Contentment and Love

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 ESV)

Contentment and Love

My fuzzy slippers make my feet content. My diet coke makes my taste buds content. My library makes my book-brain content. My lawn mower makes my manly-sense content. Holding hands with DeAnne makes my romantic-sense content.

But even more than all those things, the Beatles had it right. “All you need is love.” (na na na na na…)

Love is thesource of contentment. When we know we are loved, storms seem less stormy. When we know we are loved, fears seem less scary. When we know we are loved, pain seems less hurty. When we know we are loved… all is well.

And God’s love is absolute, secure, permanent, and dependable. Jesus showed that with clarity when He died for us. (John 15:13)

When your problems cause discontent, remember you are loved by God! When your worries make the loss of sleep, remember you are loved by God! When your loneliness fills your heart with emptiness, remember you are loved by God! When you think no one understands or cares, remember you are loved by God!

Take the love God grants us.

Contentment and Hope

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 ESV)

Contentment and Hope

At breakfast, I worry about bacon. The bacon on the plate never looks like it will be enough to satisfy everyone. Particularly me.

But it usually is.

God does not promise in this verse to give me all the bacon I want. Even better, He promises that I will have every need satisfied. We might quibble about exact items on that list, but God knows what we actually need. And He promises us that we will not be in want. (Psalm 23:1)

And thus we will be content.

Contentment is not found in physical things. Rather, contentment is found in our understanding of God’s distribution of those things. When we trust that God has given us what we have, because He knows what we need, we can be satisfied.

If we are not commonly content, this verse assures us that we will be. He will supply our needs, and contentment will be born. We will realize that God really IS good, and contentment will be born. We will focus more on what we have than on what we lack, and contentment will be born.

Take the hope God grants us.

Contentment and Faith

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. (I Corinthians 7:17 ESV)

Contentment and Faith

I wanted to spike the volleyball and win the game. But our coach did not place me in the front of the line. He put me in a useless place on the volleyball court, in my opinion.

“Tom,” he said. “You are more useful in that corner. You serve reliably, and you are not tall enough or quick enough to spike.”

I was not content.

In a similarly childish way, sometimes we are not content with our situations in life.

Consider what God has done. He has created the world for the benefit and enjoyment of His people. He has given us life itself. He has loved us while we were yet sinners. He has transferred our sins unto Christ’s burden, and given us the light burden of Christ’s perfection.

And God has assigned to each of us a particular life. Fitting us into the tapestry of His Kingdom in exactly the place that He, in His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding has deemed best.

Not mildly best. But joyfully best.

God has done this with His people throughout history. He put Joseph in a cistern, in prison, in Potiphar’s household, and in Pharaoh’s court. God knew where He needed Joseph to best save Joseph’s family. He put Jeremiah in a pit, falsely accused and then ignored. God knew where He needed Jeremiah to best write the book of Lamentations. He put Jesus in Gethsemane, grieving and aware of the suffering just ahead. God knew where He needed Jesus to save us, His people.

And Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jesus were content. Remember Jesus’ words, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42 ESV)

When discontentment lurks, have faith that God knows what He is doing. Have faith that God has you in the right place on the volleyball court. Have faith that God has you in the right job. Have faith that God has you in the right place, at the right time, with His right plan.

Take the faith God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Love

for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Love

I know that my gratitude for bacon is shallow. I know this because I cannot narrow down my enjoyment of bacon to just one factor. I am grateful for bacon because it is tasty, greasy, nutritious, texturous, useful, helpful, and attractive. My gratitude for bacon is spread out among dozens of bacon-qualities.

But my gratitude for God is focused and specific. I am most thankful for God’s love. In fact, every other attribute of God for which I am thankful is actually only a facet of His love.

Psalm 136 repeats 26 times that the Psalmist is thankful for God’s steadfast love.

God shows His love through creation, providence, and redemption. He shows His love through patience, patience, and patience. He shows His love through sacrifice, selflessness, and kindness. He shows His love through His attention, His understanding, and His mercy.

