Monthly Archives: July 2024

LOVE SERVES

Christian Life,

John 13:1, 3-4 NIV
[1] “It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
[3] Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; [4] so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.”

Is God humble?

A strange question, yet we must answer it because humility is high on God’s list of priorities. Turns out that the question is irrelevant but for one exception. Jesus!

Humility is an attribute of humanity. Therefore, pride, the attitude of self importance that elevates the proud above his fellow beings, can never apply to God as there is no one higher than He.

By contrast, the humble person accepts and fully occupies the space God intended for him or her, in partnership with the Holy Spirit, without intruding in attitude or action into the space of others.

The Father sent Jesus to occupy His space as the God-man during His time on earth. In His humanity, Jesus accepted and functioned fully in that space. His union with the Father, through the Holy Spirit, enabled Him to carry out the Father’s will in perfect submission and obedience to Him. Therefore, He could both claim…

Matthew 11:29 NIV
[29] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

…and act in humility.

John 13:5 NIV
[5] “After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

What was the space the Father prepared for Jesus to occupy?

Mark 10:45 NIV
[45] “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He came as a servant to serve both God and man.

A servant can only serve, first, when he accepts his position and role as a servant.

John 13:3 NLT
[3]”Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.”

Jesus was fully aware of His position in the heavenly realm. He was God with all the authority and power of His divine nature. His humanity did not take away His attributes of deity, only veiled them for a season.

To fulfil His role as the ‘Ebed Yahweh’ of Isaiah’s messianic prophecies, the servant of the Lord, Jesus had to choose to be a servant. There was no resistance or reluctance in His attitude towards the Father. He was a servant who fully embraced and carried out His role.

Philippians 2:6-7 NLT
[6] “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being…”

Although Jesus was a servant…a slave in fact, the meaning of ‘doulos’…He never acted from a slave mentality. He knew who He was, in every sense of the word. He was God Himelf, veiled in a human being. However, He chose to be a Son, completely subject to His Father, during His time on earth.

As Charles Wesley so ably wrote,

“Let heaven and earth combine­,
Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs di­vine
Th’in­car­nate De­ity,
Our God con­tract­ed to a span,
Incomprehensibly made man.

“He laid His glo­ry by,
He wrapped Him in our clay;
Unmarked by hu­man eye,
The la­tent God­head lay;
Infant of days He here be­came,
And bore the loved Im­ma­nu­el’s name.”
(Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns for the Na­ti­vi­ty of Our Lord (Lon­don: Will­iam Stra­han, 1745), num­ber 5.)

Jesus’ commitment to be a faithful servant of the Father coloured His every thought and action. Being a servant of God both humbled Him to serve sinful humans and elevated Him to the high office of an atoning sacrifice.

The Apostle Paul adopted the same attitude as Jesus in his life of serving and suffering. He accepted his role as Christ’s slave with unswerving loyalty and obedience, together with the authority his role gave him to act for Jesus.

Philippians 1:1 NLT
[1] “This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.”

Paul viewed his suffering as an offering of worship and a badge of office. He rejoiced in the privilege of pouring out his life of service to others as a sacrifice to God.

Philippians 2:17 NLT
[17]”But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.”

He knew who he was but he never lorded his position as an apostle over those he served. He used his authority at times but only to stamp the authority of Jesus on the behaviour of God’s people. His authority lay in the anointing of the Holy Spirit for his office as an apostle. He had no authority of his own. Before God, he was an empty vessel bearing the glory of God’s presence in him.

2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
[7] “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Even the Apostle John wrote, “As He was in the world, so are we.”

And so, Jesus could take up a towel and water, and wash His disciples filthy, smelly feet and lose nothing of His person, His position, His dignity, or His authority. His love for the Father called from Him His unique response…and example.

John 13:14-15 NLT
[14]”And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. [15] I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”

John 13:16-17 NLT
[16]”I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. [17] Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

We are stamped with the image of God, redeemed and recreated in the likeness of His Son. We have His name, His power of attorney, and His Spirit in us. We are holy and beloved, God’s own children, elevated to co-heirs with Jesus, seated with Him in the heavenly realm…

…but we are His slaves, ‘douloi’

For love of the Father, He calls us to serve.

