God is too great for me,
Too big and too full
For me to understand.
I cannot hold the idea
Of so much love within.
So I back away,
Afraid of what
I might find out about
Who this God is.
And I turn away
To the things around me.
God is too great for me,
I cannot see Him,
Or is it Her?
I cannot tell
Which it is.
Oh, it does not matter,
For I find that this
God is too great for me.
Hope for the Kingdom of love, which shall come.
It is in this kingdom that all shall live in peace,
nor shall any put down any other. No person will be
made to feel that they are less than any other person.
And God's love will be there for all, for all are His
children.
Work for the Kingdom of love and let all people
know that God's love is there for them. This is what
Christmas is all about, God's love made manifest,
walking among the people, showing all how they were
to live in peace.
Live as Christ did, loving all people, sharing
God's love with all, and the kingdom will come sooner.
For the more we live in love and in Christ, the more
the kingdom is present in this world. And let God's
love flow through us all out to the whole world, that
all the world will know God and His love.
Are we really following Jesus? Are we willing to go the way He teaches? Will we go the extra mile because we were asked to? Or will we go before we are asked because we saw something needed to be done? Can we do our job without loading it over the people and saying "Look what I have done! " Will we ever learn what God's love is really like?
Jesus is a friend; never too busy for any person.
Do we act as if He is our friend?
How do we treat those we count as friends? Do we listen for God to speak?
Do we really hear what we are to do?
Do we really trust the other person?
Do we really trust God?
God and Jesus are more than friends – do we act that
way?
Do other people see God and Jesus in us or our
actions?
summer 2006
Thoughts about Rainbows:
Recently, I have been considering rainbows and how some people seem to
glow whenever you see them. Knowing how I can sometimes be grey or
even black in mood, I wondered how that could be.
I did a lot of driving in my work and in my personal life. It just
happened that I was driving to Springfield on a mostly cloudy day. The
clouds were grey and white, but being mostly grey. I happened to look
at some of the clouds, and noticed parts of a rainbow on the clouds.
This fascinated me, and I noticed that as the clouds moved, the parts
of the rainbow would show up again in different places. It then occured
to me that the clouds had to be in just the right place in relation to
the sun. Never mind that the clouds seemed to be grey, the water in
them was clear, and just the right spot for rainbows, even parts of them.
It occured to me that the people that I had noticed must have something
similar, that is the person must be in just the right place in relation
to God. And when God's Love shines through us, glory happens! And if
we really let God's Love show, those around us cannot help but notice.
Some Thoughts
I went to the theater one night in Decatur, IL a few years
ago to see a production of "Jesus Christ, Super Star". It
occurred to me from the begining of the show how much our
culture colors our preceptions of who Jesus was and what He
looked like. For example, I tend to see Jesus as 6' or a bit
taller. The truth is that He was probably 5'5" to 5'7". And
being a Jew, and being outdoors a lot, His skin was probably
much darker than what a lot of us think it was. And I wonder
how many would follow Him if we knew He had a darker skin?
As for Jesus being Jewish, how many Christians either forget
that fact or deny it? But He was raised by Jewish parents
in an area that was Jewish. And my preception now is that
the Priests of that time considered Jesus to be a bit of
a rebel, because He taught differently than they did, and
hadn't been taught anything by them. Would we accept His
teachings any better?? And what would we do with a person
like Him - have Him killed, put in prison for a time or
just ignore Him?
Oh dear God, can we ever learn to live together in
peace and harmony? How long will we make of our
differences reasons to fight each other? And can we
ever learn to live on this earth in harmony with all
that lives here? There are too many wars here, what
can we do to stop our going to war? Help us now, and
show us a better way to live so that our children
will inherit a vital, alive and growing world. AMEN
Nov 7, 2015
Loving God, there are way too many wars in this world. Is
there a way we can learn to stop the fighting and learn to
really get along with each other? Please reach out to not
only the leaders who make the decisions for war, but also to
those of us who follow those leaders. Help us all to learn
how to love all you have created so all might have a better
life and there will be a better world there for those who
come along after us. Keep us all safe from the evil that
seems to pursue us and remind us always that you love ALL
people. AMEN
Come in Joy for Jerry Browning March 2003
Psalm 16:9-11
Come, follow me,
And I will lead you
In the paths of life.
In my presence is joy,
And I will keep you
Secure and safe,
And you will know
That always, I love you.I will
John 15:11-17
Come in joy,
Knowing that my love
Is always there.
Pass my love on
To one another
And your joy
Will be more full.
John 16:19-22
I will turn
All your sorrow
Into such joy
That no one
Can take it away
From you.
Just look and see,
I am always there,
Waiting for you.
John 16:23-24
Come to me,
And ask of God
For whatever you want
And in my name
It will be given
That your joy
May be full.
John 16:31-33
Come in joy,
Knowing that you
Are united to me.
Be at peace,
For no matter
What you may suffer
At the hands
Of the world,
I am with you
And I have defeated
This world.
John 17:6-19
Holy God, you are
Mother and Father
To all here.
You have given
Them to me.
Help them to live
Together in unity
And in love
For each other.
John 17:20-26
I also pray
For those yet to come,
That they might
Always be one,
Just as we are.
Show them your glory,
That all may know
Of the love
That has been there
From the beginning.
Help those to come
To always know
The joy
Of your presence.
