When the great patriarch Jacob died, eleven of his sons were worried and downright frightened that Joseph, the one they had thought first to murder, then settled for selling him as a slave, would now take revenge for the harm they had meant for him. The brothers concocted a message they claimed came from Jacob, requesting Joseph to forgive and forget their misdeeds toward him. Surprisingly to the brothers, Joseph began to weep. (Genesis 50:20) His love for his family had never dimmed in all the years that had separated them from him. He had prospered and become next to Pharaoh in importance in Egypt, but his attachment to Jacob and all the brothers never died. He spoke to them the words that no one could have anticipated: “Don’t be afraid! You meant it for harm to me, but God meant it for good.” That Joseph could still love his brothers was beyond their belief. It came to them as a marvel; to each of eleven sons of Jacob the very idea of such gracious forgiveness revealed a God of love such as they had never realized, even in their father’s time. Joseph continued: Don’t be afraid; I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:21)

Centuries later Jesus surprised his disciples when he spoke kindly to them: “Don’t set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. . .Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Joseph’s brothers had never experienced the kind of love displayed by Joseph. They had no way even to imagine that Joseph might not desire revenge for their misuse of him. They could hardly believe in such a love. It took many more centuries for another twelve men, all descendants of Jacob, to experience an unconditional love that would spread and expand throughout the world. God’s son, Jesus, was the one who would give his very life to reveal God’s loving forgiveness to His people that the prophets foretold of a new relationship with a God who loves His creation and holds a fondness in His heart that is unquenchable toward His own.

Joseph’s love for his brothers, in spite of all they had done, astonished those brothers. God’s love for us, in spite of all that we do or fail to do, is astonishing to me. To have arms that open wide when we seek forgiveness, and a love so deep that we never reach its end, is against all odds for many of us to believe, but Joseph made sure that his family experienced it, and Jesus made sure that we could, as well.

Love in Him,

Prue

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:20)

This powerful remark made by Jesus in his sermon on the Mount has puzzled me, partly because I can’t picture what the Pharisees and teachers believed, or what sort of thing “righteousness” was to them or to me. When I read 1John 2:7 & 10: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love is from God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. . . This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins,” Jesus’ words began to resonate.

We cannot love as God loves, but when we first recognize God’s love for us, then we have opened the very door of the kingdom of God. John went on to write, “We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19). It’s not as if God first loved all of humanity,(He did), but for every single soul, God takes the initiative in loving. He loves each of us before we are even born. It is the quick or slow realization of this love in us that makes the difference and puts our feet on the path to the kingdom of God.

In the Old Testament, God chose “favorites.” He chose Moses to be His own mouthpiece, and He chose David as “A man after my own heart.” The prophets, too, were spokesmen for Him. In a tumultuous time, God told Jeremiah that He would give him his life, when others were trying to kill Jeremiah. He told Jeremiah that He would give His people “A Heart to know me. . . for they will return to me with all their heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7)

( Jesus said that the greatest commandment was, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind. (Matthew 22:36)

God chose Abraham and credited him with “righteousness” for believing in God’s promise of a son. God continued to choose souls who would respond to His love, until He brought His own son into the world through whom all people could experience God’s love in order to return that love to Him and receive eternal life. Our “righteousness” is really a person, the person of Jesus, who rose from death and offers his loving relationship with his Father God to his brothers and sisters to share. In accepting his gift to us, we enter his world and become one of God’s family.

Love in Him,

Prue

Good Things Last

The greatest thing since the wonderful birth of Christ, foretold hundreds of years in advance, the greatest thing in the universe for humanity, was Jesus’ resurrection, now about two thousand years ago. The good things of God, made known in His son, have lasted and continue to last for eternity.

Isaiah began prophesying about seven hundred forty years before the birth of Jesus: There will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. . . The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. . . for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. . . and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ( Isaiah 9:1,2,6)

Isaiah himself was a light to the people of Israel and his words provided light and hope for centuries before the appearance of Jesus on earth.When Jesus grew up n Israel, heministered for only about three years, but he made a deep impression upon both the disciples and the many other individuals who saw him, and were even healed by him. In the minds of many, Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. But God had something more in mind. He would make the “good thing” that was Jesus, last for untold millennia. Jesus would send God’s Holy Spirit: “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you. . . When he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears . . . It is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:7, 12,14)

Good things last because of the faithfulness of God. His commitment to restoring His people to His side was in place when Eve rose her hand to pick a piece of fruit. He has never abandoned His creation, but has opened heaven itself to provide a Savior and a companion Spirit for us to achieve His goal of union with us. God allowed Himself to suffer the desolation of the loss of His son on the cross in order to share our humanity. Jesus’ resurrection was the restoration that offers hope to all of us.

