Can it be that easy?? John 1:35-42

The first component I like is how in such a short snippet of John we get three names for Jesus, besides Jesus. That's pretty cool, if you ask me and it reminds me of this poster I've seen. I'll include it for you, so here it is...


I hope that is legible for you. It's a really nice poster and reminds us of so many of the special aspects of Christ our Lord. Back to the reading though, we are reminded that Jesus is 1) The lamb of God, 2) Rabbi (Teacher) and 3) the Messiah.

1) Christ is the Lamb of God. I like this one alot because it says so much. First this informs us that Christ is OF God. The phrase isn't lamb from God, God's lamb, or the lamb that belongs to God. No, this lamb is in fact OF God. I am reminded of the Hebrew faith in which bar and bat were part of people's name, describing who they were of, ie son of David, daughter of Eve, etc. So this lamb is of God, and we know in fact to be the Son OF God. In addition to all this, we know that lambs were used as sacrifice, and we recall the famous story of the Israelites putting lamb's blood over their doors in Egypt to be spared from the final plague - the death of the first born. Of course Christ is God's first (and only) born and will not be spared death, but will save all by the shedding of his blood. Pretty cool how much this phrase means.

2)Christ is Rabbi or Teacher. I look back on all my education and I remember two kinds of teachers, really good ones, and really bad ones. I remember Miss Alba, Mr. Gerber, Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. Lapinski, Frau Moore, Mr. Dixon, and Mr. Anderson. All great teachers in my mind, and what made them all great was that each of them truly wanted each student to learn and to succeed. Succeeding did not mean good grades, but understanding the information, sometimes which meant in fact getting a tough grade. I think each of them loved their students with firm, consistent love. I know Jesus to be the very best teacher. Loving all his pupils, and desiring each of us to succeed, and offering us the correction we need, when we stray. So I'd invite you to think back on those teachers that had a positive influence on you, and that when you think of them still brings a smile to your face. Why do you smile? What did you like so much about that teacher? Jesus can, and wants to be, that kind of teacher for you.

3)Jesus is the Messiah or Anointed. Let me just give the definition first of anointed.

1: to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance

2:a : to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration b : to choose by or as if by divine election; also : to designate as if by a ritual anointment

I think we can focus on definition 2b: to choose by divine election. Clearly Jesus Christ is chosen by divine election because he is the Lamb of God. But then this definition has us asking another question... (or should) what was Christ chosen for? Christ was chosen to redeem humanity from sin. He was chosen to balance the equation in God's favor. We sin, there we separate ourselves from God, therefore we deserve eternal separation from God (Hell). God does not want to be eternally separated from us, so God sends Jesus to take our place and to pay the price for our sins, because he is truly sinless. Thus we can join with God for eternity. YAY!

Finally the reason for my title is this; Andrew knows he has found the Messiah, God's anointed. This is clearly the best news ever! He wants to share the good news, and so he goes and finds his brother and puts it simply; "We have found him! We have found the Messiah." Simon, the brother, simply comes to where Jesus is because of this simple invitation. It doesn't say that Andrew had to drag Simon to come see Jesus, it doesn't say he said "I have a surprise for you!" It's a simple, straightforward invitation.

You and I have found the Messiah too! We know him and what he has done in our lives. The great commission orders us to go out and share that good news. Simply inviting other people to Christ. Simon didn't know what was in store for him, but Christ knew Simon instantly and said "you are Simon, but from now on you will be Peter". Christ has made Simon bar (son of) John, into Peter. Let us invite our friends, our family, and our neighbors to know Christ, simply by telling them, we have found the Messiah! In these days people may well give you a funny look and ask "huh?" but simply respond by telling them you have met a great teacher, the very best, and he wants to know them, teach them, and love them. All they need to do is come with you, and Jesus will make them his own, and reveal his plans for them!

We pray,
Jesus, our teacher, our Messiah, and the Lamb of God. Thank you for your love, for your knowing us and making us your own. We pray for the courage to go into this world inviting others to you. Do not let us be afraid of looking foolish or being rejected but just give us the faith to believe your promise that you would be with us always, even to the end of the age! Open the hearts and the ears of those around us so that they may hear you, know you, and love you, through our words and deeds!
In you alone we pray,
Amen

Selah?! (Psalm 24)

Newsflash- I am not a biblical scholar. I am not an expert in Hebrew, in fact, the language scares me, and I know little to NOTHING about it, except that our old testament (also known as Hebrew Scriptures) are/were originally in Hebrew, the language of Israel. So with that said - Selah. What the heck is this?

