Be the Book

Once again I'm thinking about my unfinished book about God.  My ongoing work-in-progress.  It's intended as "an introduction to God" for those who don't know Him but are willing to hear about Him.  (Inspired by a friend who said she doesn't really believe, but would be willing to "keep an open mind" if I wrote something.)

Anyway, I've started it three times over the last five or six years.  The title has changed four times.  I write some, then give it a rest, then read it back, scrap a lot of it, and start again.

I do want to finish it (as if a book about God could ever be finished!) but it occurs to me that before I can write the book, I have to be the book.  If I'm rightly related to God, then people should be able to look at me and read what God has written on my heart. 

Lord, help me today to be Your living, walking book.

Written On Our Hearts

Long ago God promised that with his "new covenant", he would write his laws directly on our hearts and minds.  He promised that we wouldn't have to inquire of anyone about Him, because we would have his laws imprinted within us.

I believe He has done it.  I believe everyone knows what's right and wrong because it is written on their hearts.

I believe that we embark on the road to hell when we choose to ignore what is written on our hearts by God himself.  When we choose "the world", when we choose greed, when we choose to win at all costs, we are choosing various forms of death.

So choose Life.  Take a look inside your heart and read what's there.  There is your happiness.
There is Real Life.

Meek is not Weak

I have just read again the words "the meek shall inherit the land" (Psalm 37;11).  And of course, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus said "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.". 

I've read a little about the use of the word "meek" in the Bible, and how its usage is different from our first-glance assumption that meek equals weak.

We choose to be meek.  By giving up our 'right to ourselves' we yield our very selves to the authority of Christ, who always has our best interest at heart, and is well able to act on our behalf in ways far far superior to anything we could think or do for ourselves.

By becoming meek, we indeed inherit all that matters because we allow ourselves to be carried by the Master. 
What could be better?

Lord, help me today to yield to Your strength, Your wisdom, Your plan, and Your never ending love.

Perfect Faith

Sometimes when God's mysteries seem to be clear, and we understand things as we have never understood them before, it's easy to think, "Ah, now my faith is perfect."

But the truth is, faith is only perfect when we're in despair, in the dark, understanding nothing, and still believe that even though we are in the dark, we can put our trust in God and He will not fail us. 

He's Here

God exists,

whether you believe it or not.

God is Love,

whether you choose to receive it

or not.

God will help you

but you have to reach out your hand

to take His.

It’s just how it works.

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for

And certain of what we do not see.”

You can be sure. You can be certain.

Don’t listen to voices

that tell you otherwise.

In fact,

God is the only thing that’s real

because God is the only thing

that never changes,

even if our perception of Him does.

God is the only reality.

Just believe.

Out of the Way

Lord, help me today to empty my self out, and be all that you created me to be. I am not special. I am not more loved, nor more favored by You than anyone else. But the apostle Paul said that we are all given "special gifts" to be used by You for your purposes. Help me Father, to get out of your way today and allow You to use the special gift you have given me for whatever purpose comes before me. And help me to remember that I may not always be aware of the result, lest I take credit. But give me more Faith to know that if I remain in the Light, You are being served.

Good News

I got the good news yesterday afternoon. I'm OK. The "mass" in my liver turned out to be something with a long name that just means a clump of blood vessels. No treatment necessary. Thank you God!

I am so grateful for all who were praying for me during this week of tests and waiting. I am so grateful to my husband who showed me nothing but strength, support and absolute faith in God. (Okay he now admits he may have been the teensiest bit worried, but kept it under his hat.)

There is a miracle here, but it's not that the mass turned out OK. The mass was always what it was. Oh I don't doubt that God could easily have changed it from cancer to not-cancer, because I believe he can do anything. But I don't think that's what happened here. No, the miracle in all this is that I wasn't scared. I'm not saying I didn't give it a thought. In truth, it was never very far from my mind. But I wasn't really scared. I've been in training for this for quite awhile. I have been exercising my faith muscles through the teaching of the Bible. I've learned from the writing of Norman Vincent Peale and Emmett Fox, among others, how to replace fear thoughts with faith thoughts that come straight from the Bible. When I did think about the unknown thing in my liver, I focused instead on God, and on Christ and on the promises that God will never leave me, and Jesus will be with me "even unto the end of the age." So many lessons I have been learning just jumped right in and became my first defense. This is my real miracle. It wasn't that I was sure the "thing" was nothing. I considered that it might indeed be something. And it was still OK. I slept at night. I thought not only about God's presence and very tangible power within me, I also thought about my grandparents back in 1919 during the deadly flu epidemic. Both deathly ill in bed, people "dropping like flies all around", as Grandma once told me. She was pregnant with my father. Outlook not good. But they both survived and just carried on. My mother with cirrhosis of the liver, just keeping on keeping on. And my husband, through countless cancer treatments, procedures, chemotherapy, and major surgeries, just keeping on living and working and being a man. So many heroes for me to draw strength from. You get what you get, you do what you can about it, and you keep going. And one day God takes you home and that's the best part.

It's really hard to put this into words, but it's words that sustained me. The word of God, and the words of people inspired by God.

So I got good news this time. This particular challenge is over. But there will not always be good news at the end of an ordeal. My miracle was that I was ready to hear bad news and depend on God to sustain me through it. I thank God for all of this. And I pray that he will keep teaching me and help me to let others know that his help is real and immediate. If God be for us, who can be against us? Even illness. Even bad news.