August 28th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=47fc3335bf3f0f69a329

Readings
Job 28:1-30:31
"God understands the way to it (wisdom), and he knows its place." - Job 28:23
2 Corinthians 2:12-17
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that come from knowing him. - 2 Corinthians 2:14
Psalms 42:1-11
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. - Psalms 42:11b
Proverbs 22:7

Reflection
The gift of love. Sometimes a hidden gift...sometimes a gift given that asks for no reward...sometimes a gift that receives no acknowledgment. But God understands in His ultimate wisdom this gift of Love.

God the Father cares for His children in such a way that He sees what is going on and gives His very life through His Son Jesus to His children. A gift of Love. A gift of Life. A gift of Grace. Oh how the stench of our sinful separation from the Father is made right in the wonderful fragrance of Love that spreads in every place just in our knowing Him!

Again and again in my response to this wonderful, wise, gift of Love will I praise my Father in the hope and help He has always given me.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, I see Your Love. I give You thanks for presence and help in my life. I give You thanks for all those times that I haven't recognized the presence of Your love in my life. You are my life and You are my love. ---Amen

August 27th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=22b57ba3980e9dd2e6b2

Readings
Job 23:1-27:23
"Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?" - Job 24:1
2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11
For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end-- 2 Corinthians 1:13
Psalms 41:1-13
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, for everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. - Psalms 41:13
Proverbs 22:5-6
Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. - Proverbs 22:6

Reflection
Do I have another minute for God? All the time I spend in my life doing other things...Do I have another minute for God? Even if I did, would it matter? Would it matter to God, if I spent another minute with Him? Or would another minute just insult Him and make Him mad?

Maybe the question should be...Does God have another minute for me? If the God of eternity spent another minute with me, would it matter? Would it matter to God? Would it matter to me? What is a minute in my lifetime?...But, wait a minute!...What is a minute in the lifetime of God?...Isn't a minute with God eternity? Let's see...one times eternity equals eternity I think.

No doubt, I have a minute for God...but way more importantly I want God to have a minute with me...it makes all the difference...let's see...my minute in my lifetime...verses God's minute in His lifetime...

Thanks be to God, he gave much more than a minute for me...through His Son Jesus Christ...He gave a lifetime...Thanks be to God...I can freely give a lifetime too, through the grace of Jesus.

Got a minute?

Prayer
A minute...a lifetime...I give You eternal thanks. I give You eternal glory. I give You eternal praise. A minute...a lifetime...You gave me Life. You gave me Jesus. You gave me eternal life. Thanks be to God, this minute, the next minute, today, tomorrow and forever. ---Amen

August 26th - Reflection

Reflection
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=615416f86f9ab5b03479

Readings
Job 20:1-22:30
Look at me, and be appalled, and lay your hand upon your mouth. - Job 21:5
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. - 2 Corinthians 1:10-11
Psalms 40:11-17
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great is the LORD!" - Psalms 40:16
Proverbs 22:2-4

Reflection
Gifts from God freely given. I pick up my gift and begin to use that gift as I have planned. How often to I fail to stop and realize the source of my gift. Even when I realize the source of my gift, I convince myself that I have been given this gift to use to bring glory to myself.

Then in my human flesh, I stumble or an accident takes place, or just life happens that seems to take away all the joy and ability to use this gift God has freely given me. My plans are ruined. I am forced to stop and take a look at things. It seems a roadblock is placed in the way of using this gift God freely gave.

I go to God with prayers and questions of why?...why me?...why now? And He answers...it's not about that...the gift given...bring glory to God...the gift is much more than what you see...the gift is much more than what you do...the gift is My Grace...the gift is Life...I AM Life...receive that gift and know what it really is...receive that gift and Live that Gift fully to My glory...receive that gift and struggle with it and give your life to me...through the Gift.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, You graciously have given me physical gifts that turn into Spiritual Gifts. All the the Loving, Dying, Resurrected, Gracious Life of Jesus. Thanks be to God! Send me this day with the gifts You have given that I may use them to bear witness to Your Gracious Life freely given. ---Amen

August 25th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=978899a24be256615488

Readings
Job 16:1-19:29
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! - Job 19:25-27
1 Corinthians 16:1-24
Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
Psalms 40:1-10
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. - Psalms 40:3a
Proverbs 22:1

Reflection
One more second chance. How many times do I come back for one more second chance. Fall to my knees in sin and beg for one more second chance. But I know that my Redeemer lives. When I fall to my knees, I know that He hears and heeds my plea.

