God’s Love

May these words, and the music that follows, fill your heart and soul with the truth of God’s love!

Reaching

His love, went on longing
His love, went on reaching
Right past the shackles of my mind

And the Word of the Father
Became Mary’s little Son
And His love reached all the way to where I was.

And so, this great Creator Who’d been reaching all along
This God Who formed the worlds with His own hands
Made love become a Baby, one of our very own
And spoke His word so we could understand

His love went on longing
His love went on reaching
Right past the shackles of my mind

And the Word of the Father
Became Mary’s little Son
And His love reached all the way to where I was

Reaching, Longing
Longing and Searching

And the longing and the reaching
Became Mary’s little Son
And His love reached all the way to where I was

Words and Music by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Emmanuel: God With Us

As we enter a New Year, may God’s character, displayed through Jesus, (Emmanuel), be our focus. Psalm 145 helps us to accomplish this. Psalm 145 tells us that:

The LORD IS…
vs. 1KING
vs. 2PRAISEWORTHY
vs. 3GREAT
PRAISEWORTHY
vs. 4MIGHTY
vs. 5GLORIOUS
SPLENDID
MAJESTIC
WONDERFUL
vs. 6AWESOME
GREAT
vs. 7GOOD
RIGHTEOUS
vs. 8GRACIOUS
COMPASSIONATE
SLOW TO ANGER
MERCIFUL
vs. 9GOOD
MERCIFUL
vs. 10PRAISEWORTHY
vs. 11GLORIOUS KING
POWERFUL
vs. 12MIGHTY
GLORIOUS MAJESTIC KING
vs. 13ETERNAL KING
THE LORD….
vs. 14UPHOLDS
RAISES UP
vs. 15GIVES
vs. 16SATISFIES
THE LORD IS…
vs. 17RIGHTEOUS
GRACIOUS
vs. 18NEAR
THE LORD…
vs. 19FULFILLS
HEARS
SAVES
vs. 20is JUST:
PRESERVES all who love Him.
DESTROYS all the wicked.
“…Andvs. 21all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.”
may this be our meditation and Praise.
Blessed and Peace-filled New year to you!

The Tapestry of Life

Tapestry of Life

This week at our women’s Bible study, the Lord demonstrated His love toward me in a special way.

Our group leader described the making of a tapestry to illustrate a truth in our lives. She explained that the underside of a tapestry typically has many unsightly knots that are often created in the process of producing the masterpiece on the front side.  As in the process of our lives, those “knots” represent “flaws” or “mistakes” that we have made. Another gal chimed in saying that those same knots also have another purpose, and that is, they provide strength and durability to the overall tapestry!  Interesting!!

While thinking about all this, I realized that the “mistakes” I have made in my life – those “flaws”: poor decisions, disobedience to the Lord’s commands, not listening to His still small voice (1 Kings 19:12), choosing His permissive will over His perfect will (Romans 12:2), missing the mark (Philippians 3:14), have resulted in regrets, followed by repentance, on my part. But all this reminded me that because of His love, our Heavenly Father sent Jesus for that very reason, to work in us a tapestry reflecting His glory.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand that
we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.

I find more expressions of Christ’s love, in the Truth of His Word in

2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Or….

Romans 8:28, “….all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Or….

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.”

Well, after all this contemplation, I just “happened” to come across and read an article entitled Tapestry of Grace by Mark Johnson. Among the many points he shared, this one sums it up so well for me: “….the real hero on every page of Scripture is God – not man….God brings glory to Himself through imperfect people who are rich in faith.”

In closing, with the Lord confirming twice this understanding in me, this week, I am reminded anew of Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ: it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”(NKJV).

Dear Father, let this be our desire and our aim.

Blessings to you all.