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Come To Me!

DSC_0259.JPGBy Judy Villanueva

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I couldn’t have been more than seven years old when I first noticed these words inscribed across the altar at church.  They seemed to jump out at me every Sunday as if teasing me to unwrap their meaning.  As a child, I imagined that coming to God and taking His “easy” yoke meant that my life would be carefree and full of laughter and love.  Indeed, it has been this but, not only this.  Life tends to pulse with both joys and sorrows and unwrapping Truth happens in layers, doesn’t it?

We plumb for its richness as we trust and agree to come, even when can’t see where we are going.

As this year comes to a close I find myself weary and particularly grateful for Jesus’ invitation to “Come”.  He knows that carrying heavy burdens weighs us down and bids us trade our wearisome loads for His yoke that is easy and light.  To be yoked is to be bound to a burden that must then be dragged around, much like an ox tied to an iron plow. But, think of it!

To be bound to Jesus is to be tethered to God!

It is to agree to submit to and learn from the One who is gentle and humble in heart.  It is to consent to trade our burdens for the one Jesus offers.  At first glance, this passage appeals to our need of rest, but a second look reveals a layer of love that invites us to soul-shaping surrender and the discovery of Zoe life, “the God-kind of life” !

The One who came… calls us to come!

Come to the One who came for you!  Come rest in His love.  Come learn from His humble heart. Come lean on Him every day and in everything! Let Him help you hold your life and unwrap the power of His Word for each day.  He knows how to carry heavy loads and can help us find rest for our weary souls.  I want to trade my yoke of worry for His yoke of peace.  I want to learn how to live well by being tethered to the One who loves me, who knows what it is to be weary and who paid a dear price for my rest.

“Jesus, thank you for reaching out to me when I was young and for helping me find my way to You. Help me to come to you today with all that burdens me and trust You. Thank you for being my place of rest. Amen.”

What about you?

Are you weary from carrying heavy burdens?  What are you dragging around?

Have you heard Jesus call you to come?  Are you in need of His rest?

Are you ready to trade your burdens for His yoke of love?

Listen for His voice that calls you to come.  God cares that you are weary and in need of rest.

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Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlDKuCM79Q

God is Light

20161211_173616By Judy Villanueva

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1John 1:5) 

Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day.             (Psalm 139:12)

Bang!  The sound thundered in the night and woke me from a deep sleep.  I could hear snow pelting against the window and thought I’d imagined flashes of light through the curtains.  The wind seemed to hurl itself against the wall as though determined to break into our bedroom.  It was 4:00 am and shaken awake, I was now curious to see what exactly was going on outside, so I got up! My sense of hearing told me a stormy story but I could see nothing in the darkness outside my window.  Absolutely nothing! In a way, this is how parts of life feel right now.  I can’t see what’s in front of me and much as I press my nose against the window of tomorrow and strain to know the “what”, “where”, and “how” of it, it remains hidden.

My choice is to bang around in the dark and try to see what I cannot or trust that God, who is Light, sees everything, everywhere, all the time.

That God is light is a blessed reality!  NOTHING can hide from Him and NO THING is unknown to Him!  We, being human, experience darkness when the sun goes down, when we don’t understand a thing, or when something is hidden from us.  Most of our fears hide in the dark of unknowing.  What frightens you?  What threatens your peace?  AW Tozer once said that “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Knowing that God IS light chases our fears into the middle of a blessed Radiance that shatters the darkness!  

Life might sound like a stormy story and we may not be able to see through the night, but we need not fear because even the darkness is not dark to God…it is as bright as day! Rather than trying to see or know what we cannot, we can instead be still and  open our arms to God’s daily light and let each ray shine on our doubts and fears.

On that stormy morning I sat by the glow of a warm fire and watched the sun defeat darkness yet again!  As the sun rose up over the mountain peaks,  it became God’s literal Word of light to me!  Can you hear it?

“HOPE!”

