Saturday, May 25, 2013

It's Simply Good News


The amazing things you find in a
quiet aspen grove.!
Photo by Chris Tracy

What Jesus taught, people were hungry for. They came in throngs to hear His message of love. And they lost their appetite and left in throngs when He talked about drinking his blood or eating His body.
“What kind of man is this?” they asked each other. 
Peter knew. When Jesus asked His disciples if they were going to leave, too, Peter asked “where would we go? You have the words of life. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” How did Peter know? It was revealed to him, according to Jesus, by the Father.
How did Peter connect with the Father? That was revealed to him through Jesus’ message and His life. We can connect the same way. Sound too simple? It is. Let Him reveal Himself through your Bible and through His Holy Spirit. Listen, watch, encounter!


Sunday, May 19, 2013

This Great Earth


How about a duet with God?
Photo by Chris Tracy
Downtown Grand Junction, Colorado
Right now I’m sitting outside a very cool coffee shop in artsy downtown Grand Junction. The fountain next to me sings in concert with the outside piano on which a young musician is banging out his version of Heart and Soul. I think of getting up and playing the upper melody.
The warm breeze continues to thaw my winter worn body, and I am at total peace as I type and breathe in the flower-scented air under a bright red umbrella.
I think…I was born for this - writing, creating, appreciating artists and even not-so-good musicians. I think about how I love to paint, though I’m not a painter; I love to play music, though I’m not really a musician. There is something in the creating and in the appreciation of others creating that makes me feel free, childlike, and gets my mind out of the rut that it tends to get into. When I paint or write or take pretty photos, my mind is on the beauty of color and the joy of Creation. I think how much fun Papa had thinking up, then speaking forth this amazing homeland we call Earth. Mountains, oceans, gems, animals, songbirds, rainbows, seasons, sunsets, blooming fruit trees, fragrances of nature, sounds of streams…
Yes – there is plenty wrong with our world. But there is plenty right with it. I choose to dwell on the latter because it is where my heart lives. Thank you, God, for this great Earth You gave me to enjoy. You are so good!

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Saturday, May 4, 2013

Jehovah Sneaky


Art by Chris Tracy
I signed up for a class; gathered friends; moved to a new town; took some risks - not all in that order and not all at the same time. Nothing too astounding… .
Little did I know that our God – our loving Father and kind teacher – would take what little I offered – just like the boy with the fishes and loaves - and multiply it into something I never thought I would or could do.
That is our God. He is sneaky and tricky.
He takes what we dream about, our passion and heart interests, and without sending us into panic mode quietly leads us step by step into what to us is unknown but to Him is part of a vast roadmap – a strategic plan – that He has called us to be part of.
He took the shy me – the one who feared risk, and the one who listened to the enemy of her thoughts say things like “you can’t do it… that’s foolish… you never follow through with anything… ,” and then He showed me His truth.
God grew my dreams from writer to author; from forming small groups of friends to coordinating regional meetings with yet-to-be friends; from a settled life among loved ones in a small town to a place where I made new friends that now live around the world.
So I wonder what I am giving Him now that He will increase? I am not sure, but I have learned to trust Him. He knows better than I what my dreams are. He put them in me. He is such a good God!