Friday, October 22, 2010

The B-52's!

"If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  
(1 John 1:9)

It's a fairly common occurrence in Hawaii.  Walk into a garage late one night, turn on the lights, and see a couple of B-52 Cockroaches scurry away (Yes, we have more than our share of cockroaches in the islands - BIG ONES, too!).  And though we run into them from time to time in the daylight hours, they're especially prevalent at night!  Turn on a light suddenly, and you're bound to see some!

In 1 John, chapter one, the author reminds us that God is Light.  And God's LIGHT shines in the darkness.  It also reveals our sin.  Everyone sins - it's just our human nature.  But we don't have to remain int hat sin.  If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just and will forgive and cleanse us.  That's a promise.  There is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.

Nobody's perfect, that's for sure.  We all have some cockroaches in our garage.  If we're honest enough to admit it, God is faithful enough to forgive.  That's grace.  That's love.  That's LIFE!  Amen.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Imagine!

"Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander."
(1 Peter 2:1)

Starbucks recently started selling john Lennon's new album.  Well, it's more like a "best of," since Mr. Lennon hasn't been with us for a while now.  Anyway, I was looking through the song list today and saw the track IMAGINE.  It's a song, of course, about people living in peace & harmony together.  "You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.  I hope someday you will join me, and the world will live as one."

That easily could be the soundtrack for what I was reading today from 1 Peter 2:1.  This single verse, if lived out, would go a LONG way towards this world "living as one."  Listen to these simple (yet evidently surprisingly difficult to actually live out) words: "Rid yourselves of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander."  Wouldn't it be refreshing if we ALL lived this way?  Especially now that we're in a political campaign season, we could use a lot less malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander!!!

But the true power of Scripture is not the passages I find for others to hear... it's the passages I find for me!  So how do I need to rid myself of these things?  May I endeavor today to be kind, gracious, sincere, content, and honest.  (Maybe even beyond today, too!)  Imagine!

Friday, October 1, 2010

(cue Bridal March music!)

"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall God rejoice over you." 
(Isaiah 62:5)

Tomorrow, friends of ours are getting married.  Nancy was part of the youth group at my very first church, some 15+ years ago.  She and Kyle have been together for quite a while now, so it's a joy to be able to celebrate with them on this deeper commitment to their relationship.  I know that Nancy's excited, simply based on her Facebook posts this week!  I can also remember back over 20 years ago when I was a groom-to-be, and the excitement I had.  What a feeling!

The prophet Isaiah uses wedding imagery to talk about our relationship wtih God.  But he puts an interesting twist on it.  Instead of simply saying we are bound together with God, like a marriage covenant... Isaiah speaks about God REJOICING over us, like a bridegroom over his bride.  How cool is it to know that GOD GETS EXCITED & FILED WITH JOY when He thinks of us!?!? We tend to picture God as distant, waiting only for us to come to Him... but not according to Isaiah 62:5!

How might it change may day to day to know that God is REJOICING over my relationship with Him?  (It's actually kind of exciting, isn't it?)