Speaking of not being scholarly, I checked out Selah on wikipedia. I know I can't use this source for 100% certain factual information, but lets face it, it is useful. I found a quick summary and several possible explanations on this word. What I gathered is that essentially it most likely means pause. Now some think that added to that "pause" would be a concept like...wait, ponder these words, or let anyone with eyes see, and anyone with ears hear. So there's your Hebrew snippet of the day. Selah? Selah!

So what should we stop and ponder. What is the word that's worth pausing for? I think this holiday season we could all use a little "Selah" in our lives. It's always hurry hurry hurry. Go see this family, go see that family. Do a years worth of catching up in 3 or 4 hours. Get out there to the stores early. Get in line! Buy the groceries, get the toys, send the cards, wrap the presents, buy the tree, decorate the tree, hang the lights...selah!!!!Pause. Stop and listen.

I love the great outdoors. I love spending time in God's amazing creation. I love hikes and walks and camping. I love the beauty of the forests, and the peace I find in those woods. Sometimes as I am moving around, crashing through the underbrush and leaves and sticks, I can hear nothing but my own sounds, but then when I pause, when I stop and listen, I enjoy the beauty of the SOUNDS I hear. Woods are never truly silent. There are birds, insects, other animals, and perhaps the sound of a stream near by, and finally there is always the wind moving through the leaves. This pause to me is selah. Stop crashing through life long enough to truly hear God around me. The forest is not all about me, it's all about God, just as our lives and world should be too.

Finally this Psalm does remind me that not only the peace and beauty of the woods belong to God, but my very being, body, and soul belong to the Lord as well. This season coming upon is not all about us, it's all about God. This holiday doesn't belong to us it belongs to God! The first statement about the earth belonging to God is probably just fine with us. We know the world was created by God, and was entrusted to us as caretakers (which on a side note we have been doing a pretty rotten job), but this earth is ultimately still God's. We know this and we accept it. But then let's take it a little further.

ALL that live in this world also belong to God...wait how comfortable are we with this. I mean think about some of the greatest movements in this country; the revolutionary war, women's suffrage, civil rights, the civil war, these movements or events were all about freedom from some sort of ownership. Whites can't own blacks! Men can't own women! Some don't own better rights than others. England doesn't own us! We are a country founded on freedom, so this concept of ownership should be a little uncomfortable for us. That's okay! You see God still gives us freedom to love him, to honor and glorify him, and to even acknowledge him, but never the less, he still owns us. And really, I wouldn't want to be owned by anyone BUT God.

So as the madness of this season begins tomorrow. Selah. Take a pause. Take a deep breath. Remember that you are God's. This season is God's. These holidays are God's. Be still, know peace, and spread love. All that have eyes see God, and all that have ears hear God. I promise you if you truly look and truly listen, and you stop crashing around, you will both see AND hear God all around you.

We pray;
Heavenly Peacemaker,
Selah. We pause to listen to you, to know you, and to hear you. We pray God that we might have the patience and love this holiday season to find you all around us. Grant us peace God not just this season but all year long. Let us know your love so that we might offer to those around us. Be with our families, our loved ones, and help us to remember that we are all yours. We belong to you Lord now and always!
Amen.

Oh to be a kid again... (Luke 18:15-17)

First of all, the bible passage I am writing on comes from Saturday, but it's so short and sweet and to the point....oh and it offers me some validation (at a personal and professional level!). That said, I beg your indulgence for using an a passage from this past weekend, and since that hopefully is the case, I'll try to be like the passage keeping it short and sweet.

I don't think this passage requires much interpretation, so instead, I'd like to focus on just a few points, phrases and words.

