God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:16-19, 21.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:4.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

How can we begin to understand this life with its mix of pain and goodness? For me, I remember that we are broken. We live in a world deceived. We will continue in that deception until we long for what is true. Have you been hurt by religion, by racism, by cruelty of every kind committed by others who themselves are broken and deceived? Only Creator God – Father…Son…Spirit, can bring His love and His truth into our hearts bruised and hurting, and bring healing to life lived fully with Him. He asks us to love Him and to love one another; and He asks that of us for our good in Him because He loves us and wants us to come out of the deception and pain that has bound us through all the ages of mankind.

We see it in every chapter of Scripture. We see the results of people choosing their own way, apart from God, leading to death. Isaiah 18…Isaiah is prophesying against Cush, another nation in Isaiah’s time that did not know God. Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. v. 1-2. In the notes below it said that the king of Cush had heard that Assyria’s great army was marching toward them so they sent envoys asking for alliances with other nations. Isaiah told the messengers to return home because Judah needed only God’s help to repel the Assyrians…and that Assyria, too, would be destroyed in its time. Isaiah goes on…For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter. v. 5-6. And this final verse…At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers – the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty. v. 7.

We need God’s help to understand. This life we are given has purpose. When we realize we are just as broken as everyone else, where else can we turn but to the Creator who created in great Love? He is not broken! His Love will heal us. I don’t want to live deceived anymore. I want to be with God and repent of everything I have done that has caused great harm to myself and others. I want to trust Him to forgive me and give me a new heart of flesh and not of stone. And I want to pray for His perfect will to be done on earth as it is now in heaven. Only God can bring truth to a deceived world clamoring for violence and hate. And He is faithful. Turn to Him when this world no longer makes any sense.

Jesus shared this beautiful parable of God’s truth…To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14.