04-30-08

I must confess that I am genuinely shocked, flattered, pleased and motivated by the number of you who have told me you are reading and enjoying this blog. The majority of you don't post your comments, which is fine, but e-mail or tell me in person. Thank you. It's very gratifying. I was born to write so I would write even if no one else read the blog or anything else I peck out, but it is certainly affirming to realize you are. So thank you again.
I guess I'm going to have to tell Tara and Kristen they were right. If you recall, they were the ones who helped me set it all up and have encouraged me to continue writing and posting. I was telling one of you in an e-mail today that when I went to Thailand it seemed important to write. I felt like I was reporting. That I was taking all of you on a virtual journey with me. But to just sit and peck out my thoughts and comment on what God is doing in my life didn't seem like it would have the same impact or appeal. You have no idea how blessed I am to know God is using the gift He has given me to communicate with all of you whom I love! My hope is that we will inspire each other into a deeper walk with our gracious Savior.
If there are specific things you would like to ask about--personal or otherwise--let me know and I will try and address them. It would certainly help direct my ramblings. Sometimes I have a thought I want to share and other times, like now, I just type and wait to see what shows up on the computer screen!
The two Bible studies I was involved in have just ended. In CBS (Community Bible Study) we systematically studied the Gospel of Matthew for 32 weeks. It was fabulous. It's incredibly beneficial to study God's word with others because people always have delicious insights that never occurred to you and the energy and excitement seem to build during the discussion of God's marvelous truth.
My friend Ana, from our church, initiated Beth Moore's 12-week study of the book of Daniel. I was never a huge fan of Beth. There is something about her that used to irritate me a bit. But truthfully, there's probably some professional jealousy involved because I would much rather be doing what she's doing than watching her do it, but she's growing on me and this particular study was fabulous. If you have a chance to participate, I'd highly recommend it.
Studying two such seemingly different books as an Old Testament book with confusing time line issues and a Gospel made me realize once again the incredible layering and continuity of Scripture. It was like a puzzle gradually taking shape as it was worked from both sides and each piece was put precisely in place.
I know you already know this, but our God is AWESOME! Staggering. Mind-boggling. Brilliant. Incomprehensible. Yet He loves us with an indescribable, almost unfathomable love and He cares about the smallest details of our puny lives. I understand David's flabbergasted question in Psalm 8:4 when he asks, "What is man, that Thou didst take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou didst care for him?" Indeed. Indeed.
Probably my all time favorite Scripture--and this is a hard and subjective call--is found in Isaiah 40:18-26. I won't type it all out here. Read if for yourself. But I will write out the last two verses of that passage.
"'To whom then will you liken Me that I should be his equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who had created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing."
When I was with Youth With A Mission way back when, the first missionary trip I went on was to La Paz, Mexico, on the tip of the Baja Peninsula. We we slept in tents and at night the only light in the pitch black campground was whatever your dim flashlight could produce. Trust me when I say the sky was black. I mean as black as the velvet on a sidewalk Elvis painting. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
I used to take my flashlight and walk out past the campground to a large concrete slab whose purpose was never clear. I would lay on my back and look into the vastness of space and see more stars than I've ever seen before or since. They filled the sky! I saw countless pin pricks of blue-white light that were farther away than I could conceive. I saw the wispy white spiral of the Milky Way. It was always so incredibly awe inspiring I'd burst into spontaneous worship. The tears tickled as they ran down into my ears but I couldn't stop worshipping the Lord. There have only been a few times when I have felt His presence as closely as I did in those moments. It was like I was touching Him.
The first night I lay on that slab, I ran back to the campground, my heart bursting within me. I asked the Lord to speak to me. Oh, how I wanted this God I had just felt so intimate with to talk to me!
I grabbed my Bible and ran to the only building in the campsite that had electric light. I prayed again and opened my Bible right to the passage above. I'd never read it before. There is no way on earth to describe the electric bolt that shot through me at that instant. God talked right to little bitty me!--specifically and pointedly--and let me know that He was so big and vast and mighty and incomprehensible that He had named every single one of those stars I had just been marvelling over. Incredible. And all I could see was one tiny sliver of the vastness of space. There are galaxies upon galaxies. I personally think the stars outnumber the sands on the sea shores.
