Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Pyramid Mountain Before Sunrise
God’s promise of a day of renewal
each day,
every day.
Psalm 11:1
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, ‘Flee like a bird to the mountains.’
John 14:27
Jesus spoke: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Words of Grace For Today
When I am most drained, I head to the mountains. I do not flee. I head there to hike, to camp, to ski, to take photos, to write. The mountains are a place of renewal.
Mountains have long since also been a place where we humans have fled from danger to our lives, for in the mountains we are harder to find, though life there is much more challenging. The world can easily give us more than we can take, where even the renewal of the mountains or the refuge of the mountains is not enough.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
The world, filled with sinful people, gives in lots of horrendous ways.
The world gives Covid 19, generously, killing and maiming millions.
The world gives false security with power, fame, and money, but all of that can evaporate in an instant and become more of a burden than a security for the future or a freedom for one’s todays.
The world gives promises of equality, justice, and opportunity; and then oppresses the masses, knowingly judges and falsely convicts, incarcerates and ruins honest people based on falsehoods and cruelty … The world promises opportunity but offers only opportunity to be enslaved so others can exercise corrupt power.
The world provides the blessings God created it to contain: air, water, food and opportunity to produce and utilize clothing and shelter; but the people in the world ensure they have their own excessive ‘comforts’ and luxuries at the expense of others being robbed of clean air, clean water, nourishing food, adequate clothing and sufficient shelter.
The world invites the masses to work to make a living possible, and then enslaves the masses at a standard of living that is impossible to call humane.
The world comes at us when we speak out and encourage change, equity, and justice. The world comes at us, condemns us for threatening the powerful people’s privileges in order to bring justice to the masses. The world comes at us to kill us with lies and Gaslighting or drive us into exile.
This is nothing new. It’s been humanity’s inhumane manner of executing injustice from the beginning of time.
God gives in many and various ways, all of which are marvellous.
God created and creates a universe that provides enough to support each and every person’s needs to live, and to live abundantly.
God gives us free choice to love, along with the other option, to choose evil.
God frees us from our inevitable choices that are evil, forgiving us, redeeming us, and renewing us so that we can live free from the sins of our past, present and future.
God gives us abundant life, and inspires, equips and calls us to give life abundant to all those around us.
God promises to walk with us no matter what we encounter in life. God’s Word is absolutely trustworthy. God keeps promises, always.
God sends Jesus, God’s own son, to live as an example of how to live life fully, abundantly; sacrificing oneself to provide life to others, forgiving even our enemies, and fearing and loving God, loving oneself and all other people, especially one’s enemies.
Jesus gives us peace, a peace that no one and nothing can take from us.
Therefore we have no cause to be afraid and our hearts need not be troubled … by any of the chaos that churns the world around us.
We get to be the people at peace, sharing life and peace – graciously – with all.
What a life.
It is the life of living renewed, each day, as if we were in the mountains.
It is a life living as refugees, in God’s arms, protected from all the threats of this world.
What a life!