Even if I ran away

Nothing can seperate.

Even if I ran away
Your love never fails

We sang that today,

gathered as we were.

Do we live that?

Do we believe it?

That even if I ran away to the far corners of the earth,

He'd follow me.

That even as we think we have done far to much to ever be loved,

He comes after us.

Not to scold.

Not to shame.

Not to embarrass.

To love.

He pursues.

Do you remember the story of Hosea and Gomer?

Gomer was a prostitute. And really messed up.

Hosea found her, saw her in the depths of her brokenness, and loved her. He brought her home, and he married her. They had children, and he poured his love and attention on her.

But she wasn't satisfied.

She left him, left all that he had done for her, and became a prostitute again.

God spoke to Hosea and said

"Start all over: Love your wife again, your wife who's in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife.
Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people,
   even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy."

Hosea listens. He says
 I did it. I paid good money to get her back.
   It cost me the price of a slave.
Then I told her, "From now on you're living with me.
   No more whoring, no more sleeping around.
   You're living with me and I'm living with you."

(Hosea 3:1b-3 MSG)

He loved her.
He followed through with his commitment.

This is a story of God-love.

When we are in the depths of our filth,

that is where he picks us up, kisses us, and heals our pain.

Dirty as we are.

This is the love of the King of Kings.

The Great and Holy God.

It is for us.

Love:)

R

We, the future.

My generation- well, hear talk of it, it would seem that we are going to the dogs.
We're doomed.
We are gone.
Turning away from God, morals, values, family, church.
Yeah, maybe.
But then again, maybe not.
Because here's the thing-
God is not dead.
He is not asleep.
He is alive and well.
And a lot of us- we love Him.
We are trying to follow Him.
We want our generation to see Him
But there's so much hurt.
Everywhere.
You say none of us care?
We all do.
But some, just so full of hurt.
Where to turn?
they wonder.
So much judgement.
Hypocrisy.
Empty promises.
Us "church kids,"
we can be exclusive.
Maybe not on purpose,
but still.
Worse yet, we can be hypocrites.
But some of us care.
For real.
And some adults care.
If we can make a difference,
even in just one life,
that's one stereotype shattered,
one heart healed.
God's not dead. 
He's  alive and well.
Working among us.
Changing hearts.
So to the doubters I would say-
Don't give up on us.
Yeah, we're messed up.
But aren't we all?
Isn't that the point of grace?
Jesus came to heal the broken,
not tend to the well.
We are His hands,
His feet.
And we are a generation who truly wants to be those things.
Yes, we will fall.
But He always catches us.


Love:)

R

Wondering right now......

If maybe peace isn't what I need right now.
If maybe peace is going to make me complacent.
If you can explode from love and desire to do something.
Why we forget that we can't "do something for God."  We only present ourselves to be His tools, so that He can work through and even despite us.

Love:)

R

Romans 9:20-26

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—  even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?  As indeed he says in Hosea,
   “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
   and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
   there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Let me pose a question...

How do you tell the difference between your own desires and God?
I'm struggling.
Often, I know it's me.
Sometimes, I know it's God.
But right now,
 it's so grey.
And its a good thing,
but I don't know if it's
the time
or the place.
His will,
or mine.
Thoughts? Advice?
Greatly appreciated.

Love:)

R

After All (Holy)-David Crowder Band

Yes, yes, yes.

Love:)

R

When Eucharistio is empty

How many times has it been empty?
The Eucharisto been just more words.
 One more thing to say. The emotions gone, leaving me mechanical.
 Empty thanks.
Even for the thing I am so most thankful for.
Somehow, just saying it,
Even on the days, in the dark moments, when I'm not sure,
Not sure I even believe it,
Just saying it makes it more real.
The words, escaping my lips, passing by my heart.
 Thank you for your love.
Said so many times, but how often do I remember what a part of me they are? How they are what shapes me, makes me who I am.
How it is the only reason I am.
Your love.
 It is real.
You are real.
 You are good.
You are God.
 Even here, even now, writing these words, black on white, etches them deeper into my oh so granite heart.
They are true.
This......... This I know. This I am sure of
 So once again, I give thanks.

Love:)
R

Good too

Still listening. Joy is wild and messy sometimes, happiness hits you like sunshine on a grey day. But this quiet happiness, peace, it's good too. This I know. Love:) R

A thought by Saint Augustine

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

from The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Love:)

R

A thanksgiving

Thanks.
for it all,
the love,
the kindness,
the hurt.
You are good.
when I am not.
You are faithful.
when I am not.
You reach out to me.
You are there.
You are God.
And still You love
me
a sinner
nothing
except in You.
then I am what You
need me to be.
for moving mountains,
for standing steady,
unchanging.
for it all,
Thanks.

Faithful

A new year has arrived.
2012
And we worry about the upheavel in our world right now.
But God is faithful.
The unknown is scary.
But God, he is faithful.

For the LORD is good;
   his steadfast love endures forever,
   and his faithfulness to all generations.

(Psalm 100:5)

This is the promise to us.

His love and His faithfulness.

Really, it is all we need.

How many times before have things been hard?

Since the beginning of time.

Life is so full of rhythms. The rhythms of the seasons, of the days, of birth and death. So many rhythms, and they make beautiful music. A song. And even minor notes are beautiful. The familiar rhythms are comforting. As long as there has been time, the have existed.  They will endure. The promise is that they will endure to the end of time.

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

  a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

(Ecclesisastes 3:1-8)

This is simply part of the rhythm. The word used for time there emphasizes the beginning.

There is a beginning for everything.

Yes.

And it will ebb and flow. Change, become different. That is the nature of rhythm.

But God is faithful.

He does not change.

For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

(Malachi 3:6)

For I the LORD do not change.

Even though everything else does, he does not.
Life is fragile, broken and ever changing.
But
God
Never
Changes.
Even
Though
Everything
Else
Does.
God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
   though the mountains be moved into the heart of the see.
(Psalm 46:1-2)

We are not afraid.
Because He does not change.
He is faithful.
And that is enough.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As thou has been, thou forever will be.


As thou has been, thou forever will be.
Yes.

Love:)

R