In His hands God can and will re-shape the glass, melting it down to liquid, gently and slowing blowing new life, new form, new beauty into it. In His hands your life is held, precious, secure, protected. In His hands your heart can mend, your wounds can heal, His hope can grow and His love can flow.

I have seen many people broken-hearted, lost, hopeless, hurting from within. I have seen these same people leaning on and walking with the Lord, growing in His love, becoming a fresh work of His art, letting Him shape their lives back into the beauty of grace and hope.

2 Corinthians 12:9 – And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Prayer: Lord God, in my brokenness I kneel before You knowing that Your grace truly is sufficient for me. Father, I confess that I have tried to re-build my own life and acknowledge that I cannot do this. I give to You the pieces of my life, the fragments of my heart, and I trust You to take them and shape my life anew. I honour You today as El Shaddai, my all sufficient God, and thank You Lord for Your grace and Your hope. Amen.

As I watched the words go onto the tree a picture began to form of how we saw ourselves, collectively, as a group. I couldn't help but wonder, if we were to take the same tree and put on it words describing who God is to us, what would those words be and what word drawing would emerge.

Each morning I walk my dogs and spend that time in prayer. As I walked, I thought about the tree we drew in class and I took the time to share with God who He is to me – to draw my own word picture. I found myself using words like: healer, shepherd, all sufficient, best friend, comforter, provider, giver of hope, merciful, loving …

Why not take a piece of paper, right now, and record on it who God is to you. You can place your words anywhere on the paper, or even draw a tree and put your words on it. How do you see God? What do you feel inside when you think about who God is? Then take another minute, or more, and share your thoughts with God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. He is waiting to share with you more of who He is.

Psalm 71:5 – For Thou are my hope; O Lord God, Thou art my confidence from my youth.
Ephesians 2:12 – For He Himself is our peace.
Isaiah 64:8 – But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father.

Prayer: Lord I stand in awe of You. You are my God, my Saviour, the giver of Life. Lord God, I long to know you better and better all the days of my life. Teach me who you are, God; draw me close to You. I choose to seek Your face even in the midst of the crowds that walk with me and around me every day. I choose to deepen my relationship with You and take the time to know You. Thank you, Father, for loving me. Amen.

Most of the children were anxious to explore and took the first little path the veered off the main one. Johnny, though, continued along on the main path. "I'll wait," he thought, "and take one that no one goes on." That's how he came to slip quietly off to the left, alone. He didn't think to note how long it took to walk his route and didn't know he would never be back in time.

Two hours after beginning, all the children were seated, tiredly, on the bus. The teacher took his count and realized one Johnny was missing. "Did anyone see which path Johnny took?" he asked.

"Yes Sir," replied Suzie, "He went off to the left down a path marked with a purple star."

"Oh dear," replied the teacher. "He'll be a while longer then, I know that path and it's long! Well, we'll just wait a bit and he'll soon be along."

Johnny, meanwhile was getting scared. "They'll be mad at me," he thought. "I should have looked where I was going. How could I be so stupid? They'll all be gone home and I'll never get there. I'll fail the class for sure. They'll never take me back. How could I be so dumb?"

Finally, tired and sad, Johnny came to the end of the path. He looked around and saw the school bus waiting for him. "There you are," said Mr. Smith. "I knew you'd be along soon."

"I'm sorry, Sir ," said Johnny. "I never looked at how long it would take, I just wanted to be different and see better things. I bet all the kids are mad at me and you too.

"No, Johnny," he said. "We're not mad. We all make mistakes. Even though you were separated from the class for a little while we're all glad to see you back with us. Come get on the bus and let's go home!"

Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord and God, I confess that I have walked down paths other then the one you have laid out for me. I have not stopped to consider the consequences, the time it would take, or the places it would take me. Then, Lord, when I know I have turned from you, I am afraid to came back. I think that you will be mad at me, that you will no longer want me in your kingdom; that I will have separated myself from you. Thank you Father that nothing can separate us from your love. Thank you that you are waiting for us to come back to you, and that you welcome us back into your fellowship. Amen.

I couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be all that long before this young child would take over the responsibility of mowing the lawn for the family. At first he would probably be proud of his new responsibility and look forward to completing the job entrusted to him. All too soon, though, summer days would find him in front of the TV, or in the pool, with mom or dad reminding him that he still had to mow the lawn, "not tomorrow, today!"

What began as a fun adventure, grew into an exciting responsibility, and became a boring job to be avoided and postponed.

How many people could parallel this with time spent reading the Bible. When you first receive the Lord, His Word is fresh and you read as if it would disappear tomorrow. As you grow in faith, time in the Word becomes an exciting responsibility as you learn about God and His children. But, later, it seems to be a tedious job for which there is no time. Reading and studying the Word often takes low priority in the business of our lives.

Yet it is in God's Word that we learn how to live. It is from the Word that we receive courage, strength, power, freedom, comfort, and grace to sustain us in times of trouble. It is in God's word that we learn who God is and, by this knowledge, learn to trust in Him.

