"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away”. Mark 13:31

                                                                                    Paula
Blessed assurance. Straight from Jesus’ heart, that’s the gift we are given from this wonderful scripture. Jesus spoke these encouraging words after explaining to four of his disciples how to recognize the signs of the end times.

The signs Jesus described were ominous: severe earthquakes, vicious wars and civil unrest, devastating famines, ugly discord within families even unto death, deception by way of false prophets, and severe persecutions. Kind of sounds like what’s happening in the world right now, doesn’t it? Yet, Jesus instructed His followers to take courage. He said, “...Do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet” (Mark 13: 7).

The apostle John wrote of Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1: 1-4). Through this scripture we come to understand that Jesus the Word, like God the Father and the Holy Spirit, is eternal. Jesus the Word has been in existence from far beyond the beginning of all things, and He has no end. All physical objects (heaven and earth) will one day pass away, but Jesus’ words, Jesus Who is the Word Himself, will never pass away.

I take tremendous comfort from this scripture, especially when I watch the evening news, read about disastrous world events on the Internet, or hear disturbing murmurings over the radio. Jesus persistently abides with us who love Him as we struggle through difficulties here on earth, and He will abide with us throughout eternity when we have at last shed our struggles and left them behind.

Jesus, our blessed assurance. Jesus, our eternal Word.


Pam

It’s tax time again – oh joy. I don’t resent having to pay taxes. It’s not just the money involved that makes tax time such a dread. It’s doing the taxes. What an awful chore. I’d rather have a bus run over my foot than do taxes. So, like many Americans, my husband and I hire it done. We need a professional, someone who can spend eight hours a day keeping up with the ever-changing tax code. Every year the tax laws are different. That is the main reason we don’t do our own taxes. We don’t have the time or inclination to keep up with all the modifications.

One would think I’d be used to constantly changing rules and regs. I work for a Medicare provider. Every month or so I get new forms or have to change how I do things because Medicare guidelines have changed. Don’t get me wrong, I think Medicare is a good program that helps millions of people. But it is a system in constant flux. There is always a tweak here and there.

We live in a world of  ever-changing information. Every morning the newspaper brings the latest news, always different than the day before. The Internet is a steady stream of new ideas, thoughts, philosophies, and values. Entertainment trumps context. We make up “what’s hot and what’s not” lists. There is a huge demand for the fresh, different, hip, and fashionable. The pressure is on the Internet magazine and blog writers to come up with a novel take on any and all subjects. The words of the world are written in sand. Most hold very little value past the present moment.

This is why the world desperately needs scripture. The Bible may get a new translation from time to time to keep up with current language, but its essence stays the same. Scripture is God’s word, everlasting, never changing. I hunger for words that will last. Words that last are a bedrock foundation, solid ground on which to build a life. They are earthquake proof and safe from any flood or fire.

As desperately needed as it is, the Bible is not a quick fix for all our woes. In our instant-access world, scripture can seem frustrating. God’s word is not prepackaged, microwavable, ready-in-five minutes. Truth cannot be flashed into the brain but must be grown in the heart. And Truth does not always go down as easy as pudding-in-a-cup. Scripture not only shows us God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but it also reveals our humanity, as unpalatable as that can be. Bible study is just that, a study, a pondering, and a questioning. I often have to stop reading and ask myself, what does this scripture have to do with me? What is its relevance in my life? What is God wanting to tell me? Yet, I always find the Bible worth the effort. It brings what is true and what is real into my life. This why I read scripture almost every day; I want and need a touch of the eternal.

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him .” Psalm 103: 11

Stefan Gillessen, Reinhard Genzel, Frank Eisenhauer

Paula
When I meditate on the vast expanse of the observable universe, the distances involved seem incomprehensible.  Astrophysicists have calculated that the comoving distance (or unchanging distance, i.e., not taking into consideration the universe’s constant rate of expansion) between Earth and our universe’s edge is approximately 14 billion parsecs, or 46 billion light years in any given direction. One light year equals the distance light travels in one year, or 6 trillion (6,000,000,000,000) miles. Do the math, then try to write out the number! What’s even more mind boggling is that this distance measures only the span between where we are standing and the far-reaching points of light we can see. Only God knows how many light years of universe lie beyond those points!

King David, the writer of Psalm 103, understood the incomprehensible measure of God’s mercy toward His imperfect children. He experienced that mercy firsthand. Past his other relatively minor faults, David desired to take for himself another man’s wife and so crafted a scheme that resulted in that man’s murder. One year later King David got his heart’s desire: Beautiful Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite’s widow, became his queen.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Displeased, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront the king (see 2 Samuel 12). After shining a beacon upon King David’s awful transgression, David could no longer, either to himself or to others, mask his deed and pretend what he’d done could be buried and forgotten.

Can God forgive egregious sins like that? He not only can, He did.

From that point on, understanding full well that he had “done evil in the sight of the Lord,” David began an agonizing journey toward repentance. While seeking God’s forgiveness, another psalm, Psalm 51, emerged from David’s deep remorse and from his longing for God’s mercy, grace, and absolution during this time. It begins: “Have mercy upon me, O God; according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Several verses later David pleads: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

History tells us that God answered King David’s cry for mercy, completely and absolutely.

Whenever I stumble into sin, as all of us do, whether it be foul temper; unclean speech; intolerance; the temptation to do a job halfway; or the temptation to cloud my mind with debilitating self-doubts that keep me from attaining the goals God has set for me; I think about imperfect King David and his wonderful psalms. Whenever I start thinking God can’t possibly forgive my transgressions because they are too great, I turn my thoughts toward the vastness of the heavens and how great the Bible attests is God’s mercy toward me.

Some of us have committed “really big” sins which we feel God could never in a million years forgive, sins almost too terrible to utter. But God tells us that when we repent from the depths of our hearts and sincerely commit to turning away from our sinful behavior, He will pour upon us His infinite mercy and grant us a measure of forgiveness that will forever absolve us and restore us to a right standing with Him. God declared to all of us through King David’s contrite, forgiven heart and glorious pen: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear [trust] Him.”

Pam
I love the story in Luke of the prodigal son.  How very human is the prodigal son. So sure of his abilities, so smug in his own wisdom, he grabs his inheritance and goes charging off, knowing full well he will be able to run his life much better on his own. He has no need of the comforts his father wants to give him, and certainly no need of guidance and counsel. He’s much too smart for all that.

As I read the story, it starts to sound a little too familiar. Haven’t we all had times in our lives when we think we can do a better job of managing things than God?  When we say, basically, “ No thanks, God. I got this one”. That is usually about the time my life starts to crumble like a sand castle in the hot sun. The essence of what was holding it together is gone.

Predictably, the prodigal son finds himself covered in muck and eating pig swill.  What could be more humbling? Swallowing his pride, which probably didn’t taste any better than the pig food, he returns home, unsure of his welcome. I imagine he must’ve been asking himself if his father was going to be angry and punish him for his arrogance, his foolishness. Would his father further humble him? It would be no less than he deserved.  But instead of meeting anger, the prodigal son is met with joy. His father runs into his arms. (Joel Osteen points out that this is the only time in the Bible that God runs). Instead of punishment, the prodigal son is given a banquet and fine clothes.

This story so perfectly illustrates God’s mercy.  So often we receive mercy we don’t deserve, but it is freely, lovingly abundantly, given anyway.  Too many times we cannot show mercy or forgiveness to those who offend us, but God is steadfast in His mercy to His children. We cannot fall to depths too low where we can’t be redeemed. When you think about it, what could be more comforting? All I have to do is look toward God, and  start to move in His direction, and He will meet me more than halfway. Loving arms always await.