"You're the One"
Last night, I listened to a Mother tell the story of her prodigal son. And I heard her heart in every word as she walked back to his first steps away from the place of safety, of warmth - home, and she gave the condensed version of how many times he had come back, vowed to do better, and fell back. I heard her hopefully telling of his return again a while back, and how since then he was living a changed life. Amazement leapt out in the words she used to describe the transformation. Excitement pressed hard behind every word she used to describe just what he was doing, who he was living with, and how he had come back to God.
"I've been asking God to show me He was real for 15 years," he had said to her - "and He has!"
"And I've been praying for you every day for 15 years," she answered.
He might have thought that his mother didn't love him, because she had told him his behavior would lead to ruin and despair. But God knows she never stopped.
There are times when I really don't understand how people can look at God and see anger, and bitterness - seeing Him as always looking to hurt, to punish, to extract vengeance for people's sins.
If ever there was a people on earth that deserved a good Old testament "smiting" it was the people of Israel. If you've ever had a child cut up at the mall, or had to drag them away from the cereal in the supermarket and had them go limp and start screaming - right in front of some people you work with; well, just imagine a whole group of people that are your chosen ones, doing that all over the known world all the time.
My tendency was always to walk away from my kids when they did amazingly embarrassing things, then walk back saying, "wonder whose kids those are? Someone should really do something." :)
But not God.
I won't drop the whole 9th chapter of Nehemiah on you (that's Sunday's sermon), but here's a snippet.
16But they, our ancestors, were arrogant;
bullheaded, they wouldn't obey your commands.
17They turned a deaf ear, they refused
to remember the miracles you had done for them;
They turned stubborn, got it into their heads
to return to their Egyptian slavery.
And you, a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
Incredibly patient, with tons of love--
you didn't dump them. Nehemiah 9 (The Message)
God never will. He won't walk away, give up, pretend you're not His, or bring out the smiting tools. He loves you. He's proved that over and over. The only real way we can return that love is to love Him back. How?
Give Him your life. Your everyday walking around, stumbling, bumbling life. Decide today you are going to love others the way God loves you. Spend time with God. Hang out with His people. Learn how to love Him, and them better. He's right where you are. You're the one He's come to see.
Grace!
David
A Glimpse of New Hope is my attempt to share the hope I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Should you no longer wish to receive it, or find that you have received it in error, please write me at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I will immediately remove you. Past "Glimpses" are archived at www.newhopevalp.org Thanks and God bless, David Wilson
Friday, June 03, 2005
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
You Have To Want To Hear It
"I've made myself available
to those who haven't bothered to ask.
I'm here, ready to be found
by those who haven't bothered to look.
I kept saying "I'm here, I'm right here' Isaiah 65:1 (The Message)
One of the biggest blessings I ever received was being placed so near the ocean. To those of you who know me exceedingly well, that might come as a shock, given my absolute belief that there are sharks who see me as a Krystal Hamburger, Whopper, ( ___________ insert your favorite fast food here) and lie awake nights dreaming of the day that I will present myself on their table.
Ain't gonna happen boys and girls. Try the sushi.
Yet almost every morning, as I walk along the road that parallels the bay's shoreline, I am in touch with the ocean. Over the years, I've developed some ability to see what is happening there too. From the blue heron standing almost motionless and silent as he waits for breakfast, the loud chatter of the gulls as they discuss the morning's catch, the screech of the osprey as he calls to his mate, I'm able to look into the life of the sea.
All those sounds are easily picked out of the background noise though. And there is noise. Almost every morning, the US Air Force reminds us that they are flying jets by sending one to the end of the runway and asking the pilot to make sure the afterburners work. And in the land of blue tarps, you can be sure to hear a hammer hitting a nail somewhere. Then add the neighbors leaving for work, and it is very rarely quiet.
Still, every now and then, if you are listening for it, you'll hear a sound that to most people wouldn't mean a thing. It's not unusual in itself, in fact, throughout this spring's pollen wars, I've heard variations of it hundreds of times. People at church, at school, all have been coughing.But when I heard that this morning as I walked along the shoreline, I didn't turn to look and see if someone was on the front porch of the home I had just passed.
I quickly turned to the water, just in time to see a dolphin's fin slice through the waves. He had just come up for air, and cleared out the water with a cough. As he rose again, I saw three more alongside their mate.
It's one of my favorite things to see in all the world, and I'd have missed it, if I didn't come to the shoreline every day knowing what I wanted to hear, and knowing that at any given moment, I could hear it and know that a dolphin was near.
It's funny how things like this always make me think about God.
