http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102311.cfm
Tonight's bible study was a fruitful one - we study the readings for the coming Sunday - and I made a connection tonight that I hadn't found before. I love it when things like that happen - when I am either finally open or willing to see the next layer or deeper meaning.
The Gospel was the question about which is the greatest commandment, and you know how that plays out. However the commentary we studied showed how the greatest comandment and the second are connected: We love God when we love our neighbor, realizing that the strength to do so comes from allowing God to love us. What a lovely circle; the more I embrace God's love of me, the more I can share this love with my neighbors, the more I glorify my God, and so on.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
What We DO Know
I received this as an email from a friend, and it was too powerful not to share:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28
We know…There are so many things we do not know. We do not know if the economy will dip or if our team will win. We do not know what our spouse is thinking or how our kids will turn out. We don’t even know “what we ought to pray” (Rom. 8:26). But according to Paul, we can be absolutely certain about four things. We know…
1. God works. He is busy behind the scenes, above the fray, within the fury. He hasn’t checked out or moved on. He is ceaseless and tireless. He never stops working.
2. God works for the good. Not for our comfort or pleasure or entertainment, but for our ultimate good. Since he is the ultimate good, would we expect anything less?
3. God works for the good of those who love him. Behold the benefit of loving God! Make his story your story, and your story takes on a happy ending. Guaranteed. Being the author of our salvation, he writes a salvation theme into our biography.
4. God works in all things. Panta, in Greek. Like “panoramic” or “panacea” or “pandemic.”All-inclusive. God works, not through a few things or through the good things, best things, or easy things. But in “all things” God works.
Puppet in the hands of fortune or fate? Not you. You are in the hands of a living, loving God. Random collection of disconnected short stories? Far from it. Your life is a crafted narrative written by a good God, who is working toward your supreme good.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28
We know…There are so many things we do not know. We do not know if the economy will dip or if our team will win. We do not know what our spouse is thinking or how our kids will turn out. We don’t even know “what we ought to pray” (Rom. 8:26). But according to Paul, we can be absolutely certain about four things. We know…
1. God works. He is busy behind the scenes, above the fray, within the fury. He hasn’t checked out or moved on. He is ceaseless and tireless. He never stops working.
2. God works for the good. Not for our comfort or pleasure or entertainment, but for our ultimate good. Since he is the ultimate good, would we expect anything less?
3. God works for the good of those who love him. Behold the benefit of loving God! Make his story your story, and your story takes on a happy ending. Guaranteed. Being the author of our salvation, he writes a salvation theme into our biography.
4. God works in all things. Panta, in Greek. Like “panoramic” or “panacea” or “pandemic.”All-inclusive. God works, not through a few things or through the good things, best things, or easy things. But in “all things” God works.
Puppet in the hands of fortune or fate? Not you. You are in the hands of a living, loving God. Random collection of disconnected short stories? Far from it. Your life is a crafted narrative written by a good God, who is working toward your supreme good.
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