WATCHWORD:
I sit here at my computer wondering what to say this morning. Nothing comes to mind. I think about all those encouraging words that I’ve heard, over the years, from a variety of sources. Nothing. I want to pass something on to you, almost anything, even a silly song! Still nothing! Then my eye rests on a little picture frame that holds something entitled “Creativity and Inspiration” that I wrote two years ago, a little 3-point mantra that I have used almost daily. The last of the three points is this – What would you have me write, Lord? Then a whispered voice from the back of my mind tells me ‘share this from Thomas Merton’:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you, does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire and all that I do (today). I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
–Thomas Merton
In my book A Life for Barabbas, Barabbas’ wife asks him what loving as Jesus loves means. He struggles long and hard on that question, but finally says: I’ve thought a lot about this since Calvary. That encounter with Jesus…in a real sense, killed my old self. I believe that God’s love means Calvary. When Jesus died on that cross for me, my old self, my old nature, died with Him. Yes, God’s love means Calvary, our own Resurrection.”
Pastor Robert Morris is one of my favorite TV preachers (TBN Mon-Fri 12:30 pm, Sun 7:30 pm). Last Sunday night his message was that God is Good, and if we only knew how good God is it might change our relationships and how we worry. Remember, we are not loved by God because we are good, but that He is!
Prayer Requests:
Be at Peace. Share your love. Pray for all of us.
