God’s love is not a fleeting thing, Not bound by what tomorrow brings. It does not fade when skies turn gray, Or turn its gentle face away. It lives within the broken heart, The soul that’s slowly torn apart. It finds us when we’ve lost our way, And gives us strength to face the day. God’s love is not reserved for saints, Or only those whose faith remains. It reaches down through guilt and shame, And whispers softly, "I know your name." It doesn't ask that we be strong, Or punish us for getting wrong. It sees the scars we try to hide, And takes its place right by our side. When prayers are met with silent skies, And tears are all that fill our eyes, When every answer seems unknown, God's love reminds us we're not alone. It does not promise skies of blue, Or roads where sorrow can't break through. But even when the mountains fall, His love remains beyond it all. And when we kneel beneath the weight, Of dreams that died and wounds too great, He doesn't count the times we've cried, He simply stays there by our side. For God's love isn't something earned, A prize for lessons we have learned. It's grace that meets us where we stand, A father's heart, an open hand. By Jason Strickland 2/8/1999

I know it is long but I think you will see it is worth the read. Ask any bible scholar the reason Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple and you will get an answer like one of the ones I got from Google (paraphrased): “Exploitation: Merchants charged unfair, inflated prices. Desecration of Holy Space: Commerce took place in the Court of the Gentiles—the only area in the temple complex where non-Jews were allowed to gather and pray. Filling this sacred space with animals, noise, and trading made prayer and worship impossible for outsiders. Corrupt Leadership: The high priests and religious authorities permitted and profited from this corruption” But what if there was more to it than that? When Jesus entered the temple, He had full knowledge that the reason He came to be with us and teach us how to live with one another was to end with Him becoming the sacrifice that would end all need for more sacrifice. When he was looking around and seeing how trivial we make something as important as the sacrifice that cleanses our souls and makes us worthy of entering into eternity with Him, did He see that many would see His sacrifice in the same trivial way? Did it hurt Him to know that many would accept His sacrifice in a similar trivial manner and turn away, time and time again, at the slightest temptation? Will we end up being driven from the temple on the day of judgement because of our exploitation, our desecration of the Holy Sacrifice, our corrupt handling and trivializing of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, once and for all? I guess this is a call to really consider the importance of the price Jesus paid. Let's honor His sacrifice by making it more than a trivial moment in our lives. Let’s not consider in our hearts that we can just return to the temple and make another payment for our own sins. Let’s turn with commitment to the one who paid for our sins with His very life and suffering and never make it a trivial thing by turning back to the sins that we have asked Him to free us from.

And I only had to spend one night in the hospital. They corrected one blockage with a medicated baloon but did not place a stent this time.

I am going in to have an Angiogram by way of catherization so they can see what state my heart is in. This will be on Friday morning Arizona time 8:30 am. I have been through this proceedure many times but it is always under some risk. I only ended up in ICU one time as a result. Please pray for me. Thank you.