Think of it. There are more stars than we can fathom and God tells us TWICE in Scripture that He names them all. Psalm 147:4 says, "He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to them all." Wow. If He is capable of that, could anything be too hard for Him?
Could my sin? No, He's made provision for it to be forgiven and remembered no more. He remembers the names of the stars, but not my sin. Incredible!
Can a stronghold? No, He tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4 "The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful of the tearing down of strongholds." Astonishing!
How about unbelief? No, like the demon possessed boy's father in Mark 9:24, all we have to do is say, "I do believe; help me in my unbelief." Reassuring!
Provision of practical needs? Well, He calls Himself Jehovah Jirah, our Provider, and declares that He clothes the fields and feeds the sparrows. And surely, He does. He also reminds us we are infiniately more important than any other created thing. Comforting!
So what then? What is too hard for our God? We all know the answer. I guess the better question is: "What have I been pretending is too hard for Him?" Whatever it is, it's a lie.
I'm not sure how to end this except to say we all need to understand Who it is we serve. The great and mighty God of heaven and Creator of everything seen and unseen.
I know exactly what I need to take and lay at His feet. What about you?

04-27-08

There is a woman in my Bible study (well, it's not mine, but I attend) by the name of Ronda Roush. She wears the coolest, most unique clothes. She has a style all her own I can only describe as "elegantly funky." I always threaten to make her take me shopping with her but she swears she orders most of it on-line. I don't believe her because everything fits perfectly and looks great, but I'm sure the look she pulls off would not look the same on my puffy self so I have politely refused to press the issue.
The point is, she's an artist and you can tell by the way she dresses. If I had a sense of style, it would be close to hers. She plays the piano beautifully but what she's known for, what she does better than most of us can imagine doing anything, is paint Limoges boxes.
If you are like I was a few short pitiful years ago and have no idea what a Limoges (Silent "s") box is, let me try and explain. They are these delicate, detailed, delightful, fun, porcelain boxes that come in all shapes, sizes and configurations from roosters to the Eiffel tower to you name it. They each have detailed clasps that reflect the shape of the box. For example, the banana Limoges has a teeny tiny monkey for a clasp; the flower basket, a bug, etc.. Take it from there, but let me assure you, this brief and inadequate description does not do justice.
They are made from the clay found in Limoges, France and are thus marked on the bottom. Anything else is a knock-off. Remember this, because it is important to our story.
The first time I saw one at a friend's house, it was love at first sight. There is something about them that makes my heart smile. I love collections and I love beautiful things. I always have. It's the way God hard wired me so I can't apologize for it.
But these little buggers are expensive. At least when measured by the, "Free is right in the middle of our price range," standard of the Zoller household. So it had all the markings of a love affair that would never be consummated.
The year Jordan died, Ronda's daughter Hayley was in my Bible study small group and one day she brought me this beautifully wrapped package and waited expectantly while I opened it. Inside, gently nestled in white tissue, was an exquisite Limoges box Ronda had painted and inside the lid, was a delicate inscription that read, "In loving memory of Jordan." I can't tell you what this incredible gesture meant to me. I felt like Jesus must have felt when Mary poured out the jar of costly spikenard and anointed His feet. It is one of my most precious possessions. It also gave birth to a pitifully small collection.
Okay, wipe your tears. A month ago, when Jacob and Jessie were in town, we all four went to the flea market at the fair grounds. I saw a Limoges box that was shaped like a straw hat and had a ring of bows and flowers painted around it. It wasn't like my others, that actually have some sort of significance behind them, but I liked it, the price was right, so I bought it. Then I performed CPR on Jay.
I noticed that the bottom said, "Limoges China" and I asked the woman about it even though it has a fleur de lys and the "L" word. She told me she had bought it from an estate sale woman who specializes in antiques, assured me it was an antique AND genuine and explained they often had different markings.
I breathlessly told Ronda about it and she asked me to describe it. When I did, she told me she thought it was a fake, but to let her see it the next week at Bible study. I had not even gotten it fully unwrapped when she declared it to be a genuine fake. I was sick. She told me the "China" on the bottom marked it as a Chinese knock-off of the real thing and it was worth about four dollars. She took such pity on me she even offered to paint me a real one. Let me just say right now that I'm holding her to it!
