God's Project

God's Project

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm 51:10-12 (NRSV)

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

My husband runs a track hoe. He is currently helping to lay the foundation for a new school. I love to watch him operate the machine; it is graceful and purposeful.

He knows just where he wants to start digging, and he slowly and purposefully digs in and lifts out what needs to go. He digs until everything that should be gone is gone and the area is smoothed and ready for its intended purpose. In this case it will be filled with water and used to handle runoff in the rainy season. Sometimes he digs trenches for pipe that will bring water in or remove sewage or storm water. “Every excavation has a purpose.”

In the same way, God knows exactly what needs to be removed or exposed to accomplish the divine purpose in our lives. God knows just how deep to go and where to put what is removed. God lifts up scripture and prepares it to be used as the foundation for faith. And what God puts in its place is living water, deeper insights into scripture, new habits that channel sin away from our lives. Though sometimes painful, God's excavation into our lives is always for our good.

Help us, Lord, to open ourselves to your holy work in our lives. Amen.

Susan Hammond

Head In The Sand!

Head In The Sand!

Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name (Isaiah 40:26, NLT).

Dear friends,
As a young man, I was a materialist and humanist, so I can identify with multitudes of men and women, young and old, all over world, who have little knowledge of God. To me at that time, success in life was measured by the accumulation of material possessions, honors, applause, and the praise of men.

The idea of God, or a Savior, or the Bible, had little place in my life. All through high school, college and in graduate school, on the extension faculty of Oklahoma State University, and later as a businessman in Hollywood, California, where as a young man I developed my own business, I was motivated by selfish goals and materialistic pursuits.

Then one day I first sensed that unseen hand of God in my life. I can only describe it as a sovereign visit from God. Through my mother's prayers and the insistence of an elderly couple, I was drawn to the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California. It was there for the first time in my life that I heard about the great Creator God of the universe who, according to the Bible, spoke and all of creation came into being. Scientists have recently reported that the Hubble telescope findings confirm 100 billion or more galaxies were created. To better understand what that means: This planet earth is like a grain of sand in our vast solar system, which is like a grain of sand in our galaxy, which is like less than a grain of sand in the vastness of all of creation.

Simultaneously, I discovered that my head had been in the sand -- the sand of mundane, selfish interests and temporal pursuits.

But there at that wonderful church in Hollywood, I was moved to look up, beyond my microscopic world, at the wonder of creation, behind which was an obvious Creator. And one day I met this One who, according to the Bible, came to this earth disguised as a slave in the greatest act of love the world would ever has ever known. He is Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus the Christ.

My life has never since been the same since I surrendered my life to Him.

Bill Bright

[The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population.]

Failure Is Never Final

Failure Is Never Final

"I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Jesus (Hebrews 13:5)

Many will know the story of how, on New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the annual Rose Bowl football game. In that game a man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California. Unfortunately he became confused and began running the wrong way. One of his teammates, Benny Lom, overtook and tackled him just before he scored for the opposing team.

This was during the first half. Everyone was wondering what Coach Nibbs Price would do with Roy Riegels in the second half. During the half-time break Riegels sat alone in a corner, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, put his hands in his face and cried like a baby.

Three minutes before the start of the second half Coach Price looked at the team and said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second."

Riegels never moved. The coach called him and again he never moved. Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that played the first half will start the second."

Reigels said, "Coach, I can't do it to save my life. I've ruined you. I've ruined the University of California. I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the stadium to save my life."

Then Coach Price reached out and put his hand on Riegels' shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back, the game is only half over."

Roy Reigels went back. Those Tech men will tell you they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played that second half.

And isn't that what God does for you and me? Time and again we blow it. We fail. We mess things up. We feel like such a failure. But Jesus is always there. He places a hand on our shoulder and says, "Get up. Don't quit. I am with you. You are forgiven. I love you and I will never leave you or forsake you no matter what!"

Actually, if we were to translate Jesus' words literally, they would read, Jesus said, "I will never, never, never, never, never (five times over) leave you or forsake you," or "I will never, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you."

As the saying goes, the only real failure is not to get up one more time than we fall or get knocked down.

Dear God, thank you that you love me and accept me just as I am -- warts and all, failures and all - and have forgiven me for all my sins and failures. I thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me. Please help me to learn and grow through all my mistakes and failures and little by little become the man/woman you planned for me to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

Just for Laughs & The Oil of Humor in the Machinery of Life

Just for Laughs & The Oil of Humor in the Machinery of Life

Just for Laughs

"Angels", explained by angels (Sunday School Children)

I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold.
Gregory, 5

Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.
Oliver, 9

It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.
Matthew, 9

Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.
Mitchell, 7

My guardian angel helps me with mathematics, but he's not much good for science.
Henry, 8

Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from holy cows!!!
Jack, 6

Angels talk all the way while they're flying up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.
Daniel, 9

When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado.
Reagan, 10

Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter.
Sara, 6

Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter.
Jared, 8

All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.
Antonio, 9

My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.
Katelynn, 9

Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child get over it.
Vicki, 8

What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them.
Sarah, 7


The Oil of Humor in the Machinery of Life

When life's responsibilities are pressing it is easy to forget how to rejoice. Our natural response to trouble is to murmur and complain, to become solemn and go through life with a wrinkled forehead. We complain there are children's bikes in the driveway instead of rejoicing that there are children. We murmur about the menu instead of rejoicing that God has provided food.

One evening when I was a boy our family was trying to adjust to an unfamiliar town, a troubled church, mild culture shock, and inadequate pay. We sat down to a meal and everyone could tell that mom and dad were under pressure. One of my little brothers reached for something without asking first and knocked over his drink.

Instantly Dad sprang back from the table, knocking the chair over and striding from the room. The atmosphere was charged with tension and we all sat and looked around in uncomfortable silence. No one spoke. We wondered if Dad would come back to eat. In a minute we heard noise and then Dad showed up in the door. He was dressed in a full-length rain coat. We all burst into laughter. Dad sat down and we enjoyed a meal together laughing and talking at the same time.

Are you solemn, sober, sullen, or are you do you take the lead in rejoicing when things are dark and difficult? Do you lift people's sights to God and to good when things are hard? You can if you chose to. God will help you.

Ken Pierpont

Halfway Healing

Halfway Healing

Mark 8:25 - Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (NIV)

I almost died of hepatitis in my last year of college. Somehow I had contracted it -- either as the result of the lack of food hygiene in the university canteen or by way of a chemical chlorine reaction to some prescribed medication. Whatever it was, I was at death's door, and I couldn't do anything to save my life.

I remember that my minister and an elder came to visit me. They were shocked when they saw me and consoled my wife Evelyn when the visit was over. They believed that I didn't have any chance of recovery, and I could hear the hopelessness in their voices when they prayed with me.

But recovery did come -- after three grueling months. It was a slow process, and I owed everything to Evelyn and to God for taking care of me. Healing came in stages, but not overnight. By the end of that summer, I was ready to begin work as an assistant minister.

Sometimes healing comes in stages, even with Jesus helping. Take the blind man, for instance, in today's gospel passage. He has three stages to experience before being cured. First of all, Jesus isolates him. Secondly, He makes some sort of mud paste to re-hydrate His eyes. Finally, Christ touches His eyes and that's when the man can perfectly see. It's like a Trinitarian process of healing, rather than an immediate one.

We all have people to pray for. We all have loved ones whom we want Jesus to heal. Sometimes it looks as though nothing is happening, but given time, we may see the long-term results of healing, recovery, and cure come to other people's lives. We cannot give up on faith and give in to frustration. We need to hold on to hope and to see healing as a process, as a package of recovery, and not some instantaneous divine reaction to our anxious prayers.

Lord Jesus, there are some situations in which we feel powerless and have no control. When we, or our loved ones, are suffering from illness, injury, or even addiction, we wish that everything would clear up quickly and completely. Grant us the patience to wait for healing and to remain hopeful in our hearts, especially during those moments and times when our anxieties, impatience, and frustration threaten to wear us down. In Your holy name, we make these prayers. Amen.

John Stuart

I fell into a Sinkhole

I fell into a Sinkhole

I gasped when I read in the June 10, 2005 edition of the New York Daily News, Blind Man Falls Into Sinkhole. I quickly scrolled down to catch the details. But when I learned he suffered no injuries except for minor scratches, I smiled. I continued reading the rest of the story, admittedly, with a tinge of amusement. I chuckled, but before you think I'm insensitive, let me explain.

