All is being purified

I love what Martin Luther says here.  When I was "young," I thought I had made in knowledge and maturity. Now I am humbled by how much I don't know, yet I am still excited by how much more I am allowed to grow and to learn.  And that ultimately, I am being cleansed of all that is irrelevant in my relationship to God.

"This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise.  We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.  The process is not yet finished but going on.  This is not the end but it is the road.  All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified."  Martin Luther

Hearing the Word

If we believe God spoke our universe, our world, our selves into existence, then how do we listen to Him?  Here is what Henri Nouwen says:

"The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through and in, our listening here and now.

The questions therefore are: How does God come to me as I listen to the word? Where do I discern God's healing hand touching me through his word? How are my sadness, my grief, my mourning being transformed at this very moment?  Do I sense the fire of God's love purifying my heart and giving me new life? These questions lead me to the sacrament of the word, the sacred place of God's real presence."  Henri Nouwen

God's Nature

"The love of God is not created--it is His nature...'Feed my sheep.'  Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty; some that are awkward and pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God's love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me...."  Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest"

As His children, we are loved so that we can share love!

BSA Troop 514 at the 2012 Klondike Derby

The weather at this year's Klondike Derby at Mud Lake across the road from the Anthony Lakes Ski Area was as bad as the worst I have been at since 1984.   The ski lifts did not run all day because of the high winds. And our Troop 514 Scouts were the best I have seen at an event like this.   Their cooperation and collaboration was outstanding.  They were a delight to watch work together.  They had slept in their snow caves Friday night and awakened to seven inches of new snow.  They competed on the Klondike Trail for three plus hours in snow and wind that at times created zero visibility.  No one complained or whined; they persevered and did the tasks they needed to do.  It was a real life challenge--an experience in survival that built confidence and character.

Always met by God's grace and mercy

"We come to God as we are: caught by sin and longing for God; and we are always met by God's grace and mercy."  Wendy Miller

God's Covenant with us

As I look at the secular law of contracts, and compare it to God's gift of covenant, I am astounded at the difference.  If we entered a contract, and one party breaks it, the contract ends. Penalties are imposed and the parties go their separate ways, unhealed and unforgiven.  God's covenant with us is from God alone to us; we  do not, did not, choose to enter into it. God made the decision to enter into this partnership with us, His creation, His people. We still must face His justice if we break the covenant, but God does not revoke it and walk away.  His unconditional love, His forgiveness and grace remain ever present for us when we repent and turn back to Him.  As Paul writes in Romans 8:39. "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Happy Valentine's Day: the deepest love