1 Corinthians 13:12 – Now that which we see is as if we were looking in a broken mirror. But then we will see everything. Now I know only a part. But then I will know everything in a perfect way. That is how God knows me right now. (NLV)

Have you ever gone into a circus fun house that has mirrors? They're not like regular mirrors that help us see a true-to-life reflection. I remember how they distorted my image and changed my shape and size. These mirrors made me appear taller, shorter, wider, or thinner depending on the mirror's shape. It was funny seeing a distorted image of myself. In the same way, we sometimes see only a distorted image of God.

Today's verse points out that we have only an imperfect, humanized picture of God's love. We know that His love is eternal, merciful, gracious, and perfect. However, some don't understand how it is that God's love could have sent Adam out of the garden, destroyed the earth with a flood, asked Abram to sacrifice Isaac, his son of the promise, allowed His people to forget Him in the Promised Land, and sent His only Son to suffer and be crucified. Those things, they say, couldn't show how a loving God acts.

However, we are looking at a blurred view of God's love. The sin Adam committed against the Lord destroyed God's image in us. Adam lost his privilege of seeing God face to face. Adam could no longer enjoy God's presence and love. Because God loved Adam, He did not allow Adam to die in sin and be separated from Him forever. Instead, God proclaimed a promise of a coming Saviour Who would bring His people back to Him. God allowed Noah to survive the flood and begin to populate the earth again, placing His rainbow as a sign of His promise not to destroy the earth in a flood again. God provided the sacrifice in Isaac's place. God sent judges, kings, and prophets to guide His people. Then when the time was right, God sent His Son to die for our sins.

When we come to the saving power of Jesus, then we can begin to understand God's love. We can know that when difficulties come our way, God doesn't send them. He does allow them in our lives, though, so we can understand more about His love. We go through some tough situations, but we are not alone. God's love is there guiding, protecting, and comforting us through all them. As we grow in Him, let us learn not to fear what may come, but to begin to comprehend the height, length, breadth, and depth of His love.

Prayer: Lord, help us to know and accept Your love that is beyond our understanding. Thank You, Lord, that one day, we will no longer see only in part, but we will see You in the fulness of Your eternal love. We will see You as You are. We will experience Your complete, perfect love because of Jesus. Amen.

Romans 12:9a,10 – Love must be sincere. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. (NIV)

I just returned from leading a weekend retreat with ten members of my youth group. I selected the theme of "Becoming" and chose Romans 12 as the Scripture passage. Over the course of the weekend, I was invigorated by the sincere desires and earnest dreams that I sensed within my youthful friends.

The theme itself came from the song "Place in this World," by Michael W. Smith. In the song, he uses the turn of phrase, "And this becoming is harder than it seems." For so many of our youth, this sentiment is a cold reality. I wonder how much we adults contribute to this reality. How often do we judge our young people by what they wear or how they look instead of seeking to discover the love they hold within them?

One of my youth members, in discussing the weekend afterwards, made the comment, "The whole weekend, everything, was about love; it's the only real way to live." May we all take something from this insightful young man and strive to give to his generation all the love and acceptance that our Christian hearts can muster … because every one of them is special and every one of them needs to hear that message.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to look beyond the surface to discover the beautiful person that lies below the hurt and pain within us all. Help us to love the young people in our lives and seek to give them the guidance and caring that they need as they grow. Help us to remember that it is not only our youth that must grow in faith and maturity, but that we are all in a process of becoming, together. Amen.

Proverbs 22:3 – A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. (NIV)

Psalm 23:1-4 – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (NIV)

When I was young and foolish, my boyfriend and I slipped away from our church picnic to find a secluded place. Walking along a dirt road from the picnic area, we came across a beautiful, verdant field filled with lovely plants waving in the breeze. Beckoned to explore, we never wondered why there were no trails through that field. But the moment we plunged in among the plants, we found out why. Those lovely plants were stinging nettles! Oh, the welts on my arms and legs! With the damage done, we quickly returned to the road.

Back home, my unhappy mother slathered my itching arms and legs with calamine lotion while she scolded me for snagging my clothes. When she finished, she wiped away my tears with a tissue, hugged me, and said, "I love you, but you're grounded." Then, she made me wear mittens so I couldn't scratch my very itchy skin.

That was just one time when I deliberately and stubbornly persisted in continuing down the path I'd chosen. Every time I experienced the painful consequences, I knelt in prayer asking for forgiveness. That's when Jesus Christ used a comforting word from a family member, a friend, or even a sermon at church to comfort my angst.

Being in a relationship with Jesus Christ means that He stays with us in challenging times as well as good times. When we ask the Lord to forgive us, He does, and sometimes, He even removes the consequences, but not always. Sometimes, like a good parent, He allows us to experience the fallout of ill-considered actions … like walking through a field of stinging nettles and suffering from the stinging welts of sin.

Prayer: Father God, forgive us when we stray into the stinging nettles of sin and comfort us with Your presence, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:6 – Now godliness with contentment is great gain. (NKJV)

As I looked through some of my favourite recipes online, I came across a recipe that I loved. The name of it is "Cranberry Hootycreeks", a gift-in-a-jar cookie recipe. I love the name — just try saying "Hootycreek" a few times — it makes me happy just letting it roll off my tongue! The recipe is wonderful also. It's a cookie packed with dried cranberries, macadamia nuts, and to top it off, white chocolate chips! It seems since I have been trying to eat healthy foods, my eyes are always wandering off to some delicious recipe or other forbidden foods. How could I be happy with lettuce, carrots, and lean turkey when my heart pleads for Hootycreeks?

I am not the first person to desire what I do not have, and the Bible is a great place to find a good many of them. If we think of David, he had everything he needed or wanted, but he looked on what he didn't have: another man's wife! Maybe one of the most well-known was Eve. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they needed; God had placed them in a paradise with beauty all around them. They could even talk with God in the evening, but they wanted more. Eve looked upon what she couldn't have, and the devil lied to her, saying, "You need just one more thing!" She took and ate the forbidden fruit, and we know how that turned out!

How about those Israelites? They never fail to crack me up! If we read through Exodus, we find that God parted the Red Sea, and let them walk through on dry land. He provided water from a rock. They wore the same shoes for forty years, and no one had to make a trip to Payless Shoes to get new ones. So, you would think that after all He had provided so miraculously, they would trust God to provide food for them, but they grumbled and did not trust Him. How patient God had to be toward these bellyachers! So, God provided each family an omer of manna (about two quarts) every day. This was really a "gift in a jar", but they wanted meat like they'd had in Egypt. They even longed to be back in Egypt where they'd suffered great oppression, saying, "At least, we had all we wanted to eat!" So, God provided quail in the evening. What unfailing love He has for us!

Like me, they had all they needed, but they craved Hootycreek cookies! How much God must love us to listen to our grumblings and see our lack of trust, yet He sees fit to provide us with what we need and even throws in a Hootycreek cookie once in a while!

Prayer: Lord, help us to be content with what You have given us! Amen.

John 14:1-3 – Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. (NRSV)

I have cherished memories from my earliest days, memories I return to more often the older I get. One of the greatest treats of childhood was taking the train from Summerside to Coleman on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The train was magical, but what awaited us at the train stop was even more so. As the train halted for the minute or two it took us to get off, we could see in the distance a horse and sled driven by my Uncle Lawson. He had just driven through the woods from the Brae nearby, which was our destination for the day. Much begging on my part had him agree I could take the reins for the trip home. My uncle turned to my apprehensive mother and said, "Don't worry, the horse knows the way home."

Decades later, the memory still warms a winter's day. What warms my heart even more is the assurance that I have One Who knows the way home and promises to get me there safely. I don't need to be troubled or worried about getting lost. I often think I have the reins in my hands and everything is up to me, but, just like my uncle smiled at my confidence that I was in control, Jesus has a smile or two for me and for you as He reminds us that He knows the way, that He is the Way.

2 Corinthians 5:1 – For we know that if the tent, our earthly home, is torn down, we have a building from God — a home not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens. (TLV)

Prayer: God, even the word "home" resonates with us as we consider its deeper meaning in our lives, the importance of belonging, of welcome, of family. We are grateful that our final home is in Your love, for that is where our hearts are. So, we ask that our hearts be not troubled today as we travel toward home. Amen.

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." – Maya Angelou

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (NRSV)

I was just about to sink into the relaxed quiet at the end of a busy day when the telephone rang. It was a nurse calling from the local nursing home. She explained that one of the residents was near death and that her family was asking for a minister to come and pray with them. Off I went.

The woman lay on a bed in the semi-darkness of her room. Eyes closed, her frail chest rose and fell with each dry, raspy breath. In the encircling shadows, an upholstered chair, a wooden table, a small television, and an assortment of photographs and cards served as silent reminders of 82 years on this planet.

On one side of the bed stood the daughter, lovingly holding her mother's hand. On the other side stood the son, periodically stroking his mother's white, wispy hair. For a few minutes, we chatted about their mother's life and of her approaching death. Then, forming a ring of held hands, I offered a quiet prayer.

Immediately, spontaneously, both son and daughter literally breathed a sigh of relief and could not tell me enough how they felt a calming peace in the room and in their hearts. I was actually taken aback by the extravagance of their gratitude. I assured them that whatever peace they felt was the spirit of Christ at work in them.

Within a few hours the old woman died — peacefully. Two days later, I conducted a memorial service attended by six family members and one close friend.

Though having confessed that they had drifted from the church, this family reached out to God in a moment of fear and sorrow. And they were blessed with peace.

Prayer: God of peace, our days are often afflicted by fear, uncertainty, anxiety, and stress. Help us to reach out to You in prayer. Help us to be open to the loving support of those You place in our lives. Touch us with promised peace that is beyond human comprehension. In the name of our Saviour, we pray. Amen.

"I need a book of stamps," she said, and I knew why. She needed to make connection points.

For as long as I can remember, Mom has used postage stamps — for one, to mail bill payments. She is and has been a snail-mailer. She doesn't like automated withdrawals from her account — although, on occasion, she has no choice. When one or more of her creditors were local — and she could drive — she did the old-school thing: she went to the place of business and made the payment in person. But that's not the main reason Mom needed so many stamps.

For as long as I can remember, Mom has used stamps for a more important reason. She loves to keep up with people's birthdays and anniversaries, mainly for family members, but also fellow church members and other acquaintances. She dotted her calendar with their names so she wouldn't forget to mail them a card.

But not just a card. She carefully selected one that said what she wanted to say, but often, she added remarks at the bottom before she signed her name. If she knew the person well — or if they faced some challenging situation — she might fill the entire left side of the card with words, making the card a letter.

I suppose my wife and I never knew how many stamps Mom used until she and my stepdad both contracted dementia and could no longer drive. Then, it became our job to purchase the stamps for them. Eventually, Mom cut down on the number of cards she sent. Her hands became weak and shook so much that it pained her to write, making her writing almost illegible.

Cards were Mom's connection points with others. She never received anywhere close to as many cards from others as she sent. Sometimes, she complained that no one remembered her, but she didn't send to receive. Sending cards was one way she showed love and kindness.

Colossians 3:12 – Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (NLT)

I think Paul would have agreed with Mom's practice of sending cards. As a child of God, she was responsible for showing mercy and kindness — as we all are — and this was one way she did so.

I never met anyone who said, "Tell your mom to quit sending me cards." Similarly, I've never encountered anyone who said, "Tell your wife to stop making and passing out hard candy." Connection points.

God wants us to live out and spread His love and mercy to others. He wants us to be channels and connection points. He'll provide the opportunities if we just open our eyes to see them.

Let us each think of ways to establish connection points of God's love with others.

Prayer: Father, guide us to make connection points of Your love to others. Amen.

In early January, I started a devotional about recent events that caused me a great deal of aggravation:

• I miscalculated the credit card purchases for a remodelling project in my daughter's home and discovered that I will have to pay off an additional USD 1,000 (CAD 1,440) at the end of the month.
• My garbage disposal died, so I had a new one installed. Afterwards, I discovered my icemaker and reverse osmosis water dispenser weren't working and I couldn't figure out why.
• I had a new microwave installed. While washing dishes several weeks later, I heard an ominous noise and looked over to see the microwave dangling about four inches below the cabinet, held up only by the brace on the wall. Thankfully, I was able to prop it up while calling for help.

None of my issues that week were major or unsolvable, but they added up to a sense of unease, making me feel like I didn't have control of what was going on in my life. In fact, they all were fixed or repaired, so I wrote these two paragraphs:

But if I'd focused instead on my blessings that week, I'd remember: our ladies' Bible study started and the group quickly melded together, our family remodeling project is going well, I'm sleeping better and have more energy, and, unlike the rest of the United States, we have sunshine and easy-to-deal-with temperatures.

The next Sunday, my pastor closed his sermon with this: "Jesus knows the heart of every man. This is why His spirit works to draw us to Him. He knows us. He knows it all. His heart is for us to desire eternal things in real life and to come to Him, living each day in belief and faith in Him, living not by our own ambitions or anything in this world, but feeding on Him and His Words, His grace, moment by moment and day by day. Do we trust in Him or are we desiring some lesser blessing?"

Then, a week later, I discovered that I didn't have any hot water. As I write, my son-in-law is installing a new water heater. Meanwhile, I turned on a light switch in the kitchen: no power — a faulty, and expensive, 100-amp circuit breaker. Today is another aggravating day. Now, I'm rereading what I wrote earlier this month and learning the lesson all over again!

If we let them, small things can add up and take the joy out of our lives. Instead, let's focus on the eternal things in real life, living each day in belief and faith in Him.

Philippians 4:12b,13 – I have learned the secret of living in every situation … with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (NLT)

Prayer: Father, give us the strength for daily, and sometimes troubling, issues, and help us see them in perspective, choosing instead to trust in You and to desire the eternal blessings in life. Amen.

Luke 15:20 – And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (ESV)

Recently, I went for a walk in the park with my wife, Caroline, and I fell over. This left me with significant injury, but not enough to go to hospital where I would be told nothing was broken except my pride! So, my body is not as young and indestructible as it once was, and it seems I have taken that capacity for granted.

Having asked for prayer from our church prayer groups, there was nothing else I could do but sit still in a chair watching the television and praying that I would heal quickly.

Now, I am still in recovery, but better; once more designated to be the children's taxi service, and Caroline has gone off to work to have her thoughts directed elsewhere.

Previous experience tells me that when we have a significant crisis, our thought horizon collapses from the things to do, to just wondering how to get through the day free from pain. Perhaps, as I lay on the ground stunned and surprised, this was a prompt for me to realise just how serious this incident could have been, as I found my body could not jump back up to my feet.

I wondered: had God allowed this accident? Was I guilty of something to deserve this imposition? Probably lots of things! But God is not like that; He is greater than our limited, deterministic vision. He does not deride the foolish but waits for us to come to our senses. The evil one is the being who seeks to harm and ridicule, and to promote and amplify our fear and doubt. He it is who presses in on our own internal sense of inadequacy or human weakness. Life happens in a fallen world.

So now, I thank God for His grace in my recovery as He answered the prayers prayed for me with healing, as I sit motionless watching television. I know that one day in a future crisis, healing will not happen. It will be a predicament from which I will not get up, and it will be time to go.

Today as I get better, I am thankful that apart from the injury to my pride, I have nothing to fear from Jesus. Even when I have been a long way off, I have been prompted to seek His face. Jesus meets us where we are, at our point of crisis, to bring His love, affirmation, peace, and guidance — a voice to deliver us from the whispers of evil.

Being accepted and a part of the family of Jesus is a wonderful mystery for us to trust.

Prayer: Lord, we give You thanks and praise for Your faithfulness, that in our times of crisis You are waiting. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Matthew 6:25,33-34 – Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today. (NRSV)

When I first arrived in Alberta, Canada, at a new pastoral charge, there was great anxiety and stress. Could I survive without my wife of 25 years and my family for such a long time? We had never been separated for more than a few days at a time. I finally remembered today's verses from Matthew's gospel that had helped me so much during my time in seminary just a few short years before. I had taken the verses from Matthew 6:25-34 and blown them up on my computer and printed them out, not once, but several times. I then taped these printouts all over my room at Knox College so that wherever I looked in the room, I could see them and receive comfort.

The other day, our Editor asked me to try and write a devotional for this page. More stress and worry. But with the encouragement of God and several good friends, I have decided to put my life back into God's hands and not let the worry get me down. All of us need to realize that God is in charge of our lives and that if we would only turn them over to Him, we would not have the stress and worry that keeps so many doctors and psychiatrists in business.

Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.