Daily Bread

No Sunset in Heaven

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As I was finishing my evening bike ride I was struck with the beauty of the sunset. The fleeting moments of the end of another day on our small corner of the earth are so awe inspiring that it leaves us speechless. And yet in Heaven with no more darkness or night there will be no more sunset. The face of Jesus who has perfectly been designing millions of sunsets with no two alike will be more.

That glimpse of sunset reminds us that one day it will be the last sunset and our time here is limited. And I was reminded of the song Wait a Little Longer.

One day may be all that we have to touch a heart, share a burden, dry a tear or feed the hungry. What a Heaven without sunset is like we can’t know but we can shine the love of Christ to someone before dark.

Lilies and Sparrows

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When I was a teenager I sometimes worked in the hay fields during the hottest part of Summer. The farmer would pass ahead of us through the fields gathering and baling the loose hay and we followed behind piling the bales on a truck and then stacking them in the barn. The fragrance of the freshly cut hay still lingers in my memory as well as the 1554287255655_image.jpg

view from where I rode on top of the pile.  From there I could look out and see the tiny flowers that had nestled under cover of the tall grass, now uncovered in all their startling beauty. 

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to be concerned about the details of our life. He said that we could trust Him to take care of us just like He took care of those wild flowers in the field. Then He talked about sparrows. Maybe he choose sparrows because they have no colorful feathers, mighty talons or majestic wingspan.

1554287664847_image.jpgThey are ordinary just like us and Jesus said that God watches over every one of them and even notices when they fall.

With Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday on our horizon, let’s think for a moment of how Jesus was doing more than just telling us not to worry. He was also reminding us that we could trust God even during the worst moments of our lives just as He did. At the cross they stripped Him naked and gambled for His clothing; but today He wears a robe of light and is clothed with the sun. And on that same dark afternoon He fell to the ground like the sparrow and they took and laid Him in a tomb. Though only a few saw the place where He was laid; God had not forgotten. He knew exactly where to send the angel to roll back the stone on Resurrection morning. In one miracle moment the Spirit breathed the breath of life into Him and Jesus walked out to comfort Mary Magdalene; to bring peace to Peter and John and the assurance of faith Thomas.  Today He freely offers any of us who will believe a gift greater than lilies and sparrows. He promises that if we follow Him we will find our own eternal place in His home and at His side forevermore!

 

 

Super Hero or Super Weakling?

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As a kid I had my choice of maybe 10-12 super-heroes from my comic book collection. My all time favorite was Spider-man followed closely by Thor. Today the movie landscape seems littered with super-heroes, villains and some in between (I’m still not sure if Wolverine or Green Arrow are good or bad) 1553824974533_image.jpg

In the Bible there were some pretty amazing things done by some folks, like, raising the dead and calling fire down from heaven. But none of those guys did anything by their own power. Moses who parted the Red Sea, was a fugitive from the law. Samson who defeated thousands of his enemies in battle was a long-haired party-boy.  Even the Apostle Paul was so unpopular that he was stoned, beaten and whipped more often than applauded. But  in the middle of his trials Paul learned something that shed a whole new light on things for all of us in this not so super world. He discovered that the only real super hero was God; and that the way He loved to operate was through our super weakness: not our super strength.

To the Flat broke – Jesus promised His kingdom

To the Meek – Control of the planet

To the orphan – a Father and a family

To the Widow – the best husband in the universe

For lost sheep – a shepherd

For the criminal – Restoration

For the rejected – a Friend even closer than a brother

And for fallen sparrows – a loving creator who never forgets

And all of these things can be summed up in the one super power never once mentioned in films. The power of the grace of God. That one and only super power was released on the day when God was weakest of all – on the cross of Jesus Christ!

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9