I am going to really go out on a limb and say that I wish there was one more thing written in this passage (I'm not trying to say it's incomplete but...). It says, "But Jesus called for them, and said..." I wish it was written, "But Jesus smiled, and calling for them, said..." Because I can just about see Jesus looking at these innocent newborns and toddlers and his heart filling with joy, as most of our hearts would be. I know it doesn't that say it, but in my mind it does. We recall the shortest verse in the bible is "Jesus wept." I wish it had a counterpart that said "Jesus smiled" or "Jesus laughed". It's so easy to lose track of the fact that Jesus Christ was fully human and that means he was capable of the emotions we feel, and the facial expressions we make. We so often hear of Jesus more serious emotions, but rarely see written evidence of his more joyful ones. But alas...I wander.

The word infants pops out at me. So we read that in this translation in Luke, it was not just teenagers, toddlers and elementary school children coming to see Jesus, but parents bringing infants as well. For me this is affirmation of our youngest most vulnerable people. I don't have a problem with infant baptism, and I don't have a problem with small children taking communion. Christ certainly doesn't hesitate to bless them(or "touch" them as this reading says). No where does it say that Christ felt they were too young or couldn't understand what was going on, so why bother.

Then I see the disciples sternly order the parents to cease and desist. This speaks to me too. Remember the disciples would have been those closest to Jesus. They are literally walking WITH him all the time (and this isn't figurative, this is literal). They were his groupies so to speak. And so you think it would be reasonable that they could represent Christ, but we see time and time again, that they cannot, and Christ needs to correct them. In fact when we read a similar story in in Mark 10:13-16, it says that Jesus became indignant. Indignant is one of those words we can use it, and we know it, but it's hard to define it. Thankfully, Merriam Webster can: feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy. Jesus saw the disciples barring the way for the children as unjust. So clearly children have a value to Christ. We can expand this...ALL people have value to Christ, even those that society would cast down (babies and children, disabled, poor, the elderly etc.) We are those disciples, we know our Lord so well, and we really think we know what he would have us do, and so we act on our own, and Christ has to come and correct us and set us back on track.

This reminds me of a recent situation at the church I serve. There is a young family with a five year old. She wanted to take communion, and her parents were supportive of it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our pastor was supportive of it too. Let's just call this little girl Grace. Grace had to take special first communion classes just like the rest of the older kids had to before they could be communed. Her class was separate and just with her, the pastor, and her parents, but was just as informative to her. When it came time to take first communion, there was little Hope at the altar rail with her little hand extended. Later that week, I heard a disciple within the congregation speaking sternly about someone that young receiving communion. I responded to the people that when I asked Grace what communion was she told me it was bread and wine, and when I asked her if it was anything else, she said it was the body and blood of Jesus. that is the perfect Lutheran answer. Communion is both bread and wine and body and blood. Grace didn't need to have this proven to her, she just believed it.

And this brings us to part of the reason Jesus has such a soft spot in his heart for children. He tells us that the kingdom of God belongs to children, and in fact if we want to enter the kingdom, we need to be child like. Why? Why in the world should we be like children? They don't comprehend or understand the way we do, they certainly don't reason the way we do, they don't know all the things we know. And you see, these are the traits that make Children so awesome.
Consider these "childish" traits:

• NOTHING is impossible (a man can be killed and raised in three days...no problem)
• They trust instinctively (until we teach them they shouldn't blindly trust people)
• They love and want to be loved (until we teach them about hate)
• They follow the leader (until we teach them to question the leader's motives)
• They are innocent (until we teach them about lies, sin, and human brokenness)
• Magic can exist (until you tell them it's really an illusion or "make believe")
• They are easily influenced and transformed (until we harden them, and tell them to be who they want to be, rather than being who God wants them to be)
• They are excited to learn (if we introduce them to Jesus, they will want to know more about him... will we?)
• Everything is new, majestic and amazing to them. They are filled with wonder.
  

So can you begin to see why in fact children and young people are such valuable assets in the Kingdom of God? I know I can, and so I thank God that I have a job that supports in my supporting of youth, young people, and families. I am so thankful to have a congregation full of disciples that instead of speaking sternly to our children, invite them to come to Jesus, to be blessed and loved by Jesus just as they, as grown ups, are. The next time you see the wonder and excitement in a newborn's or toddler's eyes, be glad for it, and remember feeling that excitement, that wonder and awe for your God

And we pray,
Dear Father in heaven, help us to remember that we are YOUR children. Please do not be indignant with us. Show us the way. Help us to love you as a child loves, believe in you as a toddler believes, trust you and depend on you the way infants trust and depend, and to follow you as faithfully as a kid follows. Let us love always, and be stern as little as possible. All things are possible in you. And thank you God for the gift of children...reminders of you kingdom!
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

It's not as bad as you think!

