Everlasting Love

 

We don’t yet see things clearly.

We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.

But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright.

We’ll see it all then – see it all as clearly as God sees us,

Knowing Him directly just as He knows us.

But for right now, until that completeness,

We have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: 

Trust steadily in God

Hope unswervingly

Love extravagantly

Prayer for 2022:

Beginning Friday, January 7

Join me here for "Tell Me the Story of Jesus,"

Stories of hymns old and new.

Friday and Saturday

And Now These Things Remain: Love

And now these things remain:  love

1 Corinthians 13:13

Love.  A simple but very complicated word.  What would our lives be without it?  I shudder to think.  I depend every day on the love and patience of my daughters.  I had the enrichment of the love and caring of my friends.  My day is brightened by the love of my two beautiful cats.  And overarching everything is the is the unconditional love that God showers on me every minute of my life.

The Apostle Paul says it best in this chapter of his first letter to the Corinthian Church.  This reading is from The Message.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut.

Doesn't have a swelled head.

Doesn't force itself on others.

Isn't always "me first."

Doesn't fly off the handle.

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others.

Doesn't revel when others grovel.

Take pleasure in the flowering of truth.

Puts up with anything.

Trusts God always.

Always looks for the best.

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

.

And Now These Things Remain: Hope

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace

as you trust in Him, so that you may

overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 

If there is one thing the pandemic has taught me, it is that hope is a gift from God, not something that we conjure up by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.  If we base our hope in life on our health, that can quickly be taken away from us.  If we base our hope on this earth, it is deteriorating beneath our feet even as we speak. Hope comes from God alone, and Paul states that we can “overflow with hope” through the power of the Spirit. 

And hope does not disappoint us,

because God has poured out His love into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Romans 5:5 

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

1863  Edward Mote/William Bradbury

 

And Now These Things Remain: Faith

 

And now these three remain:  faith…

I Corinthians 13:13

When I was growing up, sharing my faith meant handing out pamphlets, or going door to door to try to get people to come to our church.  As I have grown older, I have found that “sharing my faith” is so much more.  The best way to share my faith is to live it.

When Jesus talked about the final judgment in Matthew 24 and 25, He pictured the nations being judged by how they lived their faith.

·         I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

·         I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

·         I was a stranger, and you invited me in.

·         I needed clothes, and you clothed me.

·         I was sick and you looked after me.

·         I was in prison and you came to visit me.

When the righteous protested that they had never seen Him in these circumstances, He replied, “If you did it for one of the very least of my children, you did it for Me.”  How can we live our life today that reveals our faith in Jesus Christ?

Faith is the Victory

Published in 1891 by John H. Yates, a Methodist minister

 

Leaving 2021

 

I have finished the course…

2 Timothy 4:7 

I started this blog, Water Into Wine, on Saturday, March 20, 2020, in response to the shutting down of my choir, my job, my church.  Life as we knew it came to a grinding halt as the Covid-19 Pandemic took over everything.  I wanted to write a daily word of faith and encouragement, and provide a daily hymn to sing.

It is now December of 2021, and what was unthinkable in March of 2020 has proven to be true – the Pandemic is still a major part of our lives.  Much has changed, however, Churches have flooded Facebook and YouTube, streaming devotionals and times of worship for every day of the week.  Most churches have reopened for weekend worship services – complete with congregational singing and great preaching.  Life is slowly getting back to our new “normal.”

I had originally planned to write this blog for about six months.  After twenty-one months, Friday, December 31, will be my last day for Water Into Wine. I have tried my best to be a small voice in the very large void caused by the Pandemic. I hope Water Into Wine has been that for you. I want to concentrate these last four days on 1st Corinthians 13:13. I hope you will join me.   

ONE OF MY FAVORITE HYMNS:

Blessed Assurance

Blessed Christmas!

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was

with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling

among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory

of the One and Only, who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John 1:1, 14 

For unto us a child is born,

unto us a Son is given.

And the government shall be upon

His shoulder, and His name shall be called:

Wonderful, Counselor,

the Mighty God,

the Everlasting Father,

the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

 

A Very

Blessed Christmas

to All

Hallelujah Chorus  G.F. Handel - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Where's the Line to See Jesus?

While they were there, the time came for the

baby to be born, and she gave birth to her

firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths 

and placed him in a manger, because there was

no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7

This video has a story - of a little boy's question while shopping at the mall before Christmas and the song that the question inspired.  There's no reason for me to tell that story - we will let the music do the talking.

 

Where’s the Line to See Jesus?