Our Golden Journey

 

There is an ancient Japanese art of pottery repair called "kintsugi."

Sometimes the word is translated "golden journey."

The goal is not to repair the shattered pottery by hiding the cracks, but by highlighting them!

The artist uses a special lacquer to mend or seal the fractures and then he covers them with a fine gold or silver powder. The result is a unique and beautiful masterpiece, with gold and silver designs winding their way across the pottery. Each is truly unique - one of a kind!

The repaired piece announces to its admirers the story of its past -- with every crack and fracture, once hopelessly broken, now gloriously redeemed by the artist-potter!

We should let God do that to us. Don't hide your past faults and failures -- let the world see how He is changing you. Remind them that you are not what you used to be...and are not what you will be...but you are His  Child...loved by Him! He loves us as we are, but He doesn't want us to remain the way we are...He has a higher goal for us. He wants us to be like Jesus!

Years ago we had a phrase we used often: Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet. We even had t-shirts imprinted PBPWMGINFWMY to remind ourselves of our godly make-over.

That was a good way to look at our mistakes. I think I need to find one of those old t-shirts - or make one to wear now! 

PS Remember this song?

     Something beautiful, something good

     All my confusion He understood

     All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife

     But He made something beautiful of my life.

Thank you, Dear Jesus!

Broken and Unfit for Service?

 

Feel broken? Feel you are unfit for service for Jesus?

Max Lucado reminds us:

   "God does great things through brokenness. Broken eggs give life. Broken skies give rain. Broken soil gives crops. Broken crayons still color. Broken alabaster jars give fragrance. The broken body of Christ on the cross is the light of the world.

Which is precisely the point. God does great things through the greatly broken. It's not the strength of the vessel that matters. It's the strength of the One who can use it.

You are not the sum of your sins. You are the sum of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. You are as righteous as Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:15 -- 'For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.')

You 'give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way to salvation -- an aroma redolent with life' (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Remember, God uses broken people to build His Kingdom! It's not the condition or strength of the vessel that matters -- it's the strength and power of the One who is using it!

(The Bible gives so many examples: David, an adulterer and murderer; Jacob, a liar and deceiver; Paul, a persecutor of the early Christians...and you can put your on this list, too! Not what I was, but who I am now and what I will be!)

But He's Mine!

I have a dear friend whose 28-year-old son is severely handicapped. He has a special wheel chair and she has to feed him every meal. The obvious love she has for this son takes my breath away, as I watch her carefully spooning specially prepared food into his small, deformed mouth, and wiping his lips, and gently patting his hands. The love shining through her eyes cannot be explained to some people. She tells me, "Well, I love him because he is mine."

Her son will never cross the stage in a cap and gown, never walk down the aisle to marry, never lovingly hand her a grandchild to hold and rock. Actually, he will never be able to perform for her at all. He will never be able to take care of her in her senior years. Her love is a love that receives, and expects, nothing in return. "Because he is mine."

I think of John 10: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--and I lay down my life for the sheep...no one takes it from me but I lay it down on my own accord..."

We are His sheep -- the sheep of His pasture....

We are just as helpless as my friend's son. Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

He loves us and cares for us "because we belong to Him."

Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever. From Him no power of evil can sever.
He gave His life to ransom my soul--now I belong to Him.
Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone--but for eternity.

What's on Your Schedule Today?

We are in the life-saving business. We rescue people and bring them to Jesus. 

What about this woman?

She was 70 years old when she came to Jesus. She lived in a small village in Africa. She was blind and uneducated, but wanted to do something to help other people come to Jesus.

She took her French Bible to her local missionary and asked him to underline John 3:16 in red. He did.

Then she took her Bible and a chair and sat each day in front of a boys' school.

When dismissal time came and the boys began leaving, she called out: "Please come here. Do you read French?"

As they approached she asked them, "Please read to me this passage underlined in red."

Then she would ask if they knew what it meant. She explained the verse and told them about Jesus and what He had done for them.

Due to the boldness and obedience of this aged blind woman at least 24 of those young men became pastors!

What's on your schedule today?

How To Fill Your Day With Good

1 Peter 3:8-12, Paraphrase from The Message

"Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.

That goes for all of you - no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm.

Instead - bless. That's your job - to bless. You'll be a blessing as well as get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: say nothing evil or hurtful, snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace with all you're worth.

God looks on all this with approval."

[That's the kind of life I want, so I guess that's the kind of person I want, and need, to be!]