Test the Spirits

Why Bother?

2010-11-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.

Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust (Psalm 40:3, 4a)

A week or so again, our pastor asked an important question while teaching on the necessity of discipleship. He asked: why bother?

I have to admit there were lots of other people there that night that had great answers, but one answer kept coming back to me again and again. And that was the answer Peter gave so many years ago: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)

You see, I wasn't raised a Christian, nor did I find Jesus early on, but instead I came to know the biblical Jesus after I had lived for a bit. And, unlike some amazing stories others tell, my life without Jesus was actually a pretty good life. I was honest--to the point my brother teased me about it--I was moral, I didn't drink excessively (very often anyway), I didn't do drugs, I held down a good job, was a responsible and loving mom to my kids, and in short really did most things the world considers "good."

And, I lived my life for myself: I did what seemed right to me, charted my own course, and was more or less successful in the things that our culture values. I had a good job, a decent marriage, good kids, and was a good person.

But, inside I knew there were some "issues." And, even worse I didn't have any answers for these issues. I knew, for instance, that I lost my tempers at my kids far too often. I knew that my marriage had some pretty serious fissures, and that I was at least partly to blame. I knew that despite being "too honest," that I wasn't completely honest all the time. I also knew that there was a lot of discontent inside me about my job, about my home, and about my life. And, even worse I didn't have a clue how to go about changing me to correct those things.

So, when I came to know Jesus, it was after living my own life, after being master of my own destiny, and after having the success and accolades of the world, and realizing that those things really and truly left me empty. And, so when God came looking for me I knew that "I" didn't have the answers. I truly couldn't fix me, and I surely couldn't fix anyone else.

And, I quickly found out that He could! And, He did--since coming to know Him, those things I mentioned above really aren't issues anymore. Oh, I'm not perfect by any means--He's still working on me. But, He's changed so much in my life and filled me with His joy and His contentment, and His love. My marriage relationship has changed. My relationship with my children has changed. I am more contented and more joyful. And, those other issues that bothered me so badly before, really aren't issues at all anymore.

And, so with the Psalmist I just have to shout out His praises! For you see, I didn't make those changes--Jesus did! And, so my answer to my pastor's question of "why bother?" is how could I not? Like Peter, I too know that Jesus holds the words to, not only my eternity, but also to the joyful and fulfilled life now!

Washed clean and pure!

2010-01-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

I admit it I'm a desert girl. I've lived all over the country now, and at various elevations, and climates, and loved them all, but deep down inside I love the desert. And, days like today are why.

You see, we've been experiencing a drought for some time now here in the Phoenix area. I've been working in the yard quite a bit and can vouch for how dry everything is--the dust is thick on the trees, and everything is dead, or more accurately dormant--which is what desert plants do when there's no water. When I break off the dead limbs on the trees they shower me with grit. The cactus are shriveling. The desert looks gray, lifeless, and dead. The animals too are suffering, they've stooped to actually gnawing on cactus limbs to get some moisture and nutrition. We've had only two rain storms, and maybe a grand total of an inch of rain since I've been here in May. Did I mention that our well also went dry? It's been dry, dry, dry!

The last two days however, have been rainy. And, not just rainy but a slow, steady rain--the kind of rain that really sinks in and replenishes the earth. And, this morning, in the midst of a break in the storms I went outside to sunny skies and a wet, wet desert. It's glorious how the rain has taken that dry, dead desert and washed it so marvelously clean! The air literally tingles with the cleanness of it, the freshness of cleanliness as all the dust is washed back into the ground, and nourishing water is now allowed to wet the roots, the leaves, the stems, even the cactus needles and clean away all the grime of drought and put all that dirt right back where it should be in the ground. You can almost see the desert greening up and coming to life again right before my very eyes.

And, as I revel in the fresh, clean air, I'm reminded that is just what Jesus does for me every day if I let Him. He takes His blood and cleanses away all the grime and all the accumulated dust and nourishes my dry roots bringing new life and new joy--a new greenness if you will. And, when I see that--really see that I too tingle with excitement over what He's doing. It's simply marvelous!

I can remember a time that I didn't know Jesus. My life was a lot like the desert--dead, dry, gray, lifeless. But, then Jesus came in and brought life again and I was like the desert after a rain, full of life, washed clean, ready to take on any challenges, alive, really and truly alive for the first time in my life.