God is Light.  He can see in the dark!  He knows what’s in front of us and will always be faithful to defeat the darkness and be our daily Light!

“Father, I am deeply comforted that You are light. It quiets my fears and gives me strength in the dark places. Thank you that you keep seeing what’s in front of me. It’s all lit up! Help me to notice your gifts of light today. Amen.”

How about you? 

What frightens you? What threatens your peace?

Have you ever noticed that light brings hope?

How does the sun coming up make you feel? What about candlelight, twinkling stars, or moonlight?

How might knowing that God is light be important in your life?

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Worship

Throwing Stones

dsc_0714By Judy Villanueva

John 8:1-11


At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”


What is it about human nature that wants to stand over others and cry out for justice? Even children seem to have an internal sense of fairness and tattle loudly when someone breaks the rules.  What is glaring in this story is the complete lack of love with which this woman is thrown down before Jesus.

I wonder what Jesus was thinking as he wrote in the sand?  Did he kneel down and write as a way of helping the crowd slow down and really see the woman?

Did he want it to sink in that they were not so different than she?  I wonder what the woman was thinking. She was caught in the act!  She knows how this works.  I imagine her looking down in shame unable to meet the eyes of her accusers and bracing for the first stone.  Instead, crouched in Jesus’ shadow, she hears him invite the one without sin to throw first but, rather than receiving blows of judgment, she hears rocks fall to the ground and feet shuffle away!

Can you imagine her first taste of grace as she looks up at Jesus and hears him say, “Where are your accusers?  Does no one condemn you?  Neither do I condemn you.”  We are people in need of mercy, and yet, are terribly prone to judge one another with harshness. It’s not that discerning right from wrong is a bad thing.  On the contrary, it is a necessary thing if we are to grow in godliness.

We do harm when we stop seeing people and just see their acts, when we forget that we are not so different from those we condemn, and when we mistakenly believe we are in any position to throw stones.

The only One in that position did not pick up a rock.  Nor did Jesus set the woman free without exhorting her to leave her life of sin.  We tend to do one or the other — we either forgive and condone sin or,  judge and condemn it.  The truth is, we need  mercy AND justice and it is only crouched in the shadow of the cross that — remarkably, undeservedly, and thankfully — we find both!   Amazing and beautiful grace!

“Lord, I confess that I, too, judge others harshly. I ask for grace to fill my heart and your help to love people and forgive acts. Thank you for daily graces and your heart that keeps setting me free. Amen.”

What about you?

Are you a grace giver or a stone thrower?

Do you tend to forgive and condone or, judge and condemn?

Have you had an encounter with amazing grace?

Have you received God’s gift of forgiveness and love?

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Worship

Look at Me!

dsc_1148By Judy Villanueva

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”  Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1Samuel 3:10)

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words; Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them 
and health to one’s whole body. (Proverbs 4:20-22)

I was ready for the challenge!  I was twenty-three years old.  She was a baby.  I had a college education.  She had determination!  Suddenly, she made her move and crawled as fast as she could for the electrical outlet!  She looked over at me and reached out her dimpled hand in defiance!   I sternly said, “Look at mommy!  Don’t you dare touch that outlet!” We had been here before — many times — and each time I’d watch her teeter between wanting what she wanted and yielding to my voice.  To her credit, she looked at me and stalled for about ten seconds before she touched it!

“Look at Me!”  It’s a directive that parents use to get their child’s attention.  It is meant to entice the young one away from one focal point and onto the parent in order to give needed correction or guidance.  Babies, of course, cannot appreciate the good intentions of the parent and simply want what they want!  Sadly, even grown up, we tend to get focused on things that don’t bring life or worse, are harmful to us. Submitting our desires to God and turning to Him for direction is essential to maintaining a balanced and healthy spiritual life.

The problem is not so much that we want this or that, but rather that our hearts get so filled up with good things (and not so good things) that there is little room left to want God.

