Category: Geography

Working in Vain

Working for Bounty or Being Still

Wednesday 19 February 2025

Where Do You Find Stillness Before God?

Psalm 127:1

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.

Luke 5:5-6

Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

Psalm 37:7a

Be still before the Lord.

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Words of Grace For Today

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He told his wife he’d be back the next day. Just a little business to take care of so that they’d have the money for that great retirement home they’d looked at. Well, he’d looked at for them. She was too sick that day.

She said they should spend time together. She was feeling exceptionally well. We don’t want to miss out. Not like before.

Before. I was there with you for every birth, every birthday and milestone. Well, most anyway.

Really?!, she said.

Well, I was right there with you, for the birth of our first two children. Though I had to leave for that business meeting and then your water broke. Still I was there early the next day to spend the first day with you and our youngest.

Time flies. Now they’re all grown and have families of their own.

So that’s what you think being there is? Then go, go do your business. But remember I invited you to stay with me today.

So off he went.

She had a massive heart attack six hours later.

When he returned ….

…

There wasn’t a thing now he wouldn’t give to have those six hours with her. To be wise enough to not run off when she invited him to stay with her. They could have played chess, gone for a short walk out around the yard, listened to all the birds, squirrels, maybe seen a deer.

Instead, he’d gone to finalize the sale of part of his business. It had to be that day for the extra bonus, the unbelievable bonus of nearly 50% more than he’d gotten otherwise.

Now that extra money meant nothing. He certainly didn’t want to move into that retirement home without her. He didn’t want to do anything, not without her.

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No matter what we work at, when we take no time to be still before the Lord, we run off like chickens without their heads. We cover lots of ground, and it’s all for nought. We build great homes, and it’s all for nought. We make great plans for our future, and it’s all for nought.

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Be still.

Listen to Jesus’ heart beating in your chest.

Feel the Spirit moving through your mind.

Sense God All-Everything flowing in your veins.

Be still and know God’s Word in you, around you, for you, for all people.

And then give it your all.

Do Not Worry

About the Hour When …

Tuesday 18 February 2025

What’s Coming At Us, From Behind the Trees, On the Road, Through the Woods?

Or

What a Beautiful Sunset

Over the Snow and

Through the Woods!

Isaiah 49:23

Kings shall be your foster-fathers, and their queens your nursing-mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

Luke 12:11-12

When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’

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Words of Grace For Today

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It’s all fine and good to say do not worry, but most of us worry no matter what, sometimes even about things that deserve to be worried about.

Being brought before the authorities to defend oneself for being a Christian, when the punishment for that faith was death for so many … well that certainly seems to deserve more than a little worry. One’s life is on the line.

But then

one’s life is always on the line

if one is faithfully serving Christ

by being a servant to all, and master to none.

Only in a different life will the kings and queens bend so low as to care for us, let alone care about us, other than to wipe us out for showing the truth about their wickedness and God’s goodness.

But that worry, and that other life to come, need not consume more than passing thoughts from us. We have our work cut out for us, sharing God’s blessing and gifts with those most in need of them. Without cost they are given to us, though we certainly have not and cannot earn them. The only ‘string’ attached is that we share them. For these gifts are really only blessings if and when we share them with others in need.

That’s how God’s world works, whether we worry or not.

Keep Us Safe

Despite great opposition.

Monday 17 February 2025

Up, Up, and More Uphill.

The Path Forward is Hardly Ever Easy.

God’s Promises Keep Us

From Freezing In Place.

Psalm 40:11

Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever.

1 Thessalonians 2:2

… though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.

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Words of Grace For Today

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There are so many stories one can read or watch, engaging, thrilling, and moving.

Some have something good to say about life. Many are not really worth the time spent taking them in. A few inspire one to embrace the goodness of life that God’s graciously blesses us with.

Paul was not received with grace by everyone wherever he went, spreading the Good News of Jesus. Though he was maltreated at Philippi, it was the congregation to which he wrote with the dearest, most loving and heartfelt joy and thanks. His letter to the Thessalonians comes in a close second.

Whatever challenges come our way, God mercifully loves us and keeps us safe. Often through the most challenging of times God most clearly proves God’s promises of mercy, love and faithfulness can be trusted by us.

Not that we seek out or enjoy the challenges, but all in all we trust that God walks with us, and that God’s faithful people live out that presence with us, as we live it out for others.

Thing Are Looking Up

At the bottom of life, down here.

Sunday 16 February 2025

Way Up There!

There’s Light

Up There!

Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

2 Corinthians 12:9

… but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

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Words of Grace For Today

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We want so much, when we think we have so little.

We beg for more, more, more.

And then Jesus shows us that

God’s Grace is everything for us

and God gives it freely to us

again and again.

In all our tiredness and hopeless powerlessness,

the Spirit moves us and shows us again

Christ’s power in us,

through us,

for others.

God Hears

And Answers With What?

Saturday 15 February 2025

Hard to See?

Always There,

Even in the Darkest of Times:

the Light of Christ.

Psalm 22:3

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

Hebrews 5:7

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

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Words of Grace For Today

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When we pray to God we want results.

Usually we know what kind of results.

Jesus prays to God from the cross. God hears him. Jesus still dies.

What kind of answer is that?

It’s the kind that saves us all

from all evil

even our darkest sins!

…

That’s the kind of answer God gives to all our prayers,

which means our wanted results rarely are God’s way for us to move forward

into life abundant,

and blessed.

It’s a tough slog, but blessed every step,

as God walks with us, through all that may come our way.

So Many Held Of No Account

What’s One More?

Friday 14 February 2025

The Sky

Cries

Blood Red Tears

Isaiah 53:3

He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

John 19:5

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’

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Words of Grace For Today

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A crown of thorns

A purple robe

So he was judged a king, condemned

to die.

On a cross.

A torture for those held of no account.

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Yet, in him is our hope

for life

amidst the blood shed by so many.

The Rant, opps

Rather the Chant for us all

Wednesday 12 February 2025

Frozen

Frozen Like So Many Hearts!

Will They,

like the Lake in Spring,

be Turned to

Thanksgiving, Joy, and Hope!

Jeremiah 6:13-14

For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace’,
when there is no peace.

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

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Words of Grace For Today

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We’ve all heard again that famous, or infamous, Rant, I am Canadian. With quiet music building to swells of patriotic music Joe states his case:

Hey, I’m not a lumberjack or a fur trader

I don’t live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dogsled.

and I don’t know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, although I’m certain that their really, really nice.

Uh

I have a prime minister, not a president.

I speak English and French not American

and I pronounce it about, not aboot.

I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack.

I believe in peacekeeping not in policing.

I believe in diversity, not assimilation.

And I believe the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque is a hat.

And a chesterfield is a couch.

And it’s pronounced Zed, not Zee, Zed.

Canada is the second largest landmass

The first nation of hockey

and the best part of North America.

My name is Joe

and I am Canadian.

Reality

Given Trump and his threats and actual tariffs that will do great damage to our economy, one can understand the call to be patriotic.

At the core of our problems, though, we do not find economics or politics, but good old fashion love, faith, and hope, expressed as empathy and care for all people, especially the poor.

So ours is not a rant but a chant backed by any number of great pieces of music, for example “Canticle of the Turning” (ELW 723) by Rory Cooney, to the lively Irish folk tune used as a rugby match song:

(Need a reminder? Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QeTmRCpW4 )

I am a Christian, Chant

Hey, I am not a crusading knight, nor a desert ascetic.

I don’t hold exorcisms, live in Corinth or Bethlehem or Nazareth.

I have a pastor and a bishop, not a coach or a guru.

I speak many native languages, but not Latin or Sanskritic.

I proudly were a cross on a fine chain around my neck.

I believe in peace not in war or violence.

I believe in respecting and welcoming diversity, not excluding strangers or foreigners.

I believe the fish is a wonderful symbol of faith, as is the boat.

I’m not concerned with how people pronounce words, but that we share the radical Word of God.

God’s favour is not won by what we do or say or believe, but is God’s free gift given to us.

