Author: Admin

National Gallery of Art, NGO Image, Public Domain

“The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:8B-10, ESV).

     We have all been fatigued, discouraged and just plain tired. We become tired and having expended effort and energy into something, we may just want give it up.  After a period of time, our interest and dedication in things has waned  or maybe it has just disappeared completely. It can leave quickly or it can slowly just fade away as we devote less and less attention to what we were once interested in because we are just tired of it.

      We can become tired of things as diverse as tangible projects and creations and we can become tired of community causes and interests as well. In all of this, there may or may not be any direct repercussions to people in most of our moving on from specific projects or causes.

      Something quite different happens when we get tired in our efforts and involvement in the lives of others around us. Whether we are coming along side someone who is discouraged offering them support or encouraging another person in finding new pathways through a difficult situation or problem, our efforts are needed. There are people involved and they are relying on us to help them on their way. Their lives are important. There is nothing easy about being in the place where people are involved and we want to give up and quit. We have given much in most of these cases but more grace, love and commitment are needed in the lives of those needing our help. Yet, we feel like quitting because we are just tired of it all.

      So then, where do we go when we are in this tired place? God wants us to remember, something greater is at work. He is working through us. He has plans in what we are doing. He needs us to give grace, love and commitment to others so His workmanship can continue in their lives.

      Beyond all of this, is the simple reality … God through his work in and through us will bring about a great harvest of goodness from all that we do out of our love for Him. Furthermore, when we cry out in our weaknesses, He supplies more grace through His Spirit to complete any service to Him and to those around us. He comes to help and encourage us to continue. There will always be blessing in all that we do for God in the lives of others and we will always find blessing in the new life created in us along the way. God will always do something in our lives beyond our expectations, if we continue to serve Him beyond any and all moments when we are tired of doing good.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more that we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, NLT).

Suggested Reading … Galatians 6

      At the center of all that is living is the One who created and gives all there is to life. It is a gift of grace from our Creator to be given a life to live. It is a gift of grace to be given a new life as follower of Christ; forgiven and free from our sin as we are redeemed and sanctified as we live out our days. Most of all, it is an indescribable gift of grace to be given life eternal. All of life from beginning unto eternity comes from the “Giver of Life” and we should live out our lives in gratitude and thanks.

      Christ desires that we live out our lives drawing from Him as the source of all substance and life. He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:1-11). We live as the body of Christ, alive in the life He gives us in His saving and sanctifying us. It is His love that we are drawing our life from and it is His love that flows through us into the lives of others. This is the most important part of our living as the branches of the vine. This happens as we love others and the world around us. It is what He desires most of all and it is what He states will be the defining mark of His Body, the Church. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

      We cannot fake this love, nor can we try by our best intentions to love this way. Our loving has to come from our dying to our selfish ways and making everything we do in our fellowship about following and loving our Lord. This means in our personal life and in our life together as a part of the “Body of Christ,” which is His church around the world. If we love Christ above all else, it will change our lives and our world.

      As Christ changes our lives, we should be excited to give witness to the power that has changed us. This translates into the sharing of the Christ that is our Lord with our friends and family and the world around us. Our witnessing to what He has done in our lives will then be natural and flow out of the work of the Holy Spirit in making us new. This happens as we die to ourselves and let Christ flow into us as His branches. May we remember His great love for us in forgiving all of our sins and may we let His love flow in and out of us as we love those around us with His love. May we be true branches on the true Vine of all life.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12-17)

Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, “Anger” National Gallery of Art, Public Domain – NGA Image

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”

(Matthew 5:43-45, NLT)

Revenge may seem sweet for a moment but the harm is immense and demons of destruction released are not content with measured amounts of justice. The chaos and damage can engulf the taker of revenge and the receiver of revenge. Even the strong can be crushed and bitterness and misery can come like a flood in haunting and unrelenting ways. The revenge which seems so sweet at the moment can extract unforeseen costs and leave a desolate landscape and legacy of torment and pain which can last for a long time. In the lives of individuals and in the scope of nations; revenge seldom leaves a pretty picture.

Yet, something incredibly miraculous happens when we venture around the corner of intending upon inflicting revenge on someone and turn to walk on the street of praying for our enemies. Slowly the desire to damage someone is remade by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit into love. It is a hard walk to the corner as we let go of human nature but the view after the turn, unto the street of grace brings us face to face with God as He release His blessing into our life. It is the truth, Jesus desired we find, as our hearts are purified. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8, ESV). As the forgiveness of Christ liberates us from the prison of sin; forgiving others with the forgiveness of Christ frees us to experience His grace midst great joy.

