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A New Thing

We are now nine days into the year and almost through the first working week.  I hope that you are noticing differences in your thoughts.  I hope that you are beginning to see the start of the transformations you dreamed of last week.  And I hope that you are able to shout this!

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19 NIV)

Now of course, this is not really a reference to making changes in your heart.  This is really a message of the Creator making changes in Israel and bringing salvation around again.  However, I think this is a verse that you could ponder throughout the day. As you turn it over, I am sure you can discover the rich connection it has with the renewal we experience through the Christ and his new thing – complete forgiveness, mercy and grace.

 

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Rally Around the Banner

flag-dayI have one memory that I recall every June 14.  It’s a memory of still being in school on June 14.  For some reason, I don’t have a lot of vivid memories of elementary school, but I do remember this day.   It was early elementary and I remember sitting and coloring flags.  I can remember what the page looked like, I can recall my place in the classroom, and I still see the sun beaming in the windows – calling me to come out and play!  I am pretty sure that the teacher was just trying to find work for us to do at that point.  It wasn’t until later in my life after years of school ending around Memorial Day that I realized how odd it was for my school district to still be in school on Flag Day.  I am pretty sure it was one of those winters where snow was prevalent and school was not.

So today, we celebrate Old Glory – the symbol of what is good about America.  The one thing that all Americans look to for hope and the one thing that represents all that America stands for.  What American isn’t proud when he sees that banner lifted high on the Olympic Track, or displayed on the shoulder of a soldier.  And have you noticed that after every destructive weather event a picture appears with the American flag raised on top of the rubble, a symbol of hope and the ability to overcome!  It’s just a simple piece of fabric, but it is a powerful symbol. One which appears to have magical powers that can unite people with a single wave. And so it is for us who live in America under that banner.

In the same way, we have a spiritual banner that is the rallying point of our soul.  Take a moment on Flag Day to remember this banner as well as the Stars and Stripes.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 11:10  (NIV)

The Root of Jesse is a reference to The Christ, who to his followers becomes a banner, a powerful rallying point, and oh so every glorious.

Let Old Glory Fly high today, but may the Root of Jesse fly even higher – over all the nations!

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Flat Tire Friday

For several reasons I have had to park my truck outside in the drive way versus the inside of the garage.  So this frigid morning, as I headed out to drive into the office, I was greeting with a nice layer thick 20 something degree layer of frost on my windshield. So I grabbed my southern style ice scraper ( a piece of plastic that is not much bigger than a credit card) and when to town on the window.  As I went around to the passenger side, I met thicker ice and a tire that looked incredibly sad and droopy.  I think it did not like being outside either.  So off I went to find my small little pump to inflate that guy back up to a happy level.  Ten minutes later, my window was clear, the truck was warm, and my tire was ready to roll!

And so it seems as we wind down this week, several of us may feel like that tire, cold, deflated and just not rolling correctly.  A work week tends to do that to people! Take a look at this, and let this work like that little 12V air compressor, and give you a little life to make it through the day and into the weekend.

60 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  Isaiah 60:1  New International Version (NIV)

 

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Peace

You will keep in perfect peace

    those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.   Isaiah 26:3 New International Version (NIV)

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On Stopping

Sometimes I get tired of writing, probably less than you get tired of reading, but last night was one of those nights.  As I was running around downtown after work enjoying the terrific fall weather, I pondered stopping posting on this blog.

 

 

There’s some white space to allow you to gather yourself and catch your breath.

 

and a little more.

 

Anyway, I was thinking about how I have written recently about not stopping and never giving up, and how that would be a very odd time to stop writing. And so, hopefully to your delight, and not your dismay, I placed my nimble fingers on the keyboard again this morning for another round of self encouragement.


You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.  Isaiah 57:10