Reign

I hear the rain.

You have poured this over us for the hundredth-millionth time.

It can feel cleansing.

Reminding us You reign.

When a lot is going on.

You reign.

When we want to kick up the dirt.

You reign.

I hear it pour.

When sighing has become our daily food and our groans pour out like water.

You reign.

When we’re flooded with complaints and pour out our troubles.

You reign.

Quench our thirst, O God.

Pour out Your Spirit.

Let it reign.

Read:  Isaiah 44:3, Job 3:24

Allergies

Irritation.  Redness.  Swollenness.  Itchiness.  Prick test.  Patch test.

Allergies!

Mine is unknown.  It only occurs around the eyes.  It’s been a year.  I have an exhaustive list of all that’s been eliminated. Nothing is conclusive, but I was told most recently the allergy could be  “fragrance”.

I thought, well that stinks!

Have you ever had to pay any particular attention to an ingredient list?  Fragrance is everywhere. It’s in everything.

It’s potentially toxic to me.

I was so bummed imagining the absence of fragrance and what to do.   I have literally and most recently chased down a woman in a store to find out what perfume she was wearing.  And, now to never possess a signature scent!

But, oh!  Wait a spritzer!

We’re told, “Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God.”

It’s not the perfume.

It’s our lives that are to be sweet-smelling. 

Underline “our lives”.

“He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume.”

Oh, God?  Who is adequate for such a task as this?  I’m pretty sure of the likely stench of this on me.  I doubt anyone will be following me down an aisle to get a whiff of this.

“But Christ loved and gave Himself as a sacrifice to take away our sins and God was pleased.”

He calls it, “sweet perfume.”

It’s His signature scent.

Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17; Ephesians 5:2; Romans 15:16 (NLT)

Dr. Seuss

What is it about Dr. Seuss?

Color, rhyme, and nonsense intrigued this 2-year-old on the lap of his 8-year-old cousin.

He wanted to know who is “Sam-I-Am”.

Well, he does not like green eggs and ham.

And He would not could not in a boat, a tree, a box, or a house.

Nor could he would he with a goat, fox, or mouse.

Until, he gave it a try.

Then. Welp.

He is not that same guy.

There are many elements that draw us into intrigue.

What if one’s not who we thought?

A time ago, people were demanding to know who Jesus was.  A lot had been going on.

Did He didn’t He in a boat?

Could He would He in a house?

Will He won’t He on a colt?

“Who do you say I am?”  Jesus asked.

There were those confused who mentioned prophets.

There were those convinced who said Messiah, the Son of the living God.

It was the Lord who said,

“I am the Alpha and Omega,

beginning and end.

I am the one who is,

who always was,

who’s still to come.

I am the Almighty One.”

If you want to know,

He says,

“I am who I am.”

Read: Malachi 3:6; Matthew 16:15; Exodus 3:14, Revelation 1:7-8 (NLT)

Remnant

My kids don’t want my stuff.

Here’s the thing.  I don’t want some of it either.

My aunt wanted to give me this child’s dresser.  My great-grandfather made it.  She and my mom had matching ones.  And, that made it special, for sure.  But, this special drawer is less than functional.  A bit of a tug and a bit of a pull will cause it to stick when it’s opened or closed.  It wobbles. The knobs are misfitted.  But reluctantly, I took it.  She was adamant that I keep it in the family.  And for a time, I felt the responsibility of that.

Years passed.  My aunt has long gone.   

The dresser has stayed.

Over the course of years and a moment of familial weakness, I shamefully added it to the stockpile of items being donated to Goodwill.  Everything, including the dresser, went out to the driveway for a scheduled pick up and with apprehension I left it and went off to work.  Upon returning,  no pick-up had occurred.  Boy, was I second-guessing the dresser.  But, denying my sensitivities, I called them back.  I confirmed another pickup day and time, left the stockpile on the driveway and went off to work.   When I returned this time, every last thing on the driveway had been picked up.

Except the dresser.

I knew what I had to do.  So, I lugged it back in.

I kept that dresser until years later when my daughter found its purpose in her daughter’s room.  She soon discovered the same exasperating drawers and lost personal interest.  She knew the story and made every effort for its restoration.  But, I got it back.

Through the cycle of rejections there were high hopes for restoration.

Way back when, God entrusted Moses with basically the first five books of the Bible. This responsibility was later entrusted to others for its safekeeping. It was suppose to be read so they would listen and learn. But, over time its significance became less and less and you know how “out of sight-out of mind” works.  After years and years, it was eventually found, then dusted off, and read to the people who had by then abandoned God.  The worship of little ‘g” gods was being restored back to big “G” God.

When Jesus came He said, “If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me because he wrote about me.  And since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

It’s stuff they didn’t want.

But, a remnant always returned.

Read: Exodus 24, 2 Kings 22, John 5:46-47, Isaiah 10:21 (NLT)