love...

LOVE doesn't require two people look at each other, but they look together in the same direction.....

(Antoine de Saint Exopery)

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
where there is Hatred, let me show love.
where there is Injury, Pardon.
where there is Doubt, Faith.
where there is Despair, Hope.
where there is darkness, Light, and
where there is Sadness, Joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I not so much
seek to be console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be love, as to love
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life

TRUSTING GOD IS NOT A RATIONAL

from TODAY, the family altar
Bob Heerspink
Rev. Reginald Smith and Rev. David Den Haan

TRUSTING GOD IS NOT A RATIONAL

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see

Hebrew 11:1

I am a Chicago club fan, infected by my father, who watched them faithfully until his death in 1984. The Cubs have not been to the World Series since 1945. They have not won a world baseball championship since 1908. In 1994, the cubs were one out away from making me proud, but they broke my heart again. Yet, I hope to see them play in the World Series again someday.

My infatuation with the cubs offer a small picture of the convenient faith described in our text. The writer of Hebrew wants to keep hope alive as Jewish Christians try to live the Jesus live in a hostile world.

We life in an age of anxiety we measure people by whether they “”safe” or “unsafe.” We view the world through anxiety-fill glasses

Jesus hands us the eyeglasses of hope. He does not want his follower to give up. In Hebrew 11 we find inspiring examples of believers who live by hope and faithfulness, even in the midst of terrible struggles. Hope remains the only way to see that our world indeed belongs to god.

Faith in Jesus begins with a little seed. “The ancients” were people in the bible who believed and nurtured their faith in the way God guided them. “In this world” said Jesus, “you will have a trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, may our trust in you keep our hearts from being troubled and afraid, because you indeed have overcome the world. In your precious name we pray. Amen…………