Fw: all of God

All of God

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It occurred to me on reflection the other day that every aspect of life, including my life, was of God.  We speak of knowing God as one option among many...one choice in a basket full of choices.  But what choice did we make that brought us life?  What input of ours was considered in our personal design?  How much do we have to do with the trees, the sky, the birds above or the squirrels and deer that move below?

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Do we not, even in a natural sense, owe all of our life experience to God?  Some might say that all of nature is a chance occurrence...a random spark set in motion somehow from an unexplained source that triggered the complexity of nature and nature's harmony of days and seasons and all manner of life.  But a serious minded thinker must view that attitude with skepticism at best.

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My online Bible has this verse for today's daily meditation:

Proverbs 21:21

"Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
    will find life, righteousness, and honor."

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While we are all 'alive' we don't truly find life until we pursue the upward alignment with God (righteousness) and the horizontal outreach of love (kindness).  When we do that we follow the Lord's command to love Him and to love others as ourselves.  And the return is the righteousness we sought coupled with honor, as the echo of kindness...and we, who are already alive, will then find the eternal life that the One who fashioned all intends for all who will come after Him.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Follow the path

Paths can become roads.  I was told a long time ago about one heavily traveled local road that reaches from the high ground near where I live to the James River about a dozen miles away.  It isn't a straight road because it was first a path through trees and around swamps for natives to travel.  But it became the fastest way to move to the river.  Eventually it was paved and, unlike roads that start with vehicle travel in mind, it kept the curves and actually is more interesting to drive.

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There is a windy path that is your life.  It isn't straight because you have negotiated swamps and steered around obstacles (occasionally you have found yourself in the swamp and tangled with the obstacles).  But your path can surely lead to the eternal road that travels to Heaven's river.  If you look up you may see the Cross just ahead.

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John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." (Jesus)

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Home

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

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This humble house reminded me of the place of "home" in our lives.  Home is where family forms...where new life begins, where birthdays are noted with cake and candles, where the day is revisited over the table, where the discipline of chores leads to the healthy routine of work, where the next crop of children is raised in the shadow of the parents' love...for each other and for them.  Home is where we grow up...home is what we build in our families...home is the context for activity and for rest that we have in common.

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And when we love the Lord and follow His direction the Father and the Son make their home within us...truly this is the completed home...a home we will never have to leave.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: friends

I spotted this small group of geese recently, standing together by the water's edge.  They illustrate the power of friendship to me.  Friends go through life together.  They support each other.  They watch out for each other. They stand together and they move together.  They have a lot in common and this forges a strong bond.  Together they add richness to life.  And sometimes just being together by the water's edge is enough...if they do that together.

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3 John 1:

14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.

Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Surrounded by gold

This season we are surrounded by gold as a reminder that God also surrounds us with wisdom.  Of all that we are thankful for, His presence and His constant expression of love and care and wisdom are among the greatest.  We say Happy Thanksgiving to all today....and Giving Thanks to our Lord truly is the beginning of happiness.

Job 28:

12 "But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, 'It is not in me';
And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20 "From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction and Death say,
'We have heard a report about it with our ears.'
23 God understands its way,

And He knows its place.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: He reigns and rains

Job 36:27 For He draws up drops of water,

Which distill as rain from the mist

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Rain starts as ocean that is heated by the sun and then converts to water vapor that rises until it is cooled to condense around tiny specks of dust to form clouds.  The clouds move in great air masses over thousands of miles and when the updrafts that carry the rain to the clouds are no longer strong enough to hold the moisture it falls as rain.  The water replenishes rivers and streams, goes to underground reservoirs and resides in the ground to feed all living things.  That same water eventually evaporates once again.  The water in the rain that is falling this morning has fallen countless times in the ultimate recycling activity.  And it is all driven by the Sun...the great source of light and heat.

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This is the design of our Lord, whose light and warmth also continue to nourish and sustain us across all the generations.  His amazing design is for life that is sustained and life that is eternal.  And, like the water vapor that rises from the ocean, so shall we also rise to join the heavenly cloud as we are warmed in His light...Son-light.

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Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Heaven's Shore

Do you live by Heaven's Shore?

Are you in the Savior's door?

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When your days move past the sun,

Will you to the Father run?

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Do you hear His voice now call?

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Are His words the ones that lead?

Is His love what you will plead?

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At the center of your life...

Is there peace or is there strife?

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Romans 15:33

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Morning Road

Psalm 130:6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

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Each morning a new road appears.  Framed by His love, guided by His spirit, carried in His arms, the morning road leads to a new place every day.  Intended as an adventure with Him, He will guide us daily to the destination He has in mind.  We can be fearful of the unknown today or we can look to Him to fulfill His plan.  Either we will go His way or we will go ours.  Why don't we go His way today?

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Harvest and Thanksgiving

2 Corinthians 9:10 "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God."

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Looking for a place to spend a few minutes with the Lord this morning, I spied this field.  Frost clung to the harvested corn stalks across the large field.  I thought about a time coming when it will be "after the harvest" of human souls.  We live now in harvest time and we are thankful for all who have turned from self to the savior while there is time.  The passage from 2 Corinthians reminds us that God is the one who provides, in a natural sense and in a supernatural sense, the seed and the growth and the harvest as He provides life to us, both here and now and for eternity.

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And we have the privilege of participating in the process of harvest as our lives and our actions can be used by the Lord:

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2 Corinthians 9:12 "For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God."...

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15 "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: The importance of love

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

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The apostle John writes beautifully of love in his first letter.  He tells us that love is the start of our faith and the purpose for it.  By love, he says, the Father sent the Son to pay the price for our sins. Love found us and then love came to live within us so that love might move through us to others.  1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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He goes on to teach us that God has never been seen by man...so He came to dwell within and complete His love in us so that the world could see Him expressed in our lives.  This is how others see God today...in us.  1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

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This love that has saved us and come to abide in us is now become our purpose in life...to love others.  1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

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This love is also our confidence and sure hope.  1 John 4:17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.  

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Because He first loved us and His love shines in and through us we are sure of our "forever life" with Him and we will not be afraid.  Instead we will, one day, run to the arms of the One we recognize as the source of love that has given us life, purpose and confident hope even here and even now.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Fw: Keeper of the plan

1 Peter 1:12 "It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look."

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There is mystery and there is assurance in realizing that we don't have all the answers about life.  Even the angels have questions and don't fully understand God's plan.  The prophets of the Old Testament were faithful to write the words given them but did not grasp the timing or the ultimate audience they were writing to.  And yet there is assurance that God, who fashioned all that can be seen and has kept the order of times and seasons under His domain, does have a plan...does have a timetable...and does include us in those plans.  Peter wrote to encourage believers who had been forced to flee their homes.  Though they have suffered for their faith and lost earthly possessions and property he wants them to remember this:

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(1 Peter 1:3)"...he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

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And Peter also writes to encourage us, that though we suffer through various trials and issues, we are included in the plan that has been unfolding since before time could be measured and will continue beyond the final sunrise.

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blessings to all,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."