But I know that He wants to be seen, to be heard - to be found. He's pointed to that longing for relationship in so many ways. Given that, I wonder every day as I pray for heaven to come down here, how many are listening? How many really want to hear His voice?
Can I ask you a question?
Do you really want to hear from God?
You can be honest, it's just you and your PC here. If not, there's probably a reason. Maybe some things you know He wouldn't like to know about you. So you think that like your friends, your family, your Boss, it's better if you don't let on what you fear, what you are failing at, or where you doubt.
Well - He knows all that. And He loves you anyway. Doesn't mean He doesn't want you to be right with Him - He does - because He knows better than we do what's best for us. But He's willing to let us learn, and grow, and fall, and get up, and fail, and get up, and live and love. And forgive us, and give us the strength to change.
But you've got to want to hear you're loved.
You are loved.
by
God.
It's called...
Grace!
David
PS- If you ever have questions about what I've written or about God, or whatever I can help with, just drop me an email. Thanks again.
A Glimpse of New Hope is my attempt to share the hope I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Should you no longer wish to receive it, or find that you have received it in error, please write me at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I will immediately remove you. Past "Glimpses" are archived at www.newhopevalp.org Thanks and God bless, David Wilson
"I've made myself available
to those who haven't bothered to ask.
I'm here, ready to be found
by those who haven't bothered to look.
I kept saying "I'm here, I'm right here' Isaiah 65:1 (The Message)
One of the biggest blessings I ever received was being placed so near the ocean. To those of you who know me exceedingly well, that might come as a shock, given my absolute belief that there are sharks who see me as a Krystal Hamburger, Whopper, ( ___________ insert your favorite fast food here) and lie awake nights dreaming of the day that I will present myself on their table.
Ain't gonna happen boys and girls. Try the sushi.
Yet almost every morning, as I walk along the road that parallels the bay's shoreline, I am in touch with the ocean. Over the years, I've developed some ability to see what is happening there too. From the blue heron standing almost motionless and silent as he waits for breakfast, the loud chatter of the gulls as they discuss the morning's catch, the screech of the osprey as he calls to his mate, I'm able to look into the life of the sea.
All those sounds are easily picked out of the background noise though. And there is noise. Almost every morning, the US Air Force reminds us that they are flying jets by sending one to the end of the runway and asking the pilot to make sure the afterburners work. And in the land of blue tarps, you can be sure to hear a hammer hitting a nail somewhere. Then add the neighbors leaving for work, and it is very rarely quiet.
Still, every now and then, if you are listening for it, you'll hear a sound that to most people wouldn't mean a thing. It's not unusual in itself, in fact, throughout this spring's pollen wars, I've heard variations of it hundreds of times. People at church, at school, all have been coughing.But when I heard that this morning as I walked along the shoreline, I didn't turn to look and see if someone was on the front porch of the home I had just passed.
I quickly turned to the water, just in time to see a dolphin's fin slice through the waves. He had just come up for air, and cleared out the water with a cough. As he rose again, I saw three more alongside their mate.
It's one of my favorite things to see in all the world, and I'd have missed it, if I didn't come to the shoreline every day knowing what I wanted to hear, and knowing that at any given moment, I could hear it and know that a dolphin was near.
It's funny how things like this always make me think about God.
But I know that He wants to be seen, to be heard - to be found. He's pointed to that longing for relationship in so many ways. Given that, I wonder every day as I pray for heaven to come down here, how many are listening? How many really want to hear His voice?
Can I ask you a question?
Do you really want to hear from God?
You can be honest, it's just you and your PC here. If not, there's probably a reason. Maybe some things you know He wouldn't like to know about you. So you think that like your friends, your family, your Boss, it's better if you don't let on what you fear, what you are failing at, or where you doubt.
Well - He knows all that. And He loves you anyway. Doesn't mean He doesn't want you to be right with Him - He does - because He knows better than we do what's best for us. But He's willing to let us learn, and grow, and fall, and get up, and fail, and get up, and live and love. And forgive us, and give us the strength to change.
But you've got to want to hear you're loved.
You are loved.
by
God.
It's called...
Grace!
David
PS- If you ever have questions about what I've written or about God, or whatever I can help with, just drop me an email. Thanks again.
A Glimpse of New Hope is my attempt to share the hope I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Should you no longer wish to receive it, or find that you have received it in error, please write me at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I will immediately remove you. Past "Glimpses" are archived at www.newhopevalp.org Thanks and God bless, David Wilson
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Got Grace?
My beloved bride watches a lot of different TV shows than I do. I'm not even sure she's looking forward to Monday's Steven Segall Marathon.
