And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

(Colossians 1:21-23 ESV)

The truth and gratitude and what is it that you need? Grace for today, hope for tomorrow and mercy to be. Just be.  Yesterday I was being by basking in The Presence of the LORD at the beach.  Not concerning myself with the time or the text or the email, just relaxing and resting at the Atlantic, it is where I experience the Almighty hand of God in creation and recognize my own smallness, how incredibly dependent I really am on God. And in less than 24 hours time, I find myself tangled up in the web of self-centered fear and can't fight my way out of it, drag my family into it and wonder why I can't seem to carry the love, rest, peace, joy, clarity, kindness and confidence I had in the LORD yesterday into today?

Identity Crisis: It breaks in to steal and kill and destroy because if I really knew that I "once was" and now "I am reconciled" then I would rise and walk in the midst of this day in the same spirit that I walked upon the sand and through the shallow water. So, I have fallen, and crawled and cried and been tripped up by my sinful response to my day and the way that it has unfolded. So, I find myself in an interesting place, another opportunity to preach the Gospel to myself, another day to look at My Rescuer in the face (in His Word because I hold onto the hope of One day meeting Him face to face) and there is where I am to behold my Identity. It is IN Christ, that I am reconciled by the Blood and Righteousness of Christ that HE may present me holy and blameless and above reproach because in and of myself, I can NOT cut it. And it is only when I realize that I am nothing without HIM that I can begin to taste the sweetness of light when I am basking in the LIGHT of the TRUTH which is available each and every day.

This morning I read: "Do not let your hearts be troubled....." from the Gospel of John. I started over, out loud, "Let not your heart be troubled, Catherine, believe in God, believe also in me...." Jesus goes on to say a few verses later, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure, his return to the Father but that He will not leave them orphans and He has not left us orphaned. He has sent His Holy Spirit who is also called the Helper. Where does my help come from? Where is my hope? One in the same, My LORD and my God who is with me. As Paul David Tripp tweeted 2 days ago: "No need to like feel like your alone today because if you're God's child, Emmanuel has moved in and isn't leaving."

Mine is to believe that Jesus is who He says HE is and that as His Child, I am who he says I am, loved, delivered, transferred, adopted, forgiven, being made new, kept, sealed, a sinner once enslaved and now bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ my Lord and I have been set free to live in the LIGHT of His grace and truth.

To Whom it May Concern:
Who were the New Testament books written to? an intended audience? The gospels are the Good News accounts and I do believe that they did have intended audiences. The Epistles, however are clearly addressed to the intended audience. How does this affect us? Should it? Does it matter? Why should I care?
First, there are plenty of people who want to ignore certain words but want to embrace others that are found within the New Testament portion of the Bible. I don't think that the Bible was meant to be a cafeteria menu, that is, take what you like and leave the rest. It really is an all or nothing type of book. Otherwise, dichotomies are classified as strict contradictions and principles are used for hidden agendas.
Lately, I have been in a place where my Sword (which is a word I like to use for my personal Bible) is being sharpened. Questions are beginning to surface again and I am grappling with what is God trying to show me and teach me. It is both a scary and exciting place to be. With the question, who were these NT letters written to, I did the most logical thing and went through the books: Romans to Revelation.
Here are just some of the ones I really liked
Romans 1;7
"to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints:"
Ephesians 1;1
"To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:"
Colossians 1;2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae
2Timothy 1;2
To Timothy, my beloved son
Titus 1; 4
"To Titus, my true child in a common faith:"
Philemon 2
"To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister,
and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:"
2John 1
"to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth"
Jude 1
"To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:"
For years I cried, "context" you need to read that in "context." How near sighted of me to overlook this simple truth of the intent of the Author! The Lord indeed wrote a love letter to His children not to the world. The Word keeps traveling, the Lord keep sending out His Beloved with the Word by the power of His Spirit reaching the four corners of the earth. Not one who has been called will be lost, the Father will leave the 99 to find the one lost sheep and for His good pleasure He uses His own children to enter into the "labor" rooms and "birthing" centers to welcome in babes born again into the family of God.

How does this affect me? Since, I count myself as one of God's children, I am delighted and identify with the "beloved," the "faithful," the "chosen," and the "called." Yes, the letters were written to specific brothers and sisters in Christ and like love letters found in your grandmother's attic, they are part of our spiritual heritage. We can call them our own because we too are heirs with Christ! In Timothy, Paul says that ALL scripture is God breathed. The words are powerful and effective. For me to know what is written is good but to know to whom and why is giving me an even deeper understanding. Solomon warns me about the price for this knowledge - increasing pain according to the book of Ecclesiastes.

I don't believe the Bible was written, "To Whom it may concern." It is my hope that anyone who reads this would think about who is God's intended audience.
Pax,
CM