Setting Up A Connection

Colossians 1:17 "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 

I believe this is the close of week 5, possibly 6 including what was supposed to be Spring break, the second week --  #COVID19 social distancing shutdown. I cannot complain. I am getting paid for sleeping in, reading, catching up on streaming shows, a lot of time to work in and enjoy my garden. Witnessing so many caterpillars consume the milkweed I planted for them, grow 1000x their size and find their designated spot in which to shed their skin, pull down a chrysalis blanket around them and reform their protein into a butterfly--simply  amazing!. If you were to come for a visit, I'd point out the 15 hanging, bright green homes where metamorphisis is taking place. 

Is there a metamorphisis taking place in homes across the world? Are families changing for the better? Are we going to be able to see a positive, beautiful transformation after the stay-at-home order is gradually lifted? Is this connectivity to our families going to make a difference in lives and the future? When things return to normal, are they going to be just that...back to normal? Was normal OK? 

I've blogged consistantly about this virus, touching on the subjects of masks, death, hope, mercy and uncertainty. This week, the word, connectivity came to mind. 

Funny, because earlier today, my internet went out on my laptop. Nowhere else did this problem occur, so it definitely presented itself as some sort of glitch in my computer. Several hours of trying to troubleshoot with the provider and a servant at church--no success. I had a plan B, not too happy that I couldn't connect. I sent a prayer request out to my group of friends. Can God please help to intervene in technology? 

I am thinking He, God, has received many such a prayer in these last few weeks as the Body of Christ ministers together in this new normal for now, remotely and virtually, on line in living rooms and on cell phones, Zooming and You-Tubing!  Well, the world tries to stay connected. 

I am reconnected to the internet. It never left. Somehow, a setting changed to a wrong position and it blocked my connection. Maybe that is how some people feel about God--just not fully connected. They know He is there, but they can't seem to find the right way to approach Him, get reaquainted with Him, take the time to see what the "problem" is, relying on a Plan B if it gets to that point. 

God is always connected. It's our "settings" that  need some adjustments.The Apostle Paul reminds us in this verse that the Lord is before all things. He is the provider, the computer, the screen, the router, the WiFi, and we need to be the search engine plucking out on the keyboard of our souls these thoughts: 

Father, You are in Heaven, I am here. Help me to see Your Glory today. Please forgive me of my transgressions, my mess ups, my doubts and fears and lead me into Your will. Help me Lord to stay connected and allow me Lord to see that You hold it all together, all for Your glory, Amen. 

A setting of humility, a setting of recognition-- that God's grace is all sufficient. We are then empowered to do this life and stay connected to Him and to His will, whether we are out and about or home, congregating or social distancing, masked or not, healthy or compromised, young or old, black, white, purple, rich or poor...

Our settings by default need to be placed, in Him, our Creator. It is rather poetic of Paul as I reread this short but mighty verse.

He's before all things and in Him all things hold together. 

I challenge you to write several Post-It notes and strategically place them around your home to remind you of this verse. Where are the places you get caught-up in? Where do you need to see His all sufficient grace? Where do you recognize that God is holding you all together, to trust Him? 

Lord, I pray that this simple poetic line of scripture will help someone out there to reconnect to You and Your plan and Your love for them.Thank You Lord for always being The Mighty connection to what is Holy and worth persevering for. Help us all Lord to stay connected and thwart off the virus of apathy. Wayward settings lead us to false teaching and hoplessness. Lifestyles and choices allow some to feel useless, unable to connect to You Lord. But because You are the Risen Saviour, You provided that setting of Grace for all who believe. May we not choose the setting of our own way, but connect to the Spirit that always provides, from the before to the now and into the after. Amen. 

For This Reason

Colossians 1:9-10 "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understandings, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..."

A second storm ended this afternoon as I drove home from the bank and waited to get some dinner. I listen to the news of the day and wondered about the storms to come... 

I know who I shelter under, who my foundation is truly built on, who promises JOY in the morning.

America inaugurated a new President today. I don't have to tell you that he is not well-liked by many, yet he became our choice in this democratic process. He is not a politician but a negotiator. He doesn't use political language that moves around the problem, but speaks and tweets unfiltered while sitting in the middle of a major traffic jam leading to the heart of the issues in this country. Many our prepared to block entrances and exits. I am on the overpass, asking God for the right direction. 

