Divine Resemblance

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ John 14:7-14 ~~~

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...

How many times have you looked in the mirror and thought...

I am turning into my mother/father?

It happens too often for some...like my own children.

If I look at the baby pictures of my sisters and brothers

it is nearly impossible to tell us apart.

Family traits are definitely passed down

 from generation to generation.

There are computer software products that can take

 the image of a person and simulate their aged appearance.

There is even an app for your phone called 'aging booth'

 that will age your face right before your eyes.

Of course this is only for a few laughs.

When I think of God the Father and God the Son

it is not much of a stretch of the imagination

 to see the resemblance of the Son and the Father.

With God we look beyond the possible physical appearances

and go much deeper into the divine resemblance.

The Son is one with the Father in all ways.

...whatever you ask in my name, I will do,

so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

When you come to Jesus with prayers and requests

it is equivalent to going to the Father.

Jesus and the Father are one 

there is no need to pray to each one separately.

Which person of the Trinity you pray to most frequently

is a personal preference.

All that Jesus says and does is to glorify the Father...

they are one in the same.

Jesus doesn't have a daily briefing with the Father 

so that they can compare notes about you.

We do indeed have a most awesome God.

Jesus wants you to come to him.

Jesus wants to grant your requests...just ask.

Blessed with a listening Triune God.

~~~Peace~~~

What Does Old Mean?

~~~ Amos 9:11-15 ~~~ Psalm 85 ~~~ Matthew 9:14-17 ~~~

Why do we struggle so with change?
What does old mean to you?
This is what I have experienced as I get older.
Things that used to matter a great deal matter less.
Material things are not that important.
I value the relationship I have with family and friends so much more.
These few verses speak such simple beauty.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. 

In the past I have written about the old wine skins
in comparison with the new.

The beauty in aging is that you can
choose to see value in both the old and the new.

One problem the Pharisees had was their inability to see
 anything 'new' as having value.

Perhaps they were suffering from the fear of change.
Perhaps they felt that any change would
in turn change who they perceived themselves to be.

Change does not have to be embraced for the sake of change,
but we must be open to the new horizons
offered through change.

We may not like getting older, but it can be
less traumatic if we can see the 'silver lining'.

The Pharisees could not change their attitude and it trapped them in time.
They could not see Jesus as the light of hope that he was then.
He continues to be the very same light of hope for us today.

The Pharisees were complaining about Jesus and the disciples not fasting.
Fasting was a sign of mourning and as Jesus points out to them
a wedding feast is about celebrating.

So it is with getting older...do you want to mourn
 or do you want to celebrate?

I want to celebrate the good things in my life.
I want to anticipate the new opportunities for goodness in the future.

Appreciate what you have today.
Celebrate with those you love.

The more you give of yourself to others the happier you will be;
the happier you are the less likely you will be anxious about getting older.

We are blessed with all things new
brought to us through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

May you experience peace
where you are today.

What Shall We Become?

~~~ 1 John 2:29-3:61 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ John 1:29-34 ~~~

 

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

 

'...we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed...'

 

We are indeed God's children now...

even as an adult we remain a child in the eyes of God.

We often foolishly pride ourselves on how 'adult' we are...

Young teens long for the day when they are considered 'adults'.

As you age in years you become a 'senior'

Much later in those senior years people treat you like a child again.

You once again need help to care for yourself.

The day comes when you do not jump into the car,

 behind the wheel a take a little trip to the store.

 

To God none of this is of any importance...

to God as long as we are alive we are like a child to him.

He is always there

to care for us...

to protect us...

to welcome us home when we get lost...

 

...what we shall be has not yet been revealed...'

 

What shall we be when we really 'grow up' in the Lord?

What shall we be when we 'have come of age'?

Being a human adult encompasses many physical changes,

 as you know.

What we shall become with God

requires tremendous 'spiritual' soul changes.

The body will no longer be...

we will no longer just be children.

 

It is true that unless we become like little children

we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But nothing says that when you get to heaven

you will remain in a child like state.

 

Today we hear just the opposite to be true...

The truth is we do not know...

for it has not yet been revealed to us.

We are not ready.

We would not understand.

Just as there as many things a parent does not explain to their child

because they would not understand.

God cannot reveal many things to us while

we are in our 'child like' existence.

 

 

“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him..."

 

The Holy Spirit will be with us as we enter into our

true adulthood.

We will not be fully matured until we are with God.

Maturity comes when we are reunited with our creator God.

 

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

We all have the opportunity to experience this saving power of God

first hand in many ways.

 

 

 

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

 

Someday we shall experience what we shall become.

I am patiently waiting for that day...

in the mean time God has more work for me to accomplish.

For in our 'childhood' we can and should be

models of God's love.