First of all the Lord has decided to give us a lot to digest on this rainy Tuesday. That's okay because we're going to enjoy this meal together! First lets break it down in small bites. Part of being able to read the bible effectively is sometimes about trimming away the fat and getting to the meat of the message. Ok? So let's do this together!

First paragraph:
God's children, the Israelites, were as usual, being rather naughty and misbehaving against their father in heaven. This made God mad enough that he hid his face, or turned away from them. They were punished for their behavior and sent to their room (or in this case exile) and were turned over to their enemies, even to the point of death.

Second Paragraph:
Their time of punishment is now over declares the Lord. He is going to forgive them for their bad behavior. Their sentence has been served. God is going to be with them again. God is going to take such good care of his children, all people will see him as the best father there is. Like a good shepherd he will not forget or leave behind a single one of his children. And this paragraph ends with a wonderful promise from God and it is word for word: I will leave none of them behind; and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel.

Third Paragraph:
These are the details of Ezekiel's vision. These details would have offered validity to his prophesy. He gives the date, the location, the details, so that when he shares this vision with others (including you and me) the listeners or readers can be assured this vision/prophecy is indeed from the Lord and not the rantings of a lunatic! You and I can rest assured this is the will of the Lord.

Now lets start the actual digesting. In my summaries of the paragraphs I used a lot of parent/child language, or father and children. We know of course that God is indeed our father in heaven. I was recently talking to a close friend of mine who shared her story with me. The story she shared particularly regarded her father. The relationship between this woman and her father is very, very bad. From what she has told me, it would perhaps even appear this family would be better suited if the father wasn't in the picture at all. I have no reason to distrust what this young woman has told me, and so I empathize and pray for her, her family, and her father. It breaks my heart to know that there are people like her out there, that have such a lousy father figure in their lives. And so I could understand that a person like or her (or maybe you) might have trouble relating to God as your father. So please know that I am sensitive that not all of us are blessed to have dad's of the year.

This encounter did get me to thinking about my own parents and my father of course. I am very very blessed to have wonderful parents whom I have loved always and come to so greatly respect the older I have gotten. They have raised me very well and for that I am so thankful! I remember growing up that I would get punished for bad behavior, and often times the punishment would fit the crime. My parents did not just always ground me but no, were more creative. If I got caught telling lies, my mouth would get washed out with soap (because it was dirty), if I got caught stealing something I had to return it and apologize, I think you're getting the picture. There were occasions when I was spanked or even bitten (let me explain that one, I had formed the habbit of constantly biting my mother for whatever reason, and even though she told me time and again that it hurt and I should stop, I continued with the bitting, so one day she bit me back enough to hurt but not enough to even break skin, but it did get the point across that this hurt and it got me to stop!) Anyway, at the time I would have been the first to tell you these punishments clearly violated my constitutional rights as they were obviously cruel and unusual. But looking back on them I am in fact GRATEFUL for them. They taught me lessons about life, about values, and about the world. Our actions have consquenses!

My wife works for starbucks and so often I see (or hear about) customers that will bring in their small children and simply let the children kick the cooloer in the store, to leave their trash and garbage everywhere, to have no respect for the employees, to scream, and throw a fit if they don't get what they want, and the whole time the parent is just completely focused on getting their late. It bugs me, but I am quite sure it bugs my wife even more. Why are today's parents so reluctant to discipline their children. Now I am not advocating child abuse, or injuring your kids, but they have to learn no means no, and that actions have consequenses!

The point I am getting at is yes, God punished his children, and it seems cruel or unfair that he would turn his back on them. But essentially the Israelites wanted to run away from their father. He tried time and time again to reason with them, to change their hearts, to get them to listen but they were like stubborn teenages and refused. They felth they knew best and so they rebelled. God said, "if you choose to leave me, I cannot support you, I cannot protect you, and I will not be there. If you leave, I'm not coming after you." The children said "Good!" and "We don't need you anyway!" and ran away. Eventually his children realized they did need God their father, and God, being the best dad ever, wants to welcome them back, to love them, protect them, and care for them as any good dad would. Just as the Father welcomes back the prodigal son, (Luke 15:11-32) with open arms and a gift, so God welcomes back his lost children.