We can refuse it and we do, sinners that we are. But God keeps saving us over and over again, making us saints able to do miraculous things for others, especially the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the outcasts, refugees, strangers, and especially children.

Christianity may be worldwide and messed up in many places, sometimes even here at home, but it is the gift of life,

the gift of life abundant for all people.

We may be getting fewer in number, but being a follower of Jesus is the best part of life.

My name is not important because God knows it and everything about me and still loves me. I’m not ashamed of my name, yet it’s not what I’m proud of.

I’m proud that I bear Jesus’ cross and Jesus’ name,

For I am a Christian.

copyright 2025 Tim Lofstrom

Justice for All

Be not dogs

Tuesday 11 February 2025

Clarity: God Points to Truth and Justice,

Not Dogs, Lies, and Unjustice

Leviticus 19:15

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbour.

James 2:1

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?

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Words of Grace For Today

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God calls us to make and support just judgments, not partial to the poor nor deferring to the great (the rich, who are not all that great most of the time), but with clear justice for all.

Not that it is easy.

Sometimes the truth does seem to win:

A man walks on a park path.

A dog walks behind him.

A policeman approaches him and speaks to him. The man and the dog stop and listen to him.

He says the man must put a leash on his dog.

Without a word, the man walks on with the dog behind him.

The policeman follows the two, and stops them again.

The man and the dog look at the policeman as he warns the man again to put a leash on his dog.

Without a word, the man walks on again. The dog follows behind him.

The policeman follows behind them and tells them to stop, waving a ticket in the man’s face telling him to pay the fine.

The man protests asking why he should pay the fine?

That dog is not his.

But the policeman points out the dog walks behind him on the path.

The man answer, ‘Well, so do you. Must I put a leash on you, too?’

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So we pray, may we not behave like lying dogs towards our neighbours, keeping the leashes where they belong, and letting our neighbours be free.

Good Soil

Open Ears, Receptive Hearts, Active Hands

Sunday 9 February 2025

Grow, People, Grow Love,

With Joy and Hope

Ezekiel 3:10

He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears.

Matthew 13:23

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

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Words of Grace For Today

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Receive and hear …

Oh, if it were just so simple for us to choose to be good soil for the Word of God …

Though too often, we choose so simply and thoroughly to turn our ears and hearts from God’s Word, to live out our lives as if other words could give us the goodness of life.

God gives us ears that hear, and hearts that receive God’s Word. We cannot choose to have these ears and hearts. Nor can we choose to take to heart what we hear and be those who live out God’s Word for others, so that they see God’s Word alive in our words and actions, hearing God’s Word with open ears and hearts.

We can, as we too often do, turn from being what God created us to be. We can choose to be deaf, blind, and dumb, really stupid, about what life is, and what is good in life.

For there is nothing more blessed than to be the ones who plant seeds of grace, love, and hope in the world for others to encounter.

So we pray, may we be your ears, hearts, and hands in this troubled world. Forgive us when we turn away. Forgive us for our frequent stupidity. Forgive us our hard hearts, deaf ears, and dumb tongues. Save us. Renew our hearts, ears, and tongues, that we can find joy in this life amidst all the challenges that come at us, day after day.

Umsonst

For Free

Friday 7 February 2025

No Matter the Word,

It’s Free:

The Beauty of the Earth,

and Our Ability to See It,

to Enjoy It,

and to

Be It for Others.

Psalm 63:2

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

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Words of Grace For Today

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In today’s world everything has a cost, everyone can be bought, time is money, money speaks … and on it goes… supposedly!

But in God’s world everything has a cost, except, for what is most precious, the cost is covered

by the Creator, All-powerful, All-knowing, Present-in-all-time, righteous Judge, who loves us so much

that Jesus gave his life that we might receive the most precious of all: Life ( our lives with all the details known, good and bad, past, present, future … all our sins forgiven … life restored to us filled with perseverance, empathy, love, joy, hope, and the purpose that makes life so good: to share all that with others.)

Let the barkers cry all they want for us to buy, buy, buy,

But God calls and equips us to give, give, give

all that is most precious

to all who thirst for

Truth and Justice

and Life.