Our Bridge to God

The Lord makes a powerful, unquestionable statement to us at John 14:6. Without a doubt Jesus clearly says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through me.

People have been trying to argue that statement for 2000 years. Some say that the Lord wasn't to be taken literally. Others just out and out reject His authority to even make such a claim. However, we believers in Christ's lordship take what He says as Truth. So let's take a moment and consider the picture this presents to our minds.

It is easy to think of a one-way street when Jesus says that He is "the Way." We can take this to mean that there are lots of roads to be taken but that His road is the only road that will get us to God the Father. This is a good illustration of what Jesus had in mind but I think we can do even better than this.

We can think of Jesus, not so much as a road, but as a bridge to God. Paul's warning at Romans 3:23 comes to mind: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (italics mine). The picture here is of a great chasm of empty space between us and God. A chasm that is so wide we hold no hope of ever crossing it on our own. We are unable to "bridge" the gap and we fall.

So what, we ask, is the only way for us to cross this chasm? A bridge, of course. And our bridge is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. He alone stands in the gap, and he alone provides safe passage across the open void and into the loving arms of our heavenly Father.

We need to meditate on this illustration and make it real to us, because with eternity across a vast divide, just out of our reach, we can truly appreciate the bridge Jesus makes. We are not hopeless and lost. Jesus took the cross and turned it into a bridge.

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Well, no one really said they wanted to hear more about marriage so I took that to mean you don't have any loose ends to tie up on the subject. Actually, I guess I pretty well summed it up anyway. I thought Ginny's comment was great, that the Bible pretty well tells us what marriage is in the first place. (I think it was Ginny that said that, if not I apologize for my poor memory.)

I think it's great that the gold for both the women's and men's beach volleyball went to the Americans. The men's game was really close. The women's was close too but not like the men's. They just kept going back and forth on the men's games. I think it's neat that Rogers turned his back yard into a regulation beach volleyball court. And I think it's great that Mays-Trainor, and Walsh are going to take some time off and have babies. Can anyone remember if the girls won gold last year. Seems like they did to me but I'm just not certain.

It's a beautiful day today. The temp is just about perfect. I was quite leisurely in my Quiet Time this morning. It was just that it was so pleasant, I just wasn't in a hurry to finish it up and come back inside. Isn't it strange the way some days we wake up raring to go and other days we wake up just dragging? I'm just dragging today. I don't know if I just didn't sleep well or what the problem is but I'm just really tired. I guess I will do my chores and then spend the rest of the day reading. I just took a couple Aleve, that usually works better for me than anything else.

There is definitely stubble on my bald head so I think that means it's growing back in. One thing for sure, I will never take my hair for granted ever again. I will cherish my hair. We learn many things by going through trials. To think that I used to complain about my hair all the time and now here I am without any hair to complain about. I am anxious to get at least some of my hair back. I went to the doctor yesterday morning and she said she wasn't convinced that this was an allergic reaction in the beginning. She gave me a big bottle of cortisone with two refill on it and said she'd see me in three month and if this hasn't gone completely away by then I'll have to go on oral drugs to try and get rid of it. But she wanted to give it every chance in the book to clear up on its own before going to the oral meds because they can adversely interact with some of my other meds and will require close monitoring of my liver. I'd just as soon not take it, if possible. My hair dresser was surprised at my bald head but she went ahead and gave me a hair cut around the ears and at the nape of the neck. I felt perfectly at ease sitting there with no hair on my head. At least now I know that if I ever have to have chemo it won't be a big deal to me for my hair to fall out. Been there, done that; no big deal. She also gave the the name of a place down in Lodi called The Wig Palace. They specialize in the needs for women who are undergoing chemo and they know all about wigs. They will sit you down and really help you pick out a good color and shape for your wig as well as the style and they will teach you how to care for it. I'm anxious to try a wig and see how I look. I just still don't know if I want to go to the trouble and the expense in buying wigs when the bandannas and do-rags seem to work okay. I didn't want to see anyone spend money on a wig if it wasn't going to be absolutely necessary. But Tamara had already ordered one for me when she showed it to me. I just hope she didn't spend too much money on it.

I got so sleepy watching the games last night that I think I actually dozed off a time or two while I sat there watching them. And I'm not much beyond that today either. Tomorrow will be my day to wash the car. It is such a mess. Where I park my car there's a big oak tree reaching over the spot. And during certain times of the year it will drip tiny specks of sap, I guess, don't know what else it could be. But these little specks are sticky as well as tiny. It sure turns my car into a mess in no time. But I like to wash it on Sat so that it will still be relatively clean for church on Sun.

Well, I just made a quick trip down to church. I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be down at the church this morning at 10:00 to help set up for the funeral. I had a feeling I was going to be too late and I was. I just hate forgetting something like that. I must remember to tell Joann to call me if I don't show up somewhere when I'm supposed to. I feel just awful. That was just about the time I was out on the deck with my quiet time. I don't forget very often thank God! But I always feel bad when I do. I will call her later and apologize. It sounded like there were plenty of people there to help when I talked to Kim about it. But I don't like saying I'll do something and then not do it.

I'm going to keep today's post short as I need to get in and get my chores done. Theoretically I'm not supposed to blog until I have them done but I forgot about that and was deeply into my post by the time I thought about them. But I do have the bed made; does that count? Today I am to do the laundry, change the bedding, and vacuum the floors again. It kills me to have to unmake the bed (especially since it's the only chore I've already gotten done) just to change the bedding but that will teach me to look at my chore list before I do something. Actually I'm hoping that I will get so used to doing these chores on specific days that I will not need my list every day except for those odd things that aren't don't regularly every Fri. Like I have it down to clean under the burners on the range top on Fri but EOF (Every Odd Friday) so I don't have to do it today. I see no need to clean under there every single week. But I may end up changing my mind about it.

This has got to be the most boring blog I've ever written and I apologize for it. But I just don't have my thoughts together to write. I have some great quotes by Watchman Nee but I'm not ready to share those. Watchman Nee, Oswald Chambers, and Andrew Murray are my three favorite authors. Probably followed by Max Lucado even though you can't even begin to compare him to the previous writers. But Max Lucado touches my heart while Nee, Chambers, and Murray teach my heart. I have to be in a receptive mood for Nee and that just isn't me today. I best get to my laundry or I'll be doing it all day. I'm hoping to finish the letters to the Corinthian church today. I am on chap 14 in the First letter and I'll get that done and then start the Second letter and I expect to finish it just reading between tasks.

Hubby has on an old COPS show on TV and the little kids were just screaming and crying and carrying on. It makes me so mad that people can't see that their behavior can have adverse effects on their children. Don't break the law so you won't have to be arrested in front of your children!! I can't think of many things more traumatic for a child to have to endure than watching his parents get arrested. Poor kids! Speaking of COP, do you know where the name COP comes from? It comes from early English and stands for Constable On Patrol. Bet you didn't know that. Okay, this is it for today. Really is a nothing blog. I pray for all my readers daily and will pray for you too and I apologize for the lack of substance to this blog. Now my hubby has on the America vs Cuba baseball game for the Olympics. Much better than COPS. Take care and since this is such a bad post, maybe I'll post again tomorrow. Until then...