When I walk through the “gate” of salvation, I am thrilled with the revelation that my sins are forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am now reconciled to (at peace with) God my Creator. Not only that, I am His child, born into His family (John 1:12).
But it doesn’t take long before an important question/problem comes up: how do I live the Christian life?
Read MoreDear Book Club friends, This week we will be reading and studying chapter 7 (The Swing). Toward the end of the week, I will post a summary of section 1: Union with Christ. What a glorious mystery is this mystical union of Christ with us His loved ones! Thank you for following along in amazement with us!
Read MoreThe first time I heard this song, I began to sob. It took me back to the darkest point in my performance-addicted, self-effort driven Christian life. When I finally had realized Christ in me, the hope of the glory of God being manifest in my human life...it was light into darkness...like being born again, again! I can't go back.
Read MoreChapter 6 One Spirit
Key verse:
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV
Key Question:
How do we live in union?
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 ESV
Key Question:
Who lives the life?
...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8 NKJV
How could we have died in Christ 2000+ years ago? Because that death happened in the eternal realm...before time began.
Does that blow your mind? It does mine. Aren't we glad that we have a God bigger than our finite minds can grasp?
Read MoreChapter 4 Doublecross {what you died to}
Key verse: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God... 2Cor 5:17-18a NKJV
Key question: What did I die to?
Read MoreChapter 3 Doublecross {you died in Christ}Key Verse: For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 NIV
Key Question: When & where did I die?
Read MoreFor years this hymn has been my go to song…from the time I was “in the convent” back in the late 1960’s to this very day no matter my Christian context. And recently it has been my morning song as I awaken the dawn walking in my area — even as the darkness is departing and my neighborhood owl is singing out the final hoo-hoo of his “day.”
And so I sing…even aloud…despite the high school young people passing me by on their way to the bus stop, wondering about this weird, white haired woman softly singing. I love the focus. I love the plaintive melody. I love my indwelling God who draws me toward thoughts of HIM Alone. And I love the story behind the song…
Read MoreUnfathomable oceans of grace are in Christ for you. Dive and dive again. You will never come to the bottom of these depths. (author unknown)
Those of you who have followed my blog may have caught on how obsessed I am with the ocean and the beach.
Read MoreBrothers and sisters, do you realize that we live in two realms simultaneously? Right now?
We live in both the temporal realm, and also in the eternal realm right here, right now.
And what is true about you in the fixed eternal realm affects you right now in the fluctuating temporal realm. How? Read along with us…
Read MoreWelcome to our Fall book club here at A Branch in the Vine! Thank you for joining us in the study of The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel has Worn You Out, by Dan Stone and David Gregory.
My prayer is that we will all come to experience to a greater depth the truth of the key verse of our study: Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)...that is, our only hope that the glory of God will be manifest in our lives right now on this earth...not just when we get to heaven!
Read MoreAre you tired of working hard doing the Christian life — the "to do/don't do" lists (which vary depending on the group you are with)? Are you ready to give up trying in your own strength to get the "abundant life" Jesus promised? John 10:10
Great! Then you are ready to read along with us the potentially life-changing truths contained in...
The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out,
by Dan Stone and David Gregory.
... On the last day of our time at the Jersey Shore, the inlet was calling to me. I thought back to the years when my mom and I would grab our beach chairs, drive down to the inlet, place ourselves along the rocks lining the waterway and wait for the horn to blow. The unique sound of the horn signals the opening of the bridge for the party fishing boats, making their way from the harbor to the sea.
Read MoreThe heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
Psalm 16:1-4a NLT
Another summer of sunrises at the Jersey Shore. Year by year, they do their speaking … always of the Glory of our Creator God … always of the gift of a new day …
Read MoreSunrises are always serendipities -- not that we don't expect them and not that they don't always come, but we never know what we will get. Each one is different, and each one is a gift from the hand of our Creator! Maybe the gift part is more true than we realize, because each sunrise signals a new day. And really, none of us is promised that day ahead of time...pure grace when it comes!
Read MoreI was walking one morning on the beach at sunrise, taking in the glory of the vastness of the Ocean (my favorite metaphor for God) and the littleness of me.
All of a sudden, I stopped dead in my tracks…Wait! I had just walked this way a few minutes ago.
Read MoreFor several years before my mom went home to Jesus, I spent lots of precious time with her on the coast in New Jersey. One of the highlights had always been my early morning walks along the beach at sunrise.
I’m returning to this blog that I wrote after a sweet summer with my mom at my sister's house in Belmar.
Maybe you too need some peaceful reflection today. Why not join me as I "go down the shore" and enjoy the glory of our great Creator in pictures (my own), Scriptures and song.
Blessings, my friend.
Read MoreFrom my very first year of blogging and many years since, I’ve been blogging my journeys to my “happy place”…the Jersey Shore.
A portion of this blogpost is a trip into yesteryear —one of my early Jersey shore blogs, Aug 2016.
And actually in a couple days, we will again be on our way to that favorite place on earth for me. It’s not just the ocean that calls me. It’s my roots — the precious loved ones (family and friends) and memories of my growing up years. So off we go for another adventure…
Read MoreJanet Renner Loyd has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ most of her life. Her formal education includes a degree in education from the University of Arizona and also a degree in Bible & Theology from Moody Bible Institute. For more than thirty years, she has been involved in teaching and leading women’s Bible studies, retreats, and meetings…most notably Precept upon Precept and various studies that she has personally developed. Professionally, Jan recently retired from teaching language and writing to GED and adult ESOL students.
About her life, Jan says, “The most important thing about me is my relationship with my Father God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to Him for His love, mercy, and grace to me and my family and friends...and the world.”
Jan has been happily married to John Loyd for more than forty years. They have two adult, married children and five lively young grandsons.
