rainsbows on the floor

I was headed out to preach in a friends church two hours away. As I got dressed my message ran through my head bringing memories of peoples faces, smells, and God's faithfulness.

I was lost somewhere in myself when a little piece of rainbow on the floor caught my eye.
It was the size of a dime,
almost under our bed.

I've learned to ask God in these A.D.D.  "Lord, what is it you you are showing me?

...look for my presence and my promise in the places you least expect it. I am here already.

I did,
and he showed me,
and as always,
it was not what I expected.

As were getting ready for the service in the rented hall of a small, inner city Kenyan Church I began talking with Judith, the deacon. She was from Kenya, and had been trained by Church Army. I explained that I was Church Army too and she lit up with joy. She did not know that Church Army was in America! She thought there were only three Church Army workers in the country.  I was her promise.

And she was mine. I had come to bring the message and as always, God showed me where he was already working; in a lovely woman named Judith, who had a passion for Jesus, and an overwhelming desire to tell all those with breath of his love and mercy. God was before me.

That is the funny thing about light;
It has to arrive before you can see it,
doesn't it?
 

I will go before you
    and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
                         Isaiah 45:2

Can we fix it? No we can't!

I had a professor in Seminary who looked out on our faces with this little smirk he would get. It would creep up at us underneath his mustache and whenever I saw it I knew that we would all soon have our spiritual nickers in a bunch.

You know, you are all saved by works. 

(a pause as the smirk grew and eyebrows furrowed)

What???

Our school was reformed! We believed that we were saved by grace through faith, clearly NOT by works! Didn't he read Ephesians 2:8-9!? What is he talking about!

and then as he watched us all squirm he continued 

Yes, you have all been saved by works. 

GOD'S Works, and don't you ever forget it!

A collective sigh came over the class as we breathed and relaxed parts of our bodies. Whew, he did read the Bible, and moreover, He never let himself forget that he had been saved by the works of God. 

This was the problem of Israel, this is the problem for us. 

I've often said that one of the "downfalls" of the Reformation was just this; we understood that we had nothing to do with our gaining our salvation and so we lost the power of what had been done. This is what is written in James 2:26. He is calling out those who claimed to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and with a snarky flair! So, you think Jesus was the One, well good, so the the demons!

What we profess and what we believe are not always the same. We understand this when we say "our actions speak louder than our words. Yes, I know, we are all sinners, the church isn't perfect, yadda yadda, blah, blah. 

Look at your life. What does it read. 

Does it read "I was saved by my God's works" or "I was saved by my works"

Beauty and Beast...dog eats bear

It sounded like my daughter was being being abducted by aliens as I raced around the corner, my heart beating in my chest. My eyes locked onto her, sobbing, running towards me, burying her tear-streaked eyes into my chest wailing:

Daddy! Austin is trying to eat Bear!

I glanced up and over her head and there he stood, motionless, bear hanging limply out of the corners of his mouth. Our eyes met and he froze. I did not have to say a word. I walked to him purposefully, announced with all authority "bad dog", and took Bear out of his mouth without any challenge. 

I held my girl and we checked bear for damage. He was fine and as I stroked her hair and came to realize just how much that lump of faded, flattened stuff meant to her and as always God pulled on soul and spoke about his love. 

Let me share what he showed me: 

Bear was given to Olivia when she was born and we have no recollection where he came from, he has just always has been with us. When Olivia was two or so my wife heard a tip from a friend and tried to find another Bear as an precautionary measure. This failed miserably after we found out he was a "retired" Beanie Baby. Months of ebay seaching yielded a "close but no cigar" bear that Olivia tossed aside and named "more bear". 

Now please bear with me (pun-intended). The Biblical record tells us that after Adam and Eve disobeyed God they were expelled from the Garden and His presence. I have always understood this, as most of have and should, as  God having a bit of anger and frustration but today I can to feel a bit of the sadness too. We see and feel it in  Jesus' tears over the death of his friend Lazarus (John Chapter 11). God feels pain and sadness over loosing his crowned jewels of creation. God was not pleased that day, he was not just angry. He was grieved.

Beloved, you are God's Bear, loved and lost, covered in drool from the happenstances of life.

You are unique and irreplaceable.
You were snatched out of the mouth of death by Jesus who placed himself in there your stead.
He escaped death after three days and wants to draw you from the tomb of death also.
He stopped at nothing to get you back (Romans 8:32).
Call out.
Now.
You are His Bear, he will run to you if you call on Him.
You will be made new.
I wonder. God says that he will wipe away every tear upon his return. Maybe, perhaps, he is talking about the tears he has shed over our death and pain too.