Posts Tagged: God’s welcoming face
“A WELCOMING FACE”
A twelve-step friend, Sean, gave me a wonderful word of encouragement after the meeting this past Saturday. He said to me, “You are always smiling.”
“Well,” I replied, “I’m not sure about that, but thanks!” Then I added, “I don’t think of myself as having a very nice smile. I look in the mirror and frown. That, of course, makes me look even older and uglier. Maybe I just need to stop looking in the mirror.”
And then, Sean said, “Well, I think you have a very welcoming face!”
Oh, my—“a welcoming face”! I had never heard that expression before!
It’s a good expression, isn’t it? I hope that Sean is right about me. I certainly want him to be right.
Of course, I don’t always have a welcoming face. Sometimes my face is harsh or judgmental or just plain closed off. My face, like the rest of me, is a work in progress. Still, I am profoundly grateful that someone experiences my face as welcoming.
So, how does a person cultivate a welcoming face?
Let me ask you a simpler question: How does a baby learn to smile? I suppose that the answer is that a baby learns to smile by watching others smile. And, of course, it is easy to smile at a baby, isn’t it?
Perhaps I’ve learned to have a welcoming face because others have given me their own welcoming faces. Some, particularly my wife, have done this in spite of the fact that I have so frequently been frightfully cruel to them in the past. A welcoming face is a gift that has been given to me by others, before I could give it to others.
Ultimately, I believe that God has the most welcoming face in the universe. Perhaps that is what is meant by the expression in Numbers 6:25. As part of the priestly blessing, Aaron and his descendants are told that they are to say to the Israelites, “May the LORD make his face shine on you.” Perhaps God’s “shining face” is another way of speaking of God’s welcoming face.
But please notice an aspect of this that I frequently forget: The reference to the LORD’s welcoming face is immediately followed by the blessing of God’s grace.
God does not have a welcoming heart and face because we are so wonderful. God has a welcoming heart and face because God is so wonderful.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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