God is great – Page 2 – Roberta Writes

The light of the world

The sky showing the first signs of the rising sun in the east. The glowing red and orange merging with the dark of the night sky. The first blush of light. The large erect towers of the city aglow in a the gentle orange reflection. Their own internal lights masked and conquered by the vibrant glow of the sun. All this before the sun has even crested the horizon.

The great light of the sun more powerful than any light man can create. In a dark space even a candle will cast a light, like a soft reminder of the great light. But in the middle of the day with the sun blazing in the room the candle goes unnoticed. It’s use simply a waste of materials and energy.

Every morning the light returns. The sun rises. Let this give you courage to face whatever trouble or fear that lays in your way.

Psalm 27: 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

The last stand

How do we know we are in the middle of a spiritual battle? A battle for the soul of the world?

Jesus explained to His apostles what it would look like for them. He knew what was coming in the first days for His apostles and their ministry.

Matthew 10: 16-23 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

It can feel like this now; Families divided, friends no longer speaking, neighbours distrusting neighbours. This is how we know. This is a battle between good and evil.

For those who don’t know what side to pick, study your Bible. The truth will set you FREE.

The banquet will go on

The great man planned a feast. The food was ordered and prepared. The tables and chairs assembled. The hall rented. The invitations sent. Everything ready to go.

But, the people invited chose not to come. The great feast looked to be failure. Did the banquet get canceled? No.

The reason for the feast was not the people who had been invited. The great man sent his servants out to bring people in. The feast will go on.

God’s plan is supreme. His celebrations will be had, even if those offered invitations refuse. He will go find others. Blessed are those who hear his call and come to his banquet. Be ready. Be willing. Come when God calls you.

Luke 14: 23-24 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you,
not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Starting over

I was amazed how quickly my six year old son could wear out a pair of jeans. The knees would go first.

The fabric begins by looking a little worn. Then a small tear would appear in the middle of the knee area. That small tear would soon be a full fledged rip. Sometimes I would patch the rip. Then the other knee would go. Sometimes the hem at the back of the leg would also fray. Depending on how long the pants were. The constant wear of walking, fraying the fabric. Even the back pockets would sometime tear – not sure how this was happening, but it would.

At some point I would look at the jeans and decide there was no point continuing to patch them. They would be tossed in the rag pile and I’d have to go buy a new pair of pants.

This has been happening to our society. We have been experience this wear and tear on the social fabric for years. We’ve acknowledged the problems and patched them where we could. The handling of the Covid crisis was a major and violent rip in the social fabric. This was possible because the threads holding up our society were already shockingly week.

It is time to go back to the beginning to start over. We need to stop trying to figure out how to save this pair of pants and rethink the whole thing. Go back to the beginning. Go back to the Creator, the Word, the Spirit. We need to establish what is most important and begin to elevate that. We need to throw our weight behind our values.

Here is a good place to start. When asked to say which is the greatest commandment, Jesus responded.

Matthew 22: 37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Fall

I love fall.

Crisp mornings. Sunny blue skies and golden leaves. The distinct smell in the air.

I love everything about it.

The pulling in of the harvest, small as mine might be. The making of jellies and the freezing of extra tomatoes. The planning for winter. The rush to get the outdoor projects done.

I even love the fight over who gets their way over the window. I like it open, even if it’s cold; my husband would prefer it shut, even in the heat of the summer. (Have no fear the battle rages on. We are each committed to our own view and there is no compromise in site).

After all the hustle that characterizes the ending of summer, it’s a brief period of quiet. If you live in Canada, it’s the season when you hold your breath wondering when winter will start this year.

At this time of year I sense the world pausing. A short beautiful pause before the next season. None of the hard work of spring, the rebuilding after winter. None of the long languorous days of fun and spirit of the summer. None of the harsh reality of winter. Simply a pause.

A green, yellow, gold, red pause.

Psalm 19: 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

After the storm

Imagine we are on a voyage. We are sailing on the ocean. There is a great storm, and we are blown off course. When the rain and wind die down, and we stop trying to keep the ship from going down, we become aware that our tools have all been damaged. Our radio, computers and usual charting devices have been destroyed by the storm.

What should we do at this point? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts – but here is what I think we should do.

We should find a safe harbour, never mind where it is or how familiar it is to us. Find a calm place to stop and drop anchor. Most important thing to have when sailing – an anchor. Find this anchor and use it now. Stop and pause, and let go of the fear from the night before. Let go of the anxiety of saving your life and those of your shipmates. You are here now – alive. Release the negative emotions and pause.

Get out the maps. Get out the compass and try to figure out where we are. This is the only way forward. We have to stop and take stock. We can’t start sailing without figuring out how far off course we now are. We have to establish where we are and how best to get to our destination.

God is the anchor. The Bible is the map. Our inner conscience is the compass. Pause and pull out what tools we have left.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Lessons from life

I got a call last week from someone, I haven’t seen or talked to in years. She was ‘concerned’ about my political stance. Not sure how she knows what it is, as she never actually asked me about it. She just knew. The worst part was a subtle disapproval of me as a Christian. My politics are different, therefore I wasn’t understanding Jesus, and I am not really a Christian.

This was upsetting to say the least. I know many people with whom I have different politics, but I have never done anyone the disservice of presuming they are not a member of His kingdom.

Then I started to think of my Grandmother. She befriended the people no one else valued. She stayed connected to the woman whose extramarital affair broke up more than her own family. She stayed friends with the person who let alcohol drag her from the centre of polite society. She loved the unlovable. She may not have approved of their life choices, but she loved them anyhow.

Why? That wasn’t her job. Just as it isn’t my job to rank others on the ‘Christian’ scale. It is not my job to condemn others over disagreements in policy. Or to judge people who make different life choices.

Let us not let our fervor for God or what we think as the ‘right’ way tempt us. We have no right to assume the position of judge. When we do so, we are claiming the position of God – something that even Jesus was unwilling to do.

James 4: 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Fireworks

We have had the opportunity to see several lovely displays of fireworks this summer. I’m always thrilled with fireworks. Such a glory of light in the dark sky. It is always wonderful to see how much the kids enjoy it also.

This year as I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder, if this is what man can create what would God do? What did the creation of the world look like? What wonder and glory were revealed and displayed as he spoke the world into being.

One day we may know. For now, I can only presume it would be more awe-inspiring than I could handle. Like Moses, I would likely have to hide my face from the sheer magnificence.

The light of men

The other night I had to go to the bathroom. I normally walk around with the lights off, but I had something stuck in my throat, so I turned the light on to take a look. It took me a few seconds before my eyes adjusted to the light. I took a look, couldn’t see anything, had a drink of water and turned to go back to bed. I now staggered in what was complete darkness. By the time I got back to my bed my eyes were starting to adjust again and I could see a little.

As I crawled back into bed, I thought about Jesus calling himself the light. What does this mean? How often do we consider how we interact with light.

Sometimes light is unbearably bright. We all know not to look directly at the sun – it’s intensity will blind us. And when we move from a bright sunny day into a dark space we feel blinded by the darkness. Light isn’t always gentle or unobtrusive. Light can be shocking, both in its brightness and in its absence. It is a basic human need, but we still need to protect our eyes from it.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, He came in a form that we can see and understand. He came as a lantern that lights a path. But His true nature would shock us. We wouldn’t be able to gaze on him directly. His light is what defies the forces of darkness. His light is a weapon.

John 1: 4-5 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Draw on His strength

I love words. I like to discover the meaning or root of the word. This is something that has always interested me. Not spelling, I’m a dreadful speller, but words I love.

Lately I have described my feelings as discouraged. Meaning that I have been feeling defeated or down. I listened to a presenter discuss this word ‘discouraged.’ And I realized, for the first time (shocked at myself for not realizing this earlier) that discouraged is actually to lack courage. Wow! Mind blown. This isn’t how we use this word in our world.

I am not discouraged. I may be down, I may be out but I’m still fighting. Being frustrated and depressed is not the same as lacking courage.

Maybe you are facing troubles too. Maybe you are feeling isolated and alone. The good news is, our courage and our strength doesn’t come from within us. We don’t have to be discouraged as we can draw on the power of the Almighty! We can be like David when he faced Goliath. He wasn’t sure because of his own strength, he was sure because God was with him.

Psalm 42: 11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.