2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Do we truly believe that God cares for us? We may say that we trust Him, but....

So we work hard to save the money to buy a car, a house, and a quality education for our children. While such planning is not bad, it can become a problem if having our needs met is not enough and we feel that we must assuage all our desires as well.

God our provider promises to supply all our needs. What are our needs? Food, clothing, and shelter are life's most basic needs. Does God provide these? We would probably have to answer that yes, indeed, we have food, clothing, and shelter - that God has provided for us. While He may not have met all our desires, He has indeed met all our needs.

But even more important than God's provision for our physical needs is His provision for our spiritual needs. He has provided grace that is sufficient to fill the longing in our hearts for God. It is by His grace alone that we can come to Him.

Unlike trendy clothes, gourmet food, and fancy houses, grace is free and it is eternal. We don't have to earn it. We can't purchase it. It is offered as a gift. And it is ours forever.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Why do we praise? What causes us to lift our voices and worship God? From the beginning of time, all humanity has had reasons to praise almighty God - from the creation of the heavens and the earth to the promise of new heavens and a new earth, from the gift of the Promised Land to the gift of salvation through the promised Immanuel. Indeed, God is great and greatly to be praised!

How should we praise the Lord? How can we lift Him high upon our praise? We do that when we live to glorify Him, when we thank Him, when we use our gifts to serve Him. How many ways can we praise God? As many ways as we can imagine! David played his harp; Solomon ruled with wisdom; Paul wrote letters to Churches; C.S. Lewis wrote great literary works; Charles Colson ministered in prison; Fanny Crosby composed hymns. But most important, we praise God when we enthrone Him in our lives - making everything we do a sacrifice of praise to Him.

God is great, glorious, and excellent. May our lives reflect His power and glory. May His praise be ever on our lips, for He is greatly to be praised!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Isaiah 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

The work of a potter is serious business. If you've ever watched a potter at the wheel, you know the time it takes to create a clay jar, bowl or pot. The clay must be prepared properly, first removing all impurities that would cause the vessel to crack under the heat of firing. The potter works the clay, cutting, pounding, and kneading in order to remove bubbles. Then he shapes the vessel, working with his hands as the wheel spins. Finally, the vessel is fired to nearly twenty-four hundred degrees. All of this is done to produce a strong usable, high quality vessel.

How blessed we are to have the Master Potter molding us! He prepares us with His Word and sacraments and removes all our impurities through His loving forgiveness. He makes us stronger as we endure the cutting, pounding, and kneading of trials and difficult circumstances.

Then a most remarkable change takes place. He takes us, ugly lumps of muddy clay that we are, and forms us into items of great beauty and usability. He shapes us into exactly what He wants us to be, then He burns His love into our souls.

Undergoing the process of being molded may not always be comfortable, but the end is always worth it. Ask  God to mold you and make you, for when He does, He makes you more like Himself.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 71:3  Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

In ancient Christian iconography, we see the manger at Bethlehem represented often as a cave carved from rock. This representation looks back to the Psalms and stories of Moses and others being sheltered and protected in a "rock of refuge." Moses is placed in a rocky crevasse so that he could catch a fleeting glimpse of God's glory as God passes by. Elijah, in a cave, is sheltered from the whirlwind but hears God in a still, small voice. The representation of the manger as a cave also looks forward to Jesus' burial - the manger anticipates the tomb.

Our God is a refuge to which we may continually return, says the psalmist. Just like Moses, Elijah, and David, and Mary and Joseph, we may count on God to deliver us, ultimately from that which threatens us. When the rock is the manger, the Lord attends the holy family with shepherds and angels. Even when the rock is the tomb, the Son is resurrected and the stone is rolled away. In God's righteousness, we are delivered.

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Matthew 7:24  Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

In 1834, Edward Mote wrote the hymn "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less." You may know this song, which he intended to describe the "Gracious Experience of a Christian." The same week he penned the words "On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand: all other ground is sinking sand" he was met with the opportunity to share them with a dying woman who took great comfort in them.

Whether in fair or stormy weather, we can trust Christ's words from the Sermon on the Mount to be a solid rock for us. And what are these words? To be meek and pure in heart, to not be angry nor objectify others; to forgive others and love your enemies; to pray, to fast, to give alms and to seek after and trust God. To hear these words, and do them, is to build our house on a solid Rock. Christ and his teachings are for us a strong refuge and a steady foundation; all other ground is sinking sand.

-Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Corinthians 10:4 ...and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

The story of Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is a deep well for Paul as he writes to the Corinthians. For Paul, this journey becomes a template for Christian life: Our baptism is like when they came through the Red Sea; our Communion together is like their manna in the desert and their drinking from the Rock. The Rock from which Moses brings forth water, Paul says, is Christ.

Paul's interpretation is rich - Christ, as the incarnate and saving Word of God, is, of course, present in creation. But he isn't only saying that the Word is in the Rock. The Rock is Christ because it provides living water to those in the desert. It quenches their thirst and offers life to those in duress. As we near Christmas, a time where wish lists of things we "thirst" for are front of mind, it's worth considering what we truly thirst for. Is Christ our Rock? Do we wish for living water, the fulfillment of all our desires? Nothing else will ever satisfy us.

-Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Colossians 4:6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Just as God directed that holy incense be salted, Paul advises the Church at Colossae to season their words to one another with salt. In keeping with our reflections upon how salt is used to purify and consecrate relationships, these gracious words are hospitable words. Rather than saying what we may initially think we need to say, our gracious seasoned speech invites others to speak, as well, and u to listen, "so that you know how you ought to answer each person."

Hospitality in speech, or in general, is a deeply Christian, deeply human act. Abraham welcoming the three strangers, Mary and Martha welcoming Christ, Christ washing the feet of his disciples - all of these are acts of hospitality that help us to understand the character of this speech. Mary and Joseph, as they journey to Bethlehem, however, find the inn full and the town unable to welcome them into any comfort. Let us then continue to prepare our hearts and season our speech with salt so that they are gracious and welcoming to each person who comes before us.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,