Alice said that Saturday was "migration
day". In a two minute period we saw several flocks of Canadian geese flying
back to north, hundreds of them in V formations making "Holy Honks". We saw
several mega-flocks, some hurrying to join up with others. In my driving around
the hills and meadows I saw flocks of deer grazing unhurried and unafraid. The
crocuses around the house are coming into bloom. Another brilliant sight of
spring is the presence of bees hovering over the crocuses. "And I said to
myself, it's a wonderful world". Alice and I went to one of the local malls for
our evening walk. She came home in the late evening and baked 9 big fat banana
breads. She is planning to bake about 18 more loaves over the next couple of
days to day to be shared with neighbors and friends. The Lord is good and His
love endures for ever.
We had some "face time" with two of our
Boston grandchildren yesterday. It was a thrill and a blessing. Micah, who is
very crafty, showed us the doll house that she has been making from an empty
cigar box.
The Lord blessed us abundantly in
His House yesterday. One of the readings was taken from Romans 5. Many of us
live filled with uncertainty and anxiety. Many of us struggle and question
whether we are loved and accepted by the Lord and others. Often we wrestle with
doubt and unbelief. It is the enemy who sows the seeds of confusion, unbelief
and chronic doubt. For people who live with this uncertainty, their spiritual
life is topsy-turvy. In Romans Paul offers assurance that help us live
Christian lives that are confident and assured.
In (Rom.
5:1-2) we are presented how our future looks in
light of our experience of justification in Christ. We read here about
justification and grace. Throughout Romans, Paul built his case that we are
justified (set right) with God based on what our Lord God has done through
Jesus' death and resurrection. Our justification with God does not come as a
result of human effort, merit, race, or social status. It comes as a result
of His free favor, His grace. In Romans Paul spoke of "gaining access" to grace. This realm of grace opens the
door to a whole new reality. The word translated "gained access" was used by
the ancient Greeks to describe sailors who had been at sea for months, yearning
to see land again. Back then sailors relied on maps and luck to find their way
home. This phrase "gained access" was used in that context to describe what
happened when sailors finally found dry land and were able to stand on solid
ground again. What a graphic picture of how the Christian now stands on the
solid ground of God's grace.
This standing enables us to
rejoice in God's glory. The word hope sets our sights toward the future. When
we're right with God, we receive assurance that our future is secure. Paul,
knowing the difficulties we all face in the present, did not dwell on the
future. Often, painful problems threaten to
crush our hope. Circumstances such as broken
relationships, financial ruin, terminal illness and life-changing failures can
shatter our hopes. Paul revealed the way to find joy even in the midst of our
present problems, because of the assurance that God still is working.
Suffering produces perseverance.
Perseverance is the distance runner who keeps running despite leg cramps until
she gets her second wind, the medical student who retakes the class after
failing once, or the entrepreneur who starts another business though his
previous business failed. Such perseverance results in a tried and true
character, which results in more hope—a greater sense of confidence that God is
restoring us to the glory for which He made us.
When we are right with God, we
not only have assurance that our future is secure, but we have assurance God is
working in the midst of our problems. He has to strip away all that would keep
us from being remade in His image.
My wife loves to watch a program
on TV called, "Rehab Addict". A young woman who buys old house and restores
them to beauty and splendor. We are bought by the Lord through His blood and
now He has begun the act of restoration in us.
In Jesus,
Brown
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