LET GOD FINISH WHAT PRIDE STARTED

Bible Study, ,

Pride is a powerful weapon in Satan’s arsenal to destroy us. Pride is encased in deception. Pride says, “You can do it yourself. You don’t need God. You are God.”

Strange thing is that pride is a weapon we use against ourselves. We set it up; we use it to destroy ourselves while the devil watches for the outcome. You see, although pride brought the devil down, he caught us in the deception too, through Adam. So now, pride is entrenched in us as well. Satan doesn’t have to do anything. He only eggs us on.

Why does God hate pride?

‭James 4:6 NLT‬
[6]…”As the Scriptures say, “God opposes (ranges in battle against) the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Our independence and self-sufficiency are the most impenetrable barriers to God’s grace. He can do nothing for us unless we humble ourselves enough to cry out for help.

‭John 15:5 NLT‬
[5]“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

However, in God’s wisdom, He allows pride to do its own work. Our pride backfires for His own purposes!

Take the experience of David, God’s model king. At the peak of his reign…kingdom expanded, enemies subdued, peace established.. David’s pride led him into forbidden territory, and eventually exploded his self-importance. He became nothing more than he was inside, a guilty criminal. Without God’s mercy, he was finished!

And God did nothing to stop him! No warning, no teaching, just waiting. Remember the old proverb, “Pride comes before a fall”?

Why is it important that we experience some kind of fall before we realise how heinous pride really is? Until we feel the terrible humiliation of a fall from our ‘high horse’, we will never really take seriously the effects of pride that create a chasm between ourselves and others, and most of all, between ourselves and God.

David’s pride brought him back to reality with a bang. For one terrible moment, he thought he didn’t need God, all his years of humble obedience obliterated by one thought, one act of rebellion.
The consequences of his pride were agonising. He even suffered physically because he refused to acknowledge his guilt.

‭Psalms 32:3-4 NLT‬
[3] “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. [4] Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.”

David knew he was wrong but he did it anyway. However, God’s work in him was thorough and effective. Lifelong lessons came out of his foolish and high-handed rebellion.
He knew that there were sacrifices for sin unwittingy comitted, but he also knew the law. He knew the consequences of his adultery and murder but he did them anyway.

‭Hebrews 10:26 NLT‬
[26] “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.”

God could have legitimately killed him, but He didn’t. He allowed David’s pride to do a thorough work in him, dragging him down to the depths of humiliation when his sins were exposed.

David’s only escape route was to admit his guilt, repent of his sin, and cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness. God heard his cry, but there was a heavy price to pay which he could not escape. His family was torn apart by his sin.

What did David learn from this horrible glitch in his character and the deeds that followed?

He learned that…

  1. He carried a flaw in his nature from birth which he had no power to overcome. Perhaps he thought, up to this point, that he was a good guy, that he was okay with God, always doing what he was told without question until….his ungodly desires caught him out.

‭Psalms 51:5 NLT‬
[5] “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.”

  1. Only God’s mercy could save him from his evil deeds. No amount of animal blood could pay for what he had done.

‭Psalms 51:1 NLT‬
[1]”Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.”

‭Psalms 51:16 NLT‬
[16] “You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.”

  1. What he had done was against God and His Word. It was not against any human first, as bad as that was, but against God Himself that he had rebelled and flown in the face of God’s commandments.

‭Psalms 51:3-4 NLT‬
[3] “For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. [4] Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”

  1. Repentance and confession were the only way to forgiveness. He didn’t window-dress his sin. He called it what it was. It was rebellion that he acknowledged and from which he turned. He had revolted against God and His Word.

‭Psalms 32:5 NLT‬
[5]”Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

  1. He discovered something about himself, that what he had done was the outcome of a perverse nature. The Hebrew – ‘avon’ – translated ‘iniquity’, is from the root meaning ‘perverse’,… “showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable” (dictionary definition).

‭Psalms 51:3 NLT‬
[3]”For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night…”
(Hebrew ‘pesha’ (rebellion), meaning ‘revolt’).

