God is constantly at work in our lives, preparing us to do with joy what He created us to do. A.B. Simpson said: “God is preparing His heroes. And when the opportunity comes He can fit them into their place in a moment.  And the world will wonder where they came from.” When we understand that God integrates every life detail to accomplish His will, a deeper level of trust is born in our hearts.  God wants us to trust Him in every circumstance. Trust is letting go, knowing that God is more than enough. Trust is obedience because what I do reveals what I believe about God regardless of what I say. I don’t think God wastes His direction on a disobedient heart but does, in fact, reveal His plans to those who will obey them. Trust and obedience go hand in hand. The more we obey, the more we will trust and the more we trust, the more we will obey, understanding that He is indeed Lord of all. The result is joy.  We should be women of joy. That is life at its best. However, if we live under the burden of circumstances instead of seeing God in their midst, our hearts will be filled with emotional chaos or spiritual rebellion, and there will be no joy. As Christians, we should be the most joyful people on earth, heart and soul at rest, because we serve the God of all circumstances, Lord of every mountain and Shepherd of every valley. However, this week alone, I have talked with both men and women who are ready to walk away from their lives all because in their hearts, marriages and ministries, there is neither joy nor peace. They cannot see God in their circumstances. The darkness is closing in as they struggle to stay afloat on the storm-tossed seas of strained relationships fueled by exhaustion, burnout, depression and a lack of purpose for living. Anger is a constant companion, and bitterness shadows each step. This is not the way life is supposed to be – is it?  When we fail to faithfully and continually seek God, we will likely forfeit our joy to human idols and lifeless activities in which we often exchange holiness for tolerance. No wonder we sometimes find life impotent and dismal when it should be powerful and filled with unshakable joy. We are to be vessels containing, and naturally spilling out, the joy of the Lord on those in our lives. That joy is our strength and the salt that makes others thirst to know Him more. Instead of focusing on what is wrong in life, we need to look on the “right” side of life. A little girl and her father were taking a walk one night. They lived way out in the country on a remote farm far from the neon signs of the city. The night was still and dark, cloaked in reverent silence. Lightning bugs pranced through the tall grass and the onyx skies, celebrating life itself. Father and daughter walked in comfortable silence, satisfied just to be together. With a contented sigh, the little girl looked up into the dark skies filled with winking stars that seemed on the verge of bursting into sparkling worship of their Creator, God Himself. The little girl was overwhelmed and cried out, “Oh, Daddy!  If the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, I wonder what the right side looks like!” We live on the wrong side of heaven. This world is not our home. It is a broken place filled with unspeakable pain and crushed dreams. Even so, we can live in this foreign land for a while – with joy -- knowing that home is waiting, celebrating here because of what we have there. “The Message” translates the words of Paul in Philippians 4:4 this way, “Celebrate God all day, every day. Revel in him!” I love it! Paul is calling us to party!  That’s right! We are to celebrate God every minute of every day for as many days as we have. “Revel” literally means “to party, to raise the roof” or, as my Mama used to say, “paint the town red.” Every day we have a choice to make when it comes to our perspective on life. That choice then determines our attitudes which then lead to the actions that determine success or failure and the quality with which we live and serve. Paul is serious about joy, and his instructions are clear. We are to be joyful - always.  I know that many times, life makes it impossible to be happy but happiness is not what Paul is talking about. Happiness is a cheap imitation of true joy, depending totally upon man-made circumstances, while joy is an inside job and depends totally upon God’s presence in the midst of those circumstances.  Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that “the joy you have in the LORD is your strength” (GWT).  Remember that joy is not a feeling but rather a chosen perspective that recognizes the fact that God is in control. I am not talking about the power of positive thinking. I am talking about a real, honest-to-goodness transformation of the perspective from which we live. I’m talking about the power of God, active and present in every circumstance. Don’t settle for Pharisaical religion or slot-filling, box-checking church activity. Settle for nothing less than the unexplainable but undeniable power of God’s presence at work in your life.

Christian life is all about relationships! Christians believe that God is not one Person but three, and that they have infinitely rich and happy relationships with one another. We believe further that the Three desire to share their happiness with us. Everything flows from this project of theirs.

Thus, each of the sacraments is a personal encounter with Christ. At every important moment in my life, Christ is there to welcome me. He sets things up so that at birth, adolescence, marriage, sickness and dying, he can meet me and enrich me in special ways. In the Eucharist Christ is the welcoming host. The community listens to his Word and responds as best it can. We share table-fellowship with him in Communion.

Sin too is about relationships. It is not like disobeying a rule of the road when driving. It happens when I wound the precious fabric of human and divine relationships. I hurt myself, others and God. The sacrament of reconciliation is not just a telling of my sins but a restoring of good relationships. ‘Go now and sin no more!’

When human history is completed, there awaits me a cosmic and ever-flowing celebration of good relationships, born of ecstatic joy in God and in all others. We call this heaven: everyone will be a friend to me, and I to them.
Even dying becomes a meeting with a loving and caring God who comes to bring me home. If remedial education in my loving is needed, it takes place then. To live the Christian faith is to live in life-giving relationships!

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9 NIV)


Eden was full of God’s glory—breathtaking beauty with unbroken union and constant communion with God. But as we know, something went terribly wrong, and Adam and Eve found themselves naked and ashamed. And what was the first thing they did when that happened?
They hid.
They hid from God.
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). God called out.
God.
Called.
Out.
“Where are you?” God asked. It was the very first question in the Bible, and it was asked by an all-knowing God. He still asks that very question today. Perhaps you’ve heard it as well. I have.
The real tragedy of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was that union between God and man was broken. Shattered. Destroyed. But as soon as Eve sank her teeth into the forbidden fruit, the shadow of the cross rose on the horizon, and God’s redemptive plan to restore all that we had lost was set in motion. All through the rest of the Old Testament, from Genesis 3:9 to Malachi 4:6, we read of God calling humanity back to Himself.
We read of cycles of humanity’s fellowship with God, followed by humanity’s rebellion against God, followed by God’s wooing humanity back in the midst of difficult circumstances, followed by humanity’s repentance, followed by humanity’s fellowship with God, followed by humanity’s rebellion against God, followed by God’s wooing humanity back in the midst of difficult situations, followed by humanity’s repentance, followed by humanity’s fellowship with God, followed by….
And all along God continues His passionate pursuit of the human heart as He relentlessly romances us, His image bearers, and calls out to us first one way, then another.
Interestingly, the Hebrew word for Bible is mikra, and it means the calling out of God. Isn’t that what the Bible really is? The calling out of God to draw mankind back to Himself. To restore our original glory through the finished work of Jesus Christ? He begins with calling out that very first question: “Where are you?” He ends it the same. “I stand at the door and knock,” (Revelation 3:20).
The Bible tells us, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). There is not one of us who is completely and perfectly living the life that God had intended in the Garden. But the good news is that Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:24-27). It is through that union that glory moments occur. Without Christ in us, we are not even able to detect or reflect God’s glory at all.  And yet, that was God’s original intent for us “in the beginning.”
Most people would agree that we are born with an inherent inner nagging that there has to be something more than what we see. Solomon wrote: “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). No matter how humanity has tried to satisfy the hunger, quench the thirst, or mask the reality of God’s existence, eternity still pulls at the heart. A longing to experience God persists. The glory ache is a chronic throb.
But here is the good news! Aren’t you ready for some good news? This is not our final home! We are merely passing through this thing called life. Until those who know Christ leave this earth and enter God’s glory once and for all, until we inhale eternity, He gives us glimpses of glory right here on earth! Moments of sudden glory abound, if we will but take the time to recognize them, to embrace them, to enjoy them … to taste and see that the Lord is good!

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by my name whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made,(Isaiah 43:7, NIV).


