Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I Believe.......Why?



I Believe...
A friend asked ... Why?
It makes no sense...
So... Why?

In the end, I believe in God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, The Bible...
All because...
I have chosen to. 

When I look around and see the ugliness in the world....
Hatred and evil...
Sickness and disease...
Even death.


I choose to hope there is something better.
I choose to believe that this is not all there is.
I choose to hope that goodness and love are real and lasting.
I choose to believe there is something beyond hopeless randomness at work.

God...
The God of the Bible...
He offers hope and meaning and love.

Most of all...
He offers...
Life!
The Life I long for.

I know its not logical.
I know its or provable in a way the world would like it to be.
I freely admit...
I have never seen a dead man rise.
I can't prove the Bible is the Word of the Creator.
I get lost in the mysteries...

But even in all this there is still...
The Gospel...

A declaration that everything will be made right...
Love and goodness win out.
Death swallowed up.
A God who cares..
For me.
A life that matters.
A goodness that can be had.
All... Everything... Made right.

This Gospel...
It captures my heart.
So yes....
I believe!

And then there's...
Jesus...
My Father's Word to me...
Reaching out to me...
Giving His Life for me...
Placing His Life in me...
Living His life... right out through me.
Yes... I believe!


The perfect man...
The expression of the very heart of God...
The glory of God come...
In the flesh.

This Jesus...
My Life!

Nothing else...
Nothing else has come close to satisfying these longings in me...
The longings for Life.....

So, yes...
I do believe.

I believe because I need to believe....
I believe because I have chosen to believe....
I believe because I have to believe.

That is enough for me.

Each man gets to decide for himself where to place his hope.
Jesus placed His hope in the Father....
As for me.....
I follow Him!

Its not that I don't have questions. 
I think it a good thing to ask and seek and wonder.
There is much of God and this world I have not yet begun to grasp. 
There is much I do not know... 
Much I want to know...


But for me...
Some things are settled.

There is a God.
He is good.
He loves me.
He made me.
He has given His life to me to be...
A walking, talking, living, breathing expression of...
His Love and Life and Goodness and Grace and Glory.

Christ Himself... In me for this very purpose.
His Spirit empowering me for this very purpose.
Yes... These things are settled!

There is a God.
He is good.
He loves me!

I have chosen... I believe... 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20
...I have set before you life and death
Blessings and curses, 
now choose Life....

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Birth


Its a beautiful picture...

Charleston Brynn Tiller
Born to Christian and Bristol Tiller
May 21, 2014 10:52 am
University Hospital
Congratulations to my friends!

Birth...
A wonder...
A miracle...
Such promise and hope.

It leads me to wonder...

What is it that God is conceiving...
Even birthing...
In and through us...
Yes even us...
Today? 

What dreams...
What desires...
What yearnings...


What has God Himself conceived in us...
That through much labor...
We might bring into this world?

How will the very Life of Christ Himself will be...
Conceived...
Maybe even birthed...

Through us this very day?
 

Will it be...
Love
Goodness
Courage
Joy
Mercy
Peace
Kindness......

I wonder........



Father in Heaven,
We pray that today the very Life of Christ
 That You have conceived in us
by Your Holy Spirit
is given birth....
Through us.
Amen


 John 3:6
"Flesh gives birth to flesh, 
But 
Spirit gives birth to spirit."


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Hello Friends.... I'm Back......At least for Today


Today...
I love that word...
I love today...
I love the hope of a fresh start...
I love knowing that whatever I regret from yesterday...
Well... its over...
It's done with...

Oh I know... 
I still have to live with some of the garbage of yesterday.

The scales condemned me this morning...
For the chocolate cake from yesterday...

But still...
Today is a new day...
I can do better...
More than that...


I can be better.

In this moment...
Right now...
Today...
I can...
Choose Life.

Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another daily, 
as long as it is called “Today,” 
so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 

Heavenly Father
Thank You for today.
Thank You for the hope for being better.
Thank You for Love and Life
In this moment
Today.
   Amen