Forgiving another is also the only way; others can connect the gift of the forgiveness of Christ available to them with the living Christ residing in you. Around the corner of revenge is the street of grace and it is a wonderful pathway to God’s greatest blessings. Turn the corner away from revenge and experience the freedom you will find as you walk on the street of forgiveness and grace. You may be surprised, but then again God is full of surprises because He does more than we can dream or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

From the Ancient Church …
“If you are remembering evil against someone, then pray for him; and as you remove through prayer the pain of the remembrance of the evil he has done, you will stop the advance of the passion. And when you have attained brotherly love and love for mankind, you will completely cast this passion out of your soul. Then when someone else does evil to you, be affectionate and humble toward him, and treat him kindly, and you will deliver him from this passion.”

St. Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love, 3.90 (580-662 C.E)

Suggested Reading … Matthew 5

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20, ESV).

There is not a single living person that has lived a perfect life. In fact in all of history, there has been only one perfect life and this life was lived out by our Savior, Jesus Christ. This fact forms the basis of both the truth of human sinfulness and the grace of God which Christians believe saves and sanctifies all of us as imperfect people.

Yet even as forgiven Christians, we live out our lives struggling at times with guilt and shame from our past and our less than perfect life. In reality, we may have acquired the wisdom to realize the danger of listening to our human hearts that would lead us into sin through wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and excess. We may have seen how sin creeps into our living at different moments. We most likely know from our life experiences, the deceitfulness of our hearts in the minimizing of the reality of sin and its consequences (Jeremiah 17:9).

Thus in our humble appraising of our own weaknesses we can find the keys and strength to counter the allure of sin; yet there remains another side to the deceitfulness of the human heart. This deceitfulness lingers around our past sin because it drags us into the sea of guilt and shame like an ocean sleeper wave with a dangerous undertow.

We stand in the surf at times and yet can be oblivious to the momentary lapses of remembrances that come in the form of an overpowering tugging from the residue of past sins. Sometimes this pull is so strong that we end up in water full of confusion, regret and shame. Our best efforts may never heal the hurt we have caused, reduce the consequences or redeem even the smallest aspects of those sins but we must never forget the power found in the grace of Christ to forgive and heal us from all sin.

We must remember the reality of God’s amazing grace to cover all sin, including all of our sin. We must speak the truth of Christ’s sufficiency in forgiving all sin and taking away all condemnation into our human heart. No matter what we feel at any moment, the truth of Christ’s redeeming and sanctifying love must be rock upon which we stand until the teeming waters of doubt subside. Thus we stand upon the rock of faith, remembering “there is no condemnation in Christ” and this is the unwavering truth in our lives regardless of what we feel because of God’s mighty work in declaring and securing as His children.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do …” (Romans 8:1-3, ESV).

 

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world (Psalm 19:1-4, ESV).

The light screeches across the evening sky in brilliant colors sparkling with shimmering dust as if it contained gold and chrome. The contrast between dark heavens and illuminated flashes is strikingly moving. We stand and strain our necks to make sure we take in the total experience of this spectacle that we look forward to each year as our nation celebrates its birthday. We gather to watch and in many place there is an admission charge to watch the fireworks displays. Some like the falling colors after the explosion, some like the streaking tail of the rocket type ordinance, some like the piercing sounds, some like the booming retort, some like just being with friends on a summer evening and some just simply hate fireworks. Especially really small children have problems with the loud noises and unpredictable nature of the whole event. I like the cluster type fireworks with their extra bonus like explosions and crackling sparkles.

All of this color, sound, and glittering feast for the eyes can be celebratory and wonderful but it nothing in comparison to the show that God puts on each and every day through His creation. There are sunsets with mixtures and hues of color beyond any painter’s or photographer’s ability to capture. Every night the heavens overflow with stars dazzling endlessly in their capacity to shine and in the sheer vast quantity that cannot even be named or numbered. The list of amazing spectacular beautiful and sensual experiences unfolding in each and every day and night which are free to behold are quite endless. The experiences which become brief of monumental focus points on an the endless spectrum of seasons and life on the earth we live on are noteworthy and bring us incredible joy. Yet in the array of all of this sensory delight, there is a greater realization which should stagger us beyond what we see, smell or touch.