God shows His love by giving us faith, hope, and love.

Take the love God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Hope

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we rememberedZion. (Psalm 137:1 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Hope

Someone described the flu as: “First I was afraid I was going to die, and then I was afraid I wasn’t.” I have felt that sick… and felt that I was so ill I would never recover. Things seemed so bad that there was no hope.

I did recover, though.

Psalm 137 shows us the exiles weeping. But that weeping was a mixed emotion, because remembering Zion was a two-edged sword. Yes, they remembered Zion and regretted the sins of their nation. But they also, I believe, wept with hope.

Remembering Zion meant remembering God’s covenant promises. Remembering Zion meant remembering that God had promised an end to their suffering. Remembering Zion meant a future restored to God’s presence, with the same blessings they had experienced in the past.

In the midst of their sorrow, guilt, fear, and loneliness, God gave them hope. At the same moment that they were giving thanks for the wonder of Zion, they knew Zion would return. Their thankfulness for God’s patient goodness in the old days gave them hope that God would once more be merciful.

And He offers us that hope, too. He gives us mountain-top experiences to give rise to hope in the valley. He gives us memories of blessings to give rise to hope in times of curses. He gives us the amazing narratives of God’s awesome deeds in the Bible to give rise to hope that God continues to act today.

So give thanks to God for those Zions in our past. Biblically as well as personally. And follow our paths of gratitude to hope.

Take the hope God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Faith

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me, (Isaiah 46:9 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Faith

My past is littered with Star Trek. It was my first real favorite television show. My first friendship was formed around Star Trek. At times, I have scheduled activities around the times Star Trek was playing. I have, at times, attempted to model my personality after Mr. Spock. My first cell phone was, in my mind, a communicator.

My memories seem like a tapestry threaded with Star Trek.

And that is silly.

According to Isaiah, though, remembering the past leads to God. He (and there is no other!) was in ALL the former things of old. Look into your past, believer, and You will see God acting.

It is sometimes easier to see His presence in our lives while remembering the past than it is to know with surety that He is present now. Hindsight sees God’s loving hands more clearly than our present senses perceive.

That is the connection between being thankful for what God has done and faith. When our remembering is focused by faith, we find much for which to be thankful.

Creation, a thing that we believe that is in the past, is a reason for thanksgiving. Biblical prophecies fulfilled in Christ, which were given and fulfilled in the past, are a reason for thanksgiving. Christ’s sacrificial atonement on His cross, which occurred on a specific day and gives oomph to our faith, is a reason for thanksgiving. We can believe that God has protected, sustained, nurtured and blessed you, and given you so many reasons for thanksgiving.

Remember what God DID and be thankful.

Take the faith God grants us.

Love and Love

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV)

Love and Love

Another word for ‘disciple’ might be ‘fanatic.’

Some time ago, I joined a discussion group for close-up magicians. The group talks about recent technological advances in sleight-of-hand illusions. But in reading the discussions, I have realized that I do not fit in with the group. Because they are fanatics. Apparently, these folk go through their days constantly looking for opportunities to display their tricks. They are eager to pull out a deck of cards, a coin, or some magical gadget and perform at any opportunity.

They live to show their skills.

Instead of magic-performing, Jesus’ fanatics grow to have a fanatical attitude about loving. We do not merely love… but we love to love.

We have been so imploded by God’s love, that we can now not help but love. We do not love grudgingly (what would that even look like?) We do not love cautiously. We do not love conditionally. We do not love slowly. We do not love only when appropriate. We do not love halfway. We do not love sleepily.

We live to love.

Do not despair if you are not there, yet. We will become more Christlike the longer we live in Christ. And the more we love, the more we will love to love.

And then comes heaven. Heaven will be filled with this kind of fanatic. The last wisps of our selfishness will evaporate when we get to heaven. The last shadow that prevents us from seeing Christ’s light will disappear when we get to heaven. The last iota of caution, insecurity, pride, and fear that presently hinder our love of loving will be erased.

