November 3

“We long for human love to bring us peace.  At times it brings great peace and great joy.  But only the love of God brings peace and joy in all things and under all circumstances.”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 10/14

This message is not really taught to children.  We tell them about God’s love, but I suspect we spend more time telling them how to behave according to God’s law.  I know I did not emphasize God’s love to my children.  That’s because I didn’t understand it myself. As a Sunday School teacher I taught about God which invariably addressed this fact--God is love.  We sang the little song “God is so Good”, and I told them stories of how God cared for His people, but I know I never told them that only God can love us the way we need to be loved.  I now finally understand this myself.  In fact, I’ve finally realized that the last bastion is love of oneself.  It’s when you finally realize that you don’t even love yourself as much as God does that you are finally able to rely only on God’s love (1 John 4:19).  If we are honest with ourselves I think we’d all have to admit that we come into this world believing that it’s our right to be loved.  We then set out to get that love in any way we can.  Because we are so greatly influenced by the world we go about it in the wrong way until someone either tells us that only God can love us the way we need to be loved or when we hit rock bottom and have no where to look but up.  Unfortunately, not everyone lands on his or her back.  Those who don’t never do see God.

“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6, 7

January 17

“Harmony is the inner cadence of contentment we feel when the melody of life is in tune......As we bring the principles of gratitude, simplicity, and order into our lives, harmony emerges.” Sarah Ban Breathnach, SA, 1/17

The melody of life.........I have a little musical training--some by teachers, some self-taught.  I don’t know enough to be able to share it with others, but I do have enough to appreciate what it takes to be a good musician.  So when she speaks of the melody of life I feel I can safely say that if a piece has any life to it at all it is an expression of what is in the musician’s heart.  I’m sure some music is written or performed from a mechanical stand point and may very well be why so much of it today is just noise.  But when a piece penetrates your outer exterior and stirs an emotion within, you know the composer’s and performer’s hearts were involved in its creation.  I see our Life in Christ in the same way.  The harmony in our lives is directly related to what’s in our hearts.  It’s only as we allow His “peace” to penetrate our exterior that we will truly experience His “heart”.  And the way we allow His peace to penetrate is to not become “mechanical” (i.e., legalistic) in our relationship with Him.  It is through prayer--that two-way conversation God desires--that we begin to develop this relationship.

“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6,7