And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God. . . (Deuteronomy 10:12)

When Peter saw the miraculous catch of fish he fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man! Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for men.” (Luke 5:8)

One of the great contradictions in the Bible is the issue of the “fear of God”. Throughout the Law, the Proverbs, and the Psalms is the injunction to fear God. It is the very beginning of wisdom.(Proverbs 9::10); but in both testaments there is the contradictory message, “ Don’t be afraid” when encountering God. These words were spoken to Abram, Joshua, Mary, Joseph, Peter, and others, all who received unexpected encounters with God.

I believe that this is one of the very crossroads of the Gospel itself, for it is one of the places where the person of Christ Jesus makes the difference. Peter’s fear was like Moses’ fear at the burning bush when he hid his face. They were both afraid of the truth about themselves in the presence of Holy God, and it is Christ who says, Don’t be afraid (of God) that transforms Peter into a disciple.

I once heard a young man say, “Where does anyone get the idea that they should fear God? Don’t we all know that God is the “good guy”? Don’t we know that He helps us, not hurts us?” Though the young man may have been sadly Bible ignorant, I have come to believe that Jesus’ words mean exactly what they say. “Don’t be afraid” of God or man, for fears warp our characters and keep us from receiving the eternal and amazing benefits of Jesus’ resurrection.

Peter hardly knew his own fear until he was in the presence of God’s son. It was Jesus who lifted the fear, so that we may call God our very own Father.

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified. (John 6:19-20) Jesus said simply, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They had not asked to see him, or even prayed at all, but “It is I” was all they needed to lose their fear. It is still all we need today to know that all is well. When we are frightened of God or man, Jesus still says to His own, “ It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Love in Him,

Prue

In a movie I watched recently, the housekeeper had promised the family to make a mushroom stew for their dinner. She was starting out to the woods to pick fresh mushrooms when a young woman staying with the family grabbed her basket and walked off with it, saying, I’d love to pick mushrooms! I’ve never done it, but it must be fun, and how hard could it be?”

The housekeeper knew that there were poisonous as well as good mushrooms in the woods, but she did not protest, and allowed the young woman to take her basket to gather the mushrooms.

The story meandered on with other characters until near the end as the family gathered for dinner to enjoy the mushroom stew. When the visitor announced that she had picked the mushrooms, everyone except the housekeeper dropped his or her spoon. “You let her pick the mushrooms?” demanded the host.
“Oh, do you really think I would use those for the stew?” answered the housekeeper. “I went to the market and bought fresh ones. They’re quite good this time of year”. Disaster was averted and everyone agreed that the stew delicious. The housekeeper’s discretion in allowing the young visitor to pick the mushrooms unattended prevented an awkward encounter with the family’s guest.

I wonder how many times our God has gone before or around us to protect us from our own selves: “The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore “ (Psalm 121: 7-8).

Sometimes our lives become so “linear”, that is, calendar connected, that our relationship with a timeless eternal God becomes blurred, indistinct; and we turn away. The Bible shows us that the limits we live, with while known our God, are not his limits for us: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

The housekeeper knew the guest’s mind and the state of the mushrooms in the woods, the needs of the family, and her own desire to serve the stew. She knew, also, that she could meet both needs and desires by her non-confrontational action.

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). In the same sermon Jesus tells us: “Everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7)

Frustrations mount in our world but the Lord holds out his peaceful hand to each of us.

Love in Him, Prue

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Once I had the opportunity to see two great blue whales partly submerged, and then one of them breached, off the coast of California. My sister and brother-in-law had arranged a whale viewing boat trip for this very purpose, and just before the captain was about to turn back to the dock in disappointment, he received a message that the whales were quite near, and on the surface, and so we made it to the site, and it was indeed a sight!

The great blue whale is said to be the largest animal that has ever lived on earth. To my surprise these two seemed docile and even gentle at the distance from which we watched them. I couldn’t help thinking that they knew why we had arrived there, and they were not displeased. They rolled over and dove and resurfaced, it seemed just so that we could see them better. It was interesting to note that out of the water their skin looked simply gray, but viewed through the water, they were very blue.