One of the types of shows she likes to watch takes a person who is "fashion challenged" and helps them present themselves in a much better light. Many times the person's whole attitude changes just because they feel as though they look better. But sometimes I get the feeling that deep inside, though their clothes have changed, they still are the same inside.
I was reading today about a guy who was totally sold out to one way of thinking. He had gone to school to learn more about that way, and graduated magna cum fanatic. Not content to let people decide what to do with their lives, he went around telling them how to live and throwing them in jail if they wouldn't do things his way. He had power and wasn't afraid to use it.
Funny thing though, he didn't impress anyone with his speech, and as far as his looks went, he was a candidate for an extreme makeover. One writer wrote about him and said " he was small in stature, bald-headed, bow-legged, and barrel chested with meeting eyebrows and a slightly hooked nose." Can anyone say "unibrow"? Yet he was having a ball kicking people around until he met Jesus.
That meeting changed everything. The guy even changed his name. Now Paul, who was driving people away from Jesus with the power of the law behind him, began calling them back to him with a word he had never used before.
Grace.
His letters would begin with grace, and end with grace. Paul never got over what God had done for him, and when he thought about it the first word that came to his mind was...
Grace
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace.
2 Cor 1:2 (NLT)
Over and over you read that verse. Different churches, different times, but Paul had the same prayer for each of them - that God would give them grace.
Paul never ever got over grace. After getting blindsided by Jesus' grace he stopped worrying about his life, his work, even whether he lived or died. All he cared about, all he lived for, was to spread the good news that God's grace was available to everyone.
Even angry, bitter, power mad, short, bald-headed, bow-legged, barrel-chested uni-browed, hook-nosed men like him.
Everything changed when Paul met grace.
Oh, and afterwards, he was still short, still bald-headed, still bow-legged, still barrel chested, hook nosed and uni-browed. But I left off the last line that the ancient biographer wrote in his journal about Paul. Yes, he wrote all those unflattering adjectives, but then he wrote...
"full of grace."
That sort of change will do a body good. It's a makeover of the soul.
Got grace?
David
A Glimpse of New Hope is my attempt to share the hope I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Should you no longer wish to receive it, or find that you have received it in error, please write me at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I will immediately remove you. Past "Glimpses" are archived at www.newhopevalp.org Thanks and God bless, David Wilson
My beloved bride watches a lot of different TV shows than I do. I'm not even sure she's looking forward to Monday's Steven Segall Marathon.
One of the types of shows she likes to watch takes a person who is "fashion challenged" and helps them present themselves in a much better light. Many times the person's whole attitude changes just because they feel as though they look better. But sometimes I get the feeling that deep inside, though their clothes have changed, they still are the same inside.
I was reading today about a guy who was totally sold out to one way of thinking. He had gone to school to learn more about that way, and graduated magna cum fanatic. Not content to let people decide what to do with their lives, he went around telling them how to live and throwing them in jail if they wouldn't do things his way. He had power and wasn't afraid to use it.
Funny thing though, he didn't impress anyone with his speech, and as far as his looks went, he was a candidate for an extreme makeover. One writer wrote about him and said " he was small in stature, bald-headed, bow-legged, and barrel chested with meeting eyebrows and a slightly hooked nose." Can anyone say "unibrow"? Yet he was having a ball kicking people around until he met Jesus.
That meeting changed everything. The guy even changed his name. Now Paul, who was driving people away from Jesus with the power of the law behind him, began calling them back to him with a word he had never used before.
Grace.
His letters would begin with grace, and end with grace. Paul never got over what God had done for him, and when he thought about it the first word that came to his mind was...
Grace
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace.
2 Cor 1:2 (NLT)
Over and over you read that verse. Different churches, different times, but Paul had the same prayer for each of them - that God would give them grace.
Paul never ever got over grace. After getting blindsided by Jesus' grace he stopped worrying about his life, his work, even whether he lived or died. All he cared about, all he lived for, was to spread the good news that God's grace was available to everyone.
Even angry, bitter, power mad, short, bald-headed, bow-legged, barrel-chested uni-browed, hook-nosed men like him.
Everything changed when Paul met grace.
Oh, and afterwards, he was still short, still bald-headed, still bow-legged, still barrel chested, hook nosed and uni-browed. But I left off the last line that the ancient biographer wrote in his journal about Paul. Yes, he wrote all those unflattering adjectives, but then he wrote...
"full of grace."
That sort of change will do a body good. It's a makeover of the soul.
Got grace?
David
A Glimpse of New Hope is my attempt to share the hope I have found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Should you no longer wish to receive it, or find that you have received it in error, please write me at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I will immediately remove you. Past "Glimpses" are archived at www.newhopevalp.org Thanks and God bless, David Wilson
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