Grace and Truth 2

John 1:15-39:

John the Baptist has always been one of my heroes. Not a normal, every-day kind of guy. I can relate to that.

John’s humility, his continuous desire to point people to Jesus rather than himself, is another way I want to grow more like him.

Many people followed John, but he did not take advantage of that and make himself out to be someone important. He was quick to say he was not the Messiah, Elijah or a profit. He said he was not even worth untying Jesus’ sandals.

He believed what God had told him about Jesus and spoke it with confidence, saying Jesus was God, God’s son, the one to bring grace.

John encouraged some of his own disciples to leave him and follow Jesus.

I pray that I can be more humble like he was, and can encourage people to follow God rather than to pay attention to me.

John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Grace and Truth 1

When I was a freshman in college, a minister suggested that I read the Gospel of John, to help with my unbelief. John has been my favorite book in the Bible ever since.

As I’ve grown older, my love for the Scriptures has also grown. Recently, as I read through John, new pearls and meanings sprang out at me. I want to go through this book again, writing down some of the special things God has taught and is still teaching me.

John 1:1-14:

This is one of the gospels which doesn’t speak of Jesus’ birth. Yet what an introduction.

He is God, and he became a man who lived right here with us. He has always been; he is the creator. His truth is a light that cannot be overcome by any darkness. The grace he brought makes those of us who believe in him God’s children. Such a glorious introduction.

John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This House Needs a Cat

Last month, we had to put our kitty Esther, 18 years old, to sleep. It was a tough decision, but the right one.

I felt like a fool when I sobbed in front of the people at the veterinary clinic. But she’d been with us sixteen years. That’s a long time.

It was really hard the first days after. I sat in my work (easy) chair with my computer, and I expected her to crawl on my lap. I went upstairs and into our room, and thought I’d hear her announcing she’s hungry. I’d lie in bed at night, and was sure I felt her climbing on to snuggle down by my face.

I thank God for this gift, and I hope I’ll have happy memories for a long time.

But we needed another kitty to love.

A couple weeks ago, we went back to the Animal Protection League, the same place we got Esther sixteen years ago. This time we came home with Eli, (Sarah named him) a seven-month-old black and white kitty with big feet. If you can catch him, he is a soft, sweet bundle with a loud, rattling purr.

That’s not easy to do.

He’s crazy. He runs and jumps and streaks through the house.

The first day he was home, Sarah saw him balanced on his back feet on a window ledge, batting at a moving tree limb on the other side of the window. He’s only knocked down three curtains so far. One of his favorite games is grabbing my hand with all four paws and chewing.

He climbed into an open dresser drawer, crawled behind the drawer into the back of the dresser, and hid. He leaps from the bed to grab at the chain for the ceiling fan.

He likes Caleb and visits his room often, even though Caleb is the one who has the scary dog, also named Esther. Eli and Esther are still figuring out their relationship. Mostly Eli avoids our dog, although Esther did chase him in the basement one day.

Sarah loves him, but she doesn’t want him to get in her room while she’s not there. She has breakable items which he likes to jump around and explore.

She’s smart about this concern. Eli knocked one of my talking clocks on the floor and broke it. I’ve told him if he’d let me catch and love on him more often, I’ll be more likely to forgive him for that.

He’s quite a different character than our precious old-lady kitty, who loved to snuggle and curl up on my lap. But he has brought much pleasure into our home.