I know that most of the country is covered with snow, and many of you can't imagine a desert brought to life again by a few inches of rain. But, if you've ever seen it, I hope you'll also see what Jesus can do for your life--He's done it for me, and like the desert I'm tingling about now. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Healing, the Holy Spirit, and power from on high

2010-01-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

I got a Kindle for Christmas and am loving it. With that I bought several new books (Thanks Joe for the gift card from Amazon) and have been loving those too. One of those is Andrew Murray's book called "The Full Blessing of Pentecost." I'm a Andrew Murray fan from way back but had no idea he had a book that touched on this subject. It's been very inspiring to say the least.

I mentioned in my last posts my awe really about the idea that God could/would use His people to heal others, ending it by questioning could He use me. And, the answer is that if He does indeed use His people, He certainly could use me. That's certainly an awe inspiring thought.

The thing is I think that we all too often limit God. We say things like "He couldn't (or wouldn't) work in this way," as if He weren't really omnipotent (all-powerful). Think about that for a moment--by it's definition a being who is omnipotent could do anything He wanted to and in any way.

One thing is for sure, my ideas about God have been blown wide-open, and suddenly the possibilities are endless. Truly an all-powerful God could empower His believers to do miraculous things. And, like I asked in my last post, could He empower me?--the answer is of course He could, but would he? Well, that's another thing altogether.

Yesterday Steve woke up, had devotions, went for a walk, and while showering afterwards God spoke quite clearly to him about teaching high school English in Gallup. Well, it was such a strong impression he called the high school only to find that they'd just posted an opening for a English teacher. Again it seemed like God was very clearly leading this way so he got in the car and went to Gallup. However, this morning when he finally made contact with the principal, who was sick yesterday, he found they'd already filled that position. Which leads us to wonder just what is God up to? Could He have used that impression on Steve's mind--and the miraculous about it--to get him up to Gallup? Is He still going to be teaching high school English? (His degree is not secondary ed. btw).

So, we're praying about it, and wondering just what it is God has for us. And, while we're at it, learning some more about how He works--while we look for the miraculous. 'Cause He certainly could do a miracle.

Divine Healing?

2010-01-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

So, I'm reading two different books about God working through people to heal other people, or the gift of healing. And, honestly I'm not sure what I think about that--Oh, I've always believed that God does and can heal--and that He heals who He wills for whatever reason He chooses. But, to say that there's people out there that God works through to open the eyes of blind, to unstop deaf ears, to make maimed limbs straight, that's a bit of a leap for me. But, that's just what these people testify that God is and has done through them, or others they've known.

And, unlike other accounts I've read before all glory seems to be given to God, and not to the one being used. Sounds a whole lot like what I read about in the New Testament--Jesus healing the blind, Peter causing the lame to leap, Paul casting out devils and more. So, is it possible? Is it true?

And, I guess most importantly could God use me in this way? (Whether He chooses to or not is something altogether different, but could He use me in this way?)

Peace and Joy--the real stuff!

2010-01-02T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today I sense God speaking to me--speaking peace, speaking joy, speaking to me that He's here, and is working in my life in a very real way. There's been so many changes in my life here lately that peace and joy aren't exactly the words I'd use to describe things, but it's just what God's doing. Interesting, that He works that way.

What's more interesting I suppose is that I'm surprised by that. I think somehow that confusion, frustration, and even anger are the normal feelings that I should have as a Christian. That's what should be interesting, not that I'm surprised by what God does when He does what He says He will. I guess that means I'm still learning.

And, so on this second day of the new year, I just want to praise His holy name! He is the Lord God Almighty, the King of kings, the Prince of peace, the Almighty God, and yet He deigns to be the Lover of my soul, my Savior, and my Messiah. And, you know what? All honor, and glory, and power are His because He did it--not me. . . remember me? I'm the one who thinks that frustration and fear, and confusion are normal. So, it's truly all about Him, and not at all about me. Praise God.

Isn't that like our God?

2009-10-02T19:16:00.001-07:00

So, this Tuesday I was driving up to Salt Lake City to check out a opportunity of a place to stay (and work). As I drove I drove the same route we drove in June when we went up for vacation, and at one point in the trip there's an area that in June we all commented on how ugly it looked because the area had ben burned in a forest fire. I'm sure you've seen areas like that--burned out, black, dead, with skeletons standing, but other than that not too much vegetation.

Well, interesting enough this time when I drove through I noticed that instead of just ugly dead, dry skeletons, in it's place were the most beautiful fall colors--reds, golds, yellows, well you know. And, the thought crossed my mind that isn't that just like our God? To take something that's totally burned out, used up, and wasted, and make it the most beautiful spot in the forest?

And, doesn't He do that with our lives too? Doesn't He specialize even in taking our lives when they're the most messed up--when they're dry, dead, skeletons and make something beautiful out of them--and not just beautiful, but amazingly beautiful.

I'm banking on that fact, are you?

Aren't you glad you're not Mary?

2009-04-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine being Mary the mother of Jesus? Remember that Jesus, while being 100% God, was also 100% human yet without sin. And, it's that without sin part I'm talking about.

Imagine you're Mary and Jesus is a toddler. You're sitting down in your kitchen taking a break with some good friends, and you start complaining because you were up all night with Jesus who had an earache. And, your friend is sympathizing because she too has been there, done that. And, so she, like we women do, shares her story, she says, "I know just what you mean, I was so mad at little Zach last week. I've told him a thousand times to stay out of the donkey trail running through town, and yet Wednesday I look out the window and there he is standing in the middle of the trail, he would have gotten run over if it weren't for our big black dog that was standing there barking at all the donkeys! I just get so exasperated with that child. It seems like he spends his life not obeying me."

And, another friend chimes in, "yeah, I can so relate! Little Sarah is into everything! Yesterday she had my makeup out all over my bedroom. I spent HOURS cleaning everything up. She was kind of cute though with lipstick on her nose, and eye shadow clear up to her hairline. Of course I had to punish her so she'd know that was naughty, but I was hiding a smile while I did it. "

And yet another friend chimes in, "last week my Ezekiel got sent home from his Sabbath classes because he said a bad word! I have no idea where he heard that! I had to wash his mouth out with soap and then he was spitting soap bubbles for hours! It was kind of funny though."

And, on and on your friends go, and you realize, like Mary did (scriptures say she pondered these things in her heart) that you really don't have any "naughty" tales to tell about Jesus. In fact, the very thing you were complaining about has nothing to do with being bad--but instead being in pain--being miserable. And, you realize that the "sin" was indeed yours for being impatient with his pain.

And, as Jesus grows a bit and is now in school, you're gathered around the well getting water for your family and chatting with another group of friends and you hear, "John got in trouble at school because he made Mary cry by pulling her hair. I don't know what I'll do with that child. He's always getting his name on the board at school!" And as they always do, someone else chimes in, "I'm so frustrated with Zebediah, I tell him every single day to make his bed before school, and then the one day I forget to remind him he doesn't make it! Will this child ever learn to be responsible and obey me?" And, yet another jumps into the conversation, "yes, I think my Rhonda will be grounded until she's 35! She just can't seem to stay out of trouble!"

And, again Mary's left thinking about Jesus and realizing she has no stories to tell. Jesus is instead always nice to his classmates, and always obedient to whatever she tells him to do, and he's kind and gentle with his siblings (about whom she could tell tales and has to resist the urge to compare them always with their older brother)! And Mary reflects on her own attitude just last night when she was grumpy with Jesus' little sister and yelled at Him instead, and He didn't even get mad at her, but instead just gave her a hug and went to bed quietly like she had told him to.

And when Jesus is a teen Mary's out at her grinding stone grinding corn with the other ladies in the town square, and the ladies are again talking about their teenagers. "I caught Jacob trying to watch our neighbor girl bathe the other day! I was so upset with him! Can you believe it?" After commiserating for awhile and sharing about this situation, another friend mentions, "I'm struggling with Betty too. She has the biggest crush on a Roman soldier--can you imagine? He's too old for her and he's NOT Jewish. But, she sneaks out nights while we're sleeping and talks with him! We really don't know what we're going to do about her." And once again Mary reflects on how Jesus is helpful with the younger children, how He doesn't seem to do anything improper with regards to girls, and is always obedient. And once again she becomes convicted of her behavior just this morning towards Jesus when she jumped down his throat for spending time in the Torah when she thought he should be out enjoying the sunshine.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine having a child who never, ever sinned? A child who was never arrogant, or selfish, or rebellious? I sure can't. But then again I've never had a child who was God--God made flesh.

I imagine though it was a bit hard for Mary. I imagine too it might have pointed out her own sinfulness when she was impatient with Jesus, or when she was cranky and he never, ever responded with anger to her. Can you imagine being the mother of God? I sure can't. Mary though lived it every day.

The Creator

2009-03-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made;

and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Psalms 33:6

My husband was telling me about a new car made by Tesler Motors that was completely all electric, non polluting, and just, in short, really cool. I was impressed as apparently are some people who are a lot smarter than me, like the owners of Google. We’re like that though, aren’t we? When we see something new and cool we get excited about it. We tell our friends and families; if it’s buyable and we can afford it, we put our names on a list to buy it (as people are doing for this car). In short it’s exciting to be involved in seeing something really cool being made.

Have you ever taken a moment to marvel at this world we live in? It too is an amazing creation—I’m constantly astounded by the variety of flowers there are in the world, or how about all the trees. . . or on a not so fun note, what about the incredible variety of insects there are? Some of them so small we can hardly even see them, and then again there are those big ugly ones we’d rather not see.

Or have you marveled at the complexity of creation? I watched part of a video that was scientifically trying to figure out what combination of things you’d need to have a planet that sustained life. It was astounding! I can’t remember all the details, but if our planet were a bit closer to the sun, or a bit further away, or if we spun a bit slower, or faster we just couldn’t be.

Or have you ever thought about the complexity of your own body—I read somewhere that one simple cell contains a trillion molecules. And, I’ve heard a single strand of DNA contains more information that the biggest computer. And, I could go on and on, but the point is that we should be amazed by the creation we see around us.

I suppose that’s why all throughout the Old Testament God referred to Himself as the Creator of the Universe. And, interestingly enough, while we can only create our “cool” things from things that already exist (like in the Tessler car where they used things like metal, chemicals, and cloth), God created all this from nothing.

Genesis 1:1 tells us “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” What it doesn’t tell us specifically, but is implied, is what He created them out of—thin air, or more accurately, He created them out of nothing at all. Other verses in the Bible imply this as well. Hebrews 11:3 for instances tells us that “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

And, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine anything more wow, than to create something stunning, amazing, complex, and beautiful from nothing at all. . . I suppose it’s just one more reason why I’m awed by our amazing God.

Our Eternal God

2009-02-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

Can you imagine a being who has existed forever? Most of us can't--really. You see everything in our human experience has an end, and has a beginning. So the idea of a being who has always existed and will always exist is well. . .unimaginable. But, that's just what Genesis 1:1 suggest to us. It starts by saying "in the beginning God. . ." suggesting to us that God somehow, in some way existed before the beginning. Honestly, it's kind of mind-boggling to me.

Other verses however, go on to suggest the same. Psalm 102:12 says "But You, O LORD, shall endure forever" And, Isaiah 40:28 adds: "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, . . ." Psalm 90:2 adds to this thought: . . .Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Ok, we're into theology again--but this one's really important. It helps us know who God is--and more importantly is He worthy of our trust? It's a clue to knowing who God is--biblically.

And why's it important to me (and to you)? Well, I'll give you some of my thoughts:

1) If God's eternal (or everlasting) that means that He's much, much bigger and more important than I am. I know my body isn't eternal--I've seen too many other people around me die to believe that. God however is eternal, meaning He at least doesn't have this human fallibility.

2) If God's eternal might it mean that He knows a bit more than I do? And, possible be more powerful than I? Might He also be a bit wiser than me? It certainly would appear so.

3) Might also the fact that He's eternal mean that He lives outside of human time? Meaning that our sense of what's fast or slow, of days, months, and years even might be different than His timetable?

I'll close with my little theology lesson today with this analogy: Let's say that today a benign master race of extraterrestrials came to earth. At first of course we'd be scared to death, but as we got to know them, and came to see that they really did have our best interest at heart, we'd get to know that they had lived much longer as a race than our race, We'd also discover that they were much, much wiser, and knew much, much more about the way things worked. (After all if they could make it here alive, and learn to communicate with us they'd probably be a bit wiser than we). Eventually, as after we got comfortable with them, we'd do everything within our power to get to know them, and to to find out what they knew--what they choose to reveal to us about themselves. How might they reveal themselves to us? Maybe by giving us an instruction manual? Something we could hold in our hand and look back at to check against any other truth presented to us? And, of course the very best way they could impart their knowledge to us would be by having a personal relationships with each one of us. Interesting concept isn't it?

Theology--a bit of a four letter word

2009-01-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Let's say for just a moment that I believe God wants nothing more in this life than for me to get rich--how would that affect what I do? Might it affect how I'd live my life? Maybe I'd see nothing at all wrong with lying for instance to further my cause (getting rich), or maybe too I wouldn't see too much wrong from taking what I want from a store (it helps my cause!), or further maybe I'd see nothing wrong with cheating on my taxes, or setting up dummy companies to launder money I'd made illegally--or robbing a bank--no problem! Then again, if someone stands in my way of getting rich, well, murder isn't really a problem either--after all, it's all about me getting rich--in fact, if I do any of these things to get rich, it's all in "god's will."

It's pretty obvious to most of us that this kind of thinking is problematic. So, wouldn't it also follow that if our thinking about God is wrong, in a smaller way, we might do some wrong things in response to that (like our guy above that's a real crook because his thinking is wrong.)?

I think so--and I think we can see some of this in the world now. In fact, I've seen it in my own life where I've believed wrongly about God, gotten depressed because of that, and really had my life thrown for a loop all because of a wrong idea about God. Fortunately for me, God continues to be faithful (that's one of his attributes) and so He continued to work with me, showing me who He was, until I finally got it and things in my life got much better.

I don't know about all LDS folks, but for me when I was LDS, theology was a big, and somewhat ugly word. It was a word that implied evil, scheeming men trying to define a God in whatever image they chose to define him in. It had the implications of learned scholars, so learned that they messed everything up--choosing deliberately to distort the image of God to fit what they wanted God to be.

Since becoming a Christian though, I've come to see that theology is, simply put, the study of God--discovering who He is, and what He's taught. And, I've also come to see that it's important.
Believe it or not, the LDS church has a theology--a belief system about who God is, and what He's done or is doing. They believe for instance that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three seperate beings who work together and become one in purpose. They believe there is a heirarchy of God's--God the Father being the top God in this case and that the others answer to Him. They believe as well that God the Father progressed to become God--that once upon a time, a long, long time ago God was a man just like we are now, and that through help from His God, and doing all the right things He becamse a God--the God He is now.

Too, LDS folks believe a whole lot of other things about God, but these beliefs will do for now.

And, of course Christians have a theology too. We have specific beliefs about who God is as well. We base these beliefs on what the Bible teaches about God. For instance, we believe God is eternal (Ps. 90:2). We take that to mean that He's always been God, and will always be God. We believe that God is all powerful (the word almighty means all-powerful, Ps. 68:14, 91:1, 115:3 and more). We believe that God knows everything (Ps. 147:5 and more). And, we believe that God is one (Duet 6:4, Isaiah 46:9, Isaiah 47:10 and more), and also that God is three. We call that a trinity, meaning that God is one, and is also three. And, like the LDS there's a whole bunch of other things we believe are true about God.

The implications among my friends though all too often is that our theology doesn't matter--as long as we love each other and treat other people good, that's all that's important (they say). But, I don't believe that to be true. I think our theology does matter. Like in the example above it's very true that our theology--what we believe about God, and to a lesser degree about ourselves, affects very, very much what we do with and for God. . . I'd like to explore this a bit more later. See you soon!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

For awhile I've been praying to God that this would be the best Christmas ever. I've had a lot of reasons to think it might not: we weren't going home, my older kids wouldn't be with us, we'd be missing our families, we had no money until quite recently to buy anything at all as far as presents, we're living in a foreign country where everything is so very different from home. . . and more. In addition our country, and the one we're living in are experiencing unprecedented problems: rising crime, rising unemployment rates, financial problems and more. So you can see my prayer for a wonderful Christmas is really a pretty practical one.

Something happened though that I find real interesting: God answered. But not in the way I thought He should answer--He didn't send my boys to visit me, He didn't send us home unexpectedly, or create world peace, or even peace in my neighborhood, and while He did send a bit of money so we could have a Christmas He didn't send boatloads. But, what He did do is all the more significant. He reminded me of where I am. And, He did that by reminding me where I was.

You see for many years I didn't know the Lord. I wasn't a terrible person, like some might think, but instead I just lived my life as I wanted to, thinking that I knew best how to make myself happy. And, for all of those years I had pretty good Christmases. For the most part I had sufficient money, I have a wonderful family, and Christmas for us was a time of "peace on earth," even if not in the wider world around us.

But all those years too there was something lacking--a sense that there was more to this than a wonderful family, nice presents, and the fun of watching my kids open their gifts.

And, finally about 10 years ago I found what I was lacking--Jesus Christ. And, that made all the difference in the world. And, not just the Jesus Christ that is found in Luke 2--the babe in the manger that even those in our country that have never stepped into a church could tell you about. But, Jesus who IS GOD WITH US. Jesus who cared enough about me and my sin problem, to come to earth and sacrifice Himself as the only sacrifice that was sufficient for my sins. And in doing that offered me peace with God, adoption into God's family, all the rights and privileges that come from being God's daughter, and not only that but has given me the right to crawl up in God's lap (figuratively speaking) and call Him daddy!

And, for me at least, that changed my life radically! I know that every single day I can walk with Him and come to know Him and His will more and more. And, for me Christmas is so different than it's ever been before. Oh I still enjoy the presents, a wonderful family, time spent with both family and friends, but too I enjoy the daily presence of knowing God and walking in His presence.

So, this Christmas, the present God gave me is so much bigger than anything I could have imagined. And He didn't do it through having a wonderful Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, a tree complete with all the gifts we'd want, and a family that's perfectly dressed in their matching Christmas outfits and perfectly behaved. Rather He did it by giving me Himself.

I say it again, what an amazing God we have!!!! And Merry Christmas all!

Rejoicing in God Today

2008-12-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today I'm rejoicing in a God who saw fit to humble Himself to come in the form of a baby, in a most humble birth--rejected by potential family members who could have offered Mary and Joseph hospitality, rejected by the secular leaders who were saving their best spaces for the "important" people, rejected by humble people because they had no time, energy, or money, and relegated to being born in a barn among the stinky animals. I also rejoice we have a God who was first announced to the most humble of people--shepherds rather than to kings, wise men, or even the middle class inn keepers. I rejoice that those same shepherds, humble though they may be felt like they could come to praise Him.

I"m grateful that we have a God who consented to live like I live--simply, suffering the normal things that men suffer, being tempted with sin, and in short doing all I as a human do (except sin) . And, yet, never once lost or forgot who He was.

I'm grateful that that same God is the God of the universe--He who spoke and the world came into existence. He who has all power, and upholds the world by the Word of His mouth. That same God created a wide variety of things for me to enjoy (and a few I don't enjoy too). He created a million varieties of flowers, from ones so small I can't hardly see them, to the sunflower as big as a plate (and maybe there's bigger ones but I haven't seen those yet). He created them in every color of the rainbow. He created foods that awe my tastebuds. From spicy hot, to sweet sweet, and every other flavor in between. He created animals, and insects that awe me in their complexity. He created rocks and mountains, waterfalls, and seashores. He created sunsets that flame in red, orange, blue and purple, sunrises that the whole world stands quiet to watch.

This same God knew me before I was born--He planned me and gave me certain abilities, and certain disabilities so I'd learn to trust Him more. He planned every part of me from the hair on my head, to the way my feet wrinkle. He knew how I'd turn out, because He planned me, and He planned for me to be special and unique among His creation, just as He planned each of you to be special and unique.

This is the God I've come to know, a God who has control of EVERYTHING that goes on--from the bad stuff, to the good stuff. From earthquakes, to the birth of a baby--none of it goes on without Him allowing it. And, this very God is He who consented to come and live among us, to be one of us--born in the most humble manner possible, living a remarkable normal life, and dying a death among thieves.

What an amazing God!

And, what's even more amazing, is that this same God chose me--I don't have any idea why, I certainly didn't and don't deserve it. But, this God chose me and adopted me, and gives me every right and priviledge that He gives His own son. He chooses to forgive my sin. He chooses to grant me the right to be in His presence. He chooses to send His ever present Spirit to live in me, to lead and guide me, to indeed be my life. And, all I can say is praise be to God! He alone is worthy! And, this same God has planted me among the body of believers to learn from each of them, and to love them, and to learn certain lessons--how I thank God for each of you my brothers and sisters.

And, all of this God did because He loved me. Is that amazing or what?