*Note: On the previous blog ( An Open Love Letter) written by my beautiful wife of 31 years on my birthday; I love and adore you and give thanks to God for blessing me with whom He had created for me!
When one thinks of Dallas Texas, it is not usually a thought of a cold and frigid city, but this week it has been extremely cold with the Arctic blast that came in. High temps of 26 with a real feel between 11- 17 degrees F and icy roads has stopped a lot of movement - from the schools to the local and county governments, people have gotten extra days off. Sorry to a lot of us that still have to slowly make it to work by scraping our cars or using DART, the public transportation system. A loss of power has or had a quarter million people without electricity in their homes, and I would be one of those people. But it is winter time, and I'm sure there are many people from other parts of the country [where this type of weather is the norm] that are not feeling too sorry for us. This may be a bit of a natural inconvenience, but there is a spiritual place where there is an abundance of warmth. A safe and comfortable place where even the weary and tired can relax and know that the cares of the world will be taken care of. I've been talking about the weather, but this world can be cold and cruel because we can be cold and cruel to one another. Unfortunately, we spend many moments of our life in the coldness of grief, pain,
loss, anxiety, and anger. However, God is the opposite of the coldness of this world. God is the warmth of the universe. God is the goodness of the universe. God is the core unity of the universe. When you live in God and you turn toward
God you can feel His warmth come against the cold cruel nature of life. In the
cold and bitter nature of grief we find a warmth and comfort from God helping
us deal with grief. In the cold and bitter nature of pain, we find a warmth and
comfort from God taking the edge off of the pain…often taking the pain away. In
our times of fear and anxiety, we find in God's warmth a help to find the
courage to defeat our fears. We find the courage to defeat our anxiety. We find
in God the warmth to come against the cold nature of the world so we can work
for His glory in spite of every adversity. In our anger and frustration, God
comes into our heart to give us His warmth, caring, and love so we can let go of
the anger, and let go of the frustration. Then, as we let go, we find the warmth
and warm glow of His freedom full of His grace and love.
Psalm 91:14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord,
"I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
(NIV)
