Floods...Fire...Love...

~~~ 2 John 4-9 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 17:26-37 ~~~

...not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.

Whatever the situation God is all about love.
Nothing else really matters.
It seems so simple...
So why is it so difficult to practice every day?

God instructed Noah to build his ark out of love.
If there had been no ark God might have just let all things perish.
But God loves us too much to allow that to happen.
Had Noah not had great love for God he might have just ignored
the order from God to build a big boat.

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Everyone and everything outside the ark the day the floods
 came was swallowed up in the waters.
God saw the need to cleanse the earth...a new beginning.
 Lot was allowed to leave his city before God
found it necessary to rain down the cleansing fire.

Oddly enough God proves his love through water and fire.
Today we would call these natural disasters.
We have witnessed the massive destruction from hurricane floods.
We have seen the consuming flames of a forest fire;
reducing everything in its path to heaps of black ash.

All that matters is love.
None of our earthly possessions hold
any value beyond this world.
When we are reunited with God in heaven
 all that is will be love.

Noah could not look out and lament what had been left behind.
He built the ark as God directed...it was God's plan.
The day Lot was allowed to safely leave Sodom
God directed he and his wife to not look back.
We know that Lot's wife was so distraught over
what she was leaving behind.
She could not stop herself from taking one last glance.

This last glance cost her her life.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it...

The day will come when it will be our turn to take our last breath.
On that day hopefully we will have the necessary grace
 to be able to release all attachments to this world.

God may not give us time to build an ark
 or to escape the burning city.

Keeping love alive in our heart now helps us to realize;
nothing we have here on earth has any true value.

Love is the golden rule
  it sums up all of our wants and desires.

The law of the Lord is only four simple letters...
L-O-V-E.
This is easy my friends...don't make it complicated.

~~~Peace~~~

How Strong is Your Faith?

~~~ Isaiah 7:1-9 ~~~ Psalm 48 ~~~ Matthew 11: 20-24 ~~~

"...the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind...."

"...Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!"

When thrust into turmoil you will undoubtedly be blown

off course

unless your faith is firm.

Just last week we had some local flooding close to our home;

this is one occasion when your faith needs to be firm. The overwhelming

 feeling of watching the water creep up your yard and gradually

seep into your house. Within a couple hours some had water entering

their house as if nothing was to prevent it from swallowing

up the whole property.

No matter what your age there will always be something

that makes you tremble in the depths of your heart.

There will always be the unknown that can catch you off guard.

The fact is no matter how hard we may try we are just not capable

of creating every possible scenario in our heads.

It is probably better for our mental and emotional health

that we not be able to conjure up all of the possibilities

that we may encounter.

I have heard people wish they knew their future.

I believe if we could see the future we would not have the stamina

to develop the stronger faith required.

We would become overwhelmed or even paralyzed at what the

future had in store for us.

It amazed me that even storms far away can effect you where you are.

Even when you cannot see the storms...they are not yet on your radar screen...

they still send out far reaching ripples.

Those who have firm faith find the strength to continue

in spite of the storms of life.

In many cases they are able to extract good in the midst of their trials.

Often when we witness the trials of others the fallout is a stronger

commitment in our own faith.

There can be no resurrection without death.

No rainbow without the dark rain laden clouds.

No fruit without the fading shriveled blossom.

No delicate butterfly without the earth bound caterpillar.

Sometimes we must have our faith tested in order to validate its

existence to ourselves.

Faith is not seen with the naked eye it must be a like a drenching rain

which chills to the bone.

Pray for a faith strong enough to help you weather the worst of times

even as you experience the good times.