Can you hear God when He calls you to look at Him?  It might be a still, small voice, an internal nudge or a louder invitation, like an ulcer, or a life that is falling apart.  If we are not in the habit of “listening”, His might sound like one voice among many.

There is a fine-tuning that happens each time we hear and obey God. The sound of Him becomes clearer!

Likewise, we can deaden our sense of Him by ignoring His prompts and turning away from His face.

Looking for God, listening as we make decisions or walk out the front door is necessary if we are to be helped to want what is most worthy of wanting!  Do you want God?  I do, in theory!  But, too often, I really just want what I want and depend on His kind, steady voice to help me turn away from things that distract me and look at Him.  I want to be aware of God in the middle of my day, especially when He says, “Judy, look at Me!”

I need to feel the sound of Him correcting, directing and helping me find my way to His will.

I need to hear His voice say “I love you” in my every moment and learn to want Him most of all.

“Father, I thank you that you are a wise and watchful parent.  Help me to hear you call when I am in heading away from your will and in need of redirecting!  Keep finding me!  Amen.”

What about you?

Can you hear God when He calls to you?

How do you look at God?

What sorts of things help you hear His voice?

Are you learning to want God, most of all?

There is nothing more orienting than looking at God!  It finds us!

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Worship

Blind Spots

crackedpot2

By Judy Villanueva

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. (2Corinthians 4:7-11)

Chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter, family togetherness percolated throughout the house.  The football game in the living room, little ones running up and down the stairs, and my daughter and I in the kitchen talking over the cutting board.  She said, “I was thinking about family traits lately and in particular, about the stubbornness that runs on both sides of our family.”  “What?” I thought, “MY family? Stubborn?”  I heard very little else she said after that and while I watched her lips move, it dawned on me that God was asking if I’d like a little help to see one of my blind spots. Sheesh! Not really.  But if I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that saying yes to God always changes me for the better, even if it hurts a little — so I opened my eyes and said,  “I want to see.”

Blind-spots.  These “spots”, so to speak, are behaviors, plain to our family and friends but opaque to us.  They are often deeply rooted in our early development with origins that vary from birth order to trauma to temperament and a host of other things that make us, us — both beautiful and broken.  You can be quite certain that these are the areas in need of healing and love along with the skilled pressure of the Potter’s hands.  The problem with being shaped is that often what is needed to soften our rough edges is heat and, let’s face it,  even a refining  fire burns!  Besides, who really  wants to know that they are stubborn or lazy, self-absorbed, negative, blunt or prickly?

No doubt, being willing to know our blind-spots takes courage but it also powerfully positions us to be changed!

That is my great hope when I hear the knock that invites me to open my heart to God’s Light that will reveal my spots, blind and otherwise.  The image of a cracked pot with all-surpassing power bursting from its brokenness gives me a picture of what happens when I bring all of myself to God — when I make peace with who I am (and am not).  Christ in me, spilling through the cracks and beaming from my broken places gives me courage to yield to the Potter who keeps pouring out His life and shaping His image in me.

What a realization that it’s not perfection that I must pursue but a life given and open — attentive, listening, and willing to follow my Savior into the fire that makes me His, broken and beautiful, clay pot.

“Thank you, Father, for holy nudges that alert me to things you want to change in me. Give me courage to know, confess and trust that you are always a good and excellent Potter.  I am  grateful that you know all of me, all the time and are faithful to hold me in the fire while you make me more like Jesus.  Amen.”

What about you?

Can you sense when God is speaking to you?

How do you feel when you become aware of a blind spot?  How do you respond?

What do you think and feel when you see the image of the broken pot filled with light?

(*Thank you Robert S. Mack for helping get this image out of my head and onto paper.  It is my daily prayer.)

Worship  

Buttered to the Edges

IMG_1087 (2)By Judy Villanueva

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,  nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season.  And its leaf does not wither;  And in whatever he does, he prospers.         (Psalm 1:1-3)                                                                                                     

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

The smell of bacon crisping filled the kitchen and snuck up the stairs with enticements to wake up and get moving!  My husband and I were staying at the home of dear friends and had dutifully followed the call of pork to the kitchen. “Pop!” The toast had risen and the buttering began!  That’s when she said it!  “Did you butter to the edges?”  I looked up just in time to catch the nodding smile of my friend’s husband as he slathered butter all the way to the crust!  The idea made sense on so many levels and seemed to sizzle alongside the bacon with a question for me to ponder. “Is my life buttered to the edges?  Is Christ being formed in me all the way through to my crust, saturating every bite with the taste of His buttery goodness?”

The Potter and clay, the Vine and branches, and the tree firmly planted by streams of water tell a story of spiritual growth.  They describe ways of being in life that are soul forming and God-shaping.

Revealed in each metaphor is an invitation to flourish alongside a call to a mind blowing collaboration with the Creator!

Our part involves staying in His hands, abiding in the Vine, and sinking our roots into
the waters of Life.  His part is faithfully molding, filling and nourishing us to our edges.  Far from a magic wand, we work with God in the growth of strong branches and forming of fruit.  But, it is His beautiful heart that cleanses, heals, and imparts the power that transforms us from the inside out.

A seed sprouted that day at the breakfast table, a desire to be buttery!  And, right alongside was an invitation to consider my crustiness.  I sighed as I recognized the dry burnt edges of worry and fear, impatience and pride…unbelief and self-will.

Can I know what God already knows with my arms raised and heart secured by His love?

Do I trust that His invitations are designed to shape my soul as they stir up desires to be more like Him?  In those precarious moments that seem to teeter between pain and promise, I felt the Potter’s hand gently tilt my face toward His and say, “Abide with Me.” Staying in His hands, delighting in His word, paying attention to His voice help me touch His love and cooperate with becoming buttery.

“Thank you, Father, for your love. It’s what drew me to you so many years ago and what keeps drawing me every day since. Teach me how to abide better. Call me into your presence. Make me more like Jesus. Amen.”

What about you?

Is your life buttery to the edges?  Is Christ being formed in you?

Can you name your crusty edges?

Most of us know how to visit God but what is it to abide with Him?

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Worship

Mary and Martha

DSC_1493By Judy Villanueva

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

To sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him be my one distraction sounds both enticing and elusive. More often than not, I find myself in the kitchen with Martha, scowling at Mary and wishing so badly I could be the one sitting at Jesus’ feet.  I like to think that Martha loved Jesus from the kitchen amidst her many distractions and wish I couldn’t relate to how she let them postpone the joy of entering his presence.  But, I can.   As I slow down with this passage and take my pulse, I become aware that I am stuck in the kitchen!  I want to be next to Jesus, close enough to see the expression in his eyes and hear the tone of his voice. I know he is in the room with me but am not quite sure how to drop all my doing and find a place at His feet.  Do you ever feel that way?

This moment of awareness becomes a prayer and I ask Jesus to take my soapy hands and lead me out of the kitchen. “Help me, Lord, to turn away from the many things that fill my heart with worry and teach me to want only one thing — only One.”  I suddenly realize that one simple nod from Jesus is all it will take to help me drop my dishes and run to Him. Imagine this moment with me.

Can you see Jesus looking at you in the middle of your day and inviting you to come sit with Him?

Prayerfully, with my Bible on my lap, I imagine the scene and I look at Jesus.  He looks at me!  I see Him seeing me and hold my breath.  THEN, He gives me a smile and a nod and I run to Him!  I realize, as I make my way over, that I didn’t think there would be room for me and I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.  But, looking up at Jesus face I find a big welcome and looking down at His feet, I find a place prepared just for me!

“Jesus, thank you that always see me. I give you permission to nudge me out of my busyness! Thank you that I will always see a “welcome” in your eyes and find a place in your presence prepared just for me. Help me today to bring that same welcome to others. Amen.”

How about you?

Where do you find yourself in this Bible story? Are you in the kitchen, busy with preparations? Or, are you sitting at Jesus feet?

Does the pace of your life leave room for noticing Jesus beckoning you to come to Him?

Do you define yourself by the “many things” or by the “only One”?

What do you need from Jesus today? As you sit at His feet and have His full attention, how can He help you today?

Worship

Finding God

DSC_0527By Judy Villanueva

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. (Deut 4:29)

How sweet it is when my little granddaughter finds me!  To be reached for by chubby baby arms is too wonderful to describe but the words “sheer joy” come awfully close! Sitting on the floor I quietly watch as my two-year-old visitor stacks and knocks over blocks with glee. Occasionally, she stands and runs in circles laughing until another toy beckons for her attention.  All the while, I see her sneaking peaks to make sure I am near and, every so often, she interrupts her play to find me.  Then, for a few cherished moments she crawls up on my lap and nestles in close for “kissies.”  As I soak her up, I realize how good it feels to be found, reached for and wanted! “Is it any different with God?” I wonder.  Does He, too, feel delight when we turn away from our toys and reach for Him?

I never dreamed that after so many years of being a Christian I would still be learning how to want God — most! That may sound strange but I find that life has a way of crowding out my desire for God with temporal offers of fullness.  I naturally know how to want these things, but want to want the Divine heart that watches and waits for my notice.  The thought that God is delighted when I reach for Him is as much mind-blowing, as it is an explosion of wonder!

The One who made all things wants me and reached across the heavens with a cross to make a place for me on His lap.

Trials always motivate me to reach for God, but my prayer is to grow in love for God and live interrupted by His presence, in breathless anticipation of finding Him and being found!

Last night, as my husband and I sat under a canopy of stars we decided to begin an experiment.  For thirty days we are endeavoring to spend 20 minutes a day in silent prayer. Our hope is to engage in a daily moment, 1200 seconds long, that consists of crawling up on the lap of God and sitting quietly in His arms.  What happens to worries and fears when we stop looking at them and rest with God instead?

In stillness, God helps us feel His love touch our lives.

When we stop talking and moving about, when we let His movements of grace interrupt our play — when we simply let God hold us,  we find a place on His lap where we are hugged and kissed — found, reached for and wanted!  Yes, He soaks in our presence and wraps us up in His.

 “Thank you, Father, for being my place of rest and for all the ways you reach out for me.  Help me to look up from my toys and find You in my days.   Thank you for the cross that reached across the heavens to find me!  Amen.”

What about you?

Do you want God?

Do you believe that God is delighted when you reach for Him?

How do you reach for Him?

Do you notice when God’s presence invites a holy interruption?

God wants you!  Reach for Him.

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Worship

Father

levi and joeBy Judy Villanueva

Luke 15:11-14, 20

And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished… 

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Coming up the stairs I could hear the sound of the television and knew exactly where dad would be sitting.  I quietly giggled as I made my silly plan and pictured his smile when, startled, he’d see my head pop up over the railing.  It’s a little game we play every time I come home and almost every time I reach the top of the stairs.  It’s a way to say “I love you” at a time in our relationship when words are hard for my dad to hear.  I think I’d do just about anything to make this man smile and I’m pretty sure the same is true for him.  I cannot begin to imagine his heartbreak if ever I were to look at him and say, “I wish you were dead. I don’t want you, dad, only what you have to give me.”

That is essentially what the younger son said when he asked for his share of his father’s estate, gathered it all up and left for a distant country.  What kind of father listens as a child rejects his presence in favor of his treasure?  And, what kind of dad consents to give his son what he asks for knowing it will shatter his own heart?  As I trouble over why this father doesn’t knock some holy sense into his child, I find myself invited to notice an incredible revelation of God rising up from the story.  Curious, I lean in close and finally see it, a reflection of the Divine heart beating with beautiful love, too big to contain — pure, powerful and free!

This is the heart that listens to us when we ask for what we should not or  when we leave home to seek fullness in a foreign land. This is the Father who waits for our return and runs with abandon to kiss and embrace us!

There are lots of ways to leave home lest, like me, you have trouble identifying with the younger son.  When I am willful, fearful, or fretful I can tell I’m on my own somewhere far from the Father.  Sometimes I hide and other times I leave in search of life a part from God whether in front of a tv show, a balance sheet or a banana split.

To be honest, if I pay close attention to my prayers I realize with tremendous sorrow, that like the younger son, I often want what God can give me more than I want God.

That’s hard to write and hurts to know. Yet, this is where the Father finds me.  This is where I feel His heart beat with beautiful love.  This is where I am gathered up and forgiven by the One who watches for my return and runs to welcome me home!

“Father, I want to want You most! Thank you for your faithful heart and compassion for your children.  Help me find my way home whenever and however I wander from your heart.  Amen.”

What about you?

Are you learning to want God?  Most?

What kinds of things draw you away from “home”?    Away from the Father’s heart?

Have you experienced the Father’s love for you?

Do you know that God watches and waits for you?

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Worship

Kindness

IMG_4241Judy Villanueva

“Kindness is a habit that softens the atmosphere. It is an outgoing of neighbor-love that becomes instinctive, and is often unnoticed even by the person who practices it; yet voices and actions and even thoughts surrounding acts of kindness impart this softening toward others as if it were a benevolent virus, a happy infection that eases everything for everyone…Kindness is a selfless form of thinking that sees a need and meets it, almost by reflex, with no thought of reward. (*J.I. Packard)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32)

I felt the cold wind touch my cheek as I emptied the contents of my trunk onto the pavement. Spring had one more snow shower to deliver and I had one large box to fit into my car before she did! The package looked a lot smaller in the store and was definitely not cooperating with my plan to override the laws of physics. Pushing and turning I pleaded with my new box and just when I’d about given up, a voice lifted up over the parking lot, “Do you need some help there?” It was definitely a rhetorical question asked by a fellow shopper who noticed my predicament. He stopped and with a smile and few calculated shoves loaded my box and closed the trunk! I shook his hand and thanked him, aware that this simple kindness deposited a “soulish” blessing — one that felt like a sweet touch from God.

Kindness is both gentle and powerful! It smells good, feels good and leaves love in its wake.  It notices another and offers care.

It springs up from kind deposits that have left their blessings and created love.

Kindness moves outward with intent to bless.  It is healing and makes us kinder people.  Its touch is disarming and its voice speaks with reminders of things we most need to remember.

“You matter. I see you. I love you. I am here.”

God is kind and when kindness touches us, it helps us touch God.  That is why in the wake of kindness we feel lighter even if our burdens have not yet been lifted, and hopeful even in the midst of a storm.  Is it any wonder God asks us to be kind and tenderhearted to one another because when we are, we usher people into an experience of His presence.

As I drove away with my new box safely tucked away, I became aware of a blessing that lingered over me. “Is that You, God?” I queried, remembering my morning prayer where I’d asked God to help me feel His presence in my real life.  He did … through the kindness of a stranger in the middle of a parking lot!  What may seem like a small gesture was a gift that encouraged my heart and helped me feel God touch my real life.  It also awakened me to the potential that each day holds to be kind and bless others, to participate in God’s kingdom coming to earth through daily habits that “soften the atmosphere” and usher fellow shoppers into His presence.

“Thank you, Father, for your many kindnesses and for helping me feel your presence today. Create love in me and use me to bring your kindness to others. Amen.”

How about you?

Where did you last experience kindness?

How did it make you feel?

Who in your life offers you kindness?

Are you kind?

Can you feel God in and through acts of kindness?

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 *J. I. Packer with Carolyn Nystrom, Guard Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decisions, )Grand Rapids, Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2008), 70)

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