Jesus, as man, loved His mother and His family. Jesus, as God, loves all of His creation which includes His family and wants no one to live without Him.
His first miracle was at the direction of His mother Mary. She had total confidence in His ability to transform water into wine. Mary knew her Son was the Messiah.!
When we place our total faith in God we can expect miracles, both small and large, in our lives. Our prayers and supplication come to the Throne of God and He hears them. His peace will guide us into His perfect will. in Christ we are planted in good soil!
God cares for us!
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:6-7 I6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God
Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Now we can bring all of our emotions and lay them down before Him, the One who understands. What a gift!
Take a moment to pray for a friend, a child, a neighbor, or a brother or sister. They could be close or oceans away. Ask God to help them feel seen and held by Him in whatever it is they are facing. First 5
Where am I grounded? I focus on (learn) what I don’t want (to worry about, or carry, or weigh me down) but I forget the foundation.
What really matters here?
It is no surprise, my garden continually teaches me this lesson.
And it is a paradigm shift: it’s the dirt that matters. In fact, the dirt makes all the difference. Think of it this way, the dirt determines what the garden “carries” (holds, produces, shares to the world).
That’s my answer to the question about being alive and well in the present moment (to be here now, in my own skin, not worried about tomorrow or yesterday); here we embrace the permission to absorb daily miracles. We welcome and invite life in, not allowing internal censors and judges to scrutinize.
And yes, gratitude is born here.
Daily miracles (sacrament of the present moment) grow in the soil (the dirt) of gratitude that has been swaddled in grace. Glad to be alive, to see God incognito in the everyday stuff of life.
So. Cerebrally I can have the “correct” flowers (beliefs), but without the right soil (dirt), there is no medicinal nutrient that cultivates and encourages mindfulness, humility, presence, compassion and generosity.
Brother David Steindl-Rast’s affirmation, “When you are grateful, you are not fearful, and when you are not fearful, you are not violent. When you are grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not out of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share.”
Keep my anger from becoming meanness.
Keep my sorrow from collapsing into self-pity.
Keep my heart soft enough to keep breaking.
Keep my anger turned toward justice, not cruelty.
Remind me that all of this, every bit of it, is for love.
Keep me fiercely kind.
Amen.
(Gratitude for the first three lines, borrowed from Laura Jean Truman)
Sabbath Moments
Make a list of God’s mercies—the many times that he’s blessed you, the many times that he’s forgiven you—and you will find your thoughts resulting in happy days. Max Lucado
John 2:11–12
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. The New King James Version
In the Gospel of John, the miracles of Jesus are called signs, indicating that they pointed to His messiahship. John records seven signs. This sign signified Christ’s glory—that is, His deity. When Jesus transformed water into wine, He demonstrated His power. The NKJV Study Bible
The signs are designed to reveal Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. John declares that his purpose in writing the Gospel was to promote belief through the story of Jesus and the signs He performed. Faithlife Study Bible
The beginning of Moses’ miracles was turning water into blood, Exodus 7:20; the beginning of Christ’s miracles was turning water into wine; which may remind us of the difference between the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ.
He showed that he improves creature-comforts to all true believers, and make them comforts indeed. And Christ’s works are all for use. Has he turned thy water into wine, given thee knowledge and grace? it is to profit withal; therefore draw out now, and use it.
It was the best wine. Christ’s works commend themselves even to those who know not their Author. What was produced by miracles, always was the best in its kind. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
John 3:2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
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