So, when was the last time you sat down and just read the Word of God. Do you do this daily? Weekly? Only when you are stressed out or in trouble? What's your excuse and what does God say in response to it?

Psalm 1:1-2 – How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

Prayer: Dear Lord and God, you have entrusted us with Your Word and sent Your Holy Spirit as a guide and interpreter as we journey through it. Father, forgive us for putting so many things before You and before spending time with You. I choose this day to take the time to listen to what You have to say to me and pray that You will give me a hunger and a thirst for the Word of God that will require a daily feeding. Amen.

In the August 1996 issue of Chatelaine there was an article on forgiveness. The article suggested that in order to forgive, you need to approach the person who hurt you and ask him/her to acknowledge the pain that they caused. Then that person needs to ask your forgiveness. If the person fails to acknowledge that their actions hurt you, then "it is hard to forgive".

As Christians, we are required by God to forgive (Matthew 18:34-35) but instead of taking the pain to the person who caused it, we should take it to the One who can heal it. Forgiveness is not for the person who hurt us, it is for ourselves. "Forgiveness is dealing with your pain and leaving the other person to God." (N. Anderson, Steps to Freedom in Christ)

Prayer: Lord, I come before You in prayer to tell You that I have chosen to forgive this person. You and I both know why and how I hurt. O God, bring the pain to the surface so You can deal with it. In Your rmercy, heal my pain and hurt, and let me rest in Your love. In Jesus' name. Amen.

They stood in the dark, clinging to each other, straining to see even a glimmer of light to guide them back outside. But there was no light to see. Finally, in fear, they decided to sit back-to-back on the floor of the cave, each one looking for the flash of light and listening for the call of their names that would mean their father was coming to look for them.

"Wait," cried the one boy, "over there, I saw a light. It was only a brief flicker but I know I saw a light."

Both boys faced in that direction and looked hard. "There, I saw it again. Did you see it, did you?"

"No, I saw nothing," the other replied.

"But you had to," the first boy cried. "I know I saw it. It could be the way out. Come on, let's go."

No," mourned the other boy. "I didn't see it. I'm not going anywhere. My Daddy will come for me. He'll find me. I know he will."

"Please," the brother pleaded. "I know I saw a light. I know it's the way out. Dad's probably there right now, calling our names, asking us to come to him, calling us out of this awful darkness."

"No," was the stubborn and frightened reply. "Go yourself if you're so sure. You think you know everything. Well, go on then. I'll wait here. I'm waiting for Dad to come to me."

"Look," his brother yelled, "I saw it again! I'm going. Come with me." He left scrambling along the cave, tripping on stones, scraping his knees, trying to catch a glimpse of the light he had seen, hoping, trusting his brother would follow. He clambered forward, never taking his eyes off the spot where the light had appeared. Every now and again he saw the light, briefly, then for longer times, and brighter, until he came to a corner and realized the light was reflecting around this corner. He hesitated, looked back to where his brother was, and saw only darkness; looked ahead and saw light and heard the voice.

"Are you in there my sons? Are you in that dark cave. If you hear me, please come to me. I love you."

The child ran around the corner of the cave, straight into his father's waiting arms.

John 1:5 – And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to see your light, open my ears to hear Your voice, open my heart to receive Your Word. May my feet move in quickness, my body with urgency, my mind with completeness, to respond to Your call. Lord, I long to see You. Amen.

I have a mug with many sayings about music written on it. Perhaps you know some of them. "Hug a musician, they never get to dance!" "There should be music in every house – except the one next door!" "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." My favourite is "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Perhaps that is why the psalmist wrote in his song, "Be still and know that I am God."

Sometimes, when I listen to songs written to worship the Lord, I feel Him so near to me it is as if I could touch Him. Sometimes the melody and the rhythm express my feelings, my hunger, and my need of a risen Saviour. Sometimes the words express my heartache or my joy in a way I could not do myself. Most times I am drawn, eventually, to turn the music off and sit in silence, to be still, and to know the presence of the Lord.

When was the last time you allowed God to minister to you through music? When was the last time you took time to sit quietly and listen to a praise tape, or to sing praises to Him?

Today I'd like to challenge you. It is an easy challenge, but a challenge, nonetheless. Take out your calendar and make an appointment with yourself for a half an hour sometime in the next week. Your goal is to spend half an hour in praise of God. Take thirty minutes and let your soul be still to know your God. You may chose to listen to praise tapes and meditate on the words and music. You may chose to read psalms of praise. You may choose to go to Him in prayer, praising Him for who He is, for His goodness, for His mercy, exalting and magnifying His name. You may choose to sing songs and hymns of praise. Just praise Him; for a full half hour, praise the name of Jesus. Then be still and know the Lord. And when you are done, take a minute and write a line or two somewhere about this experience with God.

Prayer: Father, it is so easy to lose sight of how wonderful and how merciful You are. You are the master creator, our comforter, provider, refuge, and fortress. Draw me close to You, Lord. Draw me to your presence. Lord, when I am with you it's easy, I can't deny Your love, my heart's laid open before You. When I am with You, I'm lost in love. Amen.