The relationship of the Israelites and God is much like children and their parents. Except in this case, the parent is perfect, and the children are the ones who make the mistakes. God loves us like a father and like a mother too. God's love is uncoditional, and sometimes God has used punishment for bad behavior, and the punishment always fit the crime. But now, in these days we still hurt our father, we rebel against our mother, and we do what we know to be best. We do indeed deserve punishment but God has given us a sibling that takes the punishment for us, a sibling named Jesus Christ. He has taken the ultimate punishment for us- death on a cross. And so God's spirit has indeed been poured upon us, and that is representative of Christ's blood being shed. God will never turn his back on us again, even when we deserve it. So you see, when you look at this passage through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it's not so bad after all!

Listen to this song and then pray...

Dear FATHER in heaven. You love us always. You have given us your promise to never turn your back on us again. And you have given us a brother who loves us as you do. Thank you for Christ our Brother. Be with those who don't have fathers in their lives. Be that father that they they thought they never had. Strengthen us to never turn from you.
In your son's name we pray,
Amen

Do I detect some law here?

Firstly, to briefly explain my title, Lutherans look at the all the scriptures with a lens of law or gospel. All texts will be one (and on rare occasions both) of these. When a passage is gospel it is where forgiveness, love and mercy are found. When you read or hear them you feel good, you feel comforted, and you feel freed and forgiven. Now on the other hand when you read law, you feel guilty, accused, sad, and deserving to be punished. Law kind of makes you say, "Oh crap, that's me." So with that said, clearly, this passage from the beginning of the book of Romans, is law focused. (Though later in the book we learn all about God's grace and was foundational for Luther's reformation!)

Now sometimes when you read law from the Bible, especially the old testament, there are a lot of "you statements". You have done this, you haven't done that, you've failed to be faithful, etc. Now when we read Paul's letter (Romans is a letter written by Paul to the Romans) it's all they and them. Well that's not us, so we must be okay. It's a lot more comfortable when we see someone else getting accused of something. Hey as long as the blames not on us. It's like when people witness a crime, and not wanting to get involved they look away or pass on the other side of the road (sound familiar, think of the Good Samaritan - See Luke 10:25). Anyway, we like it when we're not in spot light. But before we just discard this passage as being directed at someone else and not for us, let's remember that ALL of God's scripture speaks to each of us.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.

I like this section because in a sense it's using simple logic to support the existence of God. First we know that God gets really angry (wrath) with ALL evil and ungodly behavior. Paul is not saying that God only gets mad at those who believe in Him who break the law, but it's ALL evil, all ungodly behavior. We might think, well it's not fair to be mad at someone if they don't know God. I mean how can they be expected to know the ways of God if they don't even know God? Ignorance is never an excuse! But you may say, but God's eternal power and divine nature (his very presence) are invisible so how could they know. Well this is where Paul uses logic to support his faith and to support God.

It's like most religions of primitive cultures, typically even if polytheistic (believing in multiple gods) they often believe in one ultimate creator, the maker of all things. There is almost always one god who is more powerful and dominant above the others. We see this amazing and divine creation all around us, and that's how we inherently know there must be a creator god. I heard recently that it's human nature to want to believe in things. We want to believe in each other, in ourselves, in love, in dreams coming true, all these things we want to believe in. So it's actually pretty natural to believe in a creator. Even if we don't know God, we deep down know he's there. Look at the miracle of the human body, the oceans, the rain forests, the cosmos, etc. All lead us to at least consider, there's something out there bigger than me. We know him to be God!

Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For me, all wisdom comes from the Lord God Almighty! And indeed it is very wise to worship and love our creator, as he has first loved us, (before we were even born - see Jeremiah 1:5). And do you know how much God loves us? He loves us enough to let us choose to love him or not! That's pretty awesome, of course God who is all powerful could force us to love him, but then it's not really genuine love. Instead he has created us in his image, thus allowing us to make choices, just as God can make choices. I believe that God can make a choice, based on the choices we make. In relation to the reading, people abandoned their love and worship for God and gave it over to earthly things (the creation, not the creator). This was their choice. God simply allowed them to do as they chose.

Truth is mentioned twice here, so it's obviously worth repeating. What is that truth? That God created us, this world, the galaxy and even the universe. The truth is that God is the ONLY god. He alone is worthy of praise, worship, honor and glory, now and always! Amen? Amen!

Prayer:

Dear Creator God, you have made me and shaped me. You alone have control and yet God you love me enough to let me make my own choices. I want to choose you, but I am so often guilty of following lies. You alone are my truth, my way, and my salvation. Give the guidance of your Holy Spirit to know you and to know the truth. Amen

So much widsom, so little time...

As usual this bible passage provides a huge volume of wisdom! So much so, I honestly can't write about each kernel of truth and knowledge here, and I'm pretty sure you're not here to read a novel. With that said, let's just focus on a few critical statements. They are:

• In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance
• having been destined according to the purpose [...] so that we, [...] might live for the praise of his glory. (typically I don't chop up verses, I'll explain in a bit)
• In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
  
• and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit
• our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people
• I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers
• God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
• the church, which is his body

Okay, so I know you're probably thinking, "Josh didn't really focus it down to just a few points, he pretty much just repeated the entire passage!" Ok, that is somewhat true, but each of these points is just soooooooo good. I guess it's like that favorite snack or candy we each have, we can never eat just one! So let's break these down!

God is the Father, Christ is the son. I am so blessed that both my parents are still living and still together. I know what is to be a son. I have also witnessed what my father experienced when he had to bear the duties of a son whose father passed away. An inheritance isn't always bundles of cash and lots of property. Sometimes, it's hard, back breaking, painful labor, some times it's wading through the muck and mess of a person's entire life. But what is the inheritance we get because of Christ through God our father? Well I think this inheritance is the best we can get. You see Christ has the promise to be with his father in heaven for eternity, and Christ decided to share that with us! Now as for the inheritance we got from father Adam and mother Eve, not so good; life on earth would be hard, going through lots of muck, and back breaking labor.

The more time I spend in this world, the more I am convinced that people are seeking true meaning for their lives. I think more and more people wonder, Why am I here? What is my purpose? Have you ever wondered about this? The reason I chopped up the bible passage in my second bullet point is because when you take out some of the words you get down to the clear, simple meaning. It is human destiny, it is our purpose, to praise and glorify the Lord. That's it. We should be living lives that fulfill a verse used at many baptisms, "Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works on earth, and glorify you Father in heaven". As the actor from the nationwide insurance might say, "Done!" There's your meaning friends, live lives that bring glory and praises to God our Father!

Besides seeking the meaning or purpose of life, we also seem to always want to know what truth is. What is really true? Well again, here it is, plain and simple, the concrete truth is the word of Christ, the gospel. As Luther might say, "This is most certainly True!"

Marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit? Remember your baptism...well maybe not because you may have been an infant, but if quick refresher, at your baptism you were marked with the sign of the cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit. It's always nice to be reminded of all the important things that happen at our Baptism!

Like Paul we should always remember to pray and thank God for the saints around us! It's easy to pray for those who really need help, healing, health, but how often do we neglect to pray and offer thanks for those who have been saints in our lives? These saints may be living or they may have come to life eternal, but Saints are always there with us! We are all surrounded by saints, people who have an intentional and unintentional positive impact on our faith; friends, neighbors, family, parents, coworkers, etc. By praying for them, it makes us aware of them, and then more aware of the Spirit's guidance, as the Spirit often works through the wisdom of those around us!

Real simple, God's the boss. The big boss, now and always. That's something that will never change! God's above all of us, and that's very good news. Christ is raised from the dead, as are each of us - even better news!

And a final reminder that the church is the body of Christ! Never hurts to hear that reminder! We are the body, because Christ is in each of us, therefore when we all come together as church, there is Christ's body! Pretty cool how that works!

Isn't it wonderful, overwhelming, amazing, and astounding how much wisdom God packs into one Bible passage. Like I said, there is just so much jam packed into here. Enjoy you day today and let's pray as Paul teaches us:

Dear God of my Lord Jesus Christ
I pray that you, the Father of glory, may give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation as I come to know you, so that, with the eyes of my heart enlightened, I may know what is the hope to which you have called me, what are the riches of your glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of your power for us who believe, according to the working of your great power. Amen!