Have you ever wondered why you were created? You were created for God’s glory and to glorify God, (Isaiah 43:7) because it pleased Him to do so (Ephesians 1:5). The concept of glory can be a difficult concept to wrap our human minds around. It seems so otherworldly. We can catch glimpses of its meaning throughout Scripture, but then like a shooting star that appears for a just a moment, it quickly slips away into the vast expanse of God’s infinite wisdom. But let’s see what we can know about this bigger-than-life word.
In the Old Testament, the most common Hebrew word for glory is kabod meaning “weight, honor, esteem.” The Bible associates God’s glory with how He manifests Himself or makes His presence known. Some theologians refer to these as theophanies. He made His presence known in a devouring fire (Exodus 24:16-17), a moving cloud (Exodus 13:21) and a still small voice (Exodus 33:18). His glory is reflected in creation (Psalm 19:1) and in His sovereign control of history (Acts 17:26). His glory is made known through the life of simple human beings like you and me.
The same concept of God’s glory is in the New Testament in the Greek word, doxa, which meansglory, honor and splendor.(William D. Munce, General Editor , Munce’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006, 290). John wrote, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). After Jesus’ first miracle, turning the water into wine, John wrote: “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11). In Hebrews 1:3, the writer reveals this about Jesus: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3).
The verb form of glory, to glorify, is doxazo, and primarily denotes “to magnify, extol, praise, to ascribe honor to God, acknowledging Him as to His being, attributes and acts, i.e., His glory. It is the revelation and manifestation of all that He has and is. When we glorify God, we are giving a display or manifestation—or a reflection—of His character. To magnify God is to make Him easy to see. Jesus said that the disciples would glorify God when they bore fruit (John 15:8). Through their actions, they would point others to God and make Him easy to see.
God’s glory is how He makes Himself known. It is almost incomprehensible to think that He would choose mere human beings to accomplish such a task. But as Scripture tells us, we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26) and as a display of His glory (Isaiah 43:7). You were created to make God recognizable to others—to show others what God is like. He makes Himself recognizable to us and through us. The glory of any created thing is when it is fully fulfilling the purpose for which it was created…and that includes you and me.
Glory. It’s a big word—a weighty word.
Today, look for ways that God makes Himself known to you and through you.

I SEE YOU

We are not persons of great prayer, but Jesus knows us through and through, and remains our friend for all time. Prayer is simple. It is about befriending the Mystery of God and ourselves. We allow God to befriend us in all that is our life. Prayer is as simple as that - just being with the divine as I am, here and now, and believing that the Divine is with me. Ignatius of Loyola invites us to start our prayer like that. He says ‘I will consider how God looks at me’. Teresa of Avila says: ‘Gaze at God gazing at you, lovingly and humbly’. One of the French mystics wrote: ‘You gazed on me and you smiled!’
Connectedness is the key. Because I believe that I am loved, I can allow the Divine to look at me. Prayer then transforms the ordinary and the mundane. It makes the Now a moment of grace and joy. It can happen right now as you read this reflection!

BEING GENEROUS AND SHARING

God calls each of us to share. The early New Testament church shows us that generous living honors God and blesses others. In Acts 4:32-37; we see an amazing snapshot of generous giving in the early church. The believers were one in heart and mind. They were supernaturally unified to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and you could not find a needy person among them. What a model!
Giving wasn’t political. It wasn’t mandatory. It wasn’t done begrudgingly.
“…They shared everything they had.”(Acts 4:32)
“The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.”(Acts 11:29-30)
“But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving…For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (I Corinthians 8:7,12)
The resources of the believers were God’s, and they knew it. They placed what they had before the leaders in selfless acts of worship…for the glory of God and the provision of others. This principle is very important, but it’s also very counter-cultural.
The Bible clearly reveals that true life, a blessed life, an abundant life, a purposed life, is, in fact, all about God. What we have, have given birth to, or hold onto is really not our own.  It’s just on loan to us for a breath of a moment by our more-than-generous Creator. Each day brings us new opportunities to be good stewards.
Let’s face it; it’s just not always easy or natural to be generous. Perhaps we have been taken advantage of or we’ve been hurt by another’s deception. There are risks to giving.
The generous giving of the early church blessed the lives of their people. When we share what we have, God is honored and needs are met. The risks are worth taking.
I’m not suggesting a Robin Hood philosophy of “take from the rich and give to the poor.” And I don’t believe in the politics of communism or socialism. This principle of generous giving is Biblical. It’s an act of worship to God. It matters to God, and it should matter to us.
We need to reject the toddler mentality of “what’s mine is mine.” God loves a cheerful giver. We are blessed to give. Tell God today: “Lord, what’s mine is Yours. Use it for Your glory!”

The beginning of the year is a time for thinking afresh. Even if our body is ageing, our thinking can be evergreen. God always thinks freshly, because God is young, and always in the present. When we read the gospels we see that Jesus lived totally in the present. He was open to the emerging moment. We may think that being new is something for the future, that the next year will be new, even the next day. But nothing can be new except the now. It’s exciting to be able to live like that. read more...Prayer invites us always into newness of life. Prayer never lets the Spirit sit still except in the stillness of love. The new year invites us to create something new each day – the newness of love, of joy and often of endurance. To live for the day is to live always new. Prayer plunges us into the places of the Spirit where energy is available, like a flower reviving after a drought, or a faulty computer finding its way again, a patient getting therapy. Prayer is the space where we entrust into God’s memory what hurts our memory. We allow God’s forgiving and healing grace to make all things new in us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x91rBzNKvlc&feature=player_detailpage