January 7th Reflection by Bill Lynch

Isaiah 43:1-7
Restoration and Protection Promised

But now thus says the Lord,
   he who created you, O Jacob,
   he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
   I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
   and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
   Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight,
   and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
   nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
   I will bring your offspring from the east,
   and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
   and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
   and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
   whom I created for my glory,
   whom I formed and made.’

Reflection
I was talking to my grand-daughter, Kaiya, yesterday about her recent birthday. How old are you? Five! She answered with an excitement in her voice. Did you have cake and ice cream? Yea! Each answer was with a new found excitement. She was living life to the fullest. She was excited with every detail of life. Life is a new discovery for her, a gift given to find out anything and everything new and wonderful. We too, have been graciously granted new life. New life in Christ by the grace and presence of God. God gathers us in and shows us what is wonderful. God is with us always and it's exciting and new each day.

God is grace. A grace that is willing to call you by name. A grace that is willing to love you as one precious in all ways. God is grace and his love is beyond human judgment. As humans it's so easy for us to judge one another. If we don't look the same, act the same, or even believe the same and have the same opinions; we judge one another. But God sees beyond the judgment and into the person as a creation. God sees a child so wonderfully created that he wants that errant child to be all the child can be. God wants to work with us and love us to death. God is grace. It's obvious in this passage that God is grace and he means it.

God is present through all things. God is with us in the good times and the bad. God even goes into the midst of the fire with us. Even to the point that God would become flesh in Jesus and come into this world and do what we couldn't do on our own. Jesus came and gave his life for our sin. God loves us this much that he gave himself for us to show us the love that he wants us to have for him and for one another. This is the love and grace that God demonstrates in Jesus.

God gathers us in. God gathers us together as his Church. God fills us with his Spirit and gives us everything needed to accept and carry out his call in this place. Will we be bold enough to trust God and take the step to go out and do what he has called us to do? That's the faith that Abraham and so many that have gone before us have demonstrated with their lives. God calls us and gives us a purpose. As we carry out the call we are filled with the joy of the Spirit and rejoice in all that God has done for us and through us.

God is grace and God is present through all things and God gathers us in.

Prayer
Open my eyes, Lord, to all that is new and wonderful. Fill me with your love that I may love those you give to me this day in action. Go with me into this new life and teach me all along the way... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen