Love letter #22: Maintaining a connection

Image via WikipediaSo, I'm trying to get Internet installed in my house. Seems like a simple transaction, no? Well, it's been two days (going on three) and about 5 hours in the making ( 12 if you count the hours waiting for the repair man), and still no Internet.

The technician that came today, also claimed it should be a simple transaction. If they could just find the piece of hardware that would allow them to establish a connection... "Do you have some kind of map that can tell you where things were originally arranged?", I asked the perplexed technician.

"No, but that would make our lives easier", he replied.
And then I thought of-- stay with me now--  the well laid out guidance that we have in scripture. It is kind of a manual for life to make our lives easier. I thought of how silly it seemed that the same company would have several representatives working for it, who did not know company policy, or what work had been done before to lay the foundation of the repair that they were doing.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4


Thank goodness we are not in that predicament! The basis for this blog is that the Holy Bible, scripture, the Word of God, is that "company policy" for the Kingdom of God and the foundation of hope. It is a love letter to his people that teaches them what foundations were laid and how things were designed in order to help them 'troubleshoot' and solve problems according to the vision of the head of the 'company', Christ.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  Colossians 1:15-18

The body that is the church has been put together by the love of God to show the love of God.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:4-10

The connection I am trying to get from my internet provider requires finding the hardware that someone else has already installed and tapped into. The connection that I am trying to maintain in the Spirit has been installed at salvation, but must be maintained by abiding in Christ through prayer, praise, and the scriptures (John 15:4). 
 
Lord, help us to go to your map, the Scriptures before we need to troubleshoot. Then help us to turn that knowledge into wisdom to do the good works which you have prepared us in advance to do. Amen.


Special thanks to Bishop-elect Calhoun for the scriptural references and inspiration from his message "I Need a Word from the Lord".