The Reign of God as spilling forth. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as spilling forth is an ongoing eye-opener. It is like the little child who walks or runs or tumbles into the room and all of the sudden - there are smiles. There are smiles because we see it happen or we hear it and for a moment we are transported to another time and place that is really nothing more than the time and place at hand. The Reign of God as spilling forth is the power to transform our hearts. Daily we are given opportunities to walk within God's Reign. It may be the simple act of appreciating the wonder of a toddler or and infant's babblings. It may also be something that spills forth and reminds us of the justice of God's Reign and that this moment is our time to enter into its fullness. It may be a time when we can literally taste the need for forgiveness to Reign - do we enter it - do we resist - do we get all messy as it spills over us? The Reign of God as spilling forth is a joyous engagement with life - all of life. In the middle of that spilling forth, life is see anew and we are given the opportunity to become a part of that newness. O God of love and new life, make us new - make us aware - make us a people wet with your promises that promise to disrupt us and lead us. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as spilling forth. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as spilling forth is just like that - a spilling - an uncontrollable spill that disrupts the moment and even the day. I take several precautions when I am at breakfast. I do this because I have been know to spill things. Yes, a gesture take place and the coffee goes over - a move toward one thing on the table topples my breakfast drink. In the next moment, there is a new agenda: clean it up - move - change my clothes - find something else for breakfast. Just that fast, a simple spill changes the content of time. The Reign of God as spilling forth has that power. It may not appear to be quite like that. I would simply suggest that we do not see the impact of its spilling forth. The breakfast drink will ruin my clothes - it will make a mess of the floor - it will mean changing the table cloth. And yet, the Reign of God as spilling forth (and it always is) usually takes place and we simply go about the rest of the day as we would have it for ourselves. So what is this spilling forth and how do we know when it is happening? I like to return to the simple comment, "Come and see." The spilling forth of the Reign of God is happening so come and see. In the middle of yard work - in the middle of quiet time - in the middle of a dispute - in the middle of all and any of the things 'we have to do' - there is the Reign of God dripping onto the life all around us. And yet, it will only disrupt us when we see it dripping. Otherwise the day is run by the other things that spill onto us. O God of love and new life, drench us again with the visions of your Reign. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness is a part of the essential character of life that becomes the shape of those who follow Jesus. In the gospel for this upcoming Sunday, Jesus will answer Thomas' question (about where Jesus is going and that the disciples do not know the way) like this: I am the way, the truth, and the life. You want to know the truth - take a look. Take a look at the mercy and grace and life-giving love that is abiding with you. The Reign of God as truthfulness is the eternal life God invites us to enter - a life those first disciples experience in their friend - a life available to them - a life available and present to us. Truthfulness longs for questions to be asked and it longs for all of us to listen and ask question once again. Truthfulness is not afraid of questions nor is it something fixed and rigid that shuts down questions and forbids exploration. Religions often love to shut down questions and shut down inquiry and shut down views that differ from a primary teaching. That may be because religions are not often in a quest for truthfulness - just survivability and control. The Reign of God as truthfulness welcomes the ones who question and the ones who have a sense of humor about that which religions want to be fixed and immoveable. Maybe because truthfulness is not something fixed by us - but is rather it is a part of a life that keeps unfolding before us. O God of love and new life, help us to look again at the life that you place before us in Jesus so that we will once again be introduced to the truthfulness of your Reign. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness calls on folks who understand what it is to be wounded - sore - frustrated - weak - forgotten. For in the realm of truthfulness, we will go through those bits of reality and more. It is not pleasant to experience the truthfulness of God's Reign at all times. Sometimes, this truthfulness is long-awaited and like a breath of fresh air. At other times, it can be experienced as a harsh wind that cuts deeply into our space. The Reign of God as truthfulness it like that two-edged sword - an image used to remind us that no side is free from the way the truth liberates us even when we do not want to be liberated. We are much more appreciative of the truth that will correct and put in place those folks who think or act differently than we do. But let the truth expose us or show us how short we have fallen on our journey