Only trust in God’s unfailing love could deliver him from the attitude of rebellion that provoked him to do the terrible things he had done.

‭Psalms 32:10 NLT‬
[10]”Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.”

  1. There was something about God rhat he discovered through his rebellion that gave him deeper insight into God’s covenant love, ‘chesed’. God’s love for him was so great that He forgave and restored him because of the sacrifice of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, which David himself foretold in his Psalms.

‭Psalms 51:1 NLT‬
[1] “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.”

‭Psalms 32:1 NLT‬
[1] Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!”

‭Psalms 32:5 NLT‬
[5]”Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

  1. His pride, his deep-seated root of rebellion, had to be effectively crushed, broken in pieces, before he could accept the ‘bit and bridle’ of God’s authority like a horse broken in to submit to the rider’s control.

‭Psalms 51:16-17 NLT‬
[16]”You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. [17] The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”

He needed to take his demolished pride and had it over to God as a sacrifice, to receive, in its place, a ‘broken and contrite (Hebrew ‘dakah’ – meaning ‘collapsed’) heart’ – a disposition of submission and obedience totally dedicated to God.

Then, and only then, would God accept his sacrifices of animal blood as worthy worship because they represented a far greater sacrifice that would make this exchange possible.

‭Psalms 51:19 NLT‬
[19] “Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit— with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.”

So, to conclude David’s story, if the process of pride and the lessons to be learned, are to finish pride’s work, we must allow pride’s fruit to destroy our pride so effectively that we can offer to the Lord a crushed and collapsed heart and spirit (attitude). Then we will truly please Him and offer to Him the worship He accepts.

Paul’s story was of God’s intervention to save him from the ravages of pride…

‭2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT‬
[7] “… even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God…, to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.”

Paul pleaded three times for deliverance but God refused, for one simple reason.

‭2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT‬
[9]”Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

If pride cuts us off from God’s grace, weakness keep us humble enough to depend on God’s power to overcome. Grace provides every resource to live abundantly despite our suffering.

2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT‬
[10]”So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. [10] That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul’s response was much more than to endure and survive. His weakness was the very thing that qualified him for God’s grace. He rejoiced in and celebrated his hardships because it was, in the first place, through God’s grace that the hardships he suffered, kept his feet on the ground.

When we finally understand what God is doing, we too will rejoice in our sufferings. We know that God will do whatever it takes to obliterate the pride that cuts us off from grace, for “He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

THE SIGN OF JONAH

Bible Study, ,

Matthew 12:38-41 NLT
[38] “One day, some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” [39] But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. [41] “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.”

Jonah’s story is intriguing. It has hidden lessons that casual readers will not easily recognise. Why is it included in Scripture? Why did Jesus quote it as a sign of His own death and resurrection?

We know the story well from Sunday School days. God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh with a message of inevitable coming judgment. Nineveh represented a cruel and godless nation that had caused great harm to Israel. It should have pleased Jonah to tell them of their fate.

Instead, Jonah fled in the opposite direction, as far from Nineveh as he could go. Why? Deep in his heart he knew that, if the people of Nineveh repented, God would forgive them. If he didn’t deliver God’s message, God would judge them without mercy.

God was so determined to give Nineveh a chance that He stopped Jonah in his tracks, got him off the boat and sent him back, via a big fish, in the direction of Nineveh. Jonah must have been so traumatised that he had no option but to obey, albeit with great reluctance… as the story unfolds.

What did he look like when he came out of the fish? We can only speculate. Was he so bleached by the fish’s digestive juices that he appeared as a ghost to the Ninevites?

Whatever his appearance, they listened and repented to a man. Even the animals were forced to participate in their expressions of repentance.

Jonah was incensed. Just as he thought, God forgave the people of that city and let them off the hook. Jonah sat outside the city and sulked, watching hopefully for sign of God’s judgment to fall on Nineveh.

In the interim, a little scene played out on the hillside where Jonah sat, between him and God, an object lesson for the rebellious prophet. It was scorching hot, a Middle Eastern summer. God mercifully and miraculously grew a plant to provide shade for His perspiring servant.

Jonah was grateful for the shade until a worm ate through the stem and collapsed the plant. Once against, the prophet sat in misery and discomfort to watch what God would do. He was angry with God for treating him cruelly. He was upset about the plant that came and went so quickly.

The story ends, with an unanswered question.

Jonah 4:10-11 NLT
[10] Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. [11] But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Yes, or no, Jonah? No reply! Case closed!

So, how does this story fit with Jesus’ death and resurrection? The answer seems obvious. Jonah was entombed inside a great fish for three days and three nights, apparently dead, but he came out alive with a message of judgement (and redemption – implied) for a whole city. Jesus would be entombed in a burial cave, really dead, for three days, and three nights, but He would also come out really alive, to bring redemption to the whole world. No wonder Jesus declared that, “A greater than Jonah is here.”

Is that all to the message of the story?

We understand that God used natural means supernaturally, to redirect His prophet.

We understand that the sight of Jonah and his message shocked the people of Nineveh, albeit temporarily, into a change of heart.

We understand that God responds to repentant hearts with grace,
no matter how bad they are.

What does this have to do with the context of the story?

The religious leaders, scribes and Pharisees, masters of unbelief, were, once again, on Jesus’ case. No matter what He said or did, they refused to be convinced that He was who He said He was. They refused to examine the evidence. Once again, for the umpteenth time, they demanded a sign.

So, Jesus gave them a sign which, unlike the Ninevites, they would reject to their own doom. How strange, that godless pagans repented when they saw and heard one sign from a prophet, but the religious leaders of God’s own people utterly refused to repent after seeing and hearing many signs from the Son of God Himself!

Does this story speak to us today?

God extends His grace to all who repent, no matter what culture, colour or creed. His message is clear and simple. Turn away from your life of sin and believe in Jesus.

His message is the same to His own people who have piled so much on top of the simple story of Jesus’ death and resurrection that its simplicity has been lost under the burden of theology and tradition.

Repent, return to the ancient way, is His call to us today. Despite our opinions and prejudices, His way is still the same. Repent, return, and follow Jesus. He extends mercy and forgiveness to everyone who repents regardless of who and where they are.

The sign of Jonah? Not only did Jonah’s ‘burial’ in the fish for three days and nights provide a parallel for Jesus’ own death and burial for three days but also God’s mercy to the Ninevites points to His mercy to all people through the death of His own Son.

God takes no delight in the death of sinners. Even His warnings are forerunners of mercy. His mercy to undeserving sinners peaked at the cross and was cemented at the empty tomb. Hence His question to which Jonah had no answer…
“Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Jonah 4:11 NIV
[11]”And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

Apologetics,

John 8:31-32, 36 NLT
[31]”Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[36] So, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

“The truth will set you free.”

This is a misuse of Jesus’ statement, which is a fallacy. How often have you heard someone miquote Jesus’ words, “The truth will set you free”?

Nothing could be further from the truth! It’s like saying, “The recipe in this book will bake a cake!” How can this happen if you don’t use the words of the recipe to direct you in the process of baking a cake?

What did Jesus say, and what is the process by which we can experience true freedom?

His first statement is a condition without which it is impossible to experience freedom…

“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.”

Discipleship based on faithful obedience to Jesus’ teachings is the foundation of freedom. What He taught was radically different from what human philosophy taught. He taught love, kindness, and mercy even towards enemies. He taught submission and obedience to a heavenly Father. He taught selfless service and generosity towards others.

These ways of living in peace and harmony with God and people frees a disciple of Jesus from the guilt and shame of wrong attitudes and wrongdoing.

Jesus offered rest from the burdensome demands and requirements of religious law and the religious leaders who policed those who broke the law. A conscience bound to law-keeping is in slavery.

A conscience in harmony with Jesus’ teachings leads to freedom.

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
[28] “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Following Jesus means learning to live by what is true. Jesus claimed to be the truth personified. He said to His disciples, who wanted to know the way to the Father,

John 14:5-6 NLT
[5] “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” [6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Knowledge, understanding, doing what is true will release a person from failure to obey unreasonable demands that are untrue and do not work. Despite what our old, sinful nature desires, what Jesus taught and did, radically different though it was, leads to a heart at peace with God and people.

