Matthew 7:7-11 All good gifts come from God! Faith, hope and love and the greatest of these gifts is love

 Matthew 7:12

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

With a loving Father in our lives nothing is impossible…absolutely nothing. In all that we do include Him and He will direct our path. In unison with Father, Son and Holy Spirit we are promised redemption and inclusion in His plans to redeem the world. Go out and shine His light into the darkness that we now live in. Pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in His Kingdom. Carla

Matthew 7:7-11

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

Ask is the  first of three commands in this verse. Jesus’ followers are to ask for what they need.  In each of the three statements here, Jesus’ point is the same: When God’s people pursue something—by asking, seeking, knocking—He responds in faithfulness and generosity. This verse emphasizes the need for an authentic relationship with God. The Greek verb used here for seek, zēteō, indicates looking for something or trying to find something. God is still the one who allows for this action to take place. Will give him a snake is the rhetorical questions in Matthew 7:9–10 and sets up the comparison in verse 11 between earthly fathers and the heavenly Father.

Jesus compares sinful humanity with a holy God. Jesus argues from a lesser principle to a greater one. Human parents know how to give their children good things; by comparison, the heavenly Father can do abundantly more for His children. Faithlife Study Bible

The phrase the Law and the Prophets echoes 5:17. This so-called “Golden Rule” is the practical application of Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The NKJV Study Bible

John 15:7

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 

James  1:5–8

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind…

1 John 3:22

And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 

Matthew 18:19

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 

Matthew 21:22

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

In my memory I’m back in southern Michigan, the son of a brick mason. I’ve been on countless constructions sites. Most of them as a hod carrier (mixing mortar, lugging bricks). So many days eager to quit. And hearing my father’s words, “Son, build this one like you’re building your own.” (Twenty-six years ago, my father helped me build my house on Vashon Island.)
Here's the deal: We forget, or we do not see, that we make a difference, with every nail we hammer, each board we choose, each brick we mortar, each window we put in place.
And here’s the deal: because we live in a culture of bluster and ado, we forget that we can make a difference. So. More often than not, the wrong people get all the attention. (Okay, my confession, I forget that I can make a difference, one nail at a time.)

I’m with David Orr here, “The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.”

Here’s to the restorative power of small gestures… one nail at a time.

We are, all of us, builders.
We are, all of us, about the business of building places and spaces for human dignity and inclusion.
Building spaces for kindness and compassion and mercy.
Building spaces for justice and hope.
Building spaces for resilience and confidence, and courage and safety and wellbeing. But this is important. This parable is not meant to scold us into making a difference. It’s a recognition that we have been created and are able to do so. This is not about bootstraps and will power and consternation. This is about letting the language of our (replenished and not overwhelmed) heart speak. Letting the light inside—the Imago Dei—spill.
Yes. Inside every one of us—in our DNA—we have the tools that we need, to navigate these unpredictable times. Yes, the “tools” to be builders—the empowerment to draw upon mercy and compassion—to create (“build”) places of sanctuary, and healing, and grace, even where cruelty and callousness are real.

When I live from overwhelmed, I react, I live fearful, and I give in to cynicism. No wonder the first to go are my courage, and my ability to laugh. Which is not good considering that they both come from the same muscle in our heart. As builders, this is abundantly clear: We are connected. Every single one of us.

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality,” Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us.

Receiving his induction into TV’s Hall of Fame, Fred Rogers tells the audience, “We are chosen to be servants, it doesn’t matter what our particular job.” SABBATH MOMENTS

Love God.

Love a neighbor.

Be a neighbor,

and let us not complicate things

by arguing about the specifics.

You know what it means to do love

because some time or another

you have been on the receiving end of love...

If you want the world to look different

next time you go outside,

do some love.

Do a little or do a lot,

but do some,

and do not forget to get some for yourself...

Just do it,

and find out that when you do,

you do live and live abundantly,

just like the man said.

Barbara Brown Taylor

Psalm 42:11 Our Hope is in God alone!

