God’s Infinate Mercy
If you’re familiar with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, you know that God came in a physical form and met with Abraham before. They talked and ate and Abraham walked with him toward Sodom after. When God told Abraham of his plan to destroy it, Abraham humbly pleaded that the it be spared if God found any ‘righteous’ there; knowing that the ‘Judge of all the earth,’ would do right. Slowly, Abraham reduced the number of people he asked God to save the city until it was only ten, and God said if he found ten righteous he would not destroy it.
The two angels that were with God arrived in the city that evening and were met by Lot, who insisted they come under his protected for the evening. They wanted to stay in the square, but he pushed until they came. Later, the men of the city surrounded Lot’s home and demanded the ‘men’ (Angels) be handed over so they could have sex with them and tried to force their way inside. They accused him of trying to act as a judge against them when he was an alien among them. The angels blinded them and were able to get Lot, his wife and his two daughters out of the city, but they were the only ones; and even Lot’s wife turned back to remember the lusts of the flesh she was leaving behind, turning her to a pillar of salt.
Once Lot and his family was safe, God rained burning sulfur down on Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18-19)
But he saved those who showed kindness to innocent strangers coming through the town. I don’t know if Lot knew they were Angels sent by God, but he was the only person there who tried to help them rather than hurt them or abuse them for selfish gain. Not that Lot was a perfect man. We’re reminded of that in the next section. But he showed love and sacrifice. He made an effort when others embraced selfishness.
God knows how weak and incompetent we are. He knows how much we desire to be more than we are. We want to be like Him. So he’s Infinitely merciful and gives us every opportunity to turn away from the things that would drag us down and hurt us. And when we fail…he sends in the cavalry and tries harder. But eventually, that will change, and God’s word says that this world will burn and there will be a new one, a better one.
One where there are no Kony’s brutalizing people or where we aren’t polluting our beautiful world or hurting each other over our own vanities or allowing people to starve while we die of being overweight and lazy.
And one where we get to bask in the LIGHT AND GLORY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST FOR ETERNITY :sun: :-D :sun:
April 26th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
I hope I’m not like Lot’s wife when the time comes… I know that I am too consumed with the worries of this present life. I need to let go… thanks for sharing this darling girl!
April 26th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
You won’t. You’ll be to busy being consumed by God’s Glory. And what a relief it will be to be able to let go of this worlds worries.
April 28th, 2012 at 10:18 pm
Hi, Christina, how are you doing? Thank you for sharing God’s infinite wisdom with us! Have you been exercising at all, or keeping up with the yoga? Would love to hear from you, say hi to your mom for me. – Janet Kaemmerling :-D
April 29th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Hi Mrs. K :)
I’m doing really well. And God actually shared that with me after I was praying about sharing the gospel with my Grandma who was raised Jewish and has no interest in perusing a relationship with Jesus…that I can see. But, she agreed to talk with me and read some scriptures. I’m sure I’ll do a horrible job explaining the gospel and I’m not a scholar; BUT PRAISE GOD, He’s got it all under control and His Love and Power surpasses all understanding and his word is like a gim-I mean a two edged sword ;- )
So I just have to trust in Him…Which is so hard for me because I’m such a control freak o_O
And Yes, I am still doing the yoga. It’s great right now. Even the tai chi hurts. I do eight pieces sometimes, but the forms make my old injuries act up and I’ve even got some new ones popping up. The yoga’s been helping me strengthen and heal without a sense of competition or drive for perfection all the time.
But now I think I might have peripheral neuropathy and and some other issues in my feet, so it even hurts to walk most of the time. Which makes me feel increasingly pathetic.
Thanks so much for checking in on me. How are you guys doing?
God Bless,
Christina
May 1st, 2012 at 8:06 am
Good Morning! Good to hear from you! I’m glad to hear you are doing well. I think that’s terrific about you “opening the door” for your Grandma – it’s even more wonderful that she will read some Scripture! You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar, or a rocket scientist, to understand God’s Word – in fact, if you explain it on the simplest terms, and relate it to your life, RIGHT NOW, usually the light begins to dawn – everyone gets “illuminated” at a different pace – sometimes it hits like a bolt of lightning, sometimes it slowly oozes its way into our hearts and mind. Remember, it’s always a heart-mind (shen-chi) exercise – and it’s wonderful how, when we read God’s Word, it “exercises” our hearts and mind! Internal exercise, that is – like qigong, tai chi – all are connected. Except, of course, God’s Word is the “fuel” for our hearts and spirit. That’s my understanding and perspective.
