Clay in the Hands

God is holy

God is real

God is present

God is love

God is worthy

God is powerful

God is . . .

Some things to think about today.  You take it from here . . .

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This was the sight God blessed this part of the world with this morning.  It made me think of this passage from Lamentations 3:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

God never leaves us and we can count on the fact that each day brings new blessings – we just have to looking.

Look for God’s hand today – in the smile of a person as you pass them in the hall – in a phone call you receive – or maybe in the sunrise!

Be blessed!

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Have you ever started the week as tired as you finished the last one?  Yesterday was a very long day – a good day, but long.  I sat down at my desk this morning and my first thought was “Wow, I’m tired!”  My second thought was that I don’t have time to be tired this early in the week.

But some weeks are just like that for all of us.

Here is how I am coping this morning.  Last night we looked at Isaiah 43 in our evening service.  In the first 7 verses of that chapter, we find amazing encouragement and confidence.  God is speaking.  The Message translates it this way:

Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.

Regardless of how tired you may feel this morning or how overwhelming this week may appear at this point, rememberer, God’s got this!

Be blessed today!

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There is a place in every person where the true self resides.  A place where all masks are hung on a tarnished hook by the door.   A place no one knows except that person that resides there – that person and the Other.

We can’t explain the reality of this inner most place but from our core we know it is true – we know it exists – we know we exist.

That is why Psalm 42 resonates with us.  The psalmist says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God.”  And later in that same psalm we read, “deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”

There is a part of us that longs for something more.  We may put up a front or put on a mask and pretend we have it all together – that nothing can touch us.  But the reality is that in our deepest self, we long for God.  Deep calls to deep.

Today, call out to God.

No other can bring fulfillment.  No other can satisfy.

Be blessed!

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Last week I was headed to the hospital for a visit.  As usual, I was in a hurry.  As I approached my turn, I needed to change lanes but there was an elderly gentlemen creeping along beside me.  I had to slow down to a crawl to allow him to get far enough ahead of me to allow me to change lanes.

As I changed lanes and moved over behind him, a bumper sticker on the back of his car caught my eye.  It read, “Body Piercing Saved My Life.”  All kinds of comical thoughts ran through my mind – some of which I will keep to myself.  The first, and most logical was “I really don’t want to think about that!  That is one mental picture I would rather not have.”

But then I began to wonder about the sticker itself.  What state would a life have to be in that poking holes in one’s flesh would bring salvation?

At the risk of taking a pretty funny life experience and over-spiritualizing it I would like to make one observation.

It is true that in each and every life, salvation is needed.  But there is no amount of money, fame, power or body piercing that will bring it about.  Salvation can only come through belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God and the savior of the world.

But I have to admit, thinking about that picture of seeing an elderly gentlemen in a car with a bumper sticker like that still brings a smile to my face!

Be blessed!

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Here we stand at the beginning of a new year.  I always find this experience refreshing and at the same time intimidating.  As I look back on 2012, I see many, many things that went well – areas in my life and ministry where I can see God truly blessed.  I can also see things that didn’t turn out the way I planned.  But nonetheless, here we are at the beginning of a new year – a fresh start.

We are standing at the trailhead of a journey marked by a calendar – experiences that will come in measurements of days and weeks and months.

I find it a bit intimidating.  But this morning in my prayer and reading time, I focused on one verse found in 1 Peter 1.  Verse 13 says this:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The author tells us, his readers, that we should prepare our minds for action.  This isn’t a time to sit back and let things “just happen.”  We have to be intentional – we must have a plan.  Otherwise, we will get to the end of this year and realize we accomplished nothing.

But before we allow ourselves to become too high and mighty, we must also remember what the verse says next, be self controlled – putting all our hope in Jesus and the grace we will receive when we make him known.

While we are to be actively and intentionally working to grow and move and succeed, we must also never forget that our hope of success rests not in our abilities but in Jesus.  Our focus should be on following him and making him known.

If we do that, it is going to be a great year!

Be a blessing today!

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