He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Words of Grace For Today
We can of course try really hard to make things right, for ourselves, and for others if we are so inclined to care, though I’ve met some people as I’m sure you have, who do not want to make it right for others at all, not at all. They make it as bad for others as they can, with lies, corruption, and false convictions.
Our efforts to make it right are simply not enough, not ever. We cannot make it right, not right enough, no matter how hard we try. God help us,
literally, for there simply is no other way to make it right, not right enough.
Jesus, though, has already made it right, very right, more than right, for Jesus makes everything right for us with God, and then …
then everything is right for us.
And those people who want to do us as much destruction as possible are kept far enough away that we are safe, as safe as ever, as safe as ever.
For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
So we are healed and made whole, for yet another day, another way, another life given to us again, though we certainly do not deserve it. So it is by Grace another gift of life, love and hope …
Made All That More Visible by the Wonderful Light,
So May the Light of Christ Make Obvious
the Fog of Evil and False Convictions
That Abound, Also Here!
Psalm 126:3
The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Words of Grace For Today
Every day the only way to survive, after the evil that has been focused on me to bring about my undeserved destruction, is to remember that the Lord has done great things for me, and I rejoice!
Fridays, we remember all those people who are falsely accused, harassed by the police soliciting false reports about them, fabricating evidence, and falsely convicted by judges who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) We especially pray for men who are falsely accused by their spouse or partner, for there seems to be no end to the false charges and convictions based on obvious lies by women about good, honest men.
We pray that the Light of Christ will come to bear on each false conviction and those that brought it to be, that God’s justice will come to be for the falsely convicted and come down on all those that contributed to the false conviction and the destruction of their lives.
We pray, that as it is for me it will be for all those falsely convicted: that God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And that those heavenly places will be where we are now on this planet earth.
I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!
Romans 15:5-6
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Words of Grace For Today
Most times when the disasters of life coming knocking on our doors, we seek solace and assistance from our families, if they are any good, and we have been any good to them.
When the biggest disasters hit, though our families may be there to help us, it is to God that we turn and cry ‘hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!’
We hope that in all our times and in all our ways we will learn to ‘live in harmony with’ our family, so that when we need them or when they need us, together we will be the hands and arms of God which can offer them help and deliverance, for all in need.
Our prayer for this day, and every Thursday, is for all our families, that the God of steadfastness and encouragement will bring us through each day safely, keep our hearts and minds at peace with ourselves and with each other, and inspire us to see God’s goodness in each other and to be that goodness ourselves, with gratitude for all God gives us each day.
We begin by remembering who we are; we are poor and needy, as each day begins … and only God gives us more.
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?
Colossians 2:18
Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking.
Words of Grace For Today
Sunday rest.
Monday work and remember the children.
Tuesday work and remember all the men who are abused by women.
Oh, you say, that is not how the world is. Men abuse women and kill them.
Yes, we’ve come a long way recognizing how some men, very few men, abuse women with violence that eventually and inevitably leads to the man violently killing the woman, or psychological demeaning until the woman feels so worthless that she kills herself. And we have recognized the signs, and coaxed and coached abuse women away from their abuser (which is very hard to do since the abuser’s abuse captures and makes the abused think she needs the abuser’s presence and approval), and provided safe places for abused women to recover their sense of self, their voice, and their assurance of their own worth … and a vision of life without the abuser.
And many women and men have gone beyond that to assume and punish all men for the abuse done by a few, which only turns the tables on the men. Now the women and men become ardent, unrelenting, unabashed misandrists, theirs is the destruction of innocent, good people (men), and the lies that are told about innocent men mushroom into a cloud over society from which no one can escape.
Meanwhile many men are caught in their abuser’s trap, just as women are also. They have lost their voice, their woman has robbed them of their sense of self, of all their friends, of all contact with reality as they are blamed for so many things each day, small at first, the huge things, that the man has had nothing to do with. And the end is the same as for women: some women abusers are violent and they eventually, inevitably kill the abused man who is so worthless she sees him as not even human. More women psychologically beat the voice, worth, and hope right out of the man until he withers into self-loathing and finds no way to go on, so he kills himself. Men with a even a small tendency for violence use a gun, those with none use other means like poison.
