Sadly, some lamps are in danger of going out. Lacking the oil of the Spirit to keep them burning.

Years ago, I experienced the Columbus Day Storm. We had hurricane force winds. There was terrible destruction everywhere. I remember looking out the window that night, after the winds had died down. There was complete darkness everywhere.

Jesus is coming soon. Will He find darkness everywhere, or will our lamps be burning brightly?

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God with out fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Phil 2:15

You are the light of the world. Matt 5:14

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16

Our faith should be like that. Our walk with the Lord as well.

Jesus was steadfast. Ought we not to walk as He walked?

I know that sometimes our burdens get to heavy and we stumble. Jesus stumbled on the way to Calvary, but He remained steadfast all the way to the cross.

We are asked to take up our cross daily and follow Him, denying our selves as He did. He has offered to carry our burdens for us.

As we make our way through the maze of worldly distractions, let us walk steadfastly, constant and established in our love for God, and in our prayer and love for the body of Christ.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer…Romans 12:9-12

I see things so differently now, but still I like the title. Love is a many splendored thing. God’s version that is.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely; does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…1 Cor 13:4-8.

God’s version of love is not an easy thing to incorporate into ones life, but, it is essential to our well being and that of the body of Christ.

Love, indeed, is a many splendored thing.

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Having a new Easter Bonnet was a big deal to me when I was young. In those days, women wore hats to church and everywhere else as well.

Sometimes when I was naughty, I would not get to wear my new bonnet with all the frills upon it. If I remember right, that happened more than once.

Hats aren’t worn much any more, but the world as a whole is obsessed with cloths and fashion. One can’t keep up with the fads.

Our first cloths, back in the garden, were made by God to cover the nakedness of our sin. Jesus became sin for us and hung naked on the cross for all the passersby to see and ridicule.

Someday, we, His beloved, will be clothed in white linen, adorned as a bride on her wedding day. No more earthly attire, no more Easter Bonnets. They will be casted aside, and we will stand triumphet at the side of our “Bridegroom.” Oh happy day.

“I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die, do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

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I sometimes think of the church that way. We are all hopelessly flawed and broken without Jesus in our lives. God uses the foolish things of this world. He uses misfits and He even used a donkey. (numbers 22)

When Jesus chose His disciples, He didn’t go to the universities or to the rich and famous.  He went down to the sea of Galilee and found fishermen. He went into town and found a tax collector. He even found someone under a tree. One He chose would eventually betray Him for thirty pieces of silver. Uneducated men, misfits for the most part. We aren’t given any information on some of them, just names.

God doesn’t see as the world sees. To the world, we, the church are just a bunch of misfits, foolish in our ways and beliefs. To God however, we are beautiful and useful in His plan for mankind.

Are we willing to look foolish and be called misfits? Are we willing to be used of God as He sees fit, and in His own time and in His own way?

Each one of us is loved by our Creator. Each one of us has been given a gift to be used for the glory of God and the enrichment of the body of Christ. If you don’t know or are not sure what your gift is, just ask, and He will reveal it to you.

Oh, and those misfit toys? They were made brand new and became useful again.

Praise God, isn’t He wonderful?

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ( 1Cor 1:18)

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of His mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,…(Titus 3:3-5)

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In a few shorts weeks we will celebrate the coming forth of the Son of God from the cold damp grave. New life in all its glory. Because He lives, we live, never more to die.

Smile little pansy, blare away yellow trumpet. Let all of creation shout with joy.

He is alive!

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