Wonderful; Counselor; Mighty God; Everlasting Father; Prince of Peace...

Hey, Y'all,

Today's message (which we've obviously been trying to get out for a few days) is a verse that I heard several times during the various peri-Christmas services, and as is often the case it sounded familiar and yet brand new--funny how that works. It's Isaiah 9:6 which spoke to the birth of the long-promised Messiah several hundred years down the road (and it of course rang most triumphantly in Handel's "Messiah" over a millennium-and-a-half after that event :-)

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulders.
His name will be called
Wonderful,
Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.

I guess it was the names that struck me this time: Wonderful; Counselor; Mighty God; Everlasting Father; Prince Of Peace; all things I really need Him to be in my life--but maybe it's just me? :-)

You've been prayed for today...

Want direction? Do what you know you're supposed to do.

Hey, Y'all,

This thought is based on something I came across from PurposeDrivenLife.com--rang true (but I'm sure it's just me
:-)

Want specific direction from your heavenly Father? Do what you know God wants you to do. We often get so caught up in wanting to know a specific answer...I know you know the story: "I wish I could turn to a verse in the Bible and have it say, 'Hey, you, take this job and turn the other one down. Do this, not that.'" But here's the thing: there are already lots of things God wants us to do that are very clearly explained in the Bible. Like staying in a prayer conversation with Him constantly, or touching the people around you with a sacrificial love. Start doing those things and watch as God's voice becomes a little clearer in your head and heart.

Pretty cool (and a great reminder).

You've been prayed for today...

Doing The Right Thing

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST struck me over the weekend:

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
James 4:17

"The truth of the matter is you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."
Norman Schwarzkopf

Think about it...

You've been prayed for today.

Tearless Morning

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is a follow-up to the previous one--thanks Bud for passing this along (you did indeed share this with me before :-) and I agree, there is a definitely something inspired about many of these hymns--it's no accident that they're still being sung and touching people, in some cases hundreds of years after their composition. Powerful words...

"In addition to Isaiah's inspired words, I believe that George Matheson's beautiful words of promise were inspired as well: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (I rest my weary soul in thee ). They always come to my mind at the loss of a loved-one. It seems that I've shared Matheson's words with you before, but I will share them again. What a waking up morning that will be, my friend...

O joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain:
That morn shall tearless be.

In the interim, we can rejoice in the knowledge that He understands and surrounds us with His steadfast love and care during these times of loss and bereavement."

Thanks again for the reminder, Bud, and indeed, what a morning that will be: I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain: that morn shall tearless be.

You've been prayed for today...

Passing Through Deep Waters

Hey, Y'all,

Got some very sad news today: my friend Tim lost his father very suddenly and unexpectedly after a surgical procedure yesterday. Now, you've gotta understand, Tim and I (and our families) go way back (4th grade as a matter of fact), so it's a little stunning to have years of fond memories rendered suddenly, shockingly bittersweet by the passing of Tom--Mr. Peters, that is :-), he of the sly, quick wit and undisputed master-engineer of killer pizzas (funny, the first things that spring to mind, eh?); Tim and Vicki's dad; Joyce's husband; our family's friend.

Death touches us all, and as time marches inexorably on it seems to sting a little more, to be a little less abstract, a lot more personal. Just a few months ago I was bemoaning with my friend Amanda (who'd also just lost her father very suddenly) how painfully ironic it is that all of the elegant treatises, all the well-reasoned arguments we've read and heard and embraced in sunnier times, leave us cold now, utterly hollow and devoid of meaning . It's no wonder that you hear the same phrase on a thousand lips: "I don't know what to say." What's worse, it's true: what is there to say in the face of such loss?

Funny too how the first passage that literally leaps out at me doesn't promise relief from the pain. Nope. This passage doesn't even begin to fix the problem--nothing this side of heaven can--but what it does do is reassure us that our God is very aware of our pain, that He cares deeply for us, and He gives His word that He is never, ever going to leave our side as we patiently endure and pass through these excruciatingly difficult times, as we must.

I suppose that's why this text (Isaiah 43:2) is always the first one I reach for (almost frantically, I realize) while my mind recoils from and tries desperately to come to grips with this profound a loss. I think it's indelibly engraved in my head and heart because when we hurt we want loved ones nearby--what they say or fail to say is completely immaterial; we just want them close by.

"When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not consume you."

I AM with you . And in the verses immediately preceding and following it reads: "This is what The Lord says, He who created you, He who formed you...For I am your God, your Savior." I will be with you.

That's the kind of God we need. And that's the kind of God we have. A God who, knowing full well what He was about to do, was nevertheless moved to tears at the scene of grief surrounding the death of His friend Lazarus. So Tim, Vicki, Joyce (can't tell you how hard it is to not call you Mrs. Peters :-), grandkids, family: words fail abjectly; I too join the chorus of, "I'm so, so sorry...I don't know what else to say." Other than to tell you that it's to that God, our God, that you're being prayed for, by many, and that earnestly.

Wisdom And Offense

Hey, Y'all,

Here's another one that struck me (especially after some conversations I've had with several of you over the past few weeks)--it's pretty practical if you actually think about it. In the NIV, Proverbs 19:11 sounds like this:

A man's wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

In the NLT is goes like this:

Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Not easy, I'll readily admit, but I'll also say that when I see it exhibited I want to be more like that. You?

You've been prayed for today...