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I ran across some interesting statistics.

In the online world, people look up and share Bible verses.  The presumption is that these verses are close to the heart, and worth passing along.

I primarily use two online portals for finding Bible verses.  One is www.Biblegateway.com and the other is www.youversion.com.   Both have different translations and quick lookups. 

In 2013, there were more than 456 million visits to the Bible Gateway site, with visitors spending more than 76 million hours on the site.  When I watch people with their smartphones looking up verses during a church service, they are mostly using youversion.com.  Our youth began using this site a few years ago for their Sunday School class!

On Bible Gateway, here are the top three searches for Bible verses:  John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:13.  One on salvation and two on living lives of hope and victory.  On YouVersion, people shared verses, with Psalm 118:24 at No. 1 (This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.).  John 3:16 didn’t even make it into the top ten shared verses.

I wonder how our life circumstances affect the verses we read?  Joshua 1:9 (strong and courageous) made it into both lists.  Are we finding that the world around us squeezes us so much that we need assurance we won’t be flattened?  Are we more interested in ourselves than in verses that gaze on who God is?  I wonder how often we would look up Genesis 17:1 type of verses? 

I am El Shaddai – God Almighty.  Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life!

I was sitting with some pastors when one of them said:

There is a difference between calling and sending

Now, I’ve always matched those two words together.  As a pastor I have sensed that God has called me, which means I am sent to do something.  And when I am sent, I had better have had someone tell where to go!

The conversation continued:

We are called to be.  We are sent to do. 

When the disciples were called, Jesus just asked them to be with Him.  All they had to do was spend time with Jesus.  We need to develop the disciplines needed to fulfil that calling.  Things like meditation, scripture reading, quiet, waiting, patience, fellowship.  Anything that let’s us be with Jesus.

When the disciples were sent, they were given direction.  As the Father has sent me, so send I you.  Out of the clarity of direction that God gave to Jesus, we need to find clarity in what we do.  Clarity makes uniqueness undeniable, direction unquestionable, work more meaningful, focus more sustainable, leadership credible, the future approachable and enthusiasm transferable.

Calling and sending – two different but intertwined words!

We were off to a Worker’s Retreat the last few days.  Yesterday I arrived back in the office and swept through a number of things that had arrived on my desk.  Today is a day to complete a sermon and hopefully have some restful time.

Retreats are a great thing.  In some ways, though, they are like holidays.  Returning means jumping abruptly back into the routine.  I also found the retreat was a refreshing time of visiting and activity – paradoxically this requires an output of energy!

In keeping with my theme of the last while, I’ve been gazing on God.  As I see new aspects of what this means, yesterday and today have been an opportunity to wait on whispers from God.  Whispers of contentment, security and love.  Whispers of the future and pictures of the past.  All combined to provide the type of rest that is based in the assurance that God is in control.

I won’t say this is easy. 

To begin with God – to fix my eyes on Jesus – as I walk through a day, takes intention and perseverance.  Easier said than done!  May God grant us all the opportunity today to be sheltered in his care – resting in the assurance that He cares for us!

So, I ran across a sentence that has me thinking.  All about how much God loves us.

He even reins in the intensity of his love so he does not overwhelm us. (PK devotional for Feb. 2)

I’m not sure that God’s love ever diminishes.  Romans 8 tells us that nothing can separate us from his love (for those who are Christians).  At other points in the Old Testament, God declares “war” on those who are not following him, but at the same time is open to work with them if they repent.

I imagine that we can establish the matter that God loves us with a depth we do not understand.  I suppose the idea of that revelation is certainly unknown to us in it’s depth.  We are people who have been accustomed to disappointment from those we love.  We disappoint those we love.  A purity of love and an ability to love beyond disappointment is hard to fathom.

Would I be overwhelmed by that love?  I wonder.

To take  in a whole landscape is difficult.  To pinpoint one aspect is usually where we begin.  That aspect may be highlighted by afternoon light.  That does not mean the larger canvas is not in view.  The problem is that we cannot concentrate on the large picture – we tend to be able to process only a little bit at a time.

In the end, perhaps God does highlight a portion of his love to us at one time.  When Jesus walked this earth, He was all God.  But the disciples only got to know him gradually.  When we gaze on God, there is no part of God that is missing – perhaps just parts that we see more clearly at the time???