But, then, of course, that’s what’s so fascinating about the Bible – the more you read, and study, the more you understand the applications – again, a parallel with tai chi, kung fu, any of the martial arts. The more you read, study, and practice martial arts, the more you understand the whys and wherefores of the applications! Interesting, no? Of course, the martial arts are more metaphysical in nature; God, of course, is beyond the physical, of course; I don’t even think Biblical scholars understand totally the spiritual power of God – who does? As a Christian, I just know that, with my faith in Jesus, ANYTHING is possible!
Keep doing the yoga. Don’t do the tai chi if it hurts, although I’m a big one to talk! When I first started, I would practice for hours, both at home and at WD, and it always hurt, but it was the medication (chemo, methotrexate and/or Humira), which caused swelling in all my joints, which of course, put pressure on the nerve endings in my feet, knees, shoulders, wrists, etc. Strangely enough, whenever we would practice moving step, and I’d land after getting thrown across the room (Mr. Mayer, brown sash, did that to me one time – do you remember him? He and Mr. Talmadge, another brown sash, used to work out together all the time – this was back in the “little school”.), it didn’t hurt, but I think, because I had the severe fibromyalgia, it just damaged my muscle tissue so much that I didn’t have any nerve endings left! I am helping another kung fu student, Mrs. Sun, who is actually Japanese – she’s married to a Chinese sergeant stationed here at Camp Pendleton! Anyway, she is started kung fu last year, didn’t make it past her white sash when she was stricken with a form of rheumatoid arthritis called Still’s Disease. She was in the hospital for a while, couldn’t walk, etc, – now she is back and has switched to tai chi, but I am helping her after group class with her 24-step. Sifu is giving her a couple months of group classes to make up for the time lost in her kung fu membership – I don’t know, some such arrangement, but I advised her to talk to Sifu and decide on an instructor. She is SO NICE, and we’ve become fast friends. She feels rather isolated and has no one to talk to about her disease, the symptoms, etc, and Sifu had requested me to talk to her in his office – and that’s how I met her! She’s a really interesting young woman (I stress “young” as she’s probably your age, and I am an “old momma”!8-)] , you’d like her. She has her real estate license, works from home, and drives up to Pasadena to translate her pastor’s sermons from English into Spanish! Fascinating story – a Japanese woman fluent in Spanish! But that’s a story for another time.
Keep on with the yoga, things are fine with us, Jeff goes to Shanghai again this summer, this time he will be paid by the Confucius Institute to manage their cultural/international exchange program. It isn’t much, but everything is covered, and he’s only gone for three weeks. Then he finishes his Fall senior semester and graduates in December.
Have to go, have a counseling apptmt waiting. Are you going to the tournament? I understand Grandmaster is going to be an “auxiliary judge” – what does that mean?! He IS the tai chi judge, LOL!
See ya.
May 1st, 2012 at 1:57 pm
WOW, where to start. I hope your appt went well. And no, I probably won’t go to the tournament. It’s too long of a day to leave my boys(doggies) at home by themselves and I still can’t drive, so I’d have to be there to set up with Harvey until tear down which means they’d be stuck in the house for at least 12 hours :(
So I’ll have to wait until another event. But I hope to see you all soon.
That is fascinating about the Bible. I’ve been reading a lot of things I’ve read and heard studies on throughout my whole life, but each time God has been showing me something new. I know it won’t always be like that, but I’m loving the discover and having what feels very tangible interactions with the spirit in my studies. I feel so overwhelmed and humbled by it.
And I look forward to meeting Mrs. Sun. I’ll be praying for her. Does she go to Encinitas as well?
God Bless and Good luck at the tournament if I don’t talk to you until then,
Christina
May 3rd, 2012 at 8:49 am
I thought you might enjoy this song. Blessings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNC4MuN4BpU
May 3rd, 2012 at 9:07 am
Thanks so much for sharing. It’s such an insignificant thing to offer God, but it’s all we have to give.
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Thank you for the tournament good luck wishes, but I am not going this year, as I have a medical qigong class I am taking through Palomar College, and I don’t get out of it until 11 o’clock. I might go down and take pictures, though!
God Bless, and hopefully we’ll see you soon. -Janet K.