Prayer Requests and Gratitudes

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hide and Seek

~~~ Feast of the Immaculate Conception ~~~
 
~~~Genesis 3:9-15, 20~~~Psalm 98~~~Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12~~~Luke 1:26-38~~~
 
"Where are you?"
Here we are naked and hiding in the Garden of Eden... 
 
God is looking for you just as he looked for Adam and Eve that day in the garden.
He has chosen us to be his own.
Why would we feel the need to hide from him?
We would be foolish to even think that we could hide from God,
but nonetheless he calls out to us.
 
He wants us to come to him.
He want us to understand that even in our nakedness
we have no reason to hide from him.
 
Typical of our weak human nature Adam tries to give God excuses.
He tries to shift the blame from himself.
I have come to the realization in my old age...
no one else is to blame for our poor decisions.
 
Adam was the first to play the blame game...
the woman made me...
"The woman whom you put here with me--
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."
 
The woman quickly catches on to this game...
"The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
We frequently try to escape the consequences of our behavior.
 
It is impossible to win playing hide and seek with God.
He always wins...he can always find you no matter where you
try to hide.
 
He asks the question
"Where are you?"
hoping that you will come forward and come to him yourself.
 
God has given us everything that we could imagine to ask him for
including every spiritual blessing.
He chose us to be holy without flaws,
but our pride gets us into trouble.
It is pride that causes us to eat from the forbidden tree.
Once we have eaten the fruit we discover how silly it was for us
to think that what we wanted was more important than
what God desires for us.
 
Only nakedness before God can heal the soul from the
torment of pride.
In order to come out of hiding we must strip ourselves of pride
and stand before God as he created us to be in the Garden of Eden.
 
 
We have been adopted through Jesus
"...in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved."
 
Wherever you are  hiding; come back into the garden.
Join in the celebration...
dance around the tree of life singing his praises.
 
The light of the Lord shines down on the tree it bears fruit for the Lord.
There is no reason to hide...
You have been given unconditional love.
With this unconditional love comes mercy and forgiveness.
 
Nakedness before God reminds us of our need
to trust in his providential care.
Will you come out of hiding when God asks,
"Where are you?"

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