The experience was awesome to me and I was conscious that I had seen creatures with whom I shared planet earth that I had only imagined before. How much more there must be that is still unknown to me.

In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom expresses her love for creation: When there were no watery depths, I (Wisdom) was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before He made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth, I was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep His command,. . . then I (Wisdom) was constantly at His side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence, rejoicing in His whole world and delighting in mankind. ( Proverbs 8:24-30)

The Great Blue whale is indeed a phenomenon; it is frequently referred to as the “gentle giant” of the sea. It lives on ingesting millions of tiny krill every day, and is observed to be gentle and friendly toward human beings. It’s heart is as big as a Volkswagen. Viewing the whales, I couldn’t help thinking of creation. The Creator of thisphenomenon is mine, as well. : “Through Him (Jesus) all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” ( John 1:3&4)

The whales showed me that there is more light than I had ever imagined.

Love in Him,

Prue

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this (wisdom). So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself. . . but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.” (1 Kings 3:10-12)

One of the most stunning events in the lives of the kings of Israel , as well as in the minds of readers, was this message received by Solomon, that has impacted the very culture of the world. It elevated the notions of wisdom and justice; and Solomon’s life went on to display the rewards of administering the same. It is a powerful affirmation of the character of God. It’s only shadow is the fact that Solomon was unable to retain his zeel for faithfulness to God.

I have wondered how a man of such enormous God given wisdom and discernment could have fallen into the sin that undermined the greatness of Israel in the promise of God.

And now I will show you a more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:31)

The love that the shepherd boy David had for his God was deep and personal and unencumbered with a sense of “entitlement”. It was warm, spontaneous love that simply responded to the love he experienced from His God while he was alone watching his sheep. (1Samuel 17:37) With Samuel’s anointing, David received the Holy Spirit and he was changed.(1Samuel 16:13)

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1&2)

Solomon had faith in God, but failed to love Him as his father David had loved God. Solomon looked for love “in all the wrong places,” and succumbed to his many (1000) wives and concubines to worship foreign gods. He had abandoned his “first love”, and he, his family, and all of Israel suffered as a result.

No one can deny the powerful impact that the reign of Solomon had on the whole world. His faith, when strong, was an inspiration; but ST. Paul has the last words:

Love never fails; . . .where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13;8&13)

Love in Him,

Prue

Walking down the isle of a small grocery store, I pulled my cart to the side as I heard another one close behind me. When I looked around I saw a mother with three children, two riding in or on her cart, one walking beside her. What struck me about their appearance was that all four people were laughing out loud. I had never seen such a display of hilarity in such a diverse age group. The youngest wasn’t older than a toddler, and the oldest must have been in third or fourth grade. The mother was laughing heartily, too. As I reached for a frozen pizza, it occurred to me that I would probably never see such a sight again.

Nowhere in the Bible does it mention Jesus laughing. Weeping, angry, marveling, are all mentioned , but no place does it record his laughter. Nevertheless, there are rich images of joy and even laughter in the Old Testament, and the richest is probably the laughter of a woman when she was told that she would have a baby in her old age. Her laughter became the name of her baby, Isaac.

Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:6)

Sarah’s laughter echoed down the centuries to a young woman in Nazareth who also bore an unexpected baby: And Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. . . God has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” ( Luke 1: 46&47, 55)

Strength associated with laughter is echoed in Nehemiah’s rebuke of his people for weeping when they had returned from exile. He made it clear that the appropriate response to being restored to Israel was to be joyful, for, The joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

Sarah laughed first at the unlikelihood of God’s promise to her husband Abraham. She laughed again at the reality of the birth of her boy, and God told Abraham to name his son laughter. (Isaac)

The woman in the grocery store never knew that she changed my day with her family’s laughter, but Abraham knew that descendants of his son would change the world forever. (Genesis 17:19)

Love in Him,

Prue

Two of my young nephews asked me if there was anything they could do to win their English teacher’s favor on a writing assignment. I answered, “If you can use a semicolon properly, she would probably be impressed, especially if she hasn’t taught it to you yet.” Both boys were eager to try, and so I delivered a brief lesson. They were sure they could work this into their assignments. To my surprise and delight I heard from them only a week later that the semicolon had been a big success, and they had both scored high by using it.

