In The fullness of Time

 From a formless void - the words of God
thundered creation in!

The universe split,

the stars blinked alive,
and time was about to begin.

From a timeless place
the works of God
became constrained by time and by space.
The seasons, the years,
and the minutes and days were then given to us by God’s grace.

From the mind of God, a world came alive,
designed and controlled by the King.
The land, and the sea, and the bird, and the beast,
are born,
and the world starts to sing.

But
from this sinless world, the man, made by God,
who was formed with a touch of God’s hand,
walked away from his God at a moment in time,
and caused sin to enter the land.

Then
From His gracious heart
the God of love determined there would be a way
to bring back mankind,
so He set forth a plan,
and He scheduled the hour and the day.

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem those that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  (Galatians 4:4 KJV) 

Joy! Where does it come from?

    Dear friends, the Bible study I've been attending focused on joy this past week.  I thought I'd reflect on that.

    Psalm16:11

You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand. 

True Joy only in His presence
True Joy on our earthly path.

True Joy we can reach and hold, eternally. 
 
When we wake in the morning and begin every day
by counting our blessings and kneeling to pray,
and giving up thoughts that breed discontent,
and accepting what comes as a gift – heaven sent;
then giving up wishing for things we have not
and making the most of whatever we’ve got
 
It’s only by knowing life’s pathways displayed
by our heavenly Father.  The map has been made.

Our Joy rains from heaven, it’s sent from above
then we bask in God’s presence and rest in His love.
And there’s joy in the reading of His ancient bard’s song
As we hear crystal melodies break with the dawn.
 
Yes, there’s real joy in God’s presence,
true joy on the way,
Holy joy we can hold
When God unwraps our day.

 

There is a Light Behind Those Clouds

Clouds  - They might be ominous rolling black clouds, heavy, air-filling grey clouds, or small white ones that blot out just a little bit of the sun.  All of them can hover over our lives and make us uncomfortable, worried, sad, or angry.

I  am sometimes overwhelmed by the power of the pain, the loss, the worries that others face – and I  want to fix it!  I expect that's true for you as well.

We want to fix things, but mostly we can’t.  

When it’s me, and I hurt, or when it’s you, and I see you hurt, I want to do something.  When our daughter was very young, she would always say “Suzy do it” and stamp her foot. Sometimes I'm like that, but  most of the time I can't do anything about the hurt.

So what do I do?  I need to remember that I'm not seeing what is behind other people's clouds either.  I'm not seeing the sun that God is shining just beyond or above these dear people - not seeing the  sunshine, because often my focus in just on the cloud.  

I will continue to care.  I’ll continue to want to fix it, but I can’t do it alone and neither can anyone else.  Even with us all together, loving each other, helping each other, we can’t erase the clouds.

But,

What if we were to take that pack of troubles, our troubles, and the things that trouble our loved ones, and each day, each minute, leave one piece in the care of God, our Father?  How would it be if we were to, each day, talk to Him about the pain and the worry, and leave one piece there in His hands.  

What then?  Maybe we would be able to peek around those clouds and see the sun, see the light.

Jesus is that light.

In John 8:12 Jesus said, I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

We can rest.

In Deuteronomy 31:8 we read "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Rest 

In the arms of the only one who CAN do all things