Luke 8:21 Trust God and be doers not just hearers of His Word!

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves

The Storm is stilled by the very word of God made flesh. Jesus gave His life to overcome the evil of this world and in Him there is peace. He invites everyone to come to God through Him. He came that in Him the world could be saved. (John 3:16-17).

Luke 8:21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” 

We are all His in the Body of Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free…we are all equal in the Body of Christ. Carla

The people in God’s family are identified by their obedience to God’s will (Luke 2:49). He emphasizes that devotion to God is more important than earthly relationships.  Faithlife Study Bible

In a clear contrast to verse 19, Jesus declared that His true family consists of those who hear and do the word of God.  The NKJV Study Bible

Luke 11:28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Luke 6:47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 

John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

It does my heart good to read Robert Capon’s reminder, “You can't get away from a love that won't let you go.”

And revitalization and restoration are the way we are wired. In our DNA.

And as we recognized it, embrace (and are embrace by it), we can begin to be that place of restoration for those around us.

It could be in another’s arms or hug, or in a kind word, or welcoming smile, or a memory, places of safety where we know we are seen.

It is taking me awhile, but I am learning the reality that true Grace does not waiver or diminish. Grace does not depend upon our response, performance, attitude, faith or checkered past. It just is. Why?  Because Grace heals not by taking shame away, but by removing the one thing our shame makes us fear the most: rejection. “Sabbath Moments”

Does our work matter, or like my flowers, will it fade away? The author of Ecclesiastes voiced several fears regarding his work as a king of Israel. Specifically, he wondered:

Who would continue his work after he died (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19)?

What did his work earn for him (Ecclesiastes 2:22)?

Can work really gain people anything but sorrow and despair (Ecclesiastes 2:23)?

Yet work is part of God's plan for us. The Teacher said "I hated all my toil" in Ecclesiastes 2:18 because toil is a selfish, struggling type of labor cursed by sin (Genesis 3:19; Genesis 5:29). But work is actually different from toil. In Genesis 2:15, God "took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." Until this point in Genesis, God Himself had done all the work of creation. Here, He shared the responsibility of work with humankind. God created us in His image, and He desires for us to work alongside Him to accomplish His purposes (Genesis 1:27-28). First5