"shocking beyond belief "

If i could look you in the eye right now i would straightway say I LOVE YOU and more importantly God cares for you and all those in Newtown, CT.

All the years we have been together i can remember addressing hard situations with you straight on without wavering in unbelief when disasters or shocking beyond belief killings happen or suicides, hardship...

One thing i have noticed in watching the reports is the need to somehow understand this or find our why and I can only say that it is far above our understanding but not God's.

I went back and read some or Part 6 of this teaching on Suffering by John Piper

"Hold out the promise that God will sustain and help those who cast themselves on him for mercy and trust in his grace. He will strengthen you for the impossible days ahead in spite of all darkness."

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/seminars/suffering-for-the-sake-of-the-body-part-1#Columbine

Remember that even those who trust in Christ may be cut down like these kids were, but that does not mean they have been abandoned by God or not loved by God, even in that agonizing moment of suffering. God’s love more than conquers even through calamity.

Part 1 entire here and also and others that can provide a lifelong study 

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/seminars/suffering-for-the-sake-of-the-body-part-1

Mingle heart-wrenching weeping with unbreakable confidence in the goodness and sovereignty of God who rules over the sin and the bullets of rebellious people.

Job 1:20-21

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Lamentations 3:32-33

If He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men.

Trust God for his ability to do the humanly impossible, and bring you through this nightmare and, in some inscrutable way, bring good out of it.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Lamentations 3:21-24

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."

Count God your only lasting treasure, because he is the only sure and stable thing in the universe.

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

ALL My Sons and Daughter- Your Love is All around

Majesty enthroned in beauty
All my life, Your love pursues me
and I'm found in You
Oh Holy One, the King of glory
You're the Author of my story
and I'm found in You

'Cause You give me life and lead me to find
Your grace and Your mercy, given so freely
Your word is my light, it leads me to find
Your comfort and healing, the hope that I'm needing

Your love is all around
Your love is all around

Oh Living One, You reign forever
Drawing me into Your presence
and I'm found in You
Oh Great Redeemer, Precious Savior
You are faithful, though I wander
and I'm found in You

'Cause You give me life and lead me to find
Your grace and Your mercy, given so freely
Your word is my light, it leads me to find
Your comfort and healing, the hope that I'm needing

Your love is all around, Oh
Your love is all around, Oh

And I hear Your voice
I hear the words You've spoken
This love is Yours
This love restores the broken 

The road ahead for many is so hard but we will pray and ask our heavenly Father who care for us to comfort and hold close.

Lead me to the Cross- Hillsong

Josh Groban - You Raise me up Last Choir Standing

Psalm 73:25-26
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Why..? new ornament

Had the thought today to add a Christmas ornament to the tree.
Why..?
“In every situation God is always doing a thousand different things that you cannot see and you do not know.” (John Piper)




You see it is easy to place the ornaments that always reflect a good memory like "First Christmas Together 1981" or birth of a child but i was challenged today to add one. When i ask Why i need to believe "
God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good"



One verse of a song from 2008 ...

Through the Precious Blood

Through the Precious Blood

By Mark Altrogge

As recorded on Come Weary Saints

You have ordained every breath we take

In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake

Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand

And sufferings brief carry out Your plan

And our fleeting sorrows

Will yield an endless prize

When some bright tomorrow

We’ll see You with our eyes, and

Chorus Grace upon grace flows down, flows down

Grace upon grace flows down, flows down

Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver of all grace

Your mercies crown our lives all our days

River of Life, quench our thirsty souls

For no true delight does Your love withhold

And in every season

We are satisfied

For just one reason

Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing

Comes to us freely, so freely

All good gifts, every good thing

Comes to us freely, so freely

Through the precious blood

Through the precious blood

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

This is from the book i was reading
A SWEET AND BITTER PROVIDENCE pg 100-101 by John Piper

A Sweet and Bitter Providence

Life Is a Mountain Road




At one level, the message of the book of Ruth is that the life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. There are rockslides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backward in order to go forward. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead, there are frequent signs that say, "The best is yet to come."

Taken as a whole, the story of Ruth is one of those signs. It was written to give us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good. They do not lead off a cliff. In all the setbacks of our lives as believers, God is plotting for our joy.

Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ." (John Piper)

"God cares about us in the midst of the pain. His goal isn’t just to get us out of the pain to the joy; he also wants us to see that he is for us and with us in the pain. It is true that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). The morning will dawn and God will remove every tear (Rev. 21:4), but God is not just concerned about the morning, the new day when you can shout for joy. He is with us even in the night when there is nothing but weeping, when the tears are so thick that we can’t see. When we are in the deepest pit and darkness weighs on our souls and God feels so absent that we wonder if he is even real, this psalm reminds us that he is with us even then. "

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

 O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! (Ps 88 1-2)