The Reason behind it all

"All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel." - Micah 2:5

When Micah prophesies that the Lord will come in all his power and might, he tells the people the reason for his coming. It is because of the sins of the people. As much as God warned the people of what was to come, they still chose to ignore him. As a result of this, they would reap what they had sown.

Paul wrote about a similar thing when he wrote to the church in Rome:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23

The greatest gift we are given this Advent is the gift of Jesus, God's precious son. God's knows of each one of our sins, but he extends his love to all who would believe and receive him.

Living in Grace
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Living for a reason

“If you want to identify me, 
ask me not where I live, 
or what I like to eat, 
or how I comb my hair, 
but ask me what I am living for, 
in detail, 
ask me what I think is keeping me 
from living fully for the thing I want to live for.”- Thomas Merton

I think this quote is awesome.
It needs no explanation.
It hits hard!

So, WHAT are you living for?

Romans 14:9 - For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Living in Grace
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How do you understand this?

I was interested to read an article in the Sunday paper on Trevor Noah and his family. They have just experienced another tragedy in their family and one of the Matriarchs believes that there is a curse on their family. It is easy to see how she can think like this, especially when one is consumed with brokenness and grief. I have reflected on this article in the light of our own family situation:

Our family has been in the wars over the past year. All three of my boys have now broken a bone in their body playing Rugby. Nathan (10) broke his leg last year, Declan (12) fractured his knee in April and Josh (7) broken his arm last week. They were all unusual incidents in some ways, but they all required time in casualty, hospital and casts.

Some people have asked me how I feel about all of this and what I make of the situation. To be honest I don't know. I am not sure there is a theological or spiritual understanding of this situation - it could just be bad luck I suppose.

But, what would your understanding of this be - if it happened to you? Three kids, 3 different broken bones, all in one year?

Here are some of insights people have given to us so far:

1. That's just bad luck!
2. That's Life!
3. Rugby is dangerous for young kids to play!
4. My kids need to drink more milk for calcium (for stronger bones)
5. We aren't praying enough for them.
6. Someone has cursed us.
7. Other?

I don't have a conclusive answer to the why bad things happen to us all, but what I am sure of is that God's Spirit has been with us throughout these ordeals. We would not have coped without the strength and support of friends and the prayers of the faithful.

"Don't try to understand everything because sometimes it is not meant to be understood, but accepted." - Unknown

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”- Soren Kierkegaard

What do you think?

Living in Grace
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