I pledge my allegiance to America, but I serve a King, the eternal King of Kings. As a citizen of His Kingdom, He asks us to pray for those in authority over us. 

And so I will continue to pray for our President. May God guide you, fill you with His knowledge, give you understanding, grace and compassion for all people, citizens of the U.S. or not. You, a billionaire businessman with all your assets can boast of a fruitful life, probably a whole lot of good works with your money, but now this country waits and hopes that the next 100 days will be unifying, not divisive, encouraging, not fearful, strong, not overbearing. 

The fruit the Lord talks about is the kind that quenches a thirst, that leaves seeds to plant hope for eternity, a harvest that feeds thousands spiritual food. Fruit that empowers  to change a generation to end the poverty of hopelessness and degradation. 

A President can do that, can inspire. 
Anyone who lays their hand, their eyes and heart on the pages of a Bible, Abraham Lincoln's or their grandmother's from another generation, can inspire. 

Lincoln's Bible 

Someone with a little orange New Testament given to them on a street corner, can inspire. 

If God so wills it in the pages of His Word and that Word is read and His servant is obedient, miracles can happen. And so we pray for this reason...

For this reason, President Trump; for this reason, my friend, 

For this reason, I read His Word so that I can be continually transformed and a fruit-bearing citizen of this earth, of this country, of my own holy-ground-moments as compared to eternity.  

~~~

I'm baking a cake right now. It's for a memorial service tomorrow for Rev. Harvey Boese, a servant of the Lord. Just a few months shy of 100 years of age, he faithfully attended my church with his wife and daughter and her husband for the last several years of his long life. I read his obituary in last Saturday's paper. Here is a part of it: 

Rev. Harvey Gilbert Boese, 99, a resident of Chino Hills for 18 years, died Jan. 6, 2017, at home

He was born April 9, 1917, in Bloomfield, Mont. He grew up on a farm near Avon, S.D., where he completed eighth grade. He attended a school for the speech-handicapped for one year. 

He graduated from St. Paul Bible Institute (now Crown College, Minn.) in 1941. He received his bachelor of arts and bachelor of divinity degrees from Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary in 1943. He attended Mission Training Institute (now Nyack College, N.Y.) in 1944 and later attended Fuller School of World Missions. He earned his GED in 1975 at age 58.

He married Grace Chadderdon on June 15, 1944.

He was a Christian & Missionary Alliance missionary to Thailand for 28 years. He was pastor of Baldwin Park Alliance Church for five years. He provided translation services and pastoral care for Asian refugees for 11 years.

He lived in Chino Hills since 1998, when he retired from pastoral ministries.

Someone prayed for Harvey Boese. He leaves a legacy that impacted the world for hope and the Truth. He never stopped attending church. He wanted and knew he needed the fellowship and the "knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understandings."

I know without a doubt, that the Lord is pleased with Rev. Harvey Boese. 

I know the Lord is pleased with me...because...because...
because I write? 
because I baked a cake?
because I told a woman she dropped her money in a puddle in the pouring rain (didn't notice it) today at the bank? 

None of the above. The Lord is pleased with us when we pray, when we take the time to humble ourselves, empty ourselves and give of ourselves to pray for others, even those who may or may not be someone we respect, or someone who has hurt us...or someone we fear. The Lord is pleased when our heart's desire is to be in His  will, not ours. It's never about our own goodness. It is because He is good. 

I am sure Harvey had a lot of stories of people who prayed for him, and I am sure at the service tomorrow, there will be stories from people who Harvey prayed for. 

For this reason, because God ordains it, I pray: God Bless you President Trump, God Bless America. God DID bless you Rev. Harvey Boese. God, bless his family, his dear wife Grace and his children and grandchildren. Give them the comfort and the legacy of faith to carry on. May You continue to use the seeds of the fruit planted for Your Harvest. I ask you Lord, for those souls who say they belong to You, to be obedient to Your Word and not their own agenda, to have words of love, especially for those who refuse, do not or cannot see You in the diluting of Your Truth in our country. Thank you Lord for Your Kingdom which will rule eternally and for the privilege to be a part of Your plan. Amen. 

Let us pray for this country, against division, hatred and violence--for unity and understanding, to work together, despite our own bias and opinions, for the greater Good. For so many reasons Lord, we pray, but if only for one reason Lord, that we might bring You glory and be privileged to partner with You to make Your truth known.