 Matthew 26:38

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

The things of this world will one day pass away. What remains will be the love that we have shown to God and others. How disappointed God must be in the violence in the world today. Our only hope is in the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. We love others because He first loves us. Carla

Psalm 42:11

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God. NKJV)

The psalmist asks these troubling questions in faith, for he remembers that God is his Rock, his protector and foundation. He cannot help but hope in Him in the middle of difficult circumstances. The NKJV Study Bible 

The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God’s wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Saviour’s name let us hope and pray. One word from him will calm every storm, and turn midnight darkness into the light of noon, the bitterest complaints into joyful praises. Our believing expectation of mercy must quicken our prayers for it. At length, is faith came off conqueror, by encouraging him to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay himself upon his God. He adds, And my God; this thought enabled him to triumph over all his griefs and fears. Let us never think that the God of our life, and the Rock of our salvation, has forgotten us, if we have made his mercy, truth, and power, our refuge. Thus the psalmist strove against his despondency: at last his faith and hope obtained the victory. Let us learn to check all unbelieving doubts and fears. Apply the promise first to ourselves, and then plead it to God. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Psalm 43:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 42:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance.

What really matters!

I know I’m not the only one who feels overwhelmed.. Or discombobulated. And yes, a bit alarmed. But this I am learning: when life gets precarious (hard-hitting), it is easy to forget (overlook) that inside every one of us—in our DNA—we have the tools that we need, to navigate unpredictable times. Yes, the “tools”—the empowerment to draw upon mercy and compassion—to create places of sanctuary, and healing, and grace.

“We met Jesus, yesterday,” Monica tells me. “It was our usual Tuesday morning, and we were driving the streets of Reno giving out food and water to the homeless.  It is a regular charity project by the Helping Hands of St. Theresa of the Little Flower Church. In the recent past the Homeless were congregated in large groups; so, it was easy to find and administer to them, but now due to new regulations and Police pressure, they were scattered, making it a game of hide and seek.
Find them we did, and were down to only one last serving, just as we prepared to drive on, a middle-aged black man rode up on a rickety bicycle. We offered him our last dinner and water, which he readily accepted. Great! We had completed our work. Wait, another man, filthy, disheveled, hobbled over to us. ‘Sorry, we just gave out our last food,’ we apologetically told him. The man on the bicycle said, ‘My brother looks like he needs this more than I do,’ and offered his food to the man. It could have been a bible story of a past event, but it was a today happening. We met Jesus, yesterday.” (Thank you, Monica Armanino)
And I received this note from Joyce. “Your Sabbath Moment reminded me of one my dad, a United Methodist minister for over 50 years, used to use during Advent season. It is a poignant one. Always makes me cry. So, the pageant was taking place, and the children portraying Mary and Joseph were trudging up the center aisle of the sanctuary toward the ‘inn’. The boy playing the innkeeper met them and told them he had no room… they would have to move along. ‘Mary’ and ‘Joseph’ turned and began slowly making their way elsewhere. Suddenly, the boy playing the innkeeper called out, ‘Wait! You can have my bed!’” (Thank you, Joyce Gingrich)

My friends. Let us embrace the invitation to affirm that compassion and mercy are real. Let us listen with our open heart, and let us see one another with mercy and compassion, and let us find the strength and hope to rise together, in love and understanding.
I can tell you my heart needs stories that remind me (and assure me), that compassion and kindness and mercy and inclusion are real.
Because what really matters, is how we treat one another.

So. How do we choose to say “yes” to this invitation?
This heartfelt story comes to mind. Glenn Adsit and his family spent years as missionaries in China. During the Communist regime change, they were under house arrest. One day a few Chinese soldiers came to their house, and said, “You can return to America.”
The Adsit's were celebrating, when the soldiers told them, “You can take only two hundred pounds with you.” Well, they had been in China for years. Two hundred pounds? They found the scales and started the family arguments. Each—wife, husband and the two children—had an opinion. Must have this vase. Well, this is my new typewriter. What about my books? What about my collection? And they weighed everything, took each item off the scales, weighed and re-weighed until finally, right on the dot, they had two hundred pounds.
The soldier asked, “Ready to go?” “Yes.”
“Did you weigh everything?” “Yes.”
“You weighed the kids?” “No, we didn't.”
“Weigh the kids.”
And in a moment, the special vase, the new typewriter, the collections, all of it, became “trash.”
Secondary. Just stuff.
Using this story to nurse regret is a waste of time. But the story (and its permission to hit the pause button), invites me to hear the crucial question for me (and for us) today: “Did you weigh the kids?”
Which begs the question: How do we measure—how to we carry and honor—what really matters?
We begin here: Our wellbeing—befriending our scattered and wounded self—is not about our reactions to life, but about choices we make from the inside out. About where we tether our identity and worth.
And this I know: it cannot be in stuff that we buy, collect, store, or carry. And it cannot be in the “stuff” of productivity, or accomplishments. Or, in the “stuff” we clutch in the lines on our resume.
And it cannot be about the “stuff” of position, or power, or control.

This story is about how we navigate. The choices we make. For this I am grateful: it helps to ask, and to honor, the right questions. This week, we’ll be making space to do just that.
You see, as long as success is measured by keeping score (weighing or honoring the wrong stuff), we lose track of our well-being that comes from the inside—the self-compassion and others-compassion that makes us human, and therefore, glad to be alive.
As I often say, this isn’t an assignment or a strategy.
It’s not about stuff. Gratefully, I continue to learn. To find success (which we equate with some version of being powerful or huge) doesn’t necessarily mean that you gain health.
Let us not forget what really matters.
In other words, what do we “pack”?
What do we carry with us?
Today, I choose Empathy and kindness.
I choose Integrity and Decency.
I choose Courage and Hope.
I choose Peace and gratitude.
Think of these values as our personal GPS, silently pointing us toward the path that truly matters, to make our world a better place. Count me in. But life does get downright noisy, and those core values can get submerged under day-to-day anxiety, and “societal” expectations.
Back to choices, and what we “pack”. Recently, I read that “someone becomes beautiful when they choose empathy over judgement, gentleness over harshness, and understanding over pride. It appears in small, quiet moments, checking on a friend who is hurting, offering help without being asked, listening with genuine care, or forgiving when it would be easier to hold onto anger.”

A shout out to all the people who were a part of our event in Reno at Little Flower Church. It was a great day of replenishment and renewal.
I returned home to the PNW to new blossoms on so many of our Cherry trees. And I’m looking forward to visiting and walking the University of Washing quad, smiling big, enjoying the iconic Yoshino trees. Sabbath Moments

Quote for our week…

“Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use.” Carlos Castaneda

John 11:1-45 Even though He knew that He would raise Lazarus He felt their sorrow and Jesus wept.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Hebrew 4:9 It is finished!

 Hebrews 4:4

For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 

In a world gone mad we can rest in the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding. In Jesus, who fulfilled all of the Law, it is finished. Our rest is in Him. Carla

Hebrew 4:9

9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. NKJ

As God finished his work, and then rested from it, so he will cause those who believe, to finish their work, and then to enjoy their rest. It is evident, that there is a more spiritual and excellent sabbath remaining for the people of God, than that of the seventh day, or that into which Joshua led the Jews. This rest is, a rest of grace, and comfort, and holiness, in the gospel state. And a rest in glory, where the people of God shall enjoy the end of their faith, and the object of all their desires. God has always declared man’s rest to be in him, and his love to be the only real happiness of the soul; and faith in his promises, through his Son, to be the only way of entering that rest.  Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

The Greek word for rest in this verse is different from the word used in other verses. This word means “Sabbath rest” and is found only here in the New Testament. Jews commonly taught that the Sabbath foreshadowed the world to come, and they spoke of “a day which shall be all Sabbath.” The NKJV Study Bible

God rested after He created the world (verses 3–4; Genesis 2:2–3), implying that His creative work is complete and He now rules over it. Enter into that rest is an  exhortation directed at believers whose lives should be characterized by perseverance (Hebrews 4:3). Those who enter God’s rest will participate in the great Sabbath celebration at God’s throne, upon Jesus’ return (12:22–24). The word of God can penetrate the immaterial and the material—meaning the whole person. Faithlife Study Bible

Genesis 2:2

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 

God,  

Let me breathe today.

Breathe in the soft air of spring.

Breathe in the wonder of your hand print

In the color of crocus and narcissus blooms

And the sound of the stream over moss covered rocks.

Let me breathe out worry.

Breathe out the urgency of today's

or tomorrow's list.

In this space, let me hear my heart,

And let my breathing be my prayer

of gratitude.

Amen. 

Psalm 223:6 We are grafted into the promises of God to Abraham!

 Psalm 27:4–6

One thing I have desired of the LORD,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock…

When we place our trust in God alone He will direct our path! As His adopted children we are grafted into all the promises made to His covenant people. Praise be to our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Carla

Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever. NKJV

The use of both goodness and mercy to describe God’s loyal love intensifies the meaning of the two words. What is described in verse 5 is God’s overabundant mercy—love that is in no way deserved. The Hebrew verb follow describes an animal in pursuit. When the Lord is our Shepherd, instead of being stalked by wild beasts we are pursued by the loving care of the Lord. God’s promise for the Israelites was not just for the enjoyment of this life in the land of promise it was also for the full enjoyment of the life to come in His blessed presence (16:9–11; 17:15; 49:15). The NKJV Study Bible

With Yahweh as his shepherd and host, the psalmist is confident that he will be protected by Yahweh’s unfailing covenantal love (Exodus 34:6). Faithlife Study Bible

Psalm 25:7

Do not remember the sins of my youth, 

nor my transgressions;

According to Your mercy remember me,

For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.

Psalm 25:10

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth,

To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Psalm 21:4

He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—Length of days forever and ever.

God’s promise to the Gentiles is rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant, ensuring that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham's offspring (Genesis 12:3, 22:18). Through faith in Jesus Christ, Gentiles are "grafted in," becoming joint heirs with Israel and receiving the Holy Spirit, breaking down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. 

Key Aspects of God's Promise to Gentiles:

• Universal Blessing: Before forming Israel, God promised to bless all nations through Abraham.
• Access Through Faith: Gentiles gain access to God’s promises not through the Law or circumcision, but through faith in Jesus Christ, making them co-heirs and members of one body.
• The Holy Spirit: Gentile believers receive the Holy Spirit just as Jewish believers did, marking them as God's people.
• Grafted In: In Romans 11, Paul describes Gentile believers as "wild olive branches" grafted into the natural root (Israel), sharing in the covenant blessings.
• A "Mystery" Revealed: God's plan to save Gentiles and make them part of the same family was a "mystery" not fully understood until the New Testament (Romans 11:25).
• No Distinction: The gospel guarantees that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile in Christ.

The promises signify that Gentile salvation was always part of God's plan, culminating in a redeemed community from every nation. 

• The Promise to All Nations: God promised Abraham that "in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3), which is a foundational promise for Gentile inclusion.
• Justification by Faith: Paul explains in Galatians 3:8-9 that the gospel was preached to Abraham in advance and that Gentiles who believe are justified and blessed along with faithful Abraham.
• Spiritual Adoption: Gentiles become the "seed of Abraham" and heirs to the spiritual promises through union with Christ, regardless of their physical lineage.
• Distinct Roles: While spiritual blessings are shared, some theologians distinguish between the physical covenant promises specific to Israel and the spiritual blessings extended to the church. 

The New Testament makes it clear that the ultimate fulfillment of the promise to bless "all families" is found in the spread of the gospel to the entire world