KALEIDOSCOPIC LIFE

Just like the quick twist of a toy kaleidoscope, a harsh word or unexpected hurt can reshape my  image of a person---turning my world upside down or coloring it gray.
Behavior that is more a reaction than a response. "That's my bad," as the kid's say!
There are kaleidoscopes of responses to counteract self-centered reactions. Forgiveness is at the top of the list. Forgiveness is not only an act of kindness to the offender, but it's a kindness to self as well.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, ....(Ephesians 4:32a)

Life is complex. Ever changing. Kaleidoscopic.
Relationships can cause shifts in our views and expectations of others.
People change.
God doesn't.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
......and forgiving. ",......forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32b)

GLORIOUS PALM SUNDAY!!

Johann Sebastian Bach said it well. "Aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

To that I say, "Amen!"

Today's Palm Sunday service at church, with orchestra, choir, readers and amazing vocalists (Ephie Johnson, Reagan Strange and Shekinah Toebbe) did just that!

The Lord was glorified and my soul was refreshed.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

But God........

“But God” has been my “signpost” since the beginning of my blogging venture. It’s the crux of the verse I hang my faith on.

• Life can throw you a curve ball…………but God………. is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
• You can enter a dark night of your soul and experience that sense of loneliness and desolation……..but God……….never leaves you nor forsakes you. (Hebrews 13:5)
• You can be sad to the core……but God……….comforts you in all your troubles. (I Corinthians 1:3-4)
• You can be restless, distracted and overwhelmed……but God…….is near. In His presence is peace. (Philipians 4:4-7)
• Fear may be wreaking havoc with your psyche ……but God……….hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7)
• You can feel rejected by ones you love ………but God……….is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
• You can end up in the wilderness of despair…………but God……..paved a way in the wilderness. (Isaiah 40:3)

“But God”……….just those two words remind me again and again, at every spiritual crossroad, that no matter how desperate the situation I can say, “but God”…… has great love for me, “but God”……. extends mercy. (Ephesians 2:4)