Christ in the Clouds

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.     So the  Lord  was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.     And the  Lord  said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”     But Noah found favor with the Lord Genesis 6:5-8 "God looked at all the hearts leaning away from Him - "His heart was filled with pain" is how God felt when He looked around and saw everyone sinning and leaning and hurting. God's tears fell like a flood." His heart hurts not just with a few teardrops of ache, not just with a slow drip of a bit of sadness - no, the whole gigantic enormity of God's...

  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,   she took of its fruit  and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her,  and he ate.   Then the eyes of both were opened,  and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the  Lord  God walking in the garden in the cool   of the day, and the man and his wife  hid themselves from the presence of the Lord  God among the trees of the garden.   But the  Lord  God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:6-9 "The snake sneaked up to Eve, wrapped his own lie tight  around  her, and hissed his poison right into her heart:  "God doesn't really love you." "God doesn't really give you good-enough things." "God doesn't real...

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.    The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.    God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the  livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he creat ed them. Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27 "God the Father gathered close with God the Son,...

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the L ORD  will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the L ORD . In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place. Isaiah 11:1-2, 10 "Out of the stump came one tender branch that would grow right into a crown of thorns, right into a rugged cross, right into a ladder - your ladder back to God. Out of the stump of Jesse's family - of every family tree - comes the shoot of Jesus' forever-love. Jesus would go to impossible lengths to rescue you(and me)." "When we slow down and bend down and see small,  wondrous ,  impossible  things - no stump(no family tree) is ever just a stump. "It is always j...

Last December I bought a book that is like our own larger-than-life Advent Calendar, opening up to 25 wondrous stories that tell the family tree of Jesus, from Creation to His Coming.     Written by none other than Ann Voskamp.(One of my favorite Christian authors) Over the years, she has shared many thoughts, ideas, and traditions that celebrate the Advent season. One she shared a few years back turned into a hot chocolate party...well I love hot chocolate, but love vanilla Chai even more. So, this year I've decided to start my own version of this celebration.   "... because,  sure,  who of us doesn’t need to be warmed straight through with His Love?  Who doesn’t need to unwrap Light?  Who doesn’t want the excitement again of unwrapping  the Greatest Gift  And then there’s taking that pen and  scratching it down, a poem — “ A Night Before Advent ” — that’s this crazy take on the “Night Before Christmas,” a q...

Grace: God’s unmerited favor or kindness, we don’t deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift freely given from God.  That favor gives us access. It gives us the legal right to access the power of God for everything we need. None of us deserves access to God and His power (Rom. 3:10, 23). Because of sin, we all deserve an everlasting hell. Yet God has given us access to all He is and all He has. Everything Comes Through Grace We are saved by grace. Without the  grace —the favor—of God, we could never have access to the mercy of God. Gratitude: Gratitude is more than saying, "Thank you," when someone gives you something.  Gratitude is more than an action which we decide to do by an act of will power. What it takes to turn the words, "thank you," into gratitude is the  real  genuine  feeling  of gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling that arises uncoerced in the heart. It cannot be willed into existence d...