We will love to love, and we will GET to love. All the time.

Take the love God grants us.

Love and Hope

The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.    The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7,8)

Love and Hope

What really lasts?  My favorite shoes become hole-y. My favorite food does not stay fresh, even in the best refrigerator.  My favorite tv show becomes repetitive and trite.  My favorite electric drill wears out.  My favorite Santa hat becomes stained and faded.  My favorite uncle moved away.  My favorite football game has a time limit.

The things I favor, and the things that favor me, do not last.

But God’s love is forevermore.

All of Psalm 121 speaks of God’s never-ending love.  These promises of God’s presence in our lives are nothing more and nothing less than promises that God will love us tomorrow.

       I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

       My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

       He will not let your foot be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

       Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

       The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

       The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

       The Lord will keep you from all evil;

He will keep your life.

       The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121 ESV)

Take the hope God grants us.

Love and Faith

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 ESV)

Love and Faith

It was a dark and stormy night…

Or at least, it was a dark and snowy night. I came outside after a long evening of work at the library and discovered a blizzard had snuck up while I was at work. Most rational folk would have noticed the ice layer on the road, covered by twelve inches of snow, covered by another layer of ice, covered by snow, covered by ice and decided to wait out the storm. But not me. I reckoned I could make it home.

I even decided to take the highway rather than the much safer city streets.

Exiting the highway, the road conditions overtook me, and I spun in circles while navigating the ramp. Somehow my spinning truck stopped in exactly the right position under the stoplight. My heart racing, my hands white-knuckling the steering wheel, my teeth clenched, I uttered a prayer of thanks.

For many years after that, snow-covered roads did not frighten me. If road conditions worsened, I remembered that Big Event and relaxed. My memory of the past comforted me in the terrors of the present.

The Big Event of Christ’s death can have an even better effect on us when we wonder if God still loves us. The storms of life, whether in the form of illness, sorrow, or fear, often result in insecurity when considering God’s love. Could our struggles be evidence that God has stopped His unstoppable love? Could His discipline be a mark of the end of His eternal patience? Could tragedy indicate that God’s limitless bounty has finished in our lives?

Remembering Christ’s death for us, proof positive that God’s love is unconditional, puts to rest such wonderings. That past Big Event focuses our attention on God’s present love. The cross-love can be enough to pull into focus God’s love even now, even in tumultuous troubles. Our faith in that unforgettable and undeserved love allows us to focus on God instead of our physical, emotional, or spiritual pain.

Take the faith God grants us.

Hope and Love

Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” (I Samuel 20:42 ESV)

Hope and Love

If you do not care about a football team, you do not care whether they do well. If you do not care about a stray dog, you do not care about its meals. If you do not care about a particular tree, you do not care about whether it survives a drought.

Jonathan did not merely care about David. Jonathan loved David. And that love give birth to a deep hope. Jonathan hoped David would find peace, despite the upcoming conflict with Saul. Jonathan hoped David would remain protected by God, so that David would know God’s blessings. Jonathan hoped David would survive the upcoming conflict with Saul, so that their offspring could be united in God.

When it comes to those we love, we hope. We desire the best future for them. We yearn to see them prosper in the Lord. We look forward to hearing good news about them.

And this is how the greatest lover of all time regards us. He hopes for us. (Hebrews 2:13) Because He loves us.

We get to imitate Him. As He hoped and hopes for us, we can hope for our beloved, too. Knowing that God has good things in store for His children allows us to be secure in that hope. We are not so much hoping in our beloved, but we are hoping in HIM for our beloved.

That is a lot of hope.

Take the love God grants us.

Hope and Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV)

Hope and Hope

I am enjoying my new glasses. For the past few years, I have been using two different pairs of glasses. I wear one pair most of the day. And I switch to another pair for reading.

But I can use my new glasses for reading as well as for regular viewing. And that feels pretty good. I look forward to more reading with clear vision. I look forward to not carrying two glasses around. I look forward to less leaving a pair at someone’s house, forgotten.

That simple hope is peaceful, uplifting, and encouraging.

But the hope that God provides is even better. He is greater than my glasses. He is more helpful than my glasses. He is more eternal than my glasses. He is more loving than my glasses.

During the storms of life, hope helps. During the emptiness of loneliness, hope helps. During the insecurity of economic turmoil, hope helps. During the chaos of untrustworthy news, hope helps. During the pains of illness, hope helps. During the valleys of spiritual drought, hope helps. During the effects of old age, hope helps. During the fear of worldview conflict, hope helps. During the troubles of parenting, hope helps. During the gripping temptation of habitual sin, hope helps.

And God will continue to give us hope.

Take the hope God grants us.

Hope and Faith

that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. (Esther 9:28 ESV)

Hope and Faith

I have finally reached a point much like faith regarding my lawnmower. For many years, starting my lawn mower usually led to mechanical tinkering. Something was often wrong, and I spent time fixing it. But one year we bought an actual new lawnmower! One that was of excellent quality. This lawnmower has never given me trouble when I start it.

And I am beginning to believe this lawnmower will continue to be reliable.

At the end of the book of Esther, a new holiday was proclaimed. On Purim, the people of God were to remember. But not just with their minds. They also remembered with their hearts. They recalled their troubles, and God’s salvation. They remembered their fears, and God’s resolution. They remembered their weakness, and God’s power.

When we remember with our hearts, it can be called faith.

And this kind of faith leads to hope.

For the intertestamental Israelites, remembering what God had done through Esther gave them hope that the empires of Alexander, the Seleucids, and the Romans would not prove too much for God. Remembering that God put His people in just the right place, at just the right time gave them hope that God would bring just the right person at just the right time in the future, too. Remembering that God surprised doubters in the exile gave them hope that God would surprise doubters tomorrow, as well.

Their faith gave them hope.

Take the hope God grants us.

Faith and Love

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, (Ephesians 1:15,16 ESV)

Faith and Love

My mother was a coffee-chum with a woman whose son was in my grade in high school. But Bob, her son, and I did not get along. I considered Bob to be a muscle-bound brainless buffoon. He had no sense of humor, did not understand subtlety, and had the emotional vulnerability of a gnat. He considered me to be a nerd’s nerd. To him, I was a bookworm, uncoordinated to the point of goofiness, far too complicated, and had the usefulness of a worn-out old sock.

But our mothers, when they spoke, described our thoughts, actions, and intentions with Nobel-Prize-Winning glory. They believed we COULD become friends. They believed we WOULD treat each other with kindness. They believed we WERE what they imagined us to be.

Because mothers often have faith in their beloved children.

We believe in those we love, and we love those we believe in.

We see this most clearly in our Savior, older brother, and bridegroom, Jesus Christ. He loves His people, and so has faith in us, seeing us as those He has redeemed. What He did for us on the cross changed us, in His eyes.

Paul writes to the Ephesians, here, and connects their faith in the Lord Jesus with their love of the church. The two are intertwined. Particularly, their faith in Christ allows them to love the ones He loves. And their love of each other gives foundation to their faith.

God enables us to love Him and each other so that we can have the blessing of faith. It is grand to be able to stomp out some cynicism via faith. It is grand to be able to stomp out some doubt via faith. It is grand to be able to stomp out some selfishness via faith.

Take the love God grants us.

Faith and Hope

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love. (Ephesians 3:14-17 ESV)

Faith and Hope

My grandmother always had strong and tasty peppermints. It was a Dutch thing. Regardless of any other events or activities, Grandma had those mints to distribute. Rain or sun, morning or evening, laughing or crying, she provided those mints.

Knowing that those mints were reliably going to be put in my hand whenever I was with Grandma gave me a small amount of hope. Mint-hope is not that impressive, though. I liked them well enough, but I did not need them. I enjoyed them just fine, but I did not yearn for them. I found pleasure in them, but they were not particularly helpful, encouraging, or life-changing.

But I have hope that I will receive something better.

Paul promises that Christians will be given faith.

I can imagine situations in my future where I will need faith. And God gives hope that He will provide the faith I will need. And you can cling to that hope, too.

I will probably encounter fearful things. But I have hope that God will provide me with the faith I will need. I will probably be hurt, physically and emotionally. But I have hope that God will provide me with the faith I will need. I will be lonely. But I have hope that God will provide me with the faith I will need. I will be sorely tempted. But I have hope that God will provide me with the faith I will need. I will sin. But I have hope that God will provide me with the faith I will need. I will even have doubts… But I have hope that god will provide me with the faith I will need.

And that is better than peppermints.

Take the hope God grants us.

Faith and Faith

FAITH AND FAITH

just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Galatians 3:6 ESV)

I receive emails from the deposed Crown Prince of Nigeria. He offers me a wonderful deal. All I need to do is send him my financial information, and he will deposit a King’s Ransom in my account. Most of which I can keep. For some reason, I doubt the veracity of this offer.

It is too good to be true.

The gospel also seems too good to be true. Someone ELSE paid my ticket to heaven? God loves me in SPITE of my sin? Forgiveness does not require equaling the balance between good and evil in my life? The gospel is offered to me, freely?

Rationally, the gospel is too good to be true.

But I have chosen to believe it. Because God has enabled me to have faith. To accept Him as He declares Himself to be.

And His offer of salvation through faith is not a new thing offered uniquely to me. But God has given faith to His people from the beginning. Faith, given to us by God, has always been the pathway to heaven.

Abraham believed, and God chose to count that belief as righteousness. Faith alone was enough. Faith, given by God, was all Abraham needed, way back then.

And it is true for us, too.

Take the faith God grants us.

Justice and Love

Justice and Love

When we achieve justice here on earth, it is an act of love for God’s people.

According to this verse, justice brings joy to us. Maybe because justice at its core is a Godly thing, so taking part in justice brings us closer to Him. Maybe because as image bearers of God, emotionally and intellectually, there is satisfaction in justice. Maybe because all of creation, once called, “very good,” (Genesis 1) resonates with the Holy when justice is found.

But whatever the reason, justice is good for us. Even though it hurts sometimes, even though it pushes us, even though it reminds us of sin’s grip, justice is good for us.

This is why Christian parents attempt to be just towards their children. (Genesis 18:19) This is why Christian businessfolk use just scales. (Proverbs 16:11) This is why Christian leaders hate corruption (Habakkuk 1:4)

Providing justice is an act of love.

Take the love God grants us.

Justice and Hope

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. (Psalm 103:10 ESV)

Justice and Hope

In a way, salvation is about the hope we have concerning God’s justice.

Although we attempt (in foolishness) to hide it, Christians know we are sinners. We do not hear others talk about their ongoing sin, and we think maybe they are not as sinful as us. We do not hear others talk about their failed temptations, and we think maybe they are stronger than we are. We do not hear others talk about how slow sanctification is, and we think maybe they are walking faster than we are.

But sin is sin, and deserves death. (Romans 6:23)

And so we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are doomed.

But God is amazingly loving. He makes an exchange. He killed Jesus with OUR death.

And so justice becomes clothed in hope. Because we know that Jesus has already taken the terrible part of justice on Himself, justice becomes a blessing for us.

Because God is just, we know have hope of heaven.

Take the hope God grants us.

Justice and Faith

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1,2 ESV)

Justice and Faith

I once watched a man, let’s call him Trevor, try some legal tricks in court. Trevor was attempting to be repaid for what he deemed an unjust action by his neighbor. Apparently, his neighbor had lied to Trevor on a contract. But in his eagerness to prove the neighbor guilty, Trevor stretched the truth himself, and the judge caught him. Everything that Trevor wanted from his neighbor was inflicted on Trevor instead.

