God’s love

A Divine Hurry

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But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 KJV

Based on today’s reading, we might conclude that God wants us to just relax, slow down and wait. But if we read on, the verse also calls us to action. It tells us we will, “Run and not be weary!” That got me to checking out in the New Testament about how Jesus repeatedly sprang into action. Here is just one example of the many that I found.

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”  And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3

Jesus showed us that, though He was not in a hurry, it didn’t mean that He never moved quickly. In fact, when Jesus hurried into action, because of His great love. That kind of hurry will motivate us to rush to the side a friend in a car accident, grab our wife’s hand and pray for God to ease her pain after surgery or give without a second thought to a couple whose house has just burned down. Jesus hurried to the cross to give His life for us all. So why not hurry to Him and ask what He has for us to do for someone else today?

Thoughts While Decorating the Tree

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And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 
1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
As we put the tree back up again
A bit earlier this year
And bring out our decorations
Little treasures mixed with tears

First will be the manger scene 
Then comes an angel and a clown
They help me to remember friends
While I build our Christmas town 

And I wonder where that past has gone
While I work here all alone
Now, I think I would be kinder
If I had only known

That all that stuff I thought so dear
Along with youth would soon be gone
And only mercy, love and grace
Remain as we move on

Thoughts While Decorating the Tree
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2023 ©
All rights reserved

The Most Powerful Glue in the World!

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For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 ESV

Being a bit of a tool guy, I love watching commercials that start out with some crazy guy who takes his chainsaw and cuts his boat in half. In scene two, he glues the two halves of the boat back together and then in the final clip, we see him, waterskiing behind that boat while it is speeding effortlessly across the water! Maybe all of us, not just tool guys love these scenes because it is wonderful seeing broken things getting fixed! In our real lives however, there are mornings when we pull the pot out from the coffee maker and see grounds swirling around the bottom like the debris caught up in a tornado. We get an email, notifying us of a layoff or we spend the night tossing and turning, because someone we love is facing life threatening surgery in the morning. God doesn’t ask us to play make believe, pretending that nothing will ever go wrong. In fact, in today’s verse, He reminds us that in spite of all of these days, that try to tear us apart, His love remains the most powerful glue in the universe. This glue not only holds us together, but it keeps us stuck to His Purpose, His Plan and His Heaven. Nothing can separate us. No beating waves, no tragedy, no changing social norm, no failure no loss, or any enemy in the entire universe. All of these problems pale in comparison to the mighty force of His love, which was poured out at Calvary, and it will forever hold our hearts to Him!

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