Angry

Have you ever known someone who was angry with everyone and everything, including God?

That anger can come from a lot of different places.

Sometimes it comes from loss.

Sometimes it comes from failure.

Sometimes it comes from fear.

Wherever it comes from, that anger is a sign.

It’s the sign of someone who has been hurt by people or by life. Maybe even by themselves.

That anger is also a response.

They’re trying to deal with something that wounded them at the deepest level.

They’re trying to protect themselves from ever being hurt that way again.

They’re lashing out. Often at those who had nothing to do with hurting them. Including God.

So how do we deal with those people?

The same way that God does. It’s what Jesus is showing us in today’s Gospel.

We deal with those people who are lost in their anger by not rejecting them.

This is not a passive thing. It’s more than sitting there, not doing…whatever to them.

This is an intentional, deliberate, aggressive refusal to reject them. An active, in-your-face love. A holy love.

It’s the love that God pours out without measure into our hearts. And theirs.

It’s the only thing that will ever work.

Only God’s love can deal with that kind of anger.

Only God’s love can heal that kind of hurt.

Today’s Readings

If you are feeling stuck read this!!

"God made me so cute."

~ Sam

Jude 1:21 (NLT) - and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

When God speaks, things happen!

Photo: Captiva Island, Florida

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭34:1‭-‬8‬ ‭(WEB)‬‬. “I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let’s exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The Lord’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

“The Guiding Light of God’s Deliverance” by In Touch Ministries:

“When you are afraid, give God your fears and trust Him to provide the strength and peace you need.”

“During times of trial and uncertainty, worry can engulf our heart. But today’s passage serves as an unwavering beacon of hope: “I sought the Lord and He answered me, and rescued me from all my fears” (v. 4). When we feel vulnerable and assailed by doubt, God stands ready to be our guiding light, leading us through the darkness of fear into the comforting embrace of His love.

Like a lighthouse whose beam pierces the night, God’s presence offers reassurance in our life. When we earnestly seek Him, pouring out our fears and worries, He answers with a love that transcends our understanding. In the warmth of His compassion, we find strength to face our fears head-on, knowing we are not alone on a dark sea. God’s deliverance doesn’t mean our circumstances will change. Instead, it offers a transformative inner peace that steadies our mind and heart. It empowers us to walk through life’s challenges with the realization that our faith in Him is stronger than the grip of fear.

Let us take solace in knowing that even when we feel afraid, God is ever-present, guiding us with His divine light. In the darkest moments, His love shines through, illuminating the path ahead. As we seek Him, He becomes our rock, our refuge, and our source of courage.”

(Photo by Jonny Gios at Unsplash)

God's Love & Justice Because nothing says just and loving like sending babies straight to Heaven, after mercilessly butchering them and their mothers, and letting their virgin sisters live, so they could be 'married' by their killers.

Numbers: 31:1-18

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

I was scared, I was sad, I was tempted but there is a beauty along with existence and when I saw it through the colours in the sky I was amazed. It felt like I woke up from a nightmare filled with existential crisis into a reality filled with HOPE. I still don’t know how just looking at sky can make me feel so hopeful but I’m presuming it’s just the sanctity of the nature. For there’s no reason to be there but to be there with love.🦋

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Graphic via Verse of the Day - Jude 1:20-21 (NIV)

Good Friday

The more you think about it, the worse it gets.

No part of the Passion Gospel, the Gospel for Good Friday, has any hope.

Even the tender moments – Jesus asking John to take care of his mother, Joseph and Nicodemus making sure that Jesus has a proper burial – they’re just people dealing with the fallout from death.

You know what Joseph and Nicodemus are thinking about while they’re wrapping Jesus’ body up for burial? How much this sucks.

And whether the Romans will stop at killing Jesus. Or will they, and other followers of Jesus, be next?

The more you think about it, the worse it gets.

You know what Joseph and Nicodemus aren’t thinking about? How anything good can come from this.

Much less how God is already using all of it to do more good than either of them, or anyone on Good Friday, could ever imagine.

And yet, you and I know, that’s exactly what’s happening. Because you and I know something that Joseph and Nicodemus don’t know. Not on that worst of Friday’s.

They don’t know that Sunday is coming.

But that’s how it is, when you’re where they are. When you are right in the middle of the very worst.

When you and I are right in the middle of the very worst, there is nothing that human eyes can see to tell us that it’s ever going to get any better.

When that’s where you are, the only open question is whether it’s going to get worse.

In the middle of everything that you are dealing with right now – whether it’s death or illness, divorce or the end of a friendship, job loss or financial problems – while you’re waiting to see whether you’ve hit bottom or if it’s going to get worse. You get Joseph and Nicodemus. You are right there with them.

The more you think about what you’re dealing with, the worse it gets.

There’s nothing that our human eyes can see to tell us that anything good can come from what you’re going through.

And yet, you and I know, that’s not true.

Because you and I know something. Something that’s easy to lose sight of when you’re in the middle. Something that’s hard to hold onto when you’re scared.

But it doesn’t matter. It’s okay if we lose sight of it. Because it’s still true. Even if we’re scared. 

Today is Good Friday. And Good Friday shows us that none of it, not even the very worst, can hold down our God.

Because Sunday is coming.

Today’s Readings

Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit called the “unforgivable sin?”

Matthew 12:31

Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is often called the “unforgivable sin.” It is unforgivable because it reflects a settled, hard-hearted attitude of defiant hostility toward God. A person who has this attitude will never come to God for forgiveness, and therefore he or she is out of reach of his forgiveness. If you’re worried about whether you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven’t. All you have to do is ask God to forgive you, and he will.

Mark 3:28-30

“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” Jesus metold them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

Attributing Jesus’ Spirit-wrought works to an evil spirit blasphemously identifies the Holy Spirit with a demon. Those who persistently mistake the Holy Spirit for God’s adversaries have so hardened themselves to the work of the Holy Spirit that they will never be reconciled with God.

Romans 8:38

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

One of the tools the enemy uses to detour and defeat believers is the fear that we have, through actual sins in our lives, blasphemed the Holy Spirit and are thereby irredeemable. Here Paul reminds us that the bond between us and God established in Jesus cannot be broken by anything.

Psalm 103:3

He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

No sin is so big or so terrible that God can’t or won’t forgive it if you ask him. God has seen it all, and he still offers everyone his complete and unconditional love. However, an attitude of defiant hostility toward God’s Holy Spirit prevents people from accepting his forgiveness and pushes away their only hope of forgiveness. Only those who don’t want God’s forgiveness are out of its reach.

1 John 3:17 (NLT) - If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?