Then those gracious words of forgiveness. How those words put a new song in my mouth. How those words make me bold to stand up strong and to go into His Kingdom, renewed in His love, to serve Him and those He gives to me, today, tomorrow and into eternity.

One more second chance. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, here I am again, about to go back into Your Kingdom. Please grant me one more second chance at living the Love You have placed within me. Please grant me the opportunity to show the compassion You have shown to me. Please grant me the time to do Your will. ---Amen

August 22nd-24th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=9d93af2ad9603af266dd

Readings
Job 4:1-15:35
"As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause. He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number." - Job 5:8-9
1 Corinthians 14:18-15:58
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. - 1 Corinthians 15:49
Psalms 37:30-39:13
Deliver me from all my transgressions. - Psalms 39:8a
Proverbs 21:27-31
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the LORD. - Proverbs 21:30

Reflection
We have all fallen to sin. Fallen to sin as leaders, fallen to sin as followers; we have all fallen to sin. This sinful being, made from the dust of creation is being recreated into something new and marvelous. All fallen to sin, but at the same time we can all be free from that sin that entangles us.

A Body from heaven chose to come to this earth and show us the way. The way the leads to the cross. The cross where we all one day will gather with our sins on our backs. A cross where we will see one another and know that we have all fallen to sin. At the foot of His cross we will lay down our cross and give our lives away. Give our life of sin and the entanglement it has created away. Lay our cross at His feet and in the presence of those who have come to the foot of that cross with us, we will give our lives away. And then...

In a miraculous moment...our earthly body will change...we will begin to notice that heavenly body...that spiritual body...we will be happy and free from sin and changed. We will gather at the foot of that cross with our brothers and sisters in sin and see new spiritual bodies of life and love and joy spring from the Lord of Life. We will see Life leap from His cross and into a New Kingdom created and adorned with Jesus Christ as the jewel that sparkles the Life of God we all await in that heavenly spiritual body we have been graciously given.

All because of a Spiritual Body that chose to put on an Earthly Body and become Jesus our Lord and Savior. A Body that shows us the way. A Body that shows us how to love one another, even as we exist in our sin.

So, repent in your sin. Go to Him and kneel at the foot of that cross with your brothers and sisters in sin. He will forgive. Then turn from your sin and turn to Jesus and follow in his path in this new eternal life that leads back to the foot of that cross where we gather once again and change in a truly miraculous way into the spiritual body God freely gives.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, I come to You this day in my sin. I see Your awesome and wonderful love and seek Your forgiveness. Grant me, this sinful being, pardon from my sin. I seek to turn from my sin and sin no more. I seek to do Your will in Your Kingdom this day. I seek to be yours and to walk this eternal life You have graciously given to me as I struggle in this sinful world. I seek Your forgiveness at the foot of the cross. I look to a new day, when I will return to the foot of Your cross with my cross and be changed into that wonderful spiritual being as this body of sin and dust is changed and renewed into what You would have me be. In Jesus name, I come. ---Amen

August 21st - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=34ee0eeefb02b5592834

Readings
Job 1:1-3:26
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." - Job 1:21
1 Corinthians 14:1-17
Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. - 1 Corinthians 14:1
Psalms 37:12-29
Our steps are made firm by the LORD, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the LORD holds us by the hand. - Psalms 37:23-24
Proverbs 21:25-26

Reflection
Would there, or could there, or even will there, be the day that the Church will come together, here on this earth, and unite around what we have in common, rather than divide on what we see as our differences? If the body of Christ came together and had two hands doing the same thing, and two feet going the same direction, and one heart of love for God and humankind; what a difference this world would be. As we strive to make this vision true, we still live in a world and a church that is divided. Is our division a means for us to talk and understand and listen to one another? Or is our division a means for coming together to listen, and seek to understand the will of God, and that direction in our lives?

Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there. Return to my mother's womb? Like Nicodemus, I ask the question..."Lord, tell me how I will return to my mother's womb?"

Maybe, just maybe, the answer is similar. Maybe God created me naked and fully dependant upon Him. I actually came from the womb of God my Mother and Creator. I live and flourish and try to make it on my own. But my sinful self soon comes to the realization that I cannot make it on my own. Even the clothes I put on and the thinking I place into my mind will not save me from sin, death and the devil. So I shed theses clothes of sinful selfishness. I shed these clothes of idolatry and come back to my God, my Mother, my Creator naked, and depend on Her gracious act of love to give me new life and a new unity and a new likeness with all humanity in the saving acts of Jesus Christ my Savior. Born anew finally into this new life from my Mother's womb I live in the unity and Oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church united by the life we have in common and the God we have in common. No longer divided by our differences but with all hands raised in praise and all voices singing praise to our God and King!

