John 14:25-27
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid
For about 2 weeks, I have dreamed of my departed cat Scoop. why should this matter? Really what we are discussing are the teaching methods of Father God. You don't have to be a cat lover to find the Teaching of God as good. Now. God is always good - and in the now.
Scoop arrived when our youngest son was in kindergarten and lived 19 full and sassy years. Bravely and with intelligence. A feral cat, Scoop was a tiny kitten rescue of our neighborhood. He went were Scoop wanted to go. Snidely being unkind to our successive 3 Springer Spaniels. Enjoying hordes of visiting boys, at all ages, as bravely as an Admiral.
Living every day given to him until the day he put himself on our carpet flat as a pancake and gave me the look of understanding all creatures of God's creation are only forever in God's Personal Kingdom. Scoop saw all three of our dogs, all three of our homes and all the seasons of life including going from a family of 4 to 2, during college. The day Scoop died we spent the day on the sofa and going out to look at the pond with interest. From time to time Scoop touched me with his paw, he knew the journey and the day was for us both. At Twilight I went to run some household errands for about 30 minutes and came back to find Scoop peacefully forever asleep. I took a photo because of the peace. We gathered all four of us and buried him the next day in a spot with another cat Scoop had been so good to and Merit the amazing Springer. We wept. And Scoop had a funeral of all love.
Scoop has been gone to God for two years. Lions lie down with lambs. Sparrows are included and God sends His own horses to Elijah.
Old cats learn new tricks, at age 17 Scoop learned to love the unrelenting Beaux Springer for constant love - Amazing Scoop as if he didn't know love could arrive for a d o g
For two weeks, Scoop had been greeting me in my dreams. I'd gotten used to finding him there. I sit in one of Heaven's yards, just by the huge Home, and Scoop plays in the woods and large trees with Magnolia branches letting him climb and climb and climb with other happy cats and Springer Spaniels. The visit is for Scoop. He is a teenager cat. Scoop alone has permission to visit which he explains without words to me. Scoop sits in my lap and looks up at me. We talk without words. We aren't surprised.
I tell him he looks good, Scoop assures me he feels amazing. Can't even remember feeling this good. He is astonished at how great he feels and how joyous it is to run up and down the sweeping branches. He is joyously thrilled to feel so good. {I found a large tumor in his intestines when I took his last photo - our 19-year-old had gone from colon cancer.}
Scoop doesn't answer me when I ask him to tell me who the other cats are. He doesn't say, Scoop isn't supposed to. In fact, it feels like the conversation has gently ended for us there. He tells me this is Heaven and great, very matter of factly, and he explains he goes in the House whenever he wants to with all the others. I inadvertently notice Scoop is in his teen years. Lean and not so beautiful as middle-aged - his coat got to be glorious. Scoop is characteristically annoyed. He says Jesus picked and is quiet. And annoyed. Scoop relents as he considers I'm only a mortal. And we love one another. He assures me now with perfect calm - ending the discussion - he is Amazingly Energetic and Fully Scoop. I tell him how beautiful and alert he is in his green and blue-rimmed eyes - so intelligent. He says feeling good is Heaven. Being all in..Being all in.
I become so used to seeing Scoop at night for two weeks, about the last day I woke up and looked for him. And realize he has departed for two years. It's a bummer, bummer day. And it is the last day.
Now to the part of the Holy Spirit. When the boys were little we had a Mamma cat and her babies and Misty who was 7. One week they vanished. Cats who were always allowed to be in the yard and in and out come back. Our beloved cats were gone. Children cried. We looked and prayed. /Fliers are put up. The cats were gone. Theories were put forth, some were very, very grim. Our kids grew up and we still talk about the cats who were suddenly all gone. Still has some pain. One long-liked neighbor visited to say the cats were abducted with purpose - never mind the collars.
This week was the week to really think about what happened to Misty, 7-year-old. Fat, fluffy Persian gifted to us by family.The end of Bronchitis and tears. I guess I finally faced they were taken. No parts were found. And I thought grim and hateful things about people taking cats obviously loved cats. And faced the worry of what cat/pet/love stealers would do to beloved and happy cats when the cat abductors obviously were not. And the fire of dislike grew for a day.beloved and happy cats when the thief obviously was not. And the fire of dislike grew for a day.
The Holy Spirit says He is our Teacher. However, the Holy Spirit does not say we will love the lesson. And we pray the Light of Jesus Christ to stay in our souls, minds and heart to continue to Love. And to concentrate on the thief. Burdened by something fierce.andand heart to continue to Love. And to concentrate on the thief. Burdened by something fierce.
To bring who we are to Jesus Christ. Psalm 139 becomes very somber at the end about protection of the innocent and unable to care for themselves. David 'brings it' the true dislike and fierce hatred of wickedness and evil actions. God is Ancient of Days, He says "Bring it on." Bring our whole heart to God. The Tragic. The hurt. the pain. The memory re-awakens. The kittens were born seen by young boys in the sheer thrill of God's Goodness. The mom cat rescued from being feral. A long work of goodness. Taken.astonishedastonished young boys in the sheer thrill of God's Goodness. The mom cat rescued from being feral. A long work of goodness. Taken.
And anger was strong. How do you cope with deliberate hate directed fully? For a day and a half - I didn't know. And then I did know. God our Father gives us the Holy Spirit. God invests in us to free us.
John 8:36
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Now I hasten to add the Prodigal Son is all, really all, and all-encompassing about the seasons and time for the Whole Healing. This process. Good with God.taken for the Whole Healing. This process. Good with God.
I realized I had spent two decades and three years, now and then. casually explaining to Father God why a hater shouldn't be allowed the Love of God. And the Light poured in. The Glorious Joy of how High, How Rich, How Wide, How Immeasurable is the Glory of God's Love. The Sheer Joy of This Is My God.
The Incredible Love of God is the point of God. God is Love. God explains He wants the whole world not to live with condemnation but to experience and know and see how powerless we are to earn God. To do what life gives us and give back love.
To know the astounding Love God brings us. The Heavenly Host does not sing in obligation - Joy Carries through the Universe and the Eternal. God's Grace Pours Forth.
We would not want to serve God if He was not Love. Our God is Worthy. Worthy to love to heal them all. We do not stand able to Judge. Proverbially, the man raking his leaves sitting in the chair- isn't lazy - we do not know his crutches. We do not know his life. God knows his heart - completely.
And in the Overwhelming God with His one lost sheep - I would not deny God His own Glory to Love and to know the heart. I would not take any of God's love from God or the one who took the cats.
I would tell Father God with all my being, "You Go LOVE!!! I wouldn't deny You any of Your Glory. You Love!!! I hand this all to You. You Will Heal Them ALL. I want to stand in Your Glory - Your Love. Let Your Love Ring out over this blue, blue planet in a sea of black where the Sun warms us. The Son."LOVE!!! I wouldn't deny You any of Your Glory. You Love!!! I hand this all to You. You Will Heal Them ALL. I want to stand in Your Glory - Your Love. Let Your Love Ring out over this blue, blue planet in a sea of black where the Sun warms us. The Son."
I realized I wouldn't want to take any small or large or hurtful measure from our Father who Loves. More Joy to our God. More of His Miraculous Healing. More to God. More. More of my Thanks to Thrill God. More of God. More. God is Able. God is Willing. God easily is God. God will cover and heal and do what God alone needs. GOD IS GOD.donedone. GOD IS GOD.
And I have to tell you, I thank God that God is God. I am more than pleased to be Child of God and not burdened with the deeper questions. God's Glory covers us in His Light. Exactly why the face of Jesus Christ in Revelations is Light. God's Love is that. The Light of the world. The Light creates us all. Always.
God is God and peace of God is profound. God's Light is the cleansing of Living Water. The beauty of a clear stream. That's our God.
And in this Peace, I realized I will see our kittens as cats with dignity and joy and God's own Purpose. The events are not complete the circle will be filled. Joy Loves and Lives.
Abba, Father God,
We ask Your Willing Blessings. Soaking and pulling us up. We appreciate Your Blessings. Earnestly.
The Circle is unbroken here and now God, here and now.
We will live in the Light of Jesus Christ now and always.
Let the Light of Your Creation bless us each and every day.
Fully knowing You alone are God the Most High. High.Most
We will take this very day God and do all we can for You.
You are our God and we Love You, here and now God, here and now.
You fill us with Your all and all God, here and now God, here and now.
The circle is unbroken. Here and Now Lord, Here and Now.
We entrust our cares and loves ones fully to You.
You will fill us here and now Lord God, now here and now.
The whole earth is Your Creation and Your Glory.
Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and we will rejoice here and now Lord
and forevermore and more.
Thanks unto You, Father God. Light of the World.be
In Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †