kingdom travelin'

Here are my totally ACC biased, unscientific, based on almost nothing picks for March Madness:

The McCheyne train (reading plan) just took me through Colossians 3. Significant words for me.

Thirty-eight years ago this month I was faced with these verses:

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

As I considered those words as a twenty-something I knew I was stuck in that old self Paul speaks of. I had no means to change. I had been taught the truths of God in regular conversations for almost two months. I had learned that God loved me and wanted to bring me to himself, but that I to come to Him. The Bible has made it clear to me that I needed Him to change and that He would change me. He would empower me to…

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

So, I reasoned, what more do I need to know to receive this free help? This new life? This new standing with God in Jesus?

My conclusion? Nothing more do I need to learn. Christ had done the work. All I had to do was ask.

So I believed.

No fireworks, just me and God: Him hearing and continuing the work he already begun through the man He sent to talk to me.

Like the Philippian jailer who asked “How can I be saved?” I asked God to save me and begin the changes in me. He did, and He continues.

Thus began the journey and thus it continues… in the power of God through His Grace and Mercy.

Thanks be to God.

To the glory of God!

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:8-10, 12-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In my travels last week I took time to see two beautiful and historic train stations: Los Angeles and Seattle. Here is the waiting room in King Street Station (1906) in Seattle.

And here is one of the waiting rooms in Union Station (1939) in Los Angeles.

Back in the day these were nice places to wait for your train.

Waiting.

We’re often not so good at waiting. The ability to wait must be cultivated. It can actually be quite good for us.

I sent a reminder to some young friends recently. Some of us not-so-young might profit from it too:

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalms‬ ‭27:13-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Someone wondered if their notifications were going to their spam somehow because they hadn’t heard from the blog in a while. I said no, I’ve been through a quiet season. There’ve been no notifications because there’ve been no posts.

Took the photo somewhere over to Rockies as I flew home from Seattle yesterday.

Scripture is like an endless stream of refreshing water cascading over a fall.

I’d finished the various weight machines that I’m using to strengthen my legs and thus ease my weary knee. Having been on the treadmill for 20 minutes I realized I was thirsty and chugged down half of my 500ml bottle.

What I should have been doing was drinking along the workout – or so they tell me.

This is, too often, the way we treat Scripture. We wait until we’re thirsty. When in fact, we should be drinking regularly.

Hear the Psalmist:

“but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Psalms‬ ‭1:2-3‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

May we intentionally drink our fill so that we do not thirst.