Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Wednesday!  All is well here at 811. I hope this writing finds you all warm and happy this night.

The candle is lit…

Dear God, thank you for teaching me about your healing and forgiveness. I don’t want to sin against you; I want to have a loving reverence for you that You have placed your strength in me. The strength that I find when I need it comes from the joy I have in being your child and in Your promises found in scripture.. By myself I know I am not strong, but you are strong enough for all of us. Thank you for Your comfort and letting us cry when we are sad or hurt or grieving. For You who created tears also created laughter. When times come for strength in me or any of us I/we trust you to be strong enough for all of us.  Thank you Lord for all of these things. I love you Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.

I have always believed in God and in my mid-teens I came into personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.  I began to learn more about God by reading the Bible.  I read some scriptures that disturbed me and I did not understand about fearing God. I had met and fallen in love with Christ and learned about God’s unfailing love and saw no reason to fear God who proclaimed love for us so passionately through the stories of Jesus.  This seemed very contradictory to me!!  How could a God who loved and forgave me be someone to be feared? 

As I began to mature in faith and knowledge I began to understand that godly fear is not fright or terror, but reverence and respect.  Godly reverence means honoring God with our life in piety; study, service, prayer and worship practices.  These practices help us to maintain our relationship with God. When we tell God much we need help in our weakness then we can trust that God will give us the strength to do what we cannot do on our own.  When we are honest with God confessing our sins to God causes God to heal us and forgive us teaching us that God is one to be loved, respected and revered. God is our friend and a better friend we will never have.  God is good and love wins!

“With all my heart, I am waiting, LORD, for you! I trust your promises…Trust the LORD! God is always merciful, and God has the power to save you.”

Psalm 130: 5. 7

Take joy in the journey praying, praising, laughing and encouraging others as you go. Super cold tonight so throw on an extra blanket (we used my beautiful TCU quilt!) tonight and warm clothes for the morning. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene