Sunday, February 22, 2015

God's Love Knows No Season

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” ~Genesis 18:22
 
 
This time of year is a tough one for most of us. It takes a pretty hard-core winter lover to still be tolerating mid-February weather without feeling just a little cabin fever or just plain grumpy and impatient for warmer days--or at least not so frigid days.
 
 
On these days that seem to last forever (wonder why the summer days, although longer in their daylight hours actually seem shorter than these long, cold days?), we can look to the beautiful verse from Genesis: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".
 
 
We're in the depths of the deepfreeze at the present, but we know that seedtime warmth will be here--we thank God for his beautiful world, no matter what the season.
 
 
Peace be with you.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Our Ultimate Valentine

"For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him. Yes the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:15,17).

What is the ideal Valentine, we ponder...someone who thinks of us always, has our best interest in mind, loves us unconditionally, is always there for us. To find someone like this is the ultimate hope of most everyone who walks this Earth.

Isn't it odd that we can't always see and always know that we already have someone who has loved us unconditionally since we came into existence?  Our Lord is surely intently watching us--all He asks in return is that we live good lives. It's a sometimes difficult thing to do, but certainly not impossible...our Lord never asks us to do the impossible.  We are safe with him.  He saves us from all of our  troubles.  We all have periods in our lives when the road seems rough, but if we believe--truly believe--we will be sheltered by his ultimate love. Granted, our life's story may not always play out as we have formulated it, but surrounded by His love, it will be the way it should be--because of living in His light.

Happy Valentine's Day to all ...and even though you may not have someone showering you with cards, candy, and flowers at the moment, know full well that you are loved today and every day more than you'll ever realize . We have been chosen to be loved.  




Sunday, February 8, 2015

Looking to the Mustard Seed


"He replied, 'Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'" (Matthew 17:20).

 It's that time of year when I start getting the  itch to begin gardening. Of course, all gardening that I do is within the confines of looking over seed catalogs, beginning the purchase of seed, and planting a few items that need early germination time to put into the early spring garden. Nothing too major league here, but still a great deal of fun.

 As I was putting some tiny seeds into their germination pods earlier this week, I started thinking about the parable of the mustard seed. That drew me to go upstairs to the kitchen and examine the mustard seeds in my spice cabinet.  How tiny they are! And yet...if we only have faith in our Lord of that size, we will be able to achieve great things in His name.

 It just doesn't seem that it should be that difficult, but wow is it.  Every morning I wake up, I know that today will be a day that my faith will be at least as big as that tiny little seed; alas, by the end of the day, I've not achieved that very  reasonable goal our Lord asks of us.  So, I pray at night that the next day will be more successful.

 I guess just having the faith that someday I'll have the faith the size of a mustard seed is a good start. God is good to us that way...He gives us hope anew each day to get just a little closer to heaven.

 Peace be with you.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Gift of Stewardhip

Stewardship. Sounds like a fancy word for work, doesn't it? Even the dictionary would agree. Among the various definitions, the words responsibility, duty, "put in charge", and even moral responsibility are listed to describe this word.

So how on earth can stewardship ever be described as a gift? How is work, responsibility, or duty a gift?

Well, for one thing, having responsibility makes us humble. Being "put in charge" can be a bit daunting. Our performance is in the spotlight; it is certainly not an opportunity to boast, but rather to keep our proverbial noses to that proverbial grindstone. And, believe it or not, that is truly a gift we are given.

How so?

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that "therefore anyone who humbles himself as [this] little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven" (18:4). In our daily lives we are not often given chances to act with pure humbleness and humility. Our egos many times get into the way. We play out the "I'm in charge" aspect of Stewardship, but we are missing the point. Anyone can say he or she is in charge of a situation, a group of people, or an event. But a true steward purposely takes the back seat and becomes the humble servant, assuming grave responsibility for the task or the group with whom he or she has been entrusted . It truly teaches us the lesson Christ gives us of being as humble as a child.

It's a new month, and a new week--what better time for us to practice afresh the true meaning of stewardship? We'll discover anew this precious gift.

Peace be with you.