What is greater and what is of more significance, remains as an amazing fact; God created, ordered and designed all that we behold around us on the earth and in the heavens above us. All of this simple and spectacular reflects His care, provision and beauty. It should cause us to exclaim as Job did as he repented of his pride and gave the glory to God, “I know nothing about things too wonderful for me” (Job 42:3). The expressions vocalized in our “ooohs” and “aaahs” when we attend various celebrations with man-made colorful and explosive sights are miniscule in comparison what we should feel about the wonder of God and the created world that proclaims His glory. Let us be awed and let us give Him praise. For it is He who “causes the dawn to appear in the east,” “visits the storehouse of the snow,” “lays out the path of the lightning,” “gives birth to the dew,” and is able to “count all the clouds” (Job 38). His dazzling show is endless and the spectacle is truly beyond description. Let us join with the endless praise bursting forth from the heavens and give our praise and thanks unto the Lord.

Suggested Reading … Psalm 19

Originally posted around July 4th, 2014 – Re-posted 9-08-2014 under new title, due to a tag applied to original post which resulted in hundreds of spam comments.

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:7-8, NIV).

     Isn’t it amazing how little regard and recognition we sometimes give to the God who created us, redeems us, knows us, sustains us, protects us and saves us? Even though hundreds of promises are given to us in His Word, of His watchful, long-suffering, patient and wonderful love being fixed upon us as His children; we tend to forget this reality.

    If you do not see any reason to praise God in the ordinary, you’ll most likely not see Him in the extraordinary. If you are not thankful in the commonness of each day, you will probably not be thankful when God does mighty things for you. If you do not trust God in the affliction, you will not know Him in the blessing. If you do not honor God in the mundane, you will not seek Him in your need. If you do not desire God in your days, your life will not reflect Him when it ends. If God is not in your legacy at your passing, you will have missed your true purpose in living.

     We not only fail at times to remember His attentive presence but we also fail in being appreciative and thankful. We at times fail to praise Him in all we have been given out of His tremendous bounty. He is ever faithful to provide as we seek Him for all our basic and momentary needs while at the same time delighting to bring us the gifts of peace and presence in mighty ways when He sees our needs as our Heavenly Father.
We need to be thankful and we need to give our God praise and honor, for He is always present in our lives with His love, care and grace. He is present in the ordinary and He is present in mighty ways, we just need to see it and be thankful to Him in all ways, in all things and in all your days.

“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.” (Psalm 34:1-2, NIV)

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,  and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor” (Isaiah 61:1-3, NIV).

What is beauty? Is beauty something individualized and classified as to certain people? Is it something for the lucky in the genetic pool of features and characteristic who have exquisite features and captivating looks? Is this natural beauty just something that the luck of the draw doles out? Or is beauty something you can buy in product form of which by the application of make-up, creams and color accents and agents will render the ordinary face extraordinary? What is it about beauty that fashion groups and companies try to determine and dictate to others by their subjective definitions of certain features what beauty is? Is beauty, a body shape or size or a certain striking facial feature? Is beauty attained by the endless offerings of new styles in clothes and dress and thus available for purchase?

Is not beauty more than the physical features or factors of a person? Surely beauty is more than something purchased and applied to the surface of the skin? Surely beauty is not the clothes draped or stretched across and around the body, regardless of the shape or size of the person?

Even in a broader sense of beauty … there are natural flowers, plants and trees that are attractive to the eyes with their color and unique features that we would speak of as beautiful. There are panoramic vistas that are considered beautiful. There is architecture whether in design and structure that appeals to the senses and is defined as beautiful. In addition, most artwork and photography exists as attempts to capture and gift us with the artist’s interpretations of beauty.

Yet, however beauty is defined or presented, there are moments in our lives when we encounter rare and extraordinary beauty where we least expect it. It happened to me in one of the rankest and discouraging places I have ever visited in my lifetime. At the Guatemala City Dump Community, where the paths are filthy, gutted and broken down of life and promise, I met two women who were radiant, hopeful and full of life and promise. They are women whose beauty was shining like a light in the darkest of places. In a place where the stench of discarded, used up waste and accumulating refuse … staggers and penetrates every sense of your being. Yet, here in this repulsive and ugly place, these beautiful women live expectant in the hope of their faith. Here in this offending place of nauseating smells; the pleasantness of everything about them brings forth the sweetness of the very presence of Christ in whom they trust absolutely. Here, in this place of despair, they live out their days in the hope of their faith.

These beautiful women bonded together as sisters, live with their families in a 12 x 18 foot space they are proud to call their home. This tiny home built from discarded boards and covered with salvaged tin was splashed with color and decorated with things they have collected along the way. They work in the dump collecting things to be sold or recycled. To add their lot in life, these sisters have lost their husbands to the violence that comes with life on the edge of life. Death comes on the edge of life where violence often rails against the poor and disadvantaged because force and evil are tempting as pathways for change. Their husbands drifted away from God even as the wives clung and still cling to the mercies and provisions of God. I have seldom seen any greater faith and trust in anyone in my life and seldom sensed any greater joy than the fruit of the Spirit of God in their lives life lived out here in this dreadful place as women of beauty in the middle of great hopelessness.

Their beauty is not something … they apply after buying some beauty product for they have no money to buy anything extra. Their beauty is not just something that was naturally gifted to them in their features that they vainly exhibit. No, their beauty flows out as something more. Even as they smile and reach out to others … there is something so rare and powerful in the trueness of their essence. Their beauty is far deeper and far more substantial. It has been fashioned and molded by the greatest sculptor of all time, their Lord and Savior. All the pain, misery, poverty and difficulty that life has doled out to them and everything that has come against them has not made them bitter, hostile or mean spirited. Instead all the awfulness thrown against them has been reclaimed and remade as they have trusted in their Savior and given their days over to the hand of God. He has remade these women beautiful in every way.

If beauty somehow is to come from ashes, then something has to be burned upped. Something has to have been offered up to the qualities of the heat and flame as to change the composition of the substance. So then what has been burned away in the heat of pain and suffering, affliction and circumstance while leaving the pureness of gold to remain in the place where the fire burned off the dross?

These precious women of faith have given themselves up to the One who refines in the fire. They have released all the pain and suffering, affliction and circumstance to be refined as precious as the finest gold. They surrender their days to their Lord and all they contain. They give up all that would pull them away from the workmanship of their loving Father. They trust Him completely, totally and in every way. Their contentment while living in this awful place is found in Him alone. Their joy is in Him regardless of their lot in life and their beauty is something that God has fashioned by His love.

It is rare to see such trusting faith. I have seldom seen any greater faith and trust then in these special women of true beauty. I have rarely sensed any greater joy as the true and beautiful fruit of the Spirit of God in a life lived out than is evident in these women. They possess great beauty in the middle of great hopelessness. Their beauty comes from the living grace of a loving Father and God, who in the ashes in our lives creates true beauty. Only He can take what would be awful, terrible, rank and filthy can bring beauty. Beauty comes from the Savior who came to redeem the world and only He can make beauty from the ashes of our lives.  He alone can make a person truly beautiful as He creates and fashions us from the inside out as to shine with His workmanship. I will be forever etched by in my faith; by these beautiful women whose trusting faith in a Living God made then alive in Him while living in one of the worst places, I have seen with my eyes on this earth.

Praise, be to God, who loves us all with a great and extravagant love. Amen.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence …” (1 John 3:17-19, NIV)

The dust blows and twists around your face as you stand on a rutted dirt road and no matter which direction you turn, it stings the eyes. The first smells you sense, seem both sweet and nauseating at the same time. As you take a deeper breath, something more sinister pushes violently against your lungs as they desire better air. Slowly your mind recognizes the repulsive smells of accumulating, lingering and burning refuse in massive amounts.

As you gaze first in one direction and then in another, all you see are people working midst piles of organized and separated reclaimed trash. There are piles of plastic, piles of clothing and cloth, piles of salvaged aluminum, stacks of metal and mountains of unrecognizable stuff. Midst all these accumulations, you notice trucks of every shape and size bringing more and more to this overflowing place of the discarded and reclaimed. Some new trucks and some older trucks all overloaded with waste of every kind. There are sewage trucks and open-backed trucks, covered trucks and compacting trucks, shining trucks and dirty trucks; all delivering more or driving away to gather more. Then there are the trucks of poor. These trucks are smaller and battered beyond description. They are moving the reclaimed and recyclable trash to the buyers to began the process all over again. There will be no new trucks for these purveyors of gathering and selling; only more loads to eke out enough money to buy meager amounts of beans and rice for their family.