Good things last, and come to fruition, and lead to better and better things because good things are God’s things, and they do not ever end.

Love in Him,

Prue

When Abraham sent his servant to visit Abraham’s brother’s family in order to find a wife for Isaac,his son, the servant was surprised to find Rebekah at the first place that he stopped to inquire. The servant had relied upon Abraham’s God for the journey, and then for discovering the very young woman he was sent to find. He praised God when her family gave him permission to take her to Isaac, but her mother and brother wished to delay her departure at least ten days. They knew that very likely, they would not see Rebekah again: He said to them, “Do not detain me now that the Lord has granted success to my journey” They said, ”Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ( Genesis 2: 26-59)

Every person in this story acts in response to the conviction that the stranger from Abraham was truly on a God ordained errand, and should therefore be believed and accepted. This story is washed in a glow of grace. Rebekah, much loved daughter of her parents, and sister to Laban, is to leave immediately on a long, tedious, if not downright dangerous journey to marry a man she has never met, whose name she has probably never even heard until now. Her mother and brother hope for a few days of preparation for the trip, but Abraham’s servant begs, “ Do not detain me,” and theothers, reluctant to see Rebekah leave, call for the girl herself.

Rebekah‘s simple “I will go” is a foreshadow of another young woman named Mary whose answer to an angel was, “Let it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1;38) In each case, a young, probably illiterate, woman ‘s response to God was the linchpin in God’s plan for the salvation of human beings. Both were faced with a large unknown in their future, depending upon their decision. Both made the decision in the face of difficulties and even opposition. In both young women, the grace of God is evident, as each young woman was entirely free in her decision. There was no coercion, but only the living faith in a God who had been manifested in their relative Abraham.

Rebekah did marry Isaac. Her younger son was Jacob, who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel. Mary mothered the son of God. Neither would be detained.

Love In Him,

Prue

One day when I was grocery shopping, I carried my purse in the cart I was pushing. It was open on the top rack of the cart. My wallet was perfectly visible in the purse, and I was carelessly turning my back on it to look at produce and other groceries. When I arrived at the check-out my wallet was gone. I did all the usual things, telling the manager, calling the police when I got home. The wallet contained all my credit cards as well as my social security card and driver’s license, in addition to about thirty dollars in cash. It also contained priceless photos of my grandchildren.

At home I began the dreaded process of canceling the credit cards, getting a replacement for my license and trying to understand how God could possibly have allowed such an egregious thing to happen to me. We had actually changed grocery stores because our previous one was notorious for thefts, and often had a guard on duty. I wondered how to pray. I hoped some sort of confrontation would come to the thief.

Finally, in my “quiet time” I remembered the thief on the cross next to Jesus , and I prayed for my thief to have a repentant heart. I felt a relief from the angst I was in, and continued to pray. It was still a hassle to get a new driver’s license, first a temporary one, and later a replacement, all the time wondering who would be using my identity next, and how.

A few weeks after these events I found in my mailbox a package from the post office. Inside was a notice explaining that the wallet in the package had been found in a mailbox in Carrollton, Texas, a town not far from us; and the Post Office had forwarded it to me. I was amazed , and quickly examined the wallet to find that nothing at all, except the cash, was missing! My license, credit cards, everything was intact, and there were my grandchildren’s pictures.

The thief’s words came back to me again:”We are punished justly, for we are getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong,” (Luke 23:41) “This man” was the Christ in his most distressing appearance. He it was that welcomed the second thief and spoke the words, “Truly I tell you; today you will be with me in paradise.”

( Luke 23:43) The men who both deserved to die, did not deserve to live with Christ after they died, but one of them received that new life.

I certainly didn’t deserve to have all my valuables returned to me, but by the grace of God at work in a thief, they were. I gained more in this experience than I lost.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jack, my husband, told this story about going to lunch with a friend from work. He and his friend went to an Italian restaurant where his friend ordered spaghetti, and at the end of the meal he said, “This was good spaghetti, and on top of that, it’s the first time I’lve had spaghetti and didn’t get any on my shirt! Jack just smiled, and as they rose to leave, his friend’s tie slipped a little bit sideways, and there it was; under the tie was a bright red spot of spaghetti sauce on his white shirt..

Jack smiled when he told me of this incident, but that was nothing compared to the reaction of our grandkids ( preschool and third grade) when Jack retold this incident at the dinner table. There were shrieks of laughter and begging him to retell the story over and over. I was laughing, too, but mostly at the children. It was a fun dinner, and we each checked our own clothes to see if we had spilled anything at the end.

It didn’t end with that dinner. Whenever we were together, the children asked for “the man with spaghetti on his shirt.” from Jack.

