This Hope

Matthew 13:16-17
“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.”

What an amazing opportunity we have, this time that we live in, these moments in history. God has purpose for every time in history and the times since Christ are truly amazing. God’s hope and salvation is available to everyone and Jesus is coming back. People throughout the ages have been hoping and longing for the freedom, hope and grace that we have available to us today. It’s easy for me to get complacent, to complain rather than rejoice. It’s easy to lament the horrors, the sadness, the fear that is so rampant these days – to feel hopeless, but we have cause for great hope.

I want to share the hope that I have to those who feel hopeless in the face of painful circumstances and broken dreams.

Father, I thank You that You have given us hope. Forgive me for the times that I take it for granted. Help me when I feel hopeless and give me the strength to share Your grace and not withhold it when I can be a conduit for Your love.

It Only Takes a Spark

Matthew 10:42
“Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."

The world is in bad shape in so many ways – we’ve messed things up pretty bad. It can be overwhelming to think about all that is wrong, all that needs to be done to make things better – it can be so overwhelming that it’s easy to do nothing. God understands our nature, our tendency towards the easy road. Jesus makes it very clear that the great task before us of sharing His love with a dying and suffering world is accomplished not only through great acts, but through small acts of care and love to those in need.

So there goes my excuses, “it’s too great a task”, “I’m too small and insignificant to make a difference”. There are things that I can do – there always is, I need only to look around me and I know that I will find needs that I am well able to fulfill.

Father, thank You for the great acts and the small acts of faithfulness that You have shown me in my life. Help me to take the time to notice those around me, to share Your love in big and small ways, to not drift in apathy.

Fear Not

Fear Not

Psalm 34:4-7
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

There are two kinds of fear that David is talking about here. Fear that will imprison, keep me paralyzed, and fear that will set me free. There is a lot to fear in this world, a long list comes readily to mind. It’s easy to dwell on the fear, on the causes for that fear. Fear will lull me to inactivity, to apathy.

The other fear that David is talking about is fear of the Lord. It is right to fear Him – all-powerful, all-knowing, all-perfect, all-just. Thankfully He is also all-good, all-loving and full of grace.

So what does this mean for me? I am a worrier. Not funny, funny, ha ha, little worry wart, but lie awake at night, feel sick, obsessive worry. I am fearful about many things which sometimes surprises people to hear about me because I’ve done a lot of adventurous things in my life, but in many ways I don’t have a lot of fear for myself. I worry mostly about those that I love. Anyway, I don’t think that being delivered from all my fears is a one-off deal, I think it’s a process. I believe that God delivers people from their fears – fears greater and smaller than mine, and indeed, my own fears. I have a part to play though – I need to seek the Lord, and, I confess, that I often look everywhere else before I look to Him for relief from my fears. I know that when He delivers me, that I am radiant with freedom and grace. I know that fear has its place, I need to put my fear in God. Not the trembling, aching, paralyzing fear, but the freeing, joyful fear of the One who knows all, can do all and Who loves me anyway.

Father, I am often afraid – you know how afraid. Forgive me for trying to find solutions everywhere but in You. I ask that You would deliver me from my fears. I am thankful that You are well able to.

Would You Like a Little Gas with that Lecture?

I love my Dad. My Dad and I are a lot alike. We know each other pretty well. My Dad used to own service stations, he used to be a mechanic - once a mechanic, always a mechanic. Anyway, Dad always taught my sister and I to take care of our cars. He also is a big fan of keeping your car gassed up. This has always been important to me too. However, since I had Jude, it's not as easy, because I like to fill up at a place where you have to go in can't pay at the pump and it's a pain to get Jude in and out of the car.

So not too long ago, I noticed that I was getting low on petrol and needed to fill up soon - my car didn't give me the little warning beep and light though, so I figured it'd be ok. Anyway, I got to thinking about it one evening and knew that I needed to go out with Jude the next day and if, by chance, I were to run out of petrol, I wouldn't want to be on the side of the road with Jude. So Colin looked after Jude while I headed out to fill up the car. I made it around the corner and then the car went dead. I couldn't call Colin because I had the car with the car seat in it and he had Jude. I really didn't want to call my Dad because I knew he'd be disappointed in me, but I didn't have a choice. So, I called my Mom and Dad. They were very gracious and went right out and filled up a gas can and came to me.

So here I am, Dad's putting the gas in the tank and we're chatting. He's not giving me a hard time or anything, but I start making my excuses. Of course, he's got the answers to all of my excuses. I start to laugh and tell him that I didn't want to call him because he'd be disappointed in me. I say, "So do you want some gas with your lecture?" It wasn't a big deal really, but it just made me so thankful for my Dad - for his graciousness, for the fact the that he's conscientious, but most of all because even though I got a bit of a lecture, he brought me some gas when I hadn't been smart and I was on the side of the road. Reminds me of my other Father.

Thoughts...

I was so happy today when I went through the list of blogs that I check everyday and nearly every one of them had been updated - it was so cool! A reminder to me that I need to update more often. I have the thoughts, it's just taking the time that's the issue.

Yesterday, Colin and a friend of his did a gig at a retirement village here in town. Jude and I went along for moral support and it was a lot of fun. It was a very nice place - Colin and I were thinking of moving in, but it's for 55 and older. The gig went really well, Colin on a very nice grand piano and his friend played sax. They did mostly jazz ballads and oldies - they did great. Jude was great too. He was quiet for a while and then, of course, he wanted to get up and go. So he and I walked around the dining hall, mostly with Jude walking behind his stroller. It struck me as very ironic as I watched men and women come and go using walkers, some with very similar gaits as Jude, halting and unsure. Here is this beautiful little boy learning to walk, to use his legs. Here are these men and women losing their ability to walk, to get around on their own. What a short amount of time we have of full health and ability. Not that it's bad, it's life. We move quickly through these stages of life.

Jude was a huge hit. As we were leaving everyone was very appreciative of the music, however, one woman actually said that while the music was good, Jude was great!

Anyway, that's enough for today. Coming soon, a story about my Dad and me.