Next you notice the endless parade of people. There are people laboring under bags ten times their size and people barely able to walk. In every direction people are moving, weaving and crossing the road, going somewhere. Men and women going to the dump to work for twelve hours or so. They go to rummage and claim enough stuff to put together a dollar’s worth of recyclable goods for their efforts. People with families, women with babies, men maimed by the busyness of the trucks, children dressed for school and children hardly dressed with ragged shirts and tattered over-sized or undersized shoes. Finally along the edges of the broken down shacks are the addicted men, who have rummaged through the garbage to find bottles of liquor to drain of its last ounces or cans of glue and solvents hoping to stay high as if to rise above the squalor of this place. This place is the Guatemala City dump and it is one of the largest dumps in the world.

Yet here in this place of the dirt, filth, cast-offs and hopelessness; smiles persist on the faces of the children and great charity is seen in the efforts of churches, leaders and projects of various kinds and functions. These humans who offer up their energy, heart and time might seem like angels alongside the rest of us but the fact remains; they are just humans who give more than the rest of us.

Behind a huge wall of nondescript fading aqua colored building is a small church with saintly pastor. A pastor who not only cares for the spiritual needs of the people she shepherds but a pastor who feeds the poor because her Savior asks her to love as He loves. Her eyes glint with the loving compassion that her Lord had for the people sitting on a hillside when he sent the loaves and the fishes around to the crowds to satisfy their hunger. The genuine Christian empathy and faith of substance that enables this small demure woman to feed the hundreds of children who come to side of the church each and every day is completely daunting to consider and comprehend. Still there are no cultural or societal awards for this kind of work and sadly there are few outside of this place that even know of her or of her monumental ministry of hope in a hopeless place. Yet as peered into the faces of a few of the hundreds that gather each day to eat, most likely their only meal of the day; I knew I was seeing what faith in a loving God looks like when it is flows out in true love and grace.

In my life … I have met countless pastors and sat in the audience of great spiritual teachers and leaders but I have not been in the presence of anyone so humbly and authentically real in word and deed in their faith. This is real faith, not for a dedicated moment of emotion; but real faith being lived out.  It is faith alive as she feeds the spiritually and physically hungry … meal after meal, question after question, need after need. She loves and gives, day after day.  This is real faith; not faith for accolades or reward. It is true faith because she knows Jesus Christ as her Lord and she loves Him with abandon because of His love for her. The children in this difficult place cannot keep from running with great big smiles to hug her and just be near her. Their endless expressions of gratitude are what the “Gospel” brings when it is truly lived out. I know somewhere else in a place completely the opposite of this place of want, struggle, tears and pain; there is a Savior who is also smiling as He watches this woman who loving serves Him. Yes, the Risen Christ is smiling; because this faithful servant is living out “Good News.” She is letting the “Good News” of His love and grace shine in this tragic place like the blazing sun for the world to see and find.

May the Lord richly bless you my friend, Pastor Mercedez for all that you do. I know the Lord is well pleased.

(I made a promise to Pastor Mecedez.  I promised to try and help her get Bibles to give away to the people and children who come to her for their needs. This will be facilitated through the church at Antelope Hills where I serve as Pastor. If you would like to give to this effort, please contact me about facilitating any contribution you might desire to give towards this effort).

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 1:31, NIV).

On this day, we saw a rainbow color the sky during the impromptu Americanos versus the Guatemalans soccer game.  Little did I know of the promises that God would reveal to me on this day.  It was to be a day of activities and fun on a well-worn soccer field among the many soccer fields in the vast expanse of soccer fields of this place. We walked by field after field of soccer games and hundreds of people of all ages gathered in bright and colorful uniforms playing “fútbol.” Finally there was a field open in furthest region of the gigantic soccer park complex.

Of course the age difference between the kids from Guatemala and the volunteers from America was of little significance and of no importance because the kids from the “Dorie’s Promise” orphanage have been bouncing the soccer ball off their head since the time they could walk. They also have been practicing footwork for about as long. So the eight year old girls and boys could easily bring the ball past most of the awkwardly flailing and falling Americans most of the time.These precious children seemed to find real delight in our desperate failures and the sound of laughter was almost as prevalent as the sound of the black and white ball being kicked about in every direction.

After the game, as we loaded twenty something bodies into a van designed for many less, I volunteered to sit in the very back seat with the ten-year old boys, just behind a row of girls in the ten to twelve age range. Little did I know midst the smell of the humanity of the many heated bodies that we were going to add the smell of taco and cheese flavored snacks and apple juice. For a moment … the tightness of the space and the smell of all of us piled together enhanced by the pungent aroma of the well-received snacks was a bit much. Yet as we started to move down the street lined with dozens of families and “fútbol” enthusiasts of every type and age … my mind seemed to be translating the context, surroundings and feelings inside of my heart towards a different understanding.

As the tired boys began to lean into me and as they lifted my arms up so they could snuggle even closer against me, I began to notice a sweetness in the fragrance of life and relationships on this ride back to the orphanage. Even as I was slightly embarrassed at the odor of my own humanness, the children’s thoughts floated on the joy of the day and having someone along to lean against desiring the security of being cared for. The girls in the row ahead sang along with the radio and the “Special Mothers” anxiously scanned the 15 or so children to see if any were getting carsick or bothering other children. Simple things outside along the way brought smiles, “oohs” and “aahhs” from the exhausted but excited youngsters.

I looked around and noticed the specialness of each child. I thought of their journeys of pain, loneliness and abandonment to be come to the orphanage and the journeys ahead in their lives. Their different expressions, emotions, smiles and unique looks and gestures made this captive group, a tapestry of rich color as vibrant as the Guatemalan fabrics in stalls and markets, we were passing by.

As the sunset began to set and cast its soft glow on the faces of the children. I realized the beauty and specialness of this Guatemalan journey to the soccer fields and back to the orphanage. God loves us all with deep and steadfast love, drawing us ever close to His side. His only concern and intention is to love us. God loves us fully and completely seeing and knowing everything about us. Through the Living Christ, He blesses us with the relationships that connect and fulfill us. Somehow in the crowded van after a day overflowing with activities with our new friends … there was a sweetness in all of this; as to the life God had blessed and given every one of us. He continually graces us by His love to experience joy upon joy. He often gives us joy in places where we might least expect it. My heart took in a hearty measure of this joy through His grace, He had purposed in this place and in this moment midst all of us tightly packed on this special journey back to the orphanage.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV)

Life on earth can be short or long. We have no way of knowing the number of our days. The realization of life on the earth is fleeting comes along quite quickly as we live out our lives. We realize how moments past by like the seconds on a clock; swiftly and without much control on our part. Lofty intentions have long been forgotten in the passing of the ordinary. Our desires to travel to some dreamy and exotic location might never come about even as we have journeyed past the familiar day after day. People and friendships come and go; leaving mostly memories of connecting and un-connecting passages through time and relationships. Children grow up, leaving behind the undersized bikes, broken toys and countless interactions of love and parenting turning in our hearts like the pages of a book open to the wind.

Our mistakes follow us at times, a bit like our shadows on a bright day, reminding us of consequences we have dealt with and yet they linger around us. Our efforts at working, caring and giving, peek out from behind the clouds of feeling, shining as light in the remembering of the things we did right.

Still, what little control we have over our days on the earth. What do we really see as the point of our living? Is it to try hard? Is to grasp as much as we can from what we are given? Is it to struggle in doing good? What do we really live for? Why are we given life? Why were we created and what is truly the purpose of our living?

Christ comes as the “Light and Life” to all of His creation (John 1:4). He desires to give us life full of abundance (John 10:10). He gave His life for our salvation (John 3:16-17) and He desires because He is alive, to live in us (John 14:19). There is an eternal plan and purpose to our living and our dying. Eternity is in our hearts, to be found in the “Living and Risen Christ.”

We find our greatest fulfillment in our living, when our living is in and unto Christ. Our life comes from Him. Our living is sustained and guaranteed now and forever by Him as He abides with us. The Risen Christ is living in us. He comes by the power of His Empowering Spirit and God’s presence through His constant endearing and enduring love as our Lord abides with us in all that we are and do. He is all we desire, He is the only One that matters. He is the source, the nourishment, the desire and the strength in our living. Our greatest desire in life is to know Him and be in Him.

Our true living is in Him and for Him, because He is why and how we live. Thus when our days come to an end, we will come into His presence as greatest gain of our living. We may wonder about things and ponder the joys and frustrations of life, but we can life in nothing else than living or dying in relationship with our Savior.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21, ESV).

Suggested Reading … Philippians 1