{"id":9933,"date":"2023-01-13T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/?p=9933"},"modified":"2023-01-12T10:37:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T17:37:49","slug":"be-reconciled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/?p=9933","title":{"rendered":"Be Reconciled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Friday 13 January 2023<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Feeling like a useless, Dead Stick stuck in the Ice? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear not! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God lovingly planned <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

for that, too!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah 44:8<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any <\/em>G<\/em>od besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 5:20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of Grace For Today<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be reconciled to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sounds like we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do, since, if we are honest with ourselves, we are so far from reconciled with God, others, or any of creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Might some definitions of reconcile help us understand what that work is? Definitions from The Free Dictionary (worth every penny) https:\/\/www.thefreedictionary.com\/reconcile<\/a><\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. To reestablish a close relationship between parties? Oh if we only could, but God is beyond our control, so try as we might, only God can do this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. To settle or resolve (a dispute)? Are we in a dispute with God? Sure appears that way given the list of our sins, our thoughts, words and deeds that go against God! So can we get rid of our sin, past, present and future. Not a chance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. To bring (oneself) to accept? Well, maybe this is getting closer to what we might be able to do, if it weren\u2019t for those persistent, pesky sinful desires and wishes that drive us to reject God\u2019s will for us, so I guess not this either!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. To make compatible, harmonious, or consistent? Oh, if only. Nope, this requires that God makes us over again and again, into something different than we are, sinful, wretchedly sinful, persistently wretchedly sinful people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. To compare (one financial account) so that it is consistent or compatible with another? Nope, we cannot buy our way into God\u2019s good graces, so keeping the books will not work. And nope: cooking the books will not work either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. To reestablish a close relationship, as in marriage. Well, marriages are full of all sorts of crap, and we bring enough with us wherever we go, so maybe we can establish a close relationship with God, as long as that includes relating to our sins on an up close and personal level. Is that really reconciling ourselves with God, though. That\u2019s more like a bad marriage: dumping all our crap on our spouse, and saying it\u2019s all their fault things don\u2019t go well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. To become compatible, harmonious, or consistent as in balancing one\u2019s bank account? Nope, our accounts are so out of whack that it\u2019s not in the works to keep good books or cook \u2018em enough to make us a fit for God\u2019s goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully when God created us, God planned for all that, and is loving and gracious with us and all our sins and crap like that, so that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God does the reconciling of us with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God does it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we get to live free from fear, blessed to be a blessing to all we meet, so that all other people will come to know<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God does it all for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do not reconcile ourselves to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are reconciled, to God, by God, thus \u2018be reconciled\u2019 is the phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not so much work, as giving up and letting God take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I can reconcile or resign or submit myself to that kind of Grace, as we all can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday 13 January 2023 Feeling like a useless, Dead Stick stuck in the Ice? Fear not! God lovingly planned for that, too! Isaiah 44:8 Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God besides me? There is no other … Continue reading “Be Reconciled”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,56,18,23,71,46,47,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breathe","category-cold","category-grace","category-lake","category-sunset","category-tracks","category-trees","category-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9933"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9937,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9933\/revisions\/9937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysticphoto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}