When the courts are involved, like the rest of society, there are precious few who even think it’s possible for a woman to abuse a man if the woman is not beating the living daylights out of the man, and even then they are more likely to charge and convict the man – even though it is the woman violently beating up the man, and the man only tries to save his life. When the abuse is psychologial the courts most likely convict the man of come kind of harassment or psychological abuse (even though it’s the woman who is the abuser, if they would only open their eyes to the possibility!)
The rest of society is not unlike the courts, blaming the man for being abused: ‘what kind of a man are you to let a woman treat you like that!’ ‘No real man could ever be abused by a woman. Look at her. She’s half a foot shorter, and 50 pounds lighter (though so much stronger physically, if they’d only look.)’ ‘You’re not a real human if you let her treat you like that. You must have it coming. You’ve done something terrible to her.’ ‘Hey, man, it’s your fault for staying with her. Anyone with sense would have left long ago.’ And so go the blaming of the man for the woman’s abuse.
In the end everyone loses, no one more than the children, who learn to lie to protect themselves, who learn that courts and cops and church people are all corrupt, who learn never to tell the real truth about who is doing what to whom, because they will be made to pay if they do.
So we remember Tuesdays all the men abused by women.
And we pray that we will not be led astray by our words or others’ words of deceit.
And we pray that we will not be caught up in the ‘human way of thinking’ so that we ignore men who are suffering, and whose suffering will always end in death … unless someone or some miracle intervenes.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.
Words of Grace For Today
There are so many ways to ruin one’s own life, and the life of those around one, so many ways.
We pray that God will save us from these many ways,
and that we will trust God’s forgiveness each of the many times we still mess up lives, and
that we will trust God’s forgiveness for each of the many times each other person messes up lives, even our life.
That is difficult to do, when those that mess up one’s life do it with great authority and clear intention and dark guile.
That is even more difficult to do when the lives the others mess up are the children’s lives, especially when it is done with great authority and clear intention and dark guile.
Therefore we pray that God will help us not become insolent, or judgmental, or arrogant, or … well there are so many ways to be that will lead us to ignore God’s Grace.
So we pray, each day, that we will rely on God’s Grace to guide us, especially as we deal with those who would mess up our lives and the lives of the children … and
that children so messed with, will come to know and trust God’s generous Grace and steadfast love for them and for all people.
We have done our work, sacrificed all that we have, in order to protect the children, and those with great authority and clear intention and dark guile have brought our efforts and sacrifice to naught.
Now all that is left is to trust God’s Spirit to find a way to show the children a life that is filled with Grace, forgiveness, love, and hope; a life that is not fully dependent on money, power, or fame; a life that depends only on God’s will for us.
Today, there is work to do. God’s work to bring Grace, forgiveness, love and hope to bear on so many lives that are lived so foreign to all goodness from God.
Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
Hebrews 2:1
Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
Words of Grace For Today
Rest.
Today instead of looking to ‘Egypt of might and horses many and chariots strong’, not even when these things of might, many and strength in our lives are carried by so many and various ways of working, of securing money, favour, and power, of being our own people, today
yes
today
we rest.
We rest in the Promises of God,
The Gifts of God,
The Saints of God,
The Forgiveness of God,
The Grace of God,
The Generosity of God,
The Love of God,
The Faith given to us by God,
and
The hope, that
…
that all things will be well, all things will be well, all manner of things will be well,
because,
All manner of things are already, today, by God’s Word that Creates, Sustains, and Renews,
by God’s Will, all things are already today well, quite well,
Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Words of Grace For Today
It’s a quiet day ahead, for a cold winter Saturday, following many cold, cold days …
and not a little frustration with people who live by full disregard for truth, and who seek my death, sooner than later, but slowly so the suffering continues and they can be pleased with their sadistic efforts. It’s one thing to have one’s ex after you, it’s another to have the courts helping her. There is always more injustice than justice, more evil than good, and more death of good people (and not enough of evil people?)
How to remain hopeful that the future will be better?
…
Well, that is actually a futilely placed question,
for one cannot hope that the future will be better.
The only thing one can do is live well in the present, in the face of evil to be gracious and good. In the face of those who wish one dead, to live joyously.
The moments are not rare when the spectacular works of God can be seen here and now, they require only that one has ears to hear and eyes to see … and hearts to celebrate life with gratitude.
We have faith and hold to it as the future moves into the present and then the past. That faith is not something we conjure up or make or assemble … no in any way.
