Promise

I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your 

land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

Isaiah 60

Psalm 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth 

give way and the mountains fall into the heart 

of the sea, though its waters roar and foam 

and the mountains quake with their surging. 

Question

Have you ever been

the best thing

that ever happened to someone?

A Rich Man

What else is there?

Artisans painted my ceiling. I flew them in. I am a rich man. I am the epitome of success. I am philanthropic. I am loved. I am liked. Adored. Held to high esteem. I use strange words to be intriguing.

It's not enough.

Why isn't it?

I lay on my back and gaze at the sky, trying to look through it. I have a friend who suspects there is something on the other side. 

Is that where they hide enough?

In a pocket of terror, impatience, and not caring, not really worrying what will happen, in a flash, I ask. What is it? What am I on the hunt for? I shrug. And what is on the hunt for me? I laugh, outwardly, but inside I am crying. Please, God, be real.

And then, suddenly, unexpectedly, though I'd hoped, and with a flash like mine, like mine, I see.

Oh no. The simpletons can't be right. You can't be that God. Not Him!

But He is. The God of the Jews. The Christian God. Jesus. I thought I knew everything, but I did not know this. 

Finally, though, I know. And my life will never be the same overstuffed emptiness again. I won't ever be that again. I am weeping now, a mix of relieved and overwhelmed, free and aware of all that I have been freed from.

A Troubled Heart

It rained. All of heaven swept down upon him. He stepped inside for shelter from the onslaught. His homemade covering was little protection. He was just a small boy carrying a shield of his own making. It was held together 
with what he could find in the world around him. It was 
frail. Temporary. Flimsy. He needed something stronger.

The Cathedral was gold, inside and out. Also flimsy. Also temporary. It was made of the world around them, though it was beautiful. They needed something stronger.

And there it was, surrounding them, a temple of the brotherhood of man. This one was not made of the things of this world, but the things of God. 

The whole place was armor. A golden shield like his, made of the people who worshiped there and everywhere, a weapon that brings life not death. His heart wasn't troubled anymore, though he stood in the open for all the world to see and the rain still came down. It couldn't touch him.

Intercession

Small and hidden away, an intercessor 

prays for you. She rings the bells of 

heaven with her voice. Let your goodness 

be seen. Speak. Sing. Praise. Awaken. 

A whisper. A scream. 

Prayers are like lightning, shots in 

the dark, arrows into the heart of what 

separates us. They are a child's voice interrupting the disputes of adults. 

We have many disputes, our two lands, 

don't we? All of them are foolish. 

Suddenly, a wave roars this way, the 

sweeping move of every ocean, all at 

once from all directions. It is a shout 

to her whisper, a hush to her scream, 

and then she sees. She is praying for 

you, but you are praying for her.

Almost Christmas

Matthew 2:1-6

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 

“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 

For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

"'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Ezekiel 11:19-20

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Does Forgiveness Matter?

Jewel sings, "In the end only kindness matters." (Is this true?)

Matthew 6:15 

But if you do not forgive others their sins, 

your Father will not forgive your sins.

Do you know anyone who seems to hate everyone?

No small slight is forgotten. It is recalled, recounted, forever.

If you ask them about it you will be met with rage.

Small things. Medium things.

Something done to someone else.

If you are ever guilty, you are always guilty. 

It's not much, but enough 

to coil around a heart and choke the life inside. 

And let's not talk about me. 

(Do you ever remember a fault?)

Do these little things matter? Can unforgiveness drag you down? How far?