Lent Day 26: God's tender heart

Z is a dear friend of +25 years. She's also one of the best moms and grandmas I've ever met. Every second week, between long one-week work shifts, she  and her husband fly to another state. Not for fun. Not for relaxation. Not for sunshine.

Their daughter and her husband are doctors. So they go to watch their daughter's 3- and 7-year old kids. I'm staggered by the practical love that this couple demonstrates. They could send emails and letters. They could just talk on the phone. Instead, Z and S meet their children and grandkids face to face.

Isn't that just like God's love for us?

Our Father in heaven sent us letters (scriptures) and his emissaries (the prophets). And then, when the time was right, He came and lived among us.

I am astonished by Jesus. He became Immanuel, God with us. More than a political deliverer, he freed us from our broken humanity. He took our burdens and shame. He extended God's forgiveness, wholeness, and abundant life.

Do we care for others in the same way?

"See what [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, 

that we should [be permitted to] be named 

and called and counted the children of God!

 And so we are!" 1 John 3:1 Amplified

What makes your heart sing when you think about God as Father? About Jesus as our Redeemer? About the Spirit who makes His home in us and guides us in all truth?

Read more:
*Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5 NEV

*Jesus says, "When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you." Luke 14:13-14 NEV

*Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21   NIV

*[We are] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 ESV

Moravian Prayer: God of all, we thank you that you have included all people into your embrace. Forgive us when we leave people out and inspire us to reach out to include everybody. Amen.

CS Lewis: The Great Divorce, on choosing the absence of God in hell over the presence of God

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find. To those who knock, it is opened.”. . .

“Hell is a state of mind—ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly.”. . .

“Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World. Look at yon butterfly. If it swallowed all Hell, Hell would not be big enough to do it any harm or to have any taste. . . .

“A damned soul is nearly nothing: it is shrunk, shut up in itself. Good beats upon the damned incessantly as sound waves beat on the ears of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their teeth are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouths for food, or their eyes to see.”

“Then no one can ever reach them?”

“Only the Greatest of all can make Himself small enough to enter Hell. For the higher a thing is, the lower it can descend—a man can sympathise with a horse but a horse cannot sympathise with a rat. Only One has descended into Hell.”

Lent Day 22: Everlasting and unchanging

Today everyone we met was smiling. The sun's out in Seattle and temperatures reached a high of 55oF. In March, that's considered a gift from heaven.

It's easy to believe in a good God when the sunshine is warming your shoulders. It may be more difficult to sense His love when circumstances feel out of control:

• When the baby's sick and you don't know what's wrong.
• When your teenager is out late without letting you know where s/he's gone.
• When those newlyweds seem to be clawing more than cooing and their marriage looks shaky. 
• When the bills pile up and there seem to be too few resources.
• When the boss hands you a pink slip.
• When you (or your parents) feel the effects of age and infirmity.
• When all your plans fall apart and there's no Plan B for the future.

The lovely reassurance of scripture is that God never changes. Since the beginning of time, He has overseen the universe and its motion, the peoples He made and their relationships.

He knows it all. Controls it all. Is able to direct everything - beauty and chaos - without planets colliding or whirling off course into black holes of nothingness.

We are securely guided and guarded as long as we do His will. When we get off track, we may feel the consequences. Yet, returning to God with our whole hearts, we're promised His resources to direct our paths and give us wisdom.

• Do you need the unfailing love and everlasting arms of God, your heavenly Father? He is strong enough to hold you. Kind enough to comfort you.
• Do you desperately need clarity for a murky situation? God sees a way through the darkness. Nothing is hidden from him.

• Do you need salvation from your brokenness? God provided One who became the sacrifice for our sins, the One who walked steadily toward the cross we will celebrate at Easter.
• Do you need power beyond your wildest imagination to solve a crisis? God created the world from nothing. He parted the Red Sea to provide escape for an entire nation. He broke a few loaves and divided a few fish to feed 5000 people. He promised us the resurrection power that brought Christ back to life.

With joy we celebrate the Lenten season and remember that God-Who-is-with-us is almightly.

Read more:
*The Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness. Psalm 11:7 (NASB)

*I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments. Psalm 119:45 NLT

*God himself is righteous and he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:26 NLT

*And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 NKJV

Moravian Prayer: Help us to be so infused with your spirit, living Christ, that we will not just proclaim empty words but live as your followers. Challenge us by your example to act in ways that are kind, holy, loving, and just. Amen.

Lent Day 9: Quick and to the point

Seeing herself on the IPad camera

This has to be quick. Little Miss is here today. She's already written on the door of my office, tossed the pewter cat on the floor, and is splashing in the dog water. Rescue needed. I'll be back!

It's fun to watch babies grow. Miss K is 19 months and beginning to express herself. She has the run of the house so we keep our eyes on her all the time.

Miss K hears Kirsten's dog barking
over the phone

I wonder if God built in us his own sense of wonder and delight as we grow in the faith.

We know he never takes his eyes off us. Any of you with children or grandchilden can understand why!

Read more:

*We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7

*Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her."Proverbs 3:13–15 NLT

*For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NLT
Moravian Prayer: Liberating Savior, there are so many ways in which we can be ensnared by things of this world. Give us discernment, that we may always choose the freedom of right relationship in you. Amen.