Life is like a rainbow: You need both the sun and the rain to make its colours appear

Okay, so maybe we've had quite enough rain in these Highlands of late. But the scene below greeted and cheered me a few evenings ago.

Those overarching colours of the spectrum always signify promise: the rain does end, the clouds do break up, the sun remains even if partially hidden and will soon burst forth. Its peeking through even while the clouds and rain remain produces such an unlikely arc of brilliance and colour even the most unbelieving heart has to smile at the show.

Biblically, the rainbow was to be a sign of God’s covenant of love between Himself and all living creatures on earth. No more village-sized wooden arks would be needed for flood protection.

A few great rainbow quotes:

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”
―G.K. Chesterton

“No vision and you perish;
No ideal, and you're lost;
Your heart must ever cherish
Some faith at any cost.
Some hope, some dream to cling to,
Some rainbow in the sky,
Some melody to sing to,
Some service that is high.”
―Harriet Du Autermont

“Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.”
―John Shirley

And finally:
“Don't miss all the beautiful colours of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold!”

It is not all about you

In her sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Anne echoed the famous words that open and set the tone for Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life: “It’s not all about you.”

In this me-first, I’m-number-one, it’s-my-right society, those can be hard words to swallow, let alone digest. Even supposedly other-focused Christians can get it wrong. Last week we were encouraged to go forward for healing prayer in the service. Even there, in an atmosphere of seeking prayer, we have to check our motives, Anne reminded us this week.

Do we believe in and love God because of what He can do for us, rather than for Who He is? Yes, He wants us well; yes, He wants us healthy. But if we think we need our head-ache or sore back healed and He knows we need our heart healed first—or our memories, or our attitudes—well, it may seem like the prayer ‘didn’t work’.

"God answers prayers in four ways," Anne explained. "Yes, no, wait, or yes, but. And that last one we may not understand as a 'yes' since the answer wasn't what we asked for."

A big day in Christian History

June 13, 1525
German reformer Martin Luther marries Katherine von Bora, 16 years his younger, having sneaked her and several other nuns out of their Cistercian convent in empty herring barrels two years earlier. Many viewed the marriage, which lasted 21 happy years, as a scandal.

June 13, 1893
Dorothy Sayers, English mystery writer and apologist, is born in Oxford, England.
"Man is never truly himself except when he is actively creating something," she once said. [Methinks she'd include women in that quote were she speaking today!]

(thanks to ChristianHistory.net for the info)

The width of God's Love for you

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19, NLT}

The width of God's love extends across the entire world and includes every person and thing in creation: "The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made" (Psalm 145:17, NIV).
“God loves the whole world” (John 3:16).

God never made a person He didn't love. He made you; He loves you; and God doesn't make junk! He loves you unconditionally. He loves you very, very, very, very, very much.

Everyone matters to God; in fact, we see in the life of Jesus that He even loves the unlovely, and those who may feel unlovable. Do you want to know the secret of self-esteem? Here it is: If you want confidence, then understand how much you matter to God. If God loves you, who cares what anyone else thinks. [Selah: think on that.]

Because God loves you, there's no need to prove your self-worth. We don't need props anymore to make us feel good about ourselves. We don't have to wear certain kinds of clothes to make us feel we're okay, or drive a certain kind of car to prop up our faltering egos. We don't need status symbols anymore. [Trappings can be deadly mind traps.]

It is an act of worship when you accept that God's love is wide enough to include everyone, including you!

(Adapted from a recent Rick Warren daily devotional)

Woman enjoys perfect week

Sandra Keyes didn't yell at the kids, didn't snap at her husband, didn't even wish them ill in her heart. She quit moping and shunned gossip. For one week she was perfect — outlasting her husband and winning a marital grudge match.

"I win!" she exclaimed, doing a little jig in the front yard after husband Dan slipped up and cursed the garden hose for malfunctioning. "I beat you, I beat you! A week without sinning. Whoo, whoo!"

Dan threw the hose down and stomped into the house. A week earlier, during a heated argument, he and Sandra had challenged each other to their first-ever "no-sin" competition. Thus commenced a week-long Chip-and-Dale routine.

Having won, Sandra was jubilant. "It's like pitching a perfect game," she said. "Nobody can take it from you. It's in the record books."

(lifted from LarkNews.com)