Faith is a gift … a gift freely given by God to us. Therefore it will never fail, nor succumb to evil of any kind or quantity.
Facing evil, God vouches for us saints, and there is no surer witness. More we do not need.
Therefore we see the future, not as something that need be better, but rather as more of the present gifts God gives us: that we are vouched for, and we can live gracious and gratefully and generously …
I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.
1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Words of Grace For Today
To have enough,
Not too much,
and
not to litle,
and
to know one has enough,
and though one could use more and dream of that perhaps, to still know
that for today, this is enough:
That is the gift God gives the saints.
…
One may think that has to do with things, food, property, profitable work, toys, power, reputation … or a host of other things.
Yet, none of that is all that important: one may consider air, water, food, clothing, shelter, meaningful labour, and love more important than the others.
What we need enough of is God’s love,
and forgiveness,
and promise of renewed life.
Enough is not that we have God’s gifts and promises, but enough is to know that God provides these essentials for life for all people.
All the livestock and the plunder of the towns we kept as spoil for ourselves. So at that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land beyond the Jordan, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir).
Mark 3:35
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
Words of Grace For Today
Ancient claims of land belonging to a particular people are seldom anything but a bit hypocritical.
The land claim of Jews in the Middle East is well known to be established on their claim that ‘their land’ was stolen from others and their right to it was that God promised the people land. To this day the displaced Palestinians have legitimate grievances and suffer terribly waiting for the world to provide a reasonable resolution to being displaced since 1947, and earlier.
Indigenous land claims in Canada are based on white people stealing the land, though the indigenous histories are not without similar events through their own histories.
As long as people have lived, the competition for land has been a repeated source of terrible struggles, losses, and long term grievances.
So we, in our history, record that we took land from the Amorites, and kept livestock and plunder from their towns.
We are no better than the worst of all humans.
We are only saved by God’s Grace.
Only if the Holy Spirit inspires goodness in us, inspires us to do God’s will, and inspires us to be saints, are we able to reflect God’s love for us to others.
The Holy Spirit’s work, God’s work (by God’s will) alone determines then who is Jesus’ brother, sister, and mother. God alone makes us children of God, makes us Jesus’ siblings, and brings us to recognize that we are all ‘in this together.’ We are all each others’ siblings.
Land claims are crucial to pay attention to and to honour.
More important is to honour the gifts God gives us, not to try to hoard them for ourselves, and to share them with all those in need.
Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; our apostasies indeed are many and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveller turning aside for the night? Why should you be like someone confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us!
Ephesians 1:16-19
I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
Words of Grace For Today
Jeremiah knew, even if the people of his day refused to admit it, that they had all sinned terribly against God. Jeremiah prays that God will not be known as a stranger in God’s people’s land, or like a warrior with dementia who has forgotten how to fight to save his own people.
Jeremiah knows that God is with the people, in their midst, as God has been through all the generations. Jeremiah also knows that God does not automatically ‘save’ the people as they wish to be saved.
God is not always a God of great displays of might while saving God’s people. In fact this time, God turns a deaf ear to Jeremiah’s cries for the people, and the people suffer greatly.
The truth about God is that God cannot be fully comprehended, predicted, or controlled by any human. The writer of Ephesians knows this well and prays that the people of Ephesus (and all the readers of the letter, including us today) will receive from God a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that with the eyes of our hearts enlightened in the mysteries of the saints, we may come to know the hope that God gives us, that guides us, that draws us forward each day as God’s own saints. With the wisdom we may then ‘see’ the great power of God, the power of weakness, humility, suffering, and self-sacrificial love. This is the power of God demonstrated in Jesus’ story, living, teaching, dying, and raising to new life … in order that we might finally believe the impossible … that God saves us even as we think we are losing everything we treasure, even our lives.
God’s power is the greatest power in and beyond the universe. It is the power that creates, sustains, and provides the universe as a place-time for us to live, and to live free to choose to love as God does, or to turn away from God, sinning and creating evil.
Even then God comes to save us again, and again, and again, and … always forever again, so that we might live in God’s love, and live that love for all people around us. This is the spirit of wisdom that God gives us, freely, and the hope that guides us, and the love that is life itself.
What a year to come! To live as God’s saints in this time and place, as real and messy as it is, as challenged as we all are by Covid and the limits it places on our lives, and as wondrous as life has ever been.
