Update #245 - These Three Remain

[Dena Grace]

“…these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13

I have many, many, many creative friends – graphic artists, photographers, painters, interior designers, color mavens, floral stylists, inventors, creators, answer engineers.  I love when they fabricate an original and gift it to me; it touches my heart.  I have many such creations around my home – beaded pillows, blankets, glass fish, bejeweled spoons, tea cozy’s, etc. 

Kara – a professional photographer (www.karamillerphoto.com) - created a painting for me of 1 Corinthians 13:13 all coral pink and pretty.  I was nursing Emily the other day and staring at it, reading it over and over and over. The word “eternal” stared back at me, highlighted in the late afternoon sun, almost glowing.

Now, it is not hard for me to get lost in thought these days. Sleep deprivation and a random schedule has addlepated my brain and rabbit trails, derailed conversations and blank stares are common place.  But this concept grabbed me and I twisted it around and around as Emily ate (and ate and ate and ate).

Eternal? Faith, hope and love are eternal? They never end, never fade, never go away?  They are everlasting, undying, perpetual and endless? Huh. Really? Interesting. 

The passage surrounding the text lists items that will cease (prayer language) are temporary (inspired preaching) and will pass away (knowledge) – God given gifts God that are not everlasting, undying, perpetual and endless… they will end, they will cease, they will stop – when you get to heaven, or when Jesus comes back, whichever happens first.

God is all about the eternal – in fact he focuses on building the eternal in us while we reside in a temporal situation.  God allows trials and persecution in our lives not to gain a temporary reward (money, fame, success, attention) but an everlasting one (faith). Faith is the currency of heaven, Love is the atmosphere, and Hope is the seedbed where all this grows.

What attributes, characteristics, traits are you grooming? Working toward? Refining? Are they everlasting, undying, perpetual and endless in nature – or are they temporal? What is your faith focus, love level, hope height? Are you storing up treasures in heaven or on earth?

Updates:

Personal – Small victories on the bottle front – she allows it in her mouth but only plays with the nipple, she is not all that interested in sucking. Sigh. 

Move – The condo is STILL on the market.  We are in the waiting phase, asking God what, when and how. We need this to SELL NOW!

Baby – Emily’s tummy is MUCH better. Thank you for praying. Colic is almost non-existent (Thank God) and she is awake and “talkative”. So fun! She is growing fast and is almost out of 6 month clothing (she is 3 months next week!).

Requests: 

Personal – Bottle success! Please pray for Emily to develop an affinity for the bottle.

Move – Condo sale.  We need this piece of real estate to move soon. Please pray in the right buyer for the property and wisdom for us to know how to proceed forward.