of truthfulness and we will resist its words. The Reign of God as truthfulness not only holds up the truth to others - it holds up all truthfulness to all of us. Such truthfulness exposes us and that - that - is what can cause us pain and insist that we step back and look again at the world we are trying to create. Truthfulness always pulls us in front of that mirror that seems to be able to show us all that we are. From there, we are all invited into new life. The Reign of God as truthfulness is not about pointing out our shortcomings, it is all about showing us what is possible within our ordinary lives when we are alive within God's loving domain. O God of love and new life, as we take this journey into your Reign of Truthfulness, open us up to your vision of life that continues to be transformed ad renewed. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness is not like the sign I saw on a church building. It noted that they still taught the Truth. I wanted to go in and ask them what it was. The same thing happened in New Orleans. There were two people setting up their 'religious stuff' and in a glance we could see that they were ready to pedal the 'Truth' as they saw it. Most often, such 'truthfulness' as this is not - in my opinion - the vision of truthfulness within God's Reign. This 'we got the truth and we will let you in on it' is often oppressive and demanding and will dictate how life is to be because it is the 'truth' - about God - about life - about world affairs - about healing - about sin - about redemption, etc. The Reign of God as truthfulness is an invitation into a discussion about how the Good News of this Reign can be the saving grace for any - and all. This 'all' is not meant to say this is how all must follow. Rather it is the 'all' of life that is open to many voices so that truth is never contained or owned by any. The great lie about religious 'truthfulness' is that groups tend to think they now have the way of life that is the best and the correct way. This is often very true of new devotees of a religion - that is why they can so easily be pulled in and won over to this or that side. The Reign of God as truthfulness is not about winning people over to any particular side or gaining insight into a practice that will be the final word. It is about life that can be lived to the fullest and life that can be shared with others and life that pursues the call to acts of justice, mercy, kindness, love, and the endless dialogue of truth-seeking that just never ends. O God of love and new life, you lead us on into the domain of your truthfulness and on that journey we ask that you keep our hearts filled with the Spirit of your loving kindness and our minds open to the adventure of you ongoing revelation of new life. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness is the opportunity to put an end to the assumptions that create divisions. When we do not know the truth, we have a notion of other things that are most often un-truthful The Reign of God as truthfulness is where another question - and then another - is asked so that more light shines and more clarity is brought forth. This is not a truthfulness that leaves people stripped naked so they can be abused by those who hear the truth about another person. The Reign of God as truthfulness treasures and protects and honors and upholds everyone who has entered into the vulnerability of being truthful. The Reign of God as truthfulness is an expansiveness of vulnerability in which each person takes care of the life of all who walk in the way of truth. We must remember that when we are gifted by our God with this kind of truthfulness, others may twist the truth or try to ruin us by what is exposed. Therefore, this truthfulness demands a community of trust and courage. We must trust one another and we must be courageous when we stand alongside those who are being mistreated by the lies of the world. The Reign of God as truthfulness is a whole people standing together a one vulnerable people who will never cease facing the truth. O God of love and new life, stand with us and hold us up and empower us to join together as one body in your Reign. Amen. |
 | | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions |
| | | | | The Reign of God as truthfulness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com . The Reign of God as truthfulness is not always what the people want. Usually we need and want a bit of room to fudge this or that - a little space to get by with our little lies. Unfortunately that little space to get by with our little lies is just enough to destroy us and turn us into people who do not reflect the Reign of God. The Reign of God as truthfulness always holds up that mirror we often do not want to see. It is not a mirror by which we judge folks - it is a mirror that simply shows us ourselves so we will remember how beloved we are just as God sees us. As we are truthful with ourselves about ourselves, it is easier to be truthful with others because we keep remembering that we are given the gift to see others as beloved - and how does one lie in the face of another of God's Beloved!? Yes, it is easy - and yet, we do have the capacity to remember such a vision of belovedness. < /p> O God of love and new life, move us into the brilliance of your light of love that we may enter into the life of your eternal Reign. Amen. |
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