“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,” - Titus 2:11 (ESV)

His grace has appeared; it’s not hidden away like the sun before dawn, but in plain sight and, more importantly, readily available for those who earnestly ask of it from God…and if that wasn’t wonderful enough, that grace and the salvation it offers is here for ALL people -

Those with a long-standing relationship with God,
newcomers to it all,
even those with no interest at all who mock we who believe with relentless scoffing -

God really means it when He declares His love is for everyone!

I love letting people know that.

Happy Monday. :)

‘The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures.’

Two lines we have most likely all sung at some point, but how much of it have we paid real attention to?

Read it again.

He’s promised good.

promised.

God keeps His promises. All of them. Unlike us.

So if the Lord says He’s bringing good into our lives, you can bet your behind that it’s permanently etched into His plan for your life. Whether you allow that good to come through uninterrupted or you get sidetracked by your own agendas and block off the input of the Spirit is another matter entirely.

Are your hopes secure today?

That job you’re interviewing for next Friday…the ill family member with a long-standing condition or the friend who has fallen away from Christ…are the hopes of your heart for that outcome rooted in God and underpinned with prayer?

No?

Then out of love and compassion I say that perhaps you’re not as much in the Word as you ought to be, friend.

Let God speak to you between the covers of that good book and you’ll soon see that change.

And if you are reading the Word but still suffer anxiety?

Quit yer worrying,

the Lord has it all under control, chaps.

:)

(A Point of) Personal P(reference)

Full post here

The ones that catch our attention and set our pulses racing are no more superior than the ones we wouldn’t choose to give the time of day to - eye colour, hair, taste in music, clothing, size of physical features or their build can all impact the motivation to simply interact with another human being. The Bible calls us to love EVERYONE, not just the girl with a pretty smile who makes you laugh or the tall, athletic guy who sends you cutesy texts. When did the thread of kindness and courtesy slip so subtly out of the needle that weaves the fabric of society?

Personal preference gets in the way of loving for the sake of just loving; let’s do something about that.

:)

Sometimes, the ones we profess to be different, and ‘not like all the others’ turn out to be very much like all the others, as do we ourselves. The guys and girls that catch our attention and set our pulses racing are no more superior than the ones we wouldn’t choose to give the time of day to, just because they’re not ‘our type’ - eye colour, hair, taste in music, clothing, size of physical features or their build can all impact the motivation to simply interact with another human being. The Bible calls us to love everyone, not just the tall, athletic guy who sends cutesy texts or the girl with a pretty smile who makes you laugh. When did the thread of kindness and courtesy slip so subtly out of the needle that weaves the fabric of society?

Personal preference gets in the way of loving for the sake of just loving, as we seek the ones who keep us up at night with attempts at mind-reading, decoding ‘signals’ and thoughts of the future, vague to extraordinary; fantastical even. When we find that individual, so much energy is poured into pursuing that ideal and obtaining the sought-after prize of ‘the one’ that we go to silly lengths, make rash decisions, and allow our thinking to become clouded.

There are occasions when our efforts can pay off; a date here, a slow memorable kiss under a tree there. It may even lead to Coupledom, where Facebook friends suddenly become nosier and food rations at home are stretched to cater for a regular +1; if that is the case in your own life then congratulations, you are mightily blessed and I wish you every happiness as a resident of Relationshipville. However for those of us currently without companion, the search goes on, and as it does, more often than not, our imperfect hearts combine with our fragile minds resulting in, well, an imperfect and fragile outcome. So great is the fear of rejection and lifelong solitude, our human nature and instinct for self-sustain winds up grabbing out at any attempt to cast someone of altogether equal standing into a spotlight illuminated by nothing more than the hopes and dreams past that we once pinned on another and ultimately had wash back ashore at our feet in failure.

The question is; with a Saviour who is blameless to cast our love upon;

why chase the ‘true love’ that mankind has so poorly interpreted?