“They shall be mine,” says the Lord of Hosts. “in the day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his son that serves him.”(Malachi 3:17) In this passage in Malachi, the Lord is referring to the people who have accepted His lordship of them, and displayed it in their tithes and obedience to His covenant with them. The people had returned from exile and were struggling to reestablish the Temple worship, and were failing to understand God’s requirements. Nevertheless, God calls the faithful ones “jewels” and makes a promise to them. God’s love for His faithful ones is evident in this passage, and the joy he takes in them is apparent. It’s almost like the joy that Jack and I experienced by surprise at the dinner table when our “jewels” were so carried away by the story. Their temporary delight was infectious, almost like a picture of the eternal delight that God receives when we respond to Him with unrestrained joy in His message to us. This message in Psalm 103 came to my mind when I thought of the children’s glee: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is in me, bless His holy name! Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s .

May we all experience such a love and such a praise in 2025!

Love in Him,

Prue Happy New Year!!

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your
Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

Some people find that being alone in nature inspires them to pray. The sights, sounds, and fragrances of the natural world seem to draw us to their Creator; but Jesus is talking about a different kind of secret place. It’s a room with walls and a door where only you may enter, a place of deliberate solitude with the possibility of praying your deepest

prayers and knowing that they are heard and received.

In our world today, and even in Jesus’ time, it is unlikely that each one could have such a room available at need, yet this theme reoccurs when Jesus speaks about fasting in secret: When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father, who is unseen; and your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:17)

The “secret place” is intensely personal. It is not shared with anyone but our unseen Father. It is a pivotal acknowledgment in Jesus ‘Sermon on the mount’ that prayer is personal and answered by God. Inserted between these two admonitions to pray secretly, is located the Lord’s Prayer. It is actual words to use to address God in secret. Jesus surely knew that his prayer would become a very lasting and public prayer, but he didn’t hesitate to offer it to his disciples who asked to be taught how to pray. It seems that Jesus, when he said “Go to a secret place,” he meant both a private location, and a “place” within or spirits. Which shuts out the rest of the world in order to open a freeway to the Holy Spirit of God. It’s on that freeway that God hears and answers our prayers. In the “secret place” of our spirits there is no room for hypocrisy or pride, but only for a meeting with the God who knows us better than we know ourselves.

At the birth of Jesus God opened His “secret place” in heaven and sent His angels to the shepherds, who hurried to the manger and saw the wonderful baby. They, in turn, rushed out to tell many others what they had seen and heard. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Mary had much that she could talk about, but instead she went to her “secret place,” a place that Jesus has made it possible for us all to visit, in ourselves, where we may fellowship with him.

Love in Him,

Prue

This is Christmas Day, the culmination of all the planning and anticipation and preparation. For Mary and Joseph it was the culmination of a nine month time of wonder and trust, and the fulfillment that accompanies the living bundle that is first placed in a parent’s arms. It is a deep and quiet joy that welcomes an infant into the world.

May we all experience that wonder and joy today as we welcome the Christ Child into our world!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love in Him,

Prue

The birth of Isaac to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was surely a well known miracle in their life times. The very fact of Isaac’s name, meaning “laughter,” testifies to the phenomenon that this birth was to both the family and to the world. Sarah, after all was too old to conceive and Abraham had already acquired a son through agar, Sarah’s servant. That Sarah should bear a child was sheer miraculous grace from God, foretold by an angel to Abraham. Isaac’s birth, Samson’s birth, the birth of Samuel, and the birth of John the Baptist were all remarkable gifts of grace from God.

Nevertheless, at none of these births did God empty heaven of His angels to sing as a choir to human beings and trumpet the announcement of the birth of His own son , to shepherds , the decedents of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, on a hillside near Bethlehem.

The angels paid close attention to the baby they had heralded as he grew up. They ministered to him following his temptation (Matthew 4:11) at the beginning of his ministry . Near the end of his life Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”( Matthew 26;53)

Charles Spurgeon, a famous British preacher in the nineteenth century, once wrote that what surprised him about angels was that they were clearly not jealous of the fact that God had brought His son into the world of human beings, instead of angels; but at Christmas the angles shared and conveyed God’s joy. From the manger to the tomb, the angels facilitated God’s plan for His son, and Jesus was conscious of their ministering,. Jesus said to Nethanael, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open up, and angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

The Appearance of he “Host of Heaven” on the birth night of Jesus was not kept secret by the shepherds: “ When they had seen the baby Jesus they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. . . but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:17) Heaven had opened it’s doors to a whole host of angels at the birth of Mary’s son. In the midst of her joy at the birth of her first born, Mary knew the joy of the shepherd’s visit relating their experience with angels when they were in the field. It was confirmation to Mary that through her, heaven itself visited earth.

Love in Him,

Prue