The Apostle Paul would heartily endorse Jesus’ words. His life BC (before Christ) was driven by a relentless passion to be righteous. He though he was right by destroying as many of Jesus’ followers as possible, even going outside of his own country to persecute believers.

Philippians 3:5-7 NLT
[5] “I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. [6] I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. [7] I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”

To his great relief, he discovered that…

Romans 8:6 NLT
[6]”So, letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

The truth can never set anyone free. KNOWING and DOING what Jesus, who is the TRUTH, teaches is the only way to experience the freedom of forgiveness, cleansing from a guilty conscience, and the peace that reconciliation with God brings.

Romans 5:1-2 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. [2] Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

The world tries to dodge the truth that inner freedom is the only real freedom and that we can only experience inner freedom when we relinquish ourselves to Him as Saviour and Lord. However, the truth is that the only way to free ourselves from the demands of religion is to entrust ourselves to the only one who can set us free.

John 8:36 NLT
[36] “So, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

MOLLY AND ME – AGING?

Christian Life,

It’s inevitable! Molly and I are aging!

Molly came into my life nearly eight years ago, a tiny, strawberry dapple ‘worsie’ hardly bigger than my foot. She was inquisitive, bouncy, and full of mishief. The leader of my pack, a Yorkie, did the mischief and Molly joyfully joined in.

Molly is a “velcro” dog. The closer she can get to a warm body, the happier she is. Tosca would get annoyed with her because Molly liked to sleep on Tosca’s back!

I should rather say, Molly is not aging. She is maturing. Her ever-increasingly white muzzle and paws speak of age but her maturity peeps out in her behaviour…

…For example, she loves to stretch out on my recliner and watch me prepare meals. I have taught her to move to the back of the chair when it’s time for me to sit down. Now she spontaneously wriggles her long little body backwards until she flush with the chair back! So cute!

I often wonder how much dogs can reason. When Molly has the urge to go outside when it’s raining or when she can’t get out, she does her business in my bathroom as close to the toilet as possible. How is that for consideration! At least I don’t have to tour the garden to clean up her waste.

As I said, Molly loves closeness…and equality. She believes she has a right to eat what I eat. Not always good for her. She also sleeps where I sleep. She starts the night under the blankets, especially when it’s cold. However, when I wake up, she’s sleeping with her head on the pillow next to me! How is that for equality!

Her latest habit is to wake me in the night. She used to wake me for toilet purposes but now she wakes me just to say “Hello, are you awake?” She tugs on the blankets, bumps me with her nose, or wriggles around until I show her I’m awake. After reassuring me that she doesn’t need to go outside, she lies on my arm, gazing at me with adoring brown eyes. Then we go to sleep again, assured of our love for each other.

I wonder if Molly knows that the older we grow, the closer we get to having to part! It’s a sad thought, so I make the best of every moment we have together. When I go out, I settle her in her bed, cover her with our favourite red blankie, and comfort her with treats. Homecoming is always a joyful reunion.

How much the Father has taught me through my years with this little dog. The older we grow, the closer we become. It’s like this with God too. I often spend time simply loving God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, trying to imagine what heaven will be like in the eternal presence of God. Sometimes, He wakes me in the night, for no other reason than to give me time to think about Him.

I love His presence when I go shopping, or make crocheted toys, or prepare meals. My Helper is always there to guide and advise me and to help me make the right decisions. He’s always thinking about me, more thoughts than all the grains of sand on the planet.

Psalms 139:17-18 NLT
[17] How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! [18] I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”

Even if I don’t listen, He is still there. And when I wake up?

Psalms 139:17-18 NLT
[17] “… And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

What thoughts does God have about me?

Psalms 139:5, 9-10 NLT
[5] You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head….
[9] If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, [10] even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

Good, blessing, favour!

So, thank you, little Molly, for all the life lessons I have learned through my partnership with you. You have carved out a tender spot in my heart that belongs to you and you alone. We both belong to God because He made us and He gave you to me to care for, for Him.

We have no idea how many days we have left together. When I go to my place or when you go to your place, together or apart, we will have good memories of precious times and all the love that glued us to each other here on earth.