Joy in the Journey

  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In   love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.   Ephesians 1:4-5   Several years ago my husband’s company painted a house for a woman who told him a very interesting story. While he was inspecting the house with her, making sure she was satisfied with the work, she told him about her son. Her son is a professional golfer who had been in England for a tournament. One evening he went to a pub. He was playing pool when another young man asked to join him. The young man introduced himself as Will and said that he was in the military. As the story goes the two played several games, talked about their girlfriends, their jobs, typical small talk. It wasn’t until much later in the evening when other friends joined them that our American golfer   learned the identity of his new English friend, Wi...

  Calling all his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:43-44 Lately I have read and heard a lot about grace. I have also heard about works. Oh how people love to quote James 2:17.   It makes us all feel as if we have some stake, some control of our salvation. That to me, quite frankly, is laughable but it wasn’t always. For years I tried to think of ways to earn the favor of God and all I can do today is praise Him and thank Him for setting me straight on that one. So, the questions beckons, why do good works? I think I’ve learned that answer from three of my grandchildren, in particular my granddaughter Faith. Last year our family, as a group, chose to bless the World Vision organization as a part of our Christmas giving. Everyone would contribute and everyone would...

“Do not let you hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you, I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:1-3 Over the last few weeks God has really been speaking to me about living in the moment. I’ve spent far too much time wondering, asking how I should handle situations, not moments that are occurring but things that are coming. This morning I was reminded of an event many years ago. I was facing a daunting task, one I felt God wanted me to do, no, I knew he wanted me to do it but the whole thing made me very insecure. It took me literally and figuratively so far outside my comfort zone that the mere thought of it made my stomach hurt. I prayed in that time that God would reassure me that everything would work out. If I could see myself at the completion of the ta...

In His Image So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 I attend a small church in the South.   A few weeks ago our younger pastor made a comment that really made me think.   That in itself is not unusual, he is a provocative speaker. What stands out was that at first, it amused me. He said, “It’s not like God’s sitting around in an easy chair drinking sweet tea.” Sweet tea, the house wine of the South. It just made me laugh and then it reminded me of another quote. One from Blaise Pascal which says, “God created man in his own image—and man returned the favor.” For many years now, I have lived in a Southern state but I was born and raised in New York.   It took me quite awhile to remember that if I wanted hot tea, that is what I had to order. When you order tea in the South the question follows, “Sweet or unsweet?” Um-hmm… So to hear our pastor refer to God sitting in the chair with ...

    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28   Every now and then something happens that causes a television show to make the announcement, “you are joining a program already in progress.” We enter most people’s lives that way. With the obvious exception of our children, we join lives whose stories are already in progress. I joined one such life when my life was barely in progress. There isn’t a time in my early life that a woman I’ll call Angie, was not there.   We lived in very close proximity so my observations of her are very personal.   Angie was cold to the extreme. There was no real option of getting to know her beyond surface information. She was unhappy, dissatisfied with her life and it showed. Watching her I determined to be nothing like her. Where she was unapproachable, chilly and dark, I wanted to be a warm, caring and affectionate pers...

I just began to read the book of Jude, not looking for anything in particular, just because I wanted to read it.   The first words in it grabbed my attention. It reads, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy and peace be yours in abundance.” It’s just the greeting. Maybe it’s the New Testament version of “To whom it may concern.” But read it again. “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” I was reading Jude, just to read it. I love the last two verses, the doxology, so much and for whatever reason, was drawn just now to read the whole book, which I will do in just a few minutes, after I think about these words above that stopped me. “To those who have been called.” That’s me! My guess is if you are reading this, that’s you! We have been called by God the Father and are kept by Jesus Christ and if that isn’...

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town David a Savior had been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 The other day I was listening to a modern version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and something stood out. In this particular version the singer sings the words, “He’s coming back for you and you and you and you….” As I listened I began to smile. I heard a very different voice, the voice of a young friend of mine who lives with a mild version of autism, among some other challenges. My little buddy fixates on certain songs or movies and repeats them over and over for a time before moving onto the next one. Right now one of the songs he loves contains the line, “You and you and you and well…..all of you!” See the connection? While listening to the promise that Jesus, Emmanuel is indeed coming back for you and you and you, I thought of his willingness to come for us at all. We read...