So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance: Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing; I’ll sing to your name! And this one: Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together! And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise! And Isaiah’s word: There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse, breaking through the earth and growing tree tall, Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope! Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope! (Romans 15:7-13 MSG) There Is A God And I’m Not Him Since my cancer diagnosis in 2001, I have had many conversations with Jesus. One of these ongoing conversations had to do with how to tell our four crazy cute kids about Daddy’s diagnosis. No one writes “how to” books on telling your kids difficult things, and when it’s most appropriate, etc.; and if they’ve written them, then I’d never read them. What details do they need to know, and what can their hearts and minds hear and not hear? And to top it off, everyone that we’d prayed for as a family that’d had cancer had died. So this “C” word wouldn’t have been a welcome word to my kids. Before Hilary (my amazing wife) and I really began to surrender this dilemma to Jesus, fear and worry began to abide with us. Not only did they barge into our world, but they actually moved into our home, emitting their sneaky lies like carbon monoxide. All of a sudden, we started hearing horror stories of kids losing their parents and the effects on them. I remember being on a plane sitting next to a woman whose husband had just died after a 10-year battle with cancer. I asked her how they initially brought the whole cancer thing up with their kids, and once again, her answer was painful. Whenever their dad was at work, the kids would constantly ask their mom if Daddy was OK. They grew up with a great unrest and insecurity that was then actualized in his death. Fear. Worry. I need to control this. Will this be my kids’ fate? I’m sure that you have had, are having or will have fears and worries that cloud your line of sight. What if Jesus is always at work inviting us all into a posture of trust and obedience? Hilary and I decided to take Jesus at His word (because He is THE WORD) and wait on Jesus to take care of the outcome. We began to daily cast our cares on Jesus and ask Him to open doors for conversations to come up about my diagnosis with our kids. There were many times that we just wanted to jump in and bring it up, but to no avail. Jesus was inviting us to trust and be aware of His movements. After six months of daily asking Jesus to lead in this, He opened up a beautiful door into a conversation with my two older kids that is still continuing today. What if God is God and we are not? What do you need to wait on Jesus for today? -TIM Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD ’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to GOD! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor GOD with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don’t, dear friend, resent GOD ’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that GOD corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this. (Proverbs 3:5-12 MSG) “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matthew 6:30-34 MSG)
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:01:37 +0000
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