For three years Jesus’ disciples lived with and learned from him. At the Last Supper Jesus knew that every word he spoke would be important and would last even for eternity. It was then that he told them about the “Advocate, the Holy Spirit,” who would come to them after his resurrection.

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples walking on the road to Emmaus, but they could not recognize him until they arrived and he broke bread for them, and disappeared. The disciples recalled, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road, and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32 ) Jesus, the “stranger” on the road, was teaching them and reminding them and being a companion to them as they walked, revealing his identity at the table. I believe that Jesus was modeling the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, for the disciples so that they would understand that he, Jesus, could be present with them, without their always recognizing him. Jesus showed the two disciples that he and the Advocate are one, so that they could learn to find him in the world when he was not physically present.

I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father. (John 16:28)

These words Jesus spoke before he died. On the road to Emmaus Jesus displayed the work and the very presence of the Holy Spirit, his own Spirit, who would companion the disciples when Jesus was physically absent. He showed them that they would have his teaching, the recall of his life, death, resurrection, and even his companionship in the Holy Spirit and in the sharing of the bread and wine.

It is good to have an aunt who can give you a tip about your writing assignment, but it’s infinitely better to have an Advocate who can show you your God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Maria, a Mexican woman who worked at the church I was attending, and I were chatting when she mentioned that she might be absent for a few days, as she was thinking about returning home with her sister to visit their mother. “My sister always likes to go home for some of my mother’s tortillas,” she said. “I don’t care about that, though. I like American food,” said Maria. “Oh,” I said,” What kind of American food keeps you with us?” “I really like spaghetti”, she said. “In fact, I don’t think I’ll go with my sister. Tortillas are good, but not enough to go home just for those. I’d rather eat spaghetti.”

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ( Romans 8:38-39)

While spaghetti may separate Maria from going to her mother, St. Paul lays out a bond and a tie that is so deep and high and wide that it can never be broken. “Never” includes all of eternity, and all the powers in both heaven and earth. Paul is emphatic as he enumerates “all creation’s” efforts to separate people from God, yet God has prevailed and now prevails and will prevail in restoring human beings to Himself. Paul is responding to the good news of God’s unfailing love which “endures forever”: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.( Psalm 136: :7). The psalmist extols God’s love many more times: Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. (Psalm 143:8)

Paul went on to say, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3:18)

What extravagant claims come to us from the Old as well as the New Testaments! That human beings could have experienced such a love,and recorded it for us is a testimony to its truth.

I’m glad that Maria found spaghetti in America if it helped her want to stay here and bless us at the church; and she assured me that she would soon be visiting her mother and enjoying her Tortillas. Even a plate of American spaghetti could not really separate her from her mother.

Love in Him,

Prue

In Rudyard Kipling’s novel Captains Courageous, Harvey Cheyne Sr. sat alone in his office contemplating retirement as one of the richest rail-road barons in America, when he received a telegram.

Five months earlier Cheyne’s only son, fifteen year old Harvey Jr, had been swept off the deck of a luxury ocean liner in a storm, while on a trip to Europe with his mother. The telegram Harvey Senior received read: “Picked up by fishing schooner We’re Here having fallen off boat great times on Banks fishing all well waiting in Gloucester Mass. Care Disko Troop for money or orders wire what shall do and how is Mama? Harvey N Cheyne.”

Harvey junior had been a spoiled boy whose parents issued very few restrictions to his behavior or his conversation. Most of the novel deals with Harvey’s life aboard a small fishing boat in the late nineteenth century off of Massachusetts. It is a “coming of age” story full of eccentric characters and great adventures before Harvey is transformed from a nearly hopelessly selfish child to a conscientious young man, proud of his newly acquired skills. The captain and owner of the boat, Disko Troop, is a stern task master, but well respected and liked by his crew, which includes Dan, his own son.

Harvey’s ordeal for five months on the ocean without sight of land shapes the story as it shapes Harvey’s life into more than he had ever known or experienced before, as Disko makes it clear that Harvey must earn his keep, Dan befriends him, and they fish for a five month season before returning to Massachusetts.

