A Game of "Hide and Seek. . . .

Conditional Love begins with the conjunction "if", followed by the conditions that must be met if you are to be loved. Christian love demands no conditions; it is free!

Unconditional love, brings to mind an image of the game of "Hide and Seek." Like Adam and Eve, we try to hide from the Searcher . . . sometimes hiding so successfully we forget what the game is all about. The object is to be so hidden that we force the searcher to yell out, "Ally, Ally, all in free!"

One time my Father was "it"; but by deliberately not looking in that place, he was forced to call out "Ally, Ally, all in free".

By painful contrast, I remember the time I thought I had hidden so well that no one could find me, only to discover ... long after dark, that they had forgotten me and even that I was playing .. . so no one was looking for me.

Luke tells of the prodigal son: "While he was yet at a distance, his Father saw him" (Luke 15:20).

The Christian Miracle is that in Jesus Christ, God declares unconditional love for us.

Still on my Pilgrimage,
Virgene

A New Day For A New Dream . . .

I've dreamed before and failed. tThis made me afraid to dream again for fear I'd fail again. But I must remember -- only I can kill my dream. I decide for myself by rejecting God's way. (Turning my back and going away.)

Perhaps my other dream was not right . . or the time was not right .... or I was not right.

1. Is it possible my dream was not God's dream?
2. Was there some area of my life that needed changing in order to see my dream come
true?
3. I am not the same now, nor am I in the same circumstances. Life is always changing
so am I.
4. Do I see where I could be more of a success today as a more experienced person
than I could back then?

God has a dream for our life ! I must not let past disappointment hold me back from future fulfillment. This is a new day and I am a new "me". God doesn't say, "No"
... He does say "Grow".

We must cheerfully submit to our Father of Spirit and so truly live. He disciplines us for a certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness." .. in conformity to God's will in purpose, thought and action, resulting in right living and standing with God.(Hebrews 12:5, 13).

I will go forward and see if I can weave a New Dream into the tapestry of my pilgrimage.

Looking in a Mirror at Peter and Me.....

Peter, you are as incorrigible as I am. I see myself in you so many ways. Witness to so many miracles and yet thinking you have to be in control of every situation. You blunder so beautifully. When you think you are in control you are out of control. Were you a slave to your reaction when you denied Christ? I weep with you Peter, for I have betrayed Christ too may times to condemn you. I weep with you.

One of the beautiful things about scripture is that the characters are so like us! Sometimes it's like looking in a mirror. Having just read a few lines about Peter's denial of Jesus, and that prompted the entrance in the journal. A few lines of God's Word is sometimes all we need.

Lord, when I look in the mirror of the Scripture, help me not forget what I see as I continue on my Pilgrimage.