Meanwhile, there was only one thing to do. I had to try and get my money back. The first Saturday I was free, I prayed for favor and armed with the counterfeit and my check carbon, I tentatively approached her booth. She asked if she could help me and as I unwrapped it I told her what the problem was.
Well, she was highly offended and assured me it was genuine and said she didn't give refunds. I have learned a secret from Jay that if you just keep telling people the same thing over and over again, eventually they will get it or at least they will quit trying to convince you. So I just kept telling her my information was that it wasn't genuine and I would like to have my money back and she could sell it to someone who didn't care if it was the real deal or not.
She grabbed it out of my hand and stormed off to ask another dealer about it (who had real ones) with Jay and I scrambling to keep up.
The second dealer took one look at it and declared it wasn't genuine. The woman who had sold it to me started arguing with her, telling her where she'd bought it, how much she'd paid for it, etc. As if that would change the facts! The second woman was unruffled. She kept trying to explain how she knew it was a fake (the very same explanations Ronda had given me). For some reason the first dealer asked the second dealer what she should do and she said, "Give her her money back." (Thank You Lord!)
She stomped off again with Jay and I once again following behind and said she'd write me a check if I promised NEVER to buy anything from her again! Uh, okay. I thought that was a commitment I was sure I could keep. "No problem," I said. I might even have been mildly sarcastic, (Hard to believe, I know.) but she was so upset she didn't notice.
The entire time she was rummaging through her purse for her check book and writing it out, she kept pausing to tell everyone within ear shot that I had accused her of ripping me off, that she had sold me a real Limoges but I didn't believe it, that she was giving me a refund and I owed her an apology. I was looking for the hidden camera. I was sure Ashton Kutcher was somewhere on the premises. It was not the scenario I had envisioned, but....
I took the check, thanked her, tucked it in my purse and left. I told Jay we needed to go straight to the credit union and deposit it in case she tried to cancel payment.
When we got to the drive through window, I pulled it out to fill in my name and endorse it and there, faintly printed across the face of the check in happy colorful script were the words, "Rejoice in the Lord Always!" I just shook my head and "rejoiced" that I had gotten my money back.
But the entire scene kept nagging at me. It was quite stressful, to tell you the truth. I was trying to be assertive without being rude but there was no convincing her the thing wasn't real and she accused me of things that never happened.
Of course, after I saw what was written on the check, I was thinking about what a poor witness she had been; how there was no way Jesus was honored by her attitude or actions and about how embarrassed I would be if I had proclaimed Him on my check and then behaved as she had.
I was feeling pretty good about MY brand of Christianity while I was driving up to our church to further enhance my thriving spiritual life with Beth Moore's study of the book of Daniel. I even prayed for the woman on the way there. But I must confess that at first my heart was silently screaming, "I thank You Lord that I am not like that Publican."
And do you know what God did? I still can't believe it. He started reminding me of every time I had been a terrible witness for Him. Can you believe that?
There are too many instances and they are too awful to list, but I will share one. I am always in grave danger of losing my Christianity altogether when I have to go through airport security. There is nothing about the process that doesn't infuriate me. It always makes me feel like a lemming headed for the cliff. And there was a time where I promise you I was ALWAYS the one they pulled aside to accost.
Show me your toiletries. Show me your underwear. Take off your shoes. Take off your shirt that is over your other shirt. Take off your right to privacy. Take off you dignity. Take off the assumption that you might not be a terrorist you white, middle-aged housewife, you.
Stand here. Stand there. Wait here. Move there. Raise your arms. Spread your legs. Don't touch, don't protest, don't be angry and uncooperative while I rifle through your belongings and take your toothpaste, your hairspray and your very dangerous curling iron that you might use to strangle the flight attendant.
Let me just clear up any lingering confusion. I am never in the mood for this. But one day, after the 947th time in a row, I was particularly surly and sarcastic. ( I know...I know...it's hard to picture, but take my word for it.)
After I had been thoroughly and completely molested I gathered all my stuff and there, right on the top of the hard plastic gray bin coming through the x-ray machine, was Chuck Colson's fabulous book titled, "Loving God." Lest I thought I was escaping any one's notice but that very God, the girl wielding the metal detecting wand, who had gleefully rifled through all my stuff, glanced at the title, then looked me square in the eyes, and in her own brand of brilliantly understated sarcasm said, "Nice book."
At that very second, I wanted to die. Or sob. Or explain. Or apologize. I felt like Peter must have felt after he denied his Lord.
With just two words that girl exposed my heart. It was a bitter lesson. And one I need to keep learning. "There is none righteous, no, not one..." Especially where airport security is involved...
But thanks be to God! He keeps teaching us, doesn't He? And He never gives up. He never abandons us. He never says we have crossed past the line where He can forgive and redeem us. But He holds us accountable and He keeps urging us to deeper walks of righteousness "for His name's sake."
Christ likeness can often seem like a long and hard journey we just aren't getting a grasp on. But we are. Because He keeps nudging us along. I'm eternally grateful for that.

04-25-08

Well, here I am again already. I won't be writing every day, I promise, but my heart is full, so I simply must let it pour from my fingertips onto the keyboard and onto the blog, where it will somehow magically post for you to read and respond from wherever you sit.
Which reminds me of a funny story. When Jordan and I were in St. Louis after he'd had the heart/lung transplant, I was getting ready to send everyone an update. I was pretty new to all this e-mail stuff at that point and I marvelled that I could access my e-mail account from a computer at the hospital. I think concretely and it seemed bizarre to me that I didn't have to have my specific computer; that the information in my computer could be accessed from anywhere. I was amazed and a bit flabbergasted by it all and was trying to express that to Jordan. He looked at me with a droll expression and said, as if he were talking to a complete idiot (he might have been--I'm not telling) "Mom. That's why they call it the world wide web." I promise you, a light bulb went off, no, exploded, in my head at that very instant. Seriously. It singed my hair.
But the point of today's missive is not that you are dealing with a technologically challenged idiot. It is that God is so supremely awesome we aught to break down and weep at the very thought of all He has done and continues to do for us.
Yet most of the world is so incredibly bleak and dark and deceived. I went to see the Ben Stein documentary movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" with the Thing One team the other night. If you haven't seen it, you must. It's as heartbreaking as it is compelling.
The point he is attempting to bring to light is that the academic world so vehemently clings to the ideology of Darwinism that even the suggestion of Intelligent Design--not necessarily even God by name, mind you--is enough to completely ruin an academics career. As my son Jacob told me recently, "Science is the new religion." I didn't realize how true his words were until I sat through the movie. People are being fired, ostracized and vilified for even mentioning that the design and complexity of creation suggests a higher intelligence might possibly exist and might be responsible for the very things they are studying.
I suppose it's no surprise. There isn't one of us who isn't acutely aware of the increasing polarization between those who hold to a traditional view of God and those who deny Him altogether or buy into Oprah Winfrey's "Course in Miracles" that advocates the "many ways to God."
Every time I see this stuff on grand display I am reminded of Romans 1:20-22 & 25 where God explains exactly what is taking place. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, (or perceived him, maybe--my thought) they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the image in the form of corruptible man...For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen."
I'll tell you the truth. I sobbed in my prayer time today as I pictured the faces of the people in the movie who beautifully and intelligently articulated why belief in God was preposterous, the Bible was full of silly and dangerous fables, Darwinism made sense and any discussion about God should be eliminated from the higher ranks of academia. My heart broke as I tried to imagine how grieved the great God of the universe was over every lost and deceived soul.
But I know the reason God is not only rejected but scorned and ridiculed and His people are too. R. C. Sproul, my third favorite Calvinist behind my son Jacob and John Mac Arthur (I am not one) says this, "Christianity is not a religion. It's a revolutionary life of obedience to Christ and submission to God's sovereignty." It's admitting the supremacy of God and His reign over all of life and then, by His grace, submitting to it. If it were anything less, it would be benign. It would hold no threat. But Scripture tells us people love their sin. They are full of pride. The very sin that caused the devil to become the devil.
"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:19-20) This is what was running through my mind like the moving ribbon on the bottom of the CNN television screen as I watched and listened and shook my head in horror and disbelief.
We live in a lost and dying and deceived world. Jesus tells us the fields are ripe for harvest. Let's each of us pray that the Lord of the harvest will make us workers in the harvest for the sake of His Kingdom. We each have our sphere of influence. Let's pray that God gives us opportunities to exert our influence as He leads and guides us.
Remember, it was just seventeen sincere, passionate praying and believing people who ushered in the great Welsh revival. Seventeen.

04-24-08

Hi friends!
It's that time again. Yep. You guessed it. Blog time. I'm gonna be a bloggin' fool and I'm happy you are joining me on the journey into the deep, dark recesses of my mind. Yes, I know the implications are frightening, but for your safety and comfort, I promise to edit myself.
The goal is to invite you into my life, to share with you all our great God is doing, to encourage you to keep pressing on in what He is doing in and through you, and to have a dialogue with as many of you as are willing.
There is so much going on I'm not sure where to start. This might be a rather long blog, but once I get you caught up on everything I hope future entries will be a little shorter.
God, all on His own, with no help from me other than years of earnest prayer and "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," has recently brought two teams of people into my life. These are people who have been mysteriously moved on by the Lord to come in as Aarons and Hurs and lift my arms in the battles at hand. With few exceptions, these are people I didn't even know a year ago and now we are running the race side by side. What could be more exciting?
What battles, you might be asking? Ask away. The battle to see "The Rhyme and Reason Series" finally become a reality, and the battle to see an increase in speaking and teaching opportunities.
I must tell you I feel as deeply humbled by all God is doing as I am excited by it. There have been many dark days where I wondered what He was waiting on. I never doubted the call on my life, because it was so dramatic in its presentation that there has never been any room for doubt. The frustration has come because, as per usual, God's timetable is drastically different than mine!
But it seems we are moving closer. The members of the "Speaking Team" or Thing One if you prefer, are my friends Tara and Kristen.
I met Tara when she worked for Community Spirit magazine and picked my entry from among thousands (well, I think there was more than one) to win a workout contest the magazine was sponsoring. She of hilarious e-mails and I hit it off brilliantly and have been friends ever since. Best of all, I don't think she holds it against me that I have completely lost all the ground I gained during the six months I was working with a personal trainer. No, our friendship is based on much more important things than my lack of self-discipline.
I met Kristen through Tara--they are currently roommates--which makes it easy on me when I visit. Two for the price of one. And they are a blast!
They are my thirty-something, nimble brained, computer savvy friends who set up the blog for me before I went to Thailand and encouraged me to write. They are the ones who updated the look to what you now see, helped me get my "domain name" and have pestered...ummm... encouraged me to write this blog. They probably weren't expecting me to write about them necessarily, but they are part of the story so they deserve top billing right under the Lord Almighty. We are in the process of uploading three two-minute promotional clips taken from the DVD I had made the last time my wonderful pastor let me have the pulpit. They even want to put a ten-minute clip on YouTube! Those girls.
Any who know me on even the most casual level will fully grasp the fact that I couldn't have done this without their help. My brain is simply too old and rigid. There are not many pliable spots left in it for learning technical skills. And they are doing it all from the goodness of their hearts because they believe in God's call on my life. We all know that no one--particularly one as inept as me--can do everything by themself. As the Apostle Paul said, we are all different parts of the same body and are dependent on one another. I am certainly dependent on them for their help, their enthusiasm, their knowledge and expertise. I am richly blessed to have them in my life and count them as great freinds.
Tara is actively helping me pursue speaking opportunities and asked the right people some questions and immediately hooked me up with the Oklahoma chapter of the National Speakers Association. It just so happened they were having their monthly meeting the next Saturday. I arrived, breathless, wide-eyed and eager. I can promise you this: I have never been in a room with that many outgoing, Type-A personalities in my life. It was great. I was totally out of my league. But I gained a ton of useful information and made some valuable contacts with people who get paid to speak. A dream come true for someone like me! I am working toward having twenty-five paid speaking engagements in a year so I can meet the criteria to officially join. So far I have one. Next month. With a fifty dollar payday. No matter. It's a beginning. I'll keep you posted.
The second team, or Thing Two, is also being led by two women I didn't know before last August. Lucia is my core leader at this year's Community Bible Study and while I knew of her, having seen her around in previous years, I didn't know her. It was my secret ambition to be in her core group and God gave me the desire of my heart. Yeah, I know. He can be like that. Cherry is her life-long friend who is in the group with us.
Somehow, and I really don't remember why, I sent the Genesis text of "The Rhyme and Reason Series" to Lucia who saw its potential and sent it to Cherry. We met for lunch, because that's what women like to do, and discussed how we might get the financing we need to see this series finally become a reality.
Due to previous fundraising efforts, Cherry knows of a book titled, "Grants and Foundations in Oklahoma" and we are going to look through it for potential partners. They encouraged me to write a letter of proposal, which I did. Nothing like politely begging for money. I've even had the opportunity to send it to a couple of folks which ended up just being practice for the real thing rather than the real thing, as they declined the offer to help. But God knows who the right person is, so we continue to wait and pray and eat lunch.
Added to this team is the illusive, long-awaited, and much prayed for artist. His name is David Wilson and he is just a few miles down the road in Broken Arrow. I had been praying for years for someone who would be as passionate about this project as I am. I knew he was my guy when he told a mutual friend that he had hoped and prayed for years to be able to illustrate a children's Bible. Are you noticing a trend here? Seems sometimes God lets us pray for years for what we know is of Him and for His kingdom. I guess He wants us to labor over the vision until it creates an unquenchable passion within us.
I also have an agent named Keith Carroll who is a wonderful man of God who knows the Bible, the overview of Scripture and the heart of God, and who spent many hours with me on the phone getting the Genesis text to the point it is ready to be published. He has established relationships with various publishing houses and will help find that home as the art work is completed and the financing becomes available.
My cousin Bob, also a writer and hands down the funniest person I know, has offered to help me with the meter of the rhymes. He feels a tremendous sense of obligation because I labored for weeks editing and making suggestions to the seven hundred unnumbered pages of the first novel in a trilogy he is writing. It's great stuff by the way, and I'm not just saying that because he might read this. As I was reading it and praying to God it didn't get knocked off the table and the pages hopelessly scrambled, I could easily picture it on the big screen.
I'm not sure how all of this is going to play out. The books opening the door for me to be able to speak to wider audiences about our great God, or the opportunities to speak creating a groundswell of interest in the books. Quite frankly, that's God's problem. My job is to pray, worship, believe and obey.

Lastly, we have been studying the book of Matthew at CBS this year. We are coming to the end of the book and the end of the year. This past week we looked at the gut-wrenching events our King and Savior endured as He was beaten, scourged, slapped, spat on, ridiculed and humiliated then brutally nailed to a cross beam, jostled and lifted into place as his beaten, broken body was hoisted and secured into the notch on the upright beam.
We heard about the horrific pain He was in, how His arms and shoulders were pulled out of their sockets, how He had to push Himself up with His feet, raking His shredded back against the rough wood to catch a breath, then collapse back down under the strain.
We read how creation itself cried out in agony for its Creator, how the sky turned black, the earth quaked, the rocks split and the thick, iron like veil in the holy of holies ripped in two from top to bottom the instant Jesus cried out, "IT IS FINISHED!" breathed His last and died. For the first time in all eternity the great God of heaven was separated, the heavenly Father having to turn His back on His precious Son, who created the men who murdered Him. The Son experiencing what for Him had been unfathomable--separation from God. And, I believe, the reason He was in such deep agony to the point of sweating drops of blood in the Garden just hours earlier. The perfect Lamb had been slain and the light of the whole world had gone out. He did it all for us, so that not one single person would ever have to be separated from Him, in this life or the one to come.
One of the questions in the study was, "If Jesus had come down from the cross as He was continually taunted to do, what effect would it have had on us?" Who can fathom such a scenario? Forget about us. What effect would it have had on the entire universe? Jesus would have sinned if He had disobeyed the will of the Father. Just think of the catastrophic events that transpired when Adam and Eve chose sin in the Garden of Eden. If Jesus sinned I would imagine the entire universe would implode and discentigrate.
He would not have ascended into heaven, the Godhead would be eternally split apart, there would be no hope of redemption, satan and death would not have been defeated. The world and eternity would be dark and desperate places indeed.
But thanks be to God! Jesus accomplished all He came to accomplish! He paid the price, He ransomed us to Himself, He offered reconciliation with God. I weep as I write. It's too much to take in. It's to wonderful to fully grasp. I don't think we will ever quit expressing our heart felt gratitude.
It is this God whom I love and serve with all my heart, mind, soul and strength as He fills me with the power of His Holy Spirit and leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Let's take the journey together; loving, helping, serving and praying for one another for our sakes and for His glory.