Wayfaring Stranger

 

Everyone

For the promise is for you and your children and all who are far off, 

everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.  Acts 2:39

Like the Days of a Tree

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the Lord.

Isaiah 65:17-25

The World's Fire is Bitter and Cold

 

She stepped in from the bitter cold, from the outside fires of the world to the inner quiet of the cathedral. Would she be accepted? By God, not men. Afterall, she came from the world. She had departed from the lie only moments before. Would the God of all creation really see her now? He smiled. At her. He reminded her it was He who took her away from the lie. It was His hand that pulled her out of the darkness. He had invited her here. 

She thought of those like her, praying for mercy, "For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name." (Isaiah 63:16) 

And here she stood in this place where she had been invited. For what reason? She did not know, but she was grateful.

Life

 

You have made known to me the paths of life.... 

Acts 2:28a

Jesus in Japan

 

Words of Jesus

 

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

John 14:18-19

John 13:34-35

 

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Tomorrow

 

There are many doomsayers online. Is that a word? I feel drawn away from  the predictions of woe. Some people claim to speak for God and they say, "Cower." They sing hopelessness, despair. But tomorrow is coming. What is it bringing with it? Something good, I think. Something we need. What if all of this turns out right?