8-18-2015

Good Morning All!!

      Deuteronomy 7:6:”For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

     I was watching the news the other day and was listening to the stories of the incredible wildfires in California.  They interviewed a few people who were told to evacuate their homes in the next hour.  They took everything they could load into their car and pickup and left.  The next day their houses were destroyed by fire.  What do you take?  What becomes your most valued possessions?  Most people take family pictures, family heirlooms; the things that they view as irreplaceable, things that have more sentimental value than monetary.  Some take valuables that are rare like quality art or collectibles but usually the items that we take have more value to us than they do to others.  We might save some things that others would just toss into the garbage.  We see value or quality that only we can.

    In many ways that is what the LORD has done for us.  He chose us to be his treasured possessions.  Anybody else would look at this rag tag bunch and pick a new team.  Yet God doesn’t do this.  He chose us because he loves us.  The world looks at the Church and often laughs at its makeup.  We are too old, too young, not too bright, funny looking, funny talking; we don’t take orders well, and we argue amongst ourselves as much as we don’t.  In short we are an imperfect group with no discernible worth.  Thanks be to God that He sees us differently!!  He sees the precious pinnacle of his creation and wants to return them back to the relationship that we had prior to Adam’s sin.  Because of the atonement of Jesus’ blood, God sees us as perfect.  

    God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, reconciled the world back to him.  He took us, his treasured possessions, out of the path of the fire out of the path of destruction and placed us under his wing.  This whole great process begins in our lives when the Spirit calls us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of salvation.  We observe this through Baptism.  Even if the world sees that possession as worthless or disposable, God, in his incredible love, takes that treasured possession and pulls it from the fire and takes it with him to safety.  Whatever condition we are in, whether we are ill or injured, worn out from stress and worry, whether we have reached a point where we feel we cannot stand it anymore; we are God’s treasured possession.  God knows our worries, He knows our needs.  We trust, through faith, that Hs promises are true.  No matter what happens, we are always God’s treasured possessions; He will always love us!

 Father of all mercy, we give you thanks for your great mercy.  You have treasured us when no one else would or could.  Keep us treasured.  Hold us close to your heart safe in your arms forever.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret