There is obviously no limit to what Jesus and his Father would do to help people be reconciled to God. The cross made that point. Eventually individuals do have to realize who Jesus is and take him as the Lord of their life. He is the only way to God, the only way to eternal life. All else leads to eternity in the Lake of Fire, a place of burning sulfur, a place where the devil and the false prophet and the antichrist will spend eternity, the place where all nonbelievers will spend eternity.
God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, angels – all involved in our lives always as we are open to that. Most people sadly never experience any of this and end up in that Lake for eternity. Only a few as Jesus said find the way to life.
Believers, those born of water and the Spirit, live even now in the presence of God. They see and experience God every day, those with increasing levels of discernment and spiritual sensitivity seeing ever more as they grow.
Sometimes God’s involvement may be as obvious as his actually speaking to us or doing something so very obvious right in front of our eyes. Most often, though, the involvement we can discern is gentle and kind, soft or protective, orchestrating and moving and arranging. A problem may be suddenly resolved. Some need quietly met. A door opened.
Some issues in our life seem never to be resolved, and we don’t know why. We wonder if we are to take steps but we see only hardship and pain if we take any of the obvious steps. And we wait and ponder. Somehow, we must let God in, let him orchestrate and arrange. We don’t ever want to be ahead of God, but we don’t want to be way behind where he wants us either. Our quandary. So we pray and listen and seek.
God. Ever and always. Overwhelming. All powerful, all seeing, all knowing. Astoundingly kind and sensitive. Absolutely refusing to accept sin and falsehood. But forgiving, forgiving for all who come to him. Because there was no limit to what he would do to reconcile people to himself. And thus the cross.
Powerful and magnificent beyond our understanding. And so gentle and understanding.
In line with all this, I thought I would share below a poem presenting a true, small, tender experience from our lives when we lived on the coast. Just typical of God.
FLOWER BOXES
by John Newlin
She lived quietly by the sea,
On the very beach itself,
Her front yard only sand,
Her view the unending ocean.
Often as we passed on our way,
She quietly moved about,
Caring for flowers in boxes
Neatly stationed along deck rails.
She always wore bright scarves
Firmly wrapped about her head,
Their colorful patterns
Hiding the absence of hair.
We would see her from our house,
Steadily moving,
Watering plant after plant,
Gliding in a flowing skirt.
The years passed, four years,
And we noticed a “for sale” sign.
Well, she died, you know, we were told.
No, we did not.
Suddenly new people arrived,
Filling the freshly painted house
With activity and new life.
No flower boxes could be seen.
Reborn, the house lives on,
With a new identity.
The past has disappeared.
Fresh life fills the rooms.
And the flowers that once grew,
So that she could water them,
Now bloom on other decks,
Their purpose here fully served.
**********
Copyright © 2026 by John Newlin
October 2026
Please forward copies of this to whomever you would.
KEEP YOUR
EYES ON JESUS!
JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
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email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
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