I too lost my sight. And in the last twenty years as a sightless person, I've had my share of mishaps. Falling when I missed steps, diving into a fountain in a shopping center, tripping on countless curbs, getting into the wrong car, etc.... all part of being blind.

With the aid of a voice synthesizer to operate my computer, I read about this poor man's mishap. I naturally identified with him.

I also fell into a sinkhole-an emotional one when I initially faced the devastation of losing my sight. Unlike the man in the news, my fall left me with more than simple scratches. I fell hard, hit the bottom and found myself alone. Darkness and loneliness surrounded me. While the rest of the world walked on with their lives, I reached up for someone to help. No one could. No one saw my distress.

The more I tried to claw my way out, the more I sank back into hopelessness. Fatigued and drained from the futile attempts on my own, I sighed with defeat. I collapsed and let my body fall on the puddle of murky water of self-pity. It seeped through to my soul. I sat with my head hung low shivering in the coldness of my misfortune.

When giving up became my only option, I cried for help one last time. But this time, I called out to someone specific. I called to Jesus. I didn't utter fancy prayers. I just cried out to Him and simply asked Him to reach down to me. Then I waited.

I learned that prayer is a two-way thing. I needed to listen to His Word. I stopped my sobs that echoed through the hollow sinkhole of misery. When in silence, His voice was clear, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30).

Trusting in this promise, I held up my hand and He gently pulled me out. Warmed by His love, He brushed off the bitterness, blotted the spots of fear and even washed the stains of my sin. He heard my cry, my simple prayer and my desperation.

Even when I didn't know specifically what I needed, He filled my life with the light of His Word, showered me with His promises and clothed me with the garment of joy. He even sprayed a fragrance of confidence and reassurance that lingers to this day.

Father thank you for hearing my cry and for the new life I have in you. May I be a reflection of your radiant love.

Janet

THE GREATEST THING in THE WORLD is "LOVE"

THE GREATEST THING in THE WORLD is "LOVE"

THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not LOVE I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not Love, it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long, and is kind;

Love envieth not;

Love vaunteth not, itself is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly,

Seeketh not her own,

Is not easily provoked,

Thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, Love, these three; but the greatest of these is Love. - I COR. xiii

EVERY one has asked himself the great question of antiquity as of the modern world: What is the summum bonum - the supreme good? You have life before you. Once only you can live it. What is the noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?

We have been accustomed to be told that the greatest thing in the religious world is Faith. That great word has been the key - note for centuries of the popular religion; and we have easily learned to look upon it as the greatest thing in the world. Well, we are wrong. If we have been told that, we may miss the mark. I have taken you, in the chapter which I have just read, to Christianity at its source; and there we have seen, "The greatest of these is love." It is not an oversight. Paul was speaking of faith just a moment before. He says, "If I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. So far from forgetting, he deliberately contrasts them, "Now abideth Faith, Hope, Love," and without a moment's hesitation, the decision falls, "The greatest of these is Love."

And it is not prejudice. A man is apt to recommend to others his own strong point. Love was not Paul's strong point. The observing student can detect a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his character as Paul gets old; but the hand that wrote, "The greatest of these is love," when we meet it first, is stained with blood.

Nor is this letter to the Corinthians peculiar in singing out love as the summum bonum. The masterpiece of Christianity is agreed about it. Peter says, "Above all things have fervent love among yourselves." Above all things. And John goes farther, "God is love." And you remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Did you ever think what he meant by that? In those days men were working their passage to Heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments, and the hundred and ten other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ said, I will show you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these hundred and ten things, without ever thinking about them. If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law. And you can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." If a man love God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is the fulfilling of that law. "Take not His name in vain." Would he ever dream of taking His name in vain if he loved Him?

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Would he not be too glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection? Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God. And so, if he loved Man, you would never think of telling him to honour his father and mother. He could not do anything else. It would be preposterous to tell him not to kill. You could only insult him if you suggested that he should not steal -.how could he steal from those he loved? It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness against his neighbour. If he loved him it would be the last thing he would do. And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbours had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In this way "Love is the fulfilling of the law." It is the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christian life.

Now Paul had learned that; and in this noble eulogy he has given us the most wonderful and original account extant of the summum bonum. We may divide it into three parts. In the beginning of the short chapter, we have Love contrasted; in the heart of it, we have Love analyzed; towards the end we have Love defended as the supreme gift.

Henry Drummond
Published @ 1880