is more than enough for every need in my life! I pray the truth of His love permeates your heart and mind today, in Jesus’ name.

Before the World Was Plastic

Once upon a time, there was no Facebook or Twitter.
Blogs were called news, offered by professionals, and the professionals were still professional, sharing facts and balance, weighing each angle, scouring for truth for truth’s sake.

Once upon a time, people took the time to know one another, to look beyond a persona, beyond the brand, beyond what they could get out of the other.

Once upon a time, knowing a person meant more than perusing their page. It meant observing their words, expressions, gestures, and the level of their warmth, knowing they were offered just for you in that moment. It was face to face and voice to voice. And so,
in those days, we actually did know someone. Rather than being artificially intelligent, feigning knowledge, we took the time, respect, and care to learn.

In those times, it was normal to be in a room with another person having a face-to-face, audible conversation. The exchange of feelings and ideas was captured in real time without a camera for playback or for the world to see. It was just for you. People thought more of others’ feelings and more of God’s view than the perception of their brand. They feared God more than public opinion. No meant no and yes meant yes. People said what they meant and stood by what they said.

Once upon a time, truth was what actually happened, not just what you could prove by the evidence that surfaced, or opinions repurposed through varying lenses lilted for one’s benefit. In those times, people apologized face to face, not through lawyers or news outlets. And when we communicated, it was for the benefit of the reader or listener, considering their feelings rather than
just the gratification of purging our own.

But that was once upon a time – wasn’t it? – before the world became plastic and manufactured. When that time was, I do not know, yet it is worth investigating how to find it again… for there is beauty in relationship, purity in truth and welfare in empathy.

And though the world has become eroded by man, and reconstructed by artificial parts and fictitious truth, each of us is real – flesh and bone, knit together by its original creator. We are authentic beings, made in the image of a loving, living, creative God, who is love … who is truth. Inside, we have a heart, fashioned like His, made by Him, but we need help finding our way back.

Thankfully, He is here – Immanuel, God with us. Today He says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

God, Help us. Help me. I don’t want to be plastic or stone, artificial or fictitious. I want to be as you created me to be – full of love and truth, full of your Spirit. Help me to be as you have designed me to be, not as this plastic world has worked to fashion. I recommit myself to you today, the creator and king of the world.