Justice is a two-edged sword. Jesus warns us that when we are eager to call down judgement on someone else, it is dangerous. When we are in an accusing mood, our own sins tend to become amplified. The judgement that we demand be imposed on HIM often comes crashing down on ME.

That should concern us. Because our attitude about justice being hammered on others is often really yet another reason for justice to be hammered on ourselves.

Justice is a part of Who God is. God is always fair, giving to each what we deserve. But in one amazing situation He has redefined how justice is, was, and will be meted out. In Jesus Christ, the justice that God brings is brought against His Son instead of the guilty.

When we are mired in our thoughts about justice, either the justice we think OTHERS should receive, or those times when we are aware how justice would not normally be our friend, there is good news.

God is absolutely just, but His justice is even better than we think. He found a way to give forgiveness to His people without breaking His own rules of justice. Jesus volunteered to take the justice due us on Himself.

Believe in Jesus, and justice changes… without really changing at all.

Take the faith God grants us.

Authority and Love

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:19, 20 ESV)

Authority and Love

Assuming that we accept that all authority comes from God, and is only delegated to us, (Matthew 28:18) we next get to ask WHY He has entrusted us thusly.

Our authority seems linked to our profit. In elementary school, I wore a crossing guard sash, and I enjoyed the small power to tell other children when they could move their feet. My mother once joined the ‘Church Decoration Committee,’ on my request, so that she could add Christmasy Wedding decorations for DeAnne and my December wedding. I knew a girl who desired to be mayor some day because her young eyes had observed, “the mayor can do whatever they want.”

But Jesus did not delegate authority (in any arena) to His people for their personal gain. Instead, when sending His disciples out into the world with power, He reminds them that every joule of power they wielded was only to be viewed in the context of their relationship with God. They were to rejoice because of their citizenship in God’s Kingdom, not because of the excitement they felt at the power that results.

And the same is true for us.

Whatever authority God has delegated to us, whether Emperor or slave, has been entrusted to us for a better reason than our enjoyment. We have authority to better serve others.

In this light, love and authority are tightly entwined. We have been given what authority we have because of love. We have been given what authority we have through love. We have been given what authority we have so that we can love.

We are not given authority because we love authority, or because we are being given a reward, or because with authority we get to selectively love.

We are given authority because we ARE loved by God. With the intention that we use our meager authority to display our love for HIM, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Authority and love go hand in hand. We see this in Christ Himself. He is the King, the Master, the Sovereign One. But He uses His authority as a manifestation of His love.

Take the love God grants us.

Authority and Hope

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (Philippians 2:10 ESV)

Authority and Hope

I have a cuckoo clock that does not work. Occasionally, I take it from the box and try to use it. That clock usually does SOMETHING right. The minute hand clicks in an orderly manner. Or the bird jumps out exactly on schedule. Or the chains and weights look beautiful and rhythmatic.

But every time so far, SOMETHING also goes wrong. The hour hand sticks annoyingly at ’10.’ The bird does not STOP singing. The chains and weights unwind and fall to the ground.

The clock never works the way it is supposed to work.

Human authority is like that cuckoo clock. It was well designed by the Clock-maker. But as it gets used, SOMETHING goes wrong. Injustice shows up. Mercy is forgotten. The one overwhelms the many, or the many overwhelm the one. Principles are forgotten.

Authority never works the way it is supposed to work.

But some day it will!

Mostly what is broken in my cuckoo clock is a lack of quality materials.

What is lacking in authority is the acknowledgement of Christ Jesus’ kingship.

Paul encourages us by shouting that King Jesus WILL be acknowledged, in heaven and on earth. Then the authority that God has put in place will work… the way He intended it to work!

I do not know when. I only know that the day is coming.

Take the hope God grants us.