Thanks be to God! Raise your hands in praise and unity, now and forever.

Prayer
Lord, unite us in eternal praise with hands raised to Your glory. Unite us with hands outstretched in love to do Your will and Your work in this world You have placed us in this day. Unite us as Your Church throughout all time and place in the saving grace of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever. ---Amen

August 20th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=6b42a6fe9c8d360bcc3d

Readings
Esther 8:1-10:3
For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming on my people? - Esther 8:6a
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13
Psalms 37:1-11
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalms 37:4
Proverbs 21:23-24

Reflection
Faith, hope and love...You are a child of mine. Think about the children of this world; so vastly different, yet a thread of common love throughout each one. Each child created in the image of God yet all so different one from the other. Some children have been set in rich environments, some poor, some in peace, some in the midst of war. Children that begin in struggle and others that begin in the lap of luxury. Yet each and all called to the wonderful opportunity of being a "Child of God." Each child called and gifted. Each child specially placed in time and space by the will of God.

Faith, hope and love...In each circumstance at some time or another sin, death, illness and struggle comes into the life of each child. As children of God we are filled with faith and hope. We are all children of God. We all are privileged to be given the love of God. Every day as we rise, God fills us anew with His loving Grace and Compassion. He fills us, gives us what we need, and sends us to do the calling He has set before us, day after day. How will you, or how will I, respond? How will we respond as the corporate Body of Christ?

Faith, hope and love...You are a child of God...Take delight in God and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Faith, hope and love...You are a child of God...and the greatest of these is Love.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, You alone are the desire of my heart. Thanks for the gifts of faith, hope and love with which You fill me each day. Now as I go to serve You this day in Your Kingdom; may I clearly hear Your call that I may respond as Your Child of God...today, tomorrow and forever. ---Amen

August 19th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=c0bf1f910465ea9030a5

Readings
Esther 4:1-7:10
For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's family will perish, Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. - Esther 4:14
1 Corinthians 12:1-26
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. - 1 Corinthians 12:7
Psalms 36:1-12
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. - Psalms 36:9
Proverbs 21:21-22
Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor. - Proverbs 21:21

Reflection
For such a time as this...we were placed here in this place and time by our Creator for such a time as this. We have been called to action for such a time as this. We have been granted wisdom and understanding for such a time as this. We have been gifted with love and compassion for such a time as this. We have been put together in communion with one another for such a time as this. A fountain of life-giving water bubbles over within and beyond ourselves for such a time as this. Young and old, rich and poor, all walks of people and lives combined together for such a time as this. God calls us each one and gifts us each one in His glorious body of this Church for such a time as this. Let us give thanks and praise for such a time as this. Let us never squander an opportunity to live love in our midst for such a time as this.

Jesus saved each and every one of us for such a time as this.

Thanks be to God for such a time as this.

Prayer
Lord, you have made us and gifted us and called us each uniquely. Send us out boldly into Your Kingdom to live and act and love one another for such a time as this. ---Amen

August 18th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=5885000b368d998709bf

Readings
Esther 1:1-3:15
Every day Mordecai would walk around in front of the court of the harem, to learn how Esther was and how she fared. - Esther 2:11
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. - 1 Corinthians 11:19
Psalms 35:17-28
Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all day long. - Psalms 35:28
Proverbs 21:19-20

Reflection
The burden gets heavy at times. It seems as if the world caves in all around. How to deal with all of this? Love and care for family and friends and the worry begins to mount. Walk around the city and check on loved ones to make sure all is OK. Time goes by without an answer. Arguments and factions separate one from another. Who is in the right and who needs to change?

And then I finally collapse into prayer. My sinful self takes me a while to reach that moment. I fall and pray for help and confess to God that I can't do this on my own.

Sometimes the answer is slow to come and others times it is instant. Why do I wait so long to go to the Father? But then I feel it. I feel the burden lighten enough to go on. To move forward. Slowly, oh sometimes it seems ever too slowly, God steps in and heals. He heals me from the inside out and cleanses me and lifts the weight until I can walk once again. I know my Redeemer!

And praise and thanksgiving and honor and glory I sing to my Savior! I'm alive and well. I'm renewed and strengthened. I was made to lie down in green pastures while He restored my soul. My wonderful Shepherd and Savior loves me!

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, sometimes, I need pause. Sometimes You stop me in my tracks and cause me to lie down. You provide the rest from the burdens I carry and take me through it all. I give you all the thanks and glory for Your understanding love in this. ---Amen

August 17th - Revelation

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=c455e06ebd06647fc4de&utm_source=newsletter0817&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklytopvideos

Readings
Nehemiah 12:27-13:31
The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. - Nehemiah 12:43c
1 Corinthians 11:1-16
Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:1
Psalms 35:1-16
Then my soul shall rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his deliverance. - Psalms 35:9
Proverbs 21:17-18

Reflection
Does all of that emotion, the honor, the praise and the glory stay all penned up inside that coliseum? What a moving song. What an emotional moment. But I have to wonder if it all is expelled in that one brief moment of time. Is this what God would want? Maybe so...maybe just the honor and glory and praise is all that He wants. But I tend to think that there may be more. I tend to think that God doesn't want me to pen Him in a stadium, a temple, a body or even an earth. I think God wants me to see Him and realize that He is the God of all that there is. No doubt, I am here to give praise and honor and glory...but wait! there's more!

In the Nehemiah reading the people marched around the walls of Jerusalem singing praise to God. They circled the town from opposite directions and included all of their world to praise the King of all. I wonder...did they face inwards or outwards. Sometimes I face inwards and seem to be praising my pious self and affirming my own good deeds rather than facing outwards and proclaiming the glory of God to all the world.

Sometimes we praise the King of Kings in our tidy little worship places and forget to turn around and praise Him amongst those outside the walls. Christ broke free from heaven and came down. He stepped outside the walls to come to us and to save us. He is the example for our lives. He shows us how to face outwards and offer praise to God our Father. And He also shows how to face inwards to reflect on the mission God has given to us in prayer. To seek guidance and to then come from the garden and to continue on with the vision and focus on God and what God has placed here for us to do.

Revelation...what a wonderful song of glory. The emotions of this song swell within me when I see the Bread and the Wine and see Jesus Body and Blood and realize that He has burst through the walls of my sanctuary to be in me and through me and with me. Yes...even as I walk outside those walls to the Kingdom that He calls me into day after day. Let's sing that Revelation song boldly and loudly for the King of Kings as we face into the Kingdom...today...tomorrow...and when we gather together in that glorious communion of praise for Jesus our King.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord; I go out this day with a song of praise and glory in my heart and on my lips and with You in my soul to boldly proclaim You as the King of Kings. ---Amen

August 16th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=ff4dff11e85c3feaeeef

Readings
Nehemiah 11:1-12:26
And the people blessed all those who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. - Nehemiah 11:2
1 Corinthians 10:14-33
Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. - 1 Corinthians 10:24
Psalms 34:11-22
The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. - Psalms 34:22
Proverbs 21:14-16
A gift in secret averts anger... - Proverbs 21:14a

Reflection
Father I need You! Boy, is that an understatement! As I reflect on the readings of people willingly offering --- advice to see the advantage of the other --- servant lives redeemed and gifts given in secret, I can see where I fall short of these lofty goals. Father I need You!

But I need my Father in so many other ways as well. Not only do I turn to my Father to show me His will and His way, but I turn to Him in my sin and weakness and say boldly and loudly, "Father I need You!"

And the wonderfully amazing thing is that He never fails to come to me, pick me up, dust me off, hug me and forgive me and put me back on the path. My Father loves me beyond any love I can fathom. He talks to me and shows me the path. Time after time, in the storms of life, in the illness, in the pain and sorrow, He continues to be with me. "Father I need You!"

Then in the blessings of life, we laugh, we celebrate, we tease, we love and we run and jump and play the day in His Kingdom. "Father I need You!"

"Father I need You!" His secret gift becomes known to all the world. "Father I need You!"

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Father I need You! I need You now and forever. ---Amen

August 15th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=e52499be711fb54303ff

Readings
Nehemiah 9:22-10:39
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. - Nehemiah 9:32
1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13b
Psalm 34:1-10
This pour soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble. - Psalm 34:6
Proverbs 21:13
If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. - Proverbs 21:13

Reflection
The plastic Jesus. The one on the dash that is not real. Sometimes it seems I reach out to the plastic Jesus, that Jesus I have created. You know the Jesus I'm talking about, the one that obeys your commands and heals, and saves, and digs you out of any type of trouble you have gotten into. Well, that plastic Jesus is not real. He is only something created by humans. He doesn't exist. And in a car wreck he will crumble and break apart just like the rest of the car.

Sometimes I know how to say all the right words. I know how to hide behind the veil of sin and death and cover it all up. But when I stop and confess, I know that the Jesus I come to is not the plastic Jesus, but the real Jesus. This is the Jesus that sees right through my sinful selfishness. He can tell when I'm in a cover up.

So I open up. I confess my faults and sins. I tell it all. I remove the veil to the Lord of Life and He is merciful and gracious. All through time, God has acted in love to save those He loves. Sure, He has also judged those who have turned away, but He continually reached out to them. In this body of sin, illness, and death, I turn to the Author of Creation and know that I depend on Him for life. And He opens His arms wide, not testing me beyond what I can stand, but saving me from it all in a new life of joy and thanksgiving. Yes, there will be struggles. Sure there will be pain. But I know, that there in the lead, is One I can focus my life on....not a plastic Jesus that I have created...but a Jesus that has come to me and you to save.

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, forgive me for creating You in my image. Forgive me for my arrogance of control in my life. I turn to You in time of need. I open my sinful life to Your inspection and ask You to save me from myself, sin, death and the devil. Only You can save me. In the great name of Jesus, I pray. ---Amen

August 14th - Reflection

Video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=2dfdc46320d68bb56a67

Readings
Nehemiah 7:73-9:21
"...for the joy of the LORD is your strength." - Nehemiah 8:10b
1 Corinthians 9:1-18
What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. - 1 Corinthians 9:18
Psalm 33:12-22
The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. - Psalm 33:13
Proverbs 21:11-12
The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked... - Proverbs 21:12a

Reflection
It's amazing! It's beyond any love that could ever be imagined. A God who freely chooses to step into the midst of my wickedness and sin. A God who heals, changes, redeems and saves creation. He looked down from heaven and chose to come in flesh to save you and me from sin, death and the devil. God chose to become flesh in Jesus and know what it's like to be human. It's amazing!

In this life and presence of Jesus, we can all have new hope. We have a wondrous joy beyond all joys which gives us strength. In His precious grace He came to us as one of us and gave His very life for ours.

It's amazing! Life for life. Your grace still amazes me!

Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, You took on flesh to know me. Your grace amazes me! I humbly come before You this day. I ask You to be my life. Lead and guide my steps this day as I give my life to You. ---Amen

May 30th - August 13th - Reflection

Video Link
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=b254c26af82a010ddfd2

Readings
2 Samuel 15:23-Nehemiah 7:73a
I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. (2 Kings 20:5b)

John 18:25-1 Corinthians 8:13
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35)

Psalm 119:113-(all the way around and back again)33:11
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalms 30:5b)

Proverbs 16:10-21:10
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

Reflection
It's been a while. It's been a while since I have written. Sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes illness, sometimes vacation, sometimes family, sometimes just the business of life gets in the way. So it's been a while. In that brief period of time I have cried, I have laughed, I have been loved and loved. In that time so much seems to happen, yet in another respect, really nothing new has happened under the sun.

As the video demonstrates, life sometimes can take one down the slippery slope. I have had times in the recent past when I have felt as if I had no control of the slide I was taking. That slide down that hill can be quick and surprising and completely out of my control. Even when I think that I have some control, maybe I am just deceiving myself. Some things we control and some things seem to control us. This is how the past few months have been for me. Possibly as I slide down that slope I could steer my direction. But in this case the attempt to steer would result in a direction off the path that would have an undesirable result. So you let it go. You let it go and give the control over to a
God you have come to trust and believe in. You let go of your selfish control of life and give it to God. Attempts to control have resulted in my own sinful nature of taking my life into my own hands. But my life is not my life. My life is God's life. God is the gift of life and my life is God's life. I finally begin to understand that nothing can separate me from God. Not even illness, or pain or tears. My prayer rises to God in a childlike plea. And then it happens...

The flight through the air. Absolutely no control. God is in control. I have given all control. My wife asked me at one point if I was afraid. No, I wasn't afraid. There was no need for fear. The One in control will always care for His child. No matter the outcome, He loves me and I love Him and all will be well...whatever the outcome appears to any of us. So I fly through the air. A time that seems to be beyond time. A place that is surely the arms of God.

It seems like God always has a calling. God always has a plan. God always has a purpose for life. SPLASH!! Into those baptismal waters of God's loving grace. Does a baby or a newly saved Christian feel this same splash? After a time of nothingness and no control...SPLASH! Here I am in that pool of life giving water. Any slight deviation in that trip through the air or even the trip down the slide would have led to death. But instead, with God in control, SPLASH! What a celebration. What a time for new life. God heals in so many ways. God continues to clean me up and prepare me for the work He has planned. What a life and what a gift, that baptismal SPLASH! Time to celebrate new life. Time to live and love. Time to let God control. Time to live.

SPLASH! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, I give You thanks for Your love and care. I give You thanks for Your gracious SPLASH of new life, today, tomorrow and forever. ---Amen