For that five months Harvey Sr. and his wife are sunk in the belief that their son is dead, as the We’re Here has no means of communicating with the land. While young Harvey is the focus of this novel, I found the character of his father to be equally interesting as he found himself wondering if he had been all the father he could have been to his son. Both Cheneys were humbled by Harvey’s incredible experience.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mathew5:3)

Both father and son caught a glimpse of something that meant more to them than their self indulgent lifestyles, and the glimpse changed each into a better person. When we are conscious that Jesus is alive in us it’s like the telegram that Harvey Sr. received. Christ renews our very life and changes us.

Love in Him,

Prue

Fanny Crosby, the author of the famous hymn “Blessed Assurance”, along with more than 8,000 other hymns, was blind almost from birth. She wrote about her blindness and said that, given the chance to have her sight restored by a simple and even convenient operation, She would choose not to have it: “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.” Fanny Crosby experienced a bottomless well of inspiration for the writing of her hymns, and she was afraid that sight would be such a distraction that she would lose her inner vision. For sighted people it’s hard to imagine desiring to be blind, but at the same time it is inspiring to recognize an active creative inner life that does not depend on physical vision.

The giant bill boards that line our urban roadways are proof that vision can indeed be distracting. The giant screens in our own homes, some times in every room, are more evidence that we rely heavily on our eyes for stimulation and distraction. Entertainment is one of the largest industries in the world; and without having seen anything at all, Fanny Crosby “saw” that something else was bigger and even more important than our very eyes.

“Then Jesus told him (Thomas) ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.,’” (John 20:28) The Psalmist wrote, “I seek you with all my heart, Do not let me stray from your commands..I have hidden your word in my heart , that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord!” (Psalm 119:10)

The words to Fanny Crosby’s hymns are inspired by scripture and her life experiences. One of her favorites, “I am thine, Oh Lord”, gives a glimpse of this woman’s spiritual life: “Oh the pure delight of a single hour that before your throne I spend, when I kneel in prayer,and with you, my God, I commune as friend with friend.” “I am thine,Oh God” has more verses and a chorus, but this stanza seemed to me to be a picture of her life of prayer and her sense of intimacy with her God.

In spite of the wide chasm of time between the psalmist , the writers of the Gospels, and the life of a nineteenth century woman, the immediacy of a close loving relationship with an invisible God is very clear in all of them. How hard could it be to put aside our distractions and find our own inner vision?

Love in Him,

Prue

Jesus “marveled” only twice in the New Testament; once in Nazareth when neighbors he knew and loved did not recognize God in him. (Mark 6:6), and once in Capernaum when a Roman centurion did. (Matthew 8:10)

“The centurion replied , ‘ Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one ‘Go’ and he does it.’” When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’” (Matthew 8:8-10)

Who on earth can say “I am like you, Jesus”? Even Peter when he first witnessed his extraordinary catch of fish, “fell at Jesus knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’”(Luke 5:8) The centurion calmly told Jesus that he recognized both Jesus’ authority and his power to grant his petition. The centurion acknowledged his own unworthiness, but was not afraid or hesitant to ask the favor of a healing. The centurion saw both God and himself in Jesus, and Jesus marveled.

The centurion seems to be wholly out of context in Jesus’ ministry and in his setting. He wasn’t a Hebrew; he wasn’t personally suffering; he belonged to the nation that had defeated and dominated Israel; he was a military man. There could hardly be a person less like Jesus in lifestyle and connections, yet he says, “I myself (like you) am a man under authority.” The Holy Spirit alone was able to connect his experience of obedience to Rome, to Jesus’ spiritual obedience to his Father God, and Jesus marveled.

Even though Jesus “did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person” (John 2;25), Jesus was surprised at the centurion, and he marveled. I believe that in the year 2023 it is still possible to surprise Jesus, and cause him to marvel. Every Christian has part of his or her life that is withheld from God. In all our confessing and praying, we reserve a room where we enter alone. When Jesus hears the hinges of that door open to him, he still marvels. When to all appearances we are separated from the Son of God in even a small way, when that separation is removed, Jesus marvels. In his marveling there is great, supernatural rejoicing, as he exclaims, “I have not found such great faith in you before!”

Love in Him,

Prue