It's Enough

Today's predicted high: 26. "It's beginning to feel a lot like..." WINTER.

But that's just fine. 

Lawns are done for the season, the air is crisp and filled with the fragrance of fresh coffee; as the season changes and our pace slows down, a new perspective emerges. We glance back, we look ahead and we live, today; for that's all we have, it's all we need.

Thank God it's today.  It's enough.



bN tGit

tGit.

Today a gift; time, breath, life.  Now what?

Horizon indigo-blue dawn.

Sweet slumber, my retreat.

Moments with God, my hope.

Today wished away?

Sundance East.

Love's gentle touch, my confidence. 

Grand smiles, my delight.

Today mine to squander, make great?

Sun blazes zenith, Noon.

Disappointment, my challenge.

Sweet fragance, my respite.

Today spent, invested?

Moon reflects suns glory, sublime beauty.

Kind word, my comfort.

Quiet reflection, my strength.

Today, something of significance to last?

Here, gone.

All I have.
It's enough.

Thank God it's today...tGit

bN tGit

Hold Fast.

Peace withers.             
Order explodes.
Culture devolves. 
Hold fast.

Justice fails.
Virtue punished.
Truth hidden.
Hold fast.

Love lusts.
Innocence lost.
Hope vanished.
Hold fast.

Exalted God. 
Our stronghold.

Cease striving.
Hold fast.

Help is on the way.


bN

GO time...

It's close to "go time" at the polls again. 

As a Nation we've enjoyed a two-party system that has worked for the American people, bringing the best ideas from BOTH sides of the aisle in a synergy that has eclipsed ideology.

"Father-in-heaven, deliver that kind of dynamic environment to us again, that we might continue to be a force for peace and that which is good, here and around the world. Heal our division and elevate the aspirations of our leaders to pursue values driven by character, reflective of our diversity, and aimed at the common good. Grant them shrewd judgement to desire and do the right thing. Give us the clarity we need to select leaders worthy of our trust; restore the confidence of this Nation in those selected to govern.  Empower our leaders to work shoulder to shoulder moving us forward for future generations. Amen."

bN tGit

Silence is Golden.

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent." 

Silence conducts the still, small, voice of God; 

it is a discipline that pays big dividends... 

"Be still

and know

that I am God."

Psalm 46.10

Certitude is found in silence.

bN tGit

We will rise...

Several years ago I received a note from a good friend..."my dad's cancer is progressing. His time here is probably down to days..."  When I read those words I was transported back to the last time I was with his dad.  I was saddened by this news, concerned for the grief this final act of life would introduce to my friend and his family...and not.

My friend's father did lose his life; but not once was he in danger of losing his hope: the certain promise that he, as a believer in Jesus Christ, would finally be transported into the presence of His Lord and Savior, there to enjoy life as HE designed it to be.

Life is hard, then we die.   We will all lose our lives, but we need not lose our hope.

Praise God for the hope we have in Christ, and the healing death brings for those who have embraced Christ through effective saving faith.  For these death is not something to be feared; it is a gracious provision that carries us back into a "face to face" real-time relationship with God. Without death, we become eternal beings, like Lucifer and the legion of angels which were cast out of heaven because of their rebellion...eternally separated from God, without hope of redemption.

Death became the modality that God uses to foil Satan's attempt to co-opt God's crowning creative act, the human race.  So then, death is the definitive "check-mate" and demonstrates God's mastery; always steps ahead of evil and the chaos of sin. Genesis 3 describes the event that initiated the rebellion of Adam and Eve to sin and it's necessary result, death; it's also here that we learn that death is part of God's bigger plan for hope and the redemption of human-kind.

The rest, is history, 1 John 4.9,10...

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son 

into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

We know that love is a four letter word, spelled H-O-P-E; more importantly, we know that death simply marks the first day of the rest of our lives, 2 Corinthians 4.16-18...

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet 

inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary 

troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We will rise, thanks be to God.  It's a GRACE day.

bN tGit

When I Grow up...

"When I Grow Up (to be a man)"  Link to song

This is of course one of the "sounds of summer" delivered to us by, who else, The Beach Boys. It's a favorite. When the DJ's at KRLA or KHJ in Southern California spun this selection I'd turn the radio up (even louder) in my 1960 Ford Falcon--and be transported into thoughts of...the future; "how will my life play out?

Today, when I select this tune on my iPod, or hear it on my Pandora "Beach Boys Radio" selection, I'm transported into thoughts of...the past; we all grew up.  I settled down early, married my High School sweetheart 42 years ago and WILL "love her for the rest of my life." While it's true that life is rarely fair, it's always good.

I've grown up.  Now that I'm growing older, I think about legacy.  What will I leave behind that will distinguish my place in the passage of time?  What will my grandkids carry through their lives that has my fingerprints on it?  Have the lives of people been enriched because they spent a season in close proximity with me?  Have I been an agent of positive change?

I'm grateful I'm not done. 

I'm grateful I'm not alone. 

I'm grateful He's not finished: 

"Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling and 

will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.²⁵

All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and 

in the present, and beyond all time! Amen."  Jude 24, 25

bN tGit

The hurt...

Lunched with friends on Sunday.

Our conversation turned to events of this past week. Robin Williams decision to end his life came up. My friend expressed her dismay over the way many in the most conservative wing of our faith tradition have chosen to excoriate Robin, because of suicide.

Robin had an extraordinary gift--not his comedic gift--but the one which allowed him to tap into what being human is, what it feels like, what it looks like, then being able to create a "connect-the-dots" visual--using words, diction and TONE.  When we heard him speak we realized "that's it!" that's me! He moved us and made it possible to breath again, he delivered relief and hope because he understood us.

Being that intuitive and dialed in--takes a toll of a person's soul. In the end, Robin could not find his "Robin." Don't be harsh because Robin was too vulnerable; because he couldn't believe his way to a faith based answer.  Simply learn the last lesson he leaves us--no man is an island. 

That said, we all hurt; there is a healer.  His name is Jesus.

"Jesus come and break my fear, wake my heart and take my tears

Find your glory even here, when the hurt and the healer collide."  Mercy Me

Follow this link below to a beautfiul expression of our frailty and God's provision..."The Hurt and The Healer" by Mercy Me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxqfDs-64I0

"It's Friday, but Sunday's comin.'"

bN tGit

TGIT!

Make a hard life easier today--opportunities abound. A kind word, a smile; a simple generous gift. See it, do it. Thank God it's...today.  TGIT!

bN

Exceptional...

American exceptionalism: our multiple failures, our human weakness, TRUMPED by redemptive generosity across the land and around the world.

bN