7-31-2014

Good Morning All,

         Hosea 14:4; “The Lord says, “I will cure them of their unfaithfulness. I will love them freely.  I will no longer be angry with them”

     As some of you may know, I do some local umpiring in the summer.  It is tournament time so that means 3-4 games a day for 2-3 days add in heat and it gets to be a long stretch.  This year it wasn’t that bad; I only got hit about 4 times but it is time to heal up.  My wife thinks I am crazy but I enjoy it.  I consider myself fortunate and blessed that I can still do it.  I know way too many people who are unable to do anything like this.  They live with chronic pain that can make simple walking difficult.  In a few days, I won’t remember the little bumps; I’ll be all healed up.  It is nice when things heal up and you can get back to a normal routine.

    Many people live with pain, some physical and some emotional, some mental and some spiritual.  In many ways pain is pain regardless of the type.  It can be debilitating and cause us to stop doing certain activities.  People with physical pain may no longer walk like they used to.  People with emotional or mental pain may withdraw from certain types of relationships or even simple interaction with others.  Yet probably the greatest pain is spiritual because it leads us away from God’s grace.  We may feel this when something that we do not want or expect occurs in our life.

    Many times, unfortunately, we blame God and we turn away from God.  We are convinced that God has something against us and we will get even by having something against him.  As we do, we languish in a time and place of great pain.  This pain is definitely spiritual but it may also be emotional and physical in nature.  It is pain, very real pain, but it is not caused by God; it is caused by the fact that there is sin in the world and sin brought with it chaos; a randomness of events which the devil uses to torment us.  It hurts way down deep inside and it is a hurt that won’t go away.  It needs to be taken away and that is what God does.

    God comes to us through Jesus to freely forgive and to love us with an unconditional love that goes far beyond anything we can imagine.  God’s love is beyond any human concept.  He does not want you to hurt or to live without hope; God’s desire is for you to live with him in eternity.  He wants to heal you of your pain.  He wants you to live in the knowledge that life eternal waits for you.  He wants you to live with hope; hope for a better tomorrow.  So if you battle the other pains, you may know that God’s love is always there to build you up and to lift up your hearts and to comfort and to restore your soul.  His love is eternal.  He will not be angry with you; he only seeks to restore you.

Gracious Lord, in your mercy we have peace and hope.  Guard us by your most wondrous Spirit and give to us the freedom from pain that we seek.  Heal our hearts and comfort our souls.  Renew our spirits that we may live in your grace.  